Hey all, Trying to organize my brother's bachelor party in a few weeks in Chicago. We're staying downtown/magnificent mile. Any suggestions on somewhere to get a good steak with a great tap list? Thanks!
My suggestion is go to Nine it doesn't have a great tap list but it's just down the street from Haymarket. So you could go and have a nice dinner then walk a couple blocks to Haymarket and have some great beers.
I suggest forgetting about the tap list and just go to David Burke. If the beer is more important, then you could go somewhere like Farmhouse, they'll probably have some sort of steak dish on the menu. But if you're going to one of the steakhouses, you should go for the best steaks. Personally, I've found those at David Burke, Joe's Stone Crab (seriously), or Chicago Cut.
I've never heard of a steak house with a good tap list. Just had Benny's for the first time last week and that was the best cut of cow I've had since David Burke and a little cheaper to boot. I'll second Joe's Stone Crab... awesome steak. Others that are worth the cabbage are Palm, Gibson's, Chicago Cut, Carmichael's, Capital Grille and III Forks.
I don't know if Gibson's on Rush has a decent beer list or not but I'd highly recommend going there. There are probably better steaks in Chicago, but Gibson's is excellent and they did a fantastic job with my bachelor party a few years ago. They have several private rooms for your group that they don't charge extra for. They can put together a menu with a few different options for you, though everyone in my group except for one guy got bone in ribeyes. The other guy got a filet and the rest of us made fun of him for the rest of the night. Just go to their site and shoot them an email asking them about availability and menu and drink options. They got back to me quickly and were great to deal with.
Gibsons has Boston Lager, SNPA, Guinness and some other standards. I don't think they have any drafts all bottles. Fulton's on the River (I haven't eaten there) has a bar (Bridge Bar) that seems to have the best tap list as far as steak houses go. Keep in mind I have not personally been to either spot.
Thanks alot everyone! I think we're going to head to David Burke's, then just head to a top notch beer bar afterwards. The other dinner request was deep dish pizza (again with a good tap list)- I'm thinking Bacinos in Lincoln Park...anywhere else I should consider? I really appreciate the feedback.
Go to the Publican. Great meat, great beer. Hell, you can always get a good steak, but good Pork? Go for it
This is the correct answer. Back in the day, when the stockyards were in the city, it made sense to seek out steaks while in Chicago. But now? All of the beef comes from other parts of the country and I doubt many steakhouses even get primal cuts anymore. Allen Brothers does all of the aging and portioning for restaurants. David Burke is an exception (and I'm sure there are others). Plus, Publican isn't too far from Haymarket -- though the atmosphere is very, very different. For pizza, Pequod's.
Again, the Chicago style deep dish pizza spots in town do not tend to have great tap lists. There will be some options that will be ok and maybe even a few good ones, but nothing really that will have a wide array of nice selection. There are exceptions (Piece, Bricks) but they tend to not do deep dish. You should approach the pizza the same way you did the steak. Pick the best spot for the food and find beer earlier/later. My top pick for Chicago style deep dish is Lou Malnatti's. There are a bunch of locations so you can combo with your other plans. Pequod's is very good (with decent beer options), but is really a style of it's own and not really true Chicago style deep dish if that is what you are after.
