For the July edition of Steaks & Cigars, I decided to venture out to a recent addition to the Steak scene – SteakBar in Old Town.  It is the brainchild of a group of veteran restaurateurs that opened with quite a bit of hype, so I assumed we were in for a good evening.  It was a humid, warm summer night.  Arriving slightly after 7, the host was quick to point out that there are 3 bars in the restaurant and I was welcome to go find my group. Fortunately, I was greeted by BRay who was holding down the end of the bar on the first level so my hunt was over.  He was quick to let me know he had already admonished the bar tender on their pitiful brown liquor selection.  I was equally unimpressed and took Reeshard’s cue on the SteakBar old fashioned.  They use some Fireball in their version which should have been a sign, but unlike the Ace of Base I did not see it.  Much like the old fashioned, SteakBar is trying to be something with flash and panache, but falls dreadfully short.  Clearly they paid alot for the location but then put up a pretty shoddy building in my opinion.  They try to distract your vision of the black painted exposed floor structure and ductwork with little pieces of flair sprinkled throughout, but in the end it is really just a jumble of different small rooms stacked on top of each other in a haphazard fashion that doesn’t lend the restaurant space to a good flow.  The attention to detail and craftsmanship is at the bottom of whats acceptable if you are trying to be upscale and charge the prices they do.  Luckily Glick was remiss in his duties as a participant in our illustrious club so the drinks were flowing freely and my contentious attitude was eased by the time our table was ready.

We were escorted 10 feet from the bar to our booth which was situated at the back of the first level and was generally unfit for gentlemen of our stature.  Our waiter opened his service with asking if we would like a round of shots.  Are you serious?  Early conversation revolved around the OJ miniseries, the GnR show at Soldier Field, rounds of golf, jev & char’s upcoming addition to their family as well as home plans, and my lack of judgement in undertaking a construction project within 2 months of Sarah’s due date.  The apps were adequate.  Shrimp cocktail is hard to pass up and also hard to mess up.  Creamed spinach fondue was a revelation and the tuna poke was on par as well.  SteakBar cuts it very close to being ineligible with their 4 cuts of steak, especially since one of those features a pineapple soy glaze.  We generally all went for the Ribeye, which then turned out to be oversold.  I was one of the few that had to switch to the NY strip, which I was actually quite happy with in terms of flavor and preparation.  The thick cut bacon really should be on the apps menu, not the sides but was delicious.  Again, hard one to mess up.  The wine selection was akin to the steak options in it limitations but was decently priced and suited our needs.  Nothing outstanding or note worthy.  As the one who selected this destination perhaps I was overly excited by the hype and was hoping for alot more but overall I am having writers block on what more to say. Oh, I almost forgot,  Don decided to RSVP the day before and actually showed up too.

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