The fine gentlemen of Steaks & Cigars had only been to The Palm once as a group and it was like 7 or 8 years ago. The Palm has recently gone through phase one of a multimillion dollar renovation so it seemed like as good a time as any to return.

We pulled an audible for happy hour and decided to have drinks on the river walk and enjoy the gorgeous weather. I have not spent a ton of time on the river walk and when I have been there it has been in the Marina Tower area, I had no idea how far down it went. We met by the Tiki Bar and I was pleasantly surprised, it’s pretty cool down there. There are a bunch of picnic tables and chairs and bags games, it’s festive, casual but not packed with people. Great place for drinks on a nice summer evening and Brad, Conway and I took advantage of Crenshaw’s tab. We headed upstairs shortly before 8 and were joined at the bar in the restaurant by Hans and Glick.

I don’t remember exactly what this place looked like previously but it does feel like they made the bar area much larger and more open than before. They do also have an excellent whiskey smash so they get kudos from me for that.

We were seated and jumped right into apps which included bacon wrapped scallops, calamari and meatballs. Everything was really good but nothing blew me away. I went with the prime bone in ribeye and it was a bit over cooked, definitely not the medium rare that was requested. Although everyone else seemed to really enjoy their steaks and I had a taste of Conway’s which was better than mine. I guess I just got unlucky with mine. The hash browns were awesome and the au gratin potatoes were solid, both nice compliments to the steak. I don’t eat creamed spinach but Brad dubbed it the worst in the city. This did lead to a funny exchange with the manager and I think she comped it. I think we had crème brulee and something else that escapes me for dessert, the whiskey smashes were having their desired effect at this point.

Dinner time conversation included recent rounds of golf, upcoming bachelor party and wedding activity, kids, the Stanley Cup (which was on), the World Cup and the quiet voices that both Ray brothers possess However the funniest part of the evening for me was learning about Bill’s Australian speaking tour and how he should negotiate compensation. The story is better served by Bill telling it in person but that could only happen to Conway. We did inquire about being immortalized via caricature on the wall since the men of Steaks & Cigars are Chicago icons, they seemed too disagreed with our icon status and noted we have a better chance by donating money. I think the number was $15K but I don’t remember and might have pulled that out of my ass.

I thought The Palm was solid, nothing spectacular and nothing terrible but really solid across the board. If my steak was better it would get higher marks. After dinner drinks were at The Boss. Great start to the summer steak night season

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