Tavern on Rush was the first steak house in Chicago I ever went to and it has always been one of my favorites. I hadn’t been in three years and was excited to return and see if it still has kick ass food and all the qualities of a great dining experience.

The NHL has its Original Six and we originally had 6 of our own scheduled to attend the March 2015 edition of steak night. Brad and Cole were taking care of business and canceled early in the week. Thus the Original Six became the Fantastic Four with myself, Glick, Conway and special guest Holinger scheduled to attend. However Holinger canceled at 7:15pm the day of the dinner because he was no longer in town. Per the rules he will be doing a shot of the groups choosing the next time he is at a steak night for canceling less than 24 hours in advance. So the Fantastic Four became the Treacherous Three. Obviously at this point there was some anxiety that Conway would cancel and I’d be on a date with just Glick and his phone.

The downstairs bar was jumping as always. There was a mix of business folk, social drinkers, cougars, tourists and some might say working girls all enjoying a Thursday on the town. I saddled up to the far end of the bar and ordered a Tito’s and soda, much like Greg Focker’s portfolio the pour was strong to quite strong. Conway and Glick arrived before I was attacked by any cougars and the night was under way.

Appetizers included blackened Cajun shrimp and pork pot stickers, both were great but the shrimp were the stand out. The shrimp were huge and had a nice seasoning, not overwhelming with just enough Cajun zip. I went with a porter house medium rare, this is my favorite cut and I’m always amazed how few places have a porter house suitable for one person. The steak was top notch, perfect sear, just enough salt and pepper and cooked perfectly. A salad is included with the steak which is a nice touch. The sides were chipotle mac and cheese and white cheddar au gratin potatoes. The mac and cheese is one of the best sides at any steakhouse: unique, gooey, cheesy, spicy and with a little kick. The au gratin potatoes were also a top side, as good as any au gratins out there. Mr. Thoresen wouldn’t like the flimsy menus but the food that comes off of those menus is delicious.

Dinner conversation included the joys of planning not one but two weddings, which as the math suggests sounds twice as terrible as planning just one wedding. March Madness, ad technology, the bachelor party, St. Paddy’s Day, and Conway’s return to being single were also touched upon. The service was not bad but not superior. The pacing of the meal felt a tad uneven. One thing I like is that they bring out the tray of all the cuts of meat and walk you thru them prior to ordering. We passed on dessert to have another drink and catch the end of the Bulls game which the staff put on for us on the corner TV.

Post dinner we headed to the bar downstairs and then to Gibson’s to play the adult version of Where’s Waldo. This of course is “Where’s the Working Girl”, while we couldn’t agree on the number of working girls we did agree there were some milling among the gathered crowd. This would be the start of what would turn out to be a fairly aggressive after dinner tour which also included stops at Nico’s before closing down Sienna Tavern. I was plenty inebriated by the end of the night and paid the price the next day with both a hangover and the hiccups.

While it was disappointing that only 3 were in attendance since we expect more from Chicago’s finest. However those in attendance had a great time. Tavern remains a favorite, it has excellent food and we shouldn’t wait three years to return. On to April.

Cheers,
TDI

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