In what was billed to be a triumphant return to the official start of steak night, it appears that at the conclusion of the dinner this evening there were more ends than beginnings.

Upon arrival I met the newest member of our group, J Cizzle, patiently awaiting the arrival of the group. He and I engaged in some light conversation and awaited the arrival of the rest of Chicago’s fine gentlemen. As host, I deemed it necessary to wear a tie, so that I could be easily identified as host gentleman of the group.

With everyone here for the 8pm dine, the usual piece of ass that is John Glick was missing and since he failed to notify the host, we were seated. The greeting from the waitstaff was so-so, as if they had not heard about this blog that I made sure to mention when making the reservation.

Glick finally arrived just before midnight and we began to pour through the appetizer options. After some baked clams that Daddy Gimms didn’t like, some grilled calamari and fried ravioli that was the toast, we moved on to wines and dinner. Personally I’d give the apps a 3/3, but then again, I ordered them.

The majority of participants ordered the usual bone-in ribeye, medium rare. Hans, as usual, was his cute self and ordered the filet. By my count he’s done that more than anyone in the rest of the group…combined.

Steaks arrived about 6″ thick and explicitly cooked, and were accompanied by, but not ordered, some roasted garlic and bearnaise sauce. Either that was a touch the waiter added to get mentioned on this blog, or he overhead us grumbling that the steaks were not seasoned nearly enough. Either way it did bring some relief.

Everyone finished their dinners in fair time, and the staff began to clear plates and I ordered dessert. Hans was not finished with his chewy steak and not happy with me jumping to desserts, but seeing as we were pushing a late night already I failed to care. Faux pas on my part.

At dessert we celebrated Holinger’s arrival from a previous dinner (way to schedule one on steak night dude), by cheering his 28th birthday; and as you would expect the story to go, he walked free to boot. Would have been nice to have him pay for a lot of the meal that he didn’t even get to enjoy.

All in all, it was a great night with the boys, but Erie Cafe just feels like it lacks a few things – including the ardency of a bustling Chicago steakhouse. Maybe that is the charm of it, but seeing as how this group likes to go big, I hope we can take this tame and lame shit out of the rotation for a while. 6/10.

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