Mastro’s – A Hero Falls To Mediocrity
Mastro’s was fine/good. But for a place that used to be my personal favorite steak place in Chicago, it was a letdown.
First off, it was interesting that I was able to get this reservation with just a week’s notice. Mastro’s used to be a real tough reservation. It no longer is and I suspect after our experience, it is because it has fallen off. The half filled restaurant further verified that.
I arrived promptly at 7:15 and in minutes found Mssrs. Crenshaw and Rick Ray, followed shortly thereafter by Mssrs. Fedderke and Glick and subsequently joined by proud fathers Scotty and Jevon. The bar scene at Mastro’s is still great. We were able to quickly find seats and had excellent service per usual.
We were then seated at a nice table in the middle of the dining room. The waitress got off a bit on the wrong foot in that when she brought the wine, it appeared that she deliberately hid the fact that she had brought the wrong vintage by covering that part of the label when she showed the bottle. This was a small slight however as the subsequent wine selections were great, an early Pinot and a Justin Cabernet with dinner that both hit the spot at a fairly tasty price.
The sautéed shrimp and seared ahi tuna appetizers both received rave reviews. However, after a miscounting by me, I actually failed to be able to try either one. I did subsequently dip my bread into the sautéed shrimp sauce and I could understand the source of the rave reviews.
The steaks were next brought out. Everyone else asked for a normal temperature plate but me, I was fine with the hot plate. I actually like the fact that while I slice towards the middle from the sides the middle continues to cook catching up with the outside. I had always loved Mastro’s steaks because they were cooked to the perfect temperature and had plenty of salt on them. On this night, I believe every person sent theirs back as it was undercooked. I even sent my New York Strip back with the warm plate. Others have (and will in posts I’m sure) speculate that they were undercooked because of the room temperature plates, but my hot plate was still undercooked. The salt was also a bit less than I recall.
As for sides, the Roasted Brussel Sprouts were great. But a lot of places serve good sprouts these days, so that doesn’t elevate Mastro’s too much. Frankly, I can’t recall the other sides.
For dessert, it was Rick Ray’s birthday, so a great chocolate cake was enjoyed by all.
All in all, was Mastro’s an enjoyable evening with a good meal? Sure. But previous Mastro’s meals have been delicious and almost thrilling, this was merely good. And the half filled dining room indicated that Mastro’s no longer rises above others in the greak steak houses of Chicago discussion and frankly, I don’t think it rises above Prime & Provisions anymore specifically.
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6 Responses to “Mastro’s – A Hero Falls To Mediocrity”
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I am in complete agreement with the judgement handed down to Mastros by our illustrious host of the evening. The bar area was crowded but not packed. Average age was 60+, perhaps a bit younger than the crowd that used to fill the bar at Saloon. The pianist was tickling the ivories and the past her prime crooner filled the air with bad renditions of songs we all know. They do pour with a heavy hand which is a plus.
Our table was well situated in the middle of the room which perhaps shows their overall lack of reservations. The shrimp stole the show as I found the rest of the meal to be serviceable but not outstanding. My steak was adequate once it took a second trip to the kitchen for a touch up. The price point is still among the higher as far as Chicago steakhouses go and the food just doesn’t justify it. We aren’t to the Chicago Chop House level quite yet as no gym socks were served, however Mastros is trending in the wrong direction. A nightcap at Sienna was a poor decision for a chronically sleep deprived dad, but steak night happens but once a month unless you are Don Cole in which it never happens despite many invitations.
A return to Mastro’s. I have never held Mastro’s in the same Chicago elite category as some others but we did have a great experience on our last visit. I was curious to see where they stand now.
The bar area is always bustling and has a great atmosphere. I feel like the band adds to the cocktail hour experience even if occasionally the play some questionable covers, or course I’m not Lester Bangs so that’s ok. I arrived With Mr. Crenshaw to find Conway becoming best friends with the bar tender. I will say the bar is expensive, tito’s & soda will run you $14 each which is egregious, I feel like that should be a $10 or $11 drink, they do have a heavy pour which is nice.
The dining room was not that crowded and we had a prime round table in the middle of the room. The service was not great overall, the wine snafu being the prime example. The sautéed shrimp appetizer was the best part of the meal, dipping my bread in the left over sautéed shrimp sauce was the second best part of the meal. I didn’t go with the hot plate because I hate the whole sizzling plate concept. I ordered my steak medium rare however it came out really rare. It is clear they didn’t factor in the none sizzling plate when preparing thus my steak was basically still alive, pretty huge miss. We had fries as a side, I must say I prefer not to have fries with steak, would rather go with some au gratin or mashed potatoes. Fries are for burgers. I won at credit card roulette so I got that going for me which is nice.
After dinner drinks were at Sienna Tavern. We met some sales reps in town for work, one of which kept saying how much she hated me yet wouldn’t stop coming over to me to talk. I left to go to another bar with the two sales rep girls and a guy from NY in town to watch the Yankees/Cubs, to make a long story short it worked out better for the guy from NY then for me.
I never felt Maestro’s was an elite place and this just helped support my POV, they are moving in the wrong direction. Still a great evening as always. On to Summer and some more classic steak nights.
Like the previous comments I too agree that the night did not live up to the Mastro’s of our youth.
Rick wore his lady killing outfit of a zebra skin blazer and high tops. While I can’t pull off this combo like he can – he was attracting them left and right.
Waitress was awful. Apps were ok. Crenshaw and I split the bone in and it was on point. Sides were on the side.
Dessert was butter cake and yada yada. I mentioned the utter cake
Went to Sienna afterwards and Rick almost decided to move to St Louis.
Good time as always.
7.5 (8 if I wasn’t expecting better). For those scoring at home(and if you are there are better things to do) still 1000x better for than chop house.
In at the buzzer here on posting leaves me a bit removed from the meal. However, I too iterate the idea of Maestro’s as a rollercoaster. I disliked Maestro’s when we first went, then they came around, now I don’t like them again. It is a complicated relationship. Since we went with non-heated plates, they did not compensate for cooking the meat long enough. As such, I had to send my steak back to cook longer. Not something I have done before. The vibe was lacking, but it was great to be with the guys.
Looking forward to summer
This one goes out to Jon Glick for the reminder.
After the late arrival due to some prior committments I was pleased to arrived to a welcoming fleet of gents beset to a night of feast and sport like I have never seen before. Well not really.
Anywho, things got off to a bit of a jagged start with the waitress coming in off key and sticking us with bs vintage wine. Furthermore it took them a miraculous 15 minutes to make me a scotch — notice I said make – as it was probably a little more than a nice pour after they put the necessary poison in it.
The apps were on point altho I don’t totally color myself a fan of the redicouous bacon app that just tastes like a ball of fat. Ok maybe that is just me. The bang bang bang me shrimp (or whatever it is called) was my favorite. Shirt was plump and full of taste and it sat in coat closet worthy broth/bisque. I recommend the shrimp sauce just be on the menu itself as a standalone.
On the steaks and disappointment set in with a follow of the Thoresen Method of the non hot plate application. That turned out to be a bad move, as my steak arrived grossly under cooked and probably breathing. Being a medium rare plus fan, however I did put the steak down, but noticed that hotplate would’ve probably brought it’s the perfect medium rare perfection order that I had placed. Not totally blaming the restaurant on this one, but it would be wise if they trained their chefs on both a hot and cold plate application upon delivery of the meat.
After the undercooked steaks, we celebrated Rick’s birthday and Sheridan some desserts that we’re likely overpriced but worth the indulgence.
6.5/10
Mastros has never been one of my favorite steakhouses. This time only solidified my belief that it’s just a slightly above average, chain establishment. Rick, in zebra skin blazer,and I arrived to find Mssrs. Conway and Fedderke at the bar, soon followed by the rest of the group and we were off to a fine table right in the bosom of the dining room. The waitress started off by serving the wrong vintage of wine, and trying to hide it from us. Next, they brought six shrimp for seven people. And although Bill misunderstood the number when ordering, the restaurant should have known and served the proper number. Then to top it off, Hans took a double portion and excluded a few of us from enjoying the shrimp. Typical. Glick and I shared the tomahawk bone-in, sans hot plate. Like everyone else, ours was severely undercooked. However we did not send ours back. If you try and steer them off of their normal robotic course of serving on a hot plate, everything goes to shit. While the food was decent, it didn’t make up for the experience overall. After all was said and done with the main courses, the butter cake almost made up for the entire dinner. It’s still one of the best in the city. All in all, everage dinner with fantastic friends. 6/10.