The Green Door Opens a New Door
"We want this to be a place for visitors and a place for locals." So says Lou Waddle, owner of The Green Door, Chicago's oldest tavern dating back 92 years. For many years, the timeworn tavern has peddled fairly traditional tavern fare, not pushing any envelopes and keeping regulars pleased. As the tavern nears its 100th birthday, it's time for The Green Door to progress into the 21st century, and it's doing so with the help of consulting chef Dirk Flanigan (The Gage, Henri).
(The Green Door. Eat.)
The space retains all of its antiquated charm (The Green Door was the last wood construction permitted to take place following the Great Chicago Fire), from vintage signs to walls that literally lean with age, but the food is anything but dated. Sitting down with his friend Flanigan, Waddle says the chef took a tough love approach to overhauling the menu, slashing some of the most time-tested and beloved items in favor of more contemporary fare. The menu may now read contemporary, but it still adheres to its Chicago roots. Being such a Chicago institution, Flanigan sought to infuse The Green Door with novel takes on Chicago-centric cuisine, such as "Chicago-style" poutine with giardiniera, cheese curds, and Italian beef gravy; Lawrence Avenue wings with ginger slaw; Devon Street hot curry mussels; and a Chicago fried chicken sandwich with applewood bacon, sriracha, and mayonnaise. Much of the food was also contrived with The Green Door's extensive craft beer selection in mind.
(Crispy braised beef sandwich)
Some standouts on the menu utilize products sourced from Waddle's very own cattle farm in Kentucky. As the man explains, he'll often develop hobbies and take them to the extreme, a similar case with his affinity for cattle-farming. His aptly named Ch-Ca-Co beef, so named for the first two letters of his three kids' names and conveniently akin to "Chicago," Flanigan uses the aone beef to make burgers topped with coffee-rubbed bacon, watercress, and "GDT" sauce; the steak of the day with cauliflower and blue cheese; and one of the best things I've eaten in a long time, a crispy braised beef sandwich with horseradish, Havarti, and mustard on a pretzel roll. The free-range cattle are reared on grass and local bourbon distiller grains, instilling a very intrinsic, earthy, and wholesome quality into the meat. It's exclusive to The Green Door. Other non-beef menu items include Scotch eggs and fish & chips, two standout items from Flanigan's days at The Gage, as well as venison sloppy Joes, "The United States of Bacon" triple decker grilled cheese, and "Kentucky truck" stop pork chop with bourbon-sorghum mustard.
Go taste for yourself The Green Door 2.0.