The Ultimate Steakhouse Guide to Chicago Restaurant Week

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Chicago Restaurant Week, a popular two-week spree of prix fixe menus all over the city, is coming up fast. Taking place January 26 through February 8, the series showcases Chicago's multifaceted dining scene, ideal for tourists and locals alike. And when it comes to showcasing Chicago cuisine, perhaps nothing is more iconic Chicago than the steakhouse, a form perfected in the Midwestern metropolis. With plenty of steakhouses participating in Chicago Restaurant Week, we rounded up some of our top picks:

 

STK Steakhouse Guide to Chicago Restaurant Week
STK @ Steakhouse Guide to Chicago Restaurant Weekption

STK: This sleek downtown spot is serving up a stylish three-course dinner menu chock full of offerings. Appetizers include Burrata with arugula pesto, roasted bets, pistachio and Spanish olive oil; Brussels sprouts salad with apple, cranberry, aged goat cheese, and Marcona almonds; and crispy rock shrimp with chili remoulade. For entrees, pick from dry-aged tenderloin of beef with crushed fingerling potato and salsa verde; chili-rubbed chicken confit with roasted winter squash, chorizo and truffle-squash puree; and crispy branzino with saffron chipotle broth, clams and mussels. Finish with interesting dessert options like pumpkin cheesecake with pumpkin seed brittle, gingersnap crumble and cranberries, or a bag of maple-glazed sweet potato donut holes. 

Gene & Georgetti: If you haven't yet experienced Gene & Georgetti, an iconic steakhouse in Chicago and one of the first, then Restaurant Week is an apt time to get a taste. The River North staple is participating with both lunch and dinner offerings, the former a three-course degustation for $22 and the latter a three-courser for $44. At lunch, start with options like a roasted apple salad or a beet and orange salad, followed by main courses like a steak sirloin sandwich, whitefish pistachio or Cajun chicken. Chocolate bread pudding, flan and cheesecake are on deck for dessert. Come dinner, offerings vary for each course, starting with eggplant involtino and charred octopus for appetizers. New York strip steak, Tuscan salmon, Cajun chicken and rigatoni with Italian sausage are your options for entrees, while desserts are the same as lunch.

Harry Caray's Italian Steakhouse: Three-course lunch and dinner menus are both on hand at this Italian-accented fixture in River North. Harry Caray's starts with tomato bruschetta and Caesar salad for lunch appetizers, followed by entrees like eggplant Napoleon, campanelle carbonara and grilled chicken ciabatta. Cappuccino chocolate chip gelato or key lime pie are the dessert options. At dinner, menu items shift to grilled octopus, Italian meatballs, and truffled arancini for starters; filet mignon, chicken Vesuvio and citrus grilled salmon for entrees; sides like sweet corn brulee and diced crispy hash browns; and flourless chocolate truffle cake for dessert. 

 
Tavern on Rush: There's never a wrong time to dine at Tavern on Rush, one of the crown jewels of the Gold Coast. But Restaurant Week is an especially apt experience considering the prix fixe options afforded to you at dinner. The restaurant offers a $44 menu that starts with a salad of vine-ripened cherry tomatoes, lettuce, sweet basil vinaigrette and a Burrata-prosciutto crostini, followed by filet mignon and crab cake surf & turf for an entree. For dessert, it’s warm apple cobbler with cinnamon-vanilla bean ice cream. 

III Forks Prime Steakhouse: Get hungry for a hearty meal at III Forks Prime Steakhouse, where their Chicago Restaurant Week dinner menu starts off with two kinds of salads, followed by petite filet or salmon, both served with mashed potatoes and fresh asparagus. For dessert, it's chocolate ganache cake or bread pudding with ice cream. 

 

Morton's
Morton's The Steakhouse

Prime & Provisions: If it's a hot downtown steakhouse you're hungry for, you'd be wise to pay a visit to Prime & Provisions, one of the best steakhouses to hit the city in quite a while. The Loop restaurant is getting in on the Restaurant Week action with both lunch and dinner degustations, each boasting ample selections for each course. At lunch, it's clam chowder, chopped salad, wedge salad, or roasted beet salad to start. This is followed by fried chicken, chicken club, blackened grouper sandwich, or a dry-aged burger. At dinner, start with clam chowder, house-flared thick-cut bacon, or that wedge salad, then proceed to a petit filet, broiled wild salmon, or chicken Vesuvio. Banana cream pie or chocolate caramel cake are your dessert options.

Morton's The Steakhouse: Yet another classic steakhouse temple on the docket for Restaurant Week, Morton's The Steakhouse beefs up your dinner options with a $44 three-course prix fixe, along with entree accompaniment selections, which makes this one of your better bargain choices. Options are quite abundant too, starting with appetizers like Caesar salad, chopped salad, sliced beefsteak tomatoes, and baked five-onion soup. Choose between filet mignon, honey-balsamic glazed salmon, shrimp scampi capellini, and chicken Christopher for mains, accompanied by your choice of sauteed broccoli, creamed spinach, or horseradish mashed potatoes. For dessert, pick between double chocolate mousse, creme brulee, key lime pie, cheesecake, or hot chocolate cake. 

RPM Steak: One of the more inventive and unique steakhouse menus for Restaurant Week can be found at RPM Steak. With both lunch and dinner menus on deck, there's plenty to choose from at this River North stunner. For lunch appetizers, there's butternut squash veloute with curry yogurt and crispy bacon, bluefin tuna tartare with garlic aïoli and a pear and walnut salad with Manchego cheese. Entrees are a wood-grilled bavette steak with caramelized onions and aged balsamic, grilled Mediterranean chicken, and striped bass oreganata with lemon. An apple pie sundae or winter citrus granita are for dessert. Come dinner, your starter options are Wagyu beef carpaccio with black truffle, deviled bone marrow with watercress or coal-roasted squid with warm chickpea salad. Roasted sea scallops with cauliflower puree, wild mushroom risotta and that wood-grilled bavette are your entree picks, followed by the same desserts as lunch. 

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