A new year, an old joint. The “history” of Chicago adorns the walls at the Chicago Chop House sort of like “famous” guitars line the walls at the Hard Rock Café.  This restaurant could not be situated in a better place amongst the rest of every hokey establishment such as the aforementioned Hard Rock, and the Rain Forest Café, and Rock & Roll McDonalds…..a total tourist restaurant. The history of the chop house with this group is a mixed bag of emotions. The first visit was well received, with a lot of talk about how much of a bargain it was. They must have heard you talking because the second trip turned out to be one of the most expensive in steak night history, adjusted for inflation. And Jon Glick ate a dirty sock. Let it be known that most everyone else had a fabulous, albeit expensive meal the last time around. But due to an expensive bill, and one guy getting a bad steak, it was written off for the last six years or so.

This year, I decided we wouldn’t let Jon Glick steer the ship, and booked a reservation, in hopes it would be a great, and surprising start to the year.

The Rick and I arrived to see Papa Fedderke and the night was off. Mason, Scotty, and Glick soon rounded out the party and we were whisked away to our table on rollers in the “saloon” or basically the side of the bar. Apparently not enough expense accounts had rolled in with reservations for the New Year so the upstairs was closed.

We started out with Calamari, Shrimp Cocktail, and some beefsteak tomatoes with onions and blue cheese. All were serviceable, but nothing really special about them.

Chicago Chop House probably has one of the largest steak selections of any place in the city. Every cut has a dry or wet aged, option, either available in bone-in or bone-out. In addition, they offer a Mishima cut which is a cousin of Japanese Kobe. Looking back, the current prices would have definitely been exorbitant six years ago. But today, they’re pretty comparable to anywhere else. Jon will whine and cry and still claim it’s one of the more expensive dinners, but we have had many stretch above that mark. And remember, it was only a six-man crew with one walking free. As a side note, let it be clarified that six men is quorum. Period. There was some confusion and discussion on that topic. Anyway, I had the dry aged bone-in ribeye and mine was excellent. I’ll always want more salt, but that’s more of my own deficiency as opposed to the restaurant. Everyone else seemed very pleased although JG won’t ever admit it. In fact, I think those who had the bone-in filet were really blown away, which is a similar response to the last time the group dined here.

Sides were done as family style. The potato pancakes were outstanding. The truffle mac and cheese was good, but seems to have been surpassed by recent culinary advancements. And the portion was way too large. And the creamed spinach, although done to my liking in the classic preparation style, was just average.

Rick Ray walked free for winning the NFL Pick ‘Em pool. Pretty sure we skipped birthdays and dessert.

All in all, the evening with the gentlemen was outstanding, the dinner was well above expectations, but nevertheless, the Chicago Chop House will probably not be visited again for a while.

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