Chicago steakhouses, old and new

This guide is for anyone trying to pick a Chicago steakhouse without paying $200 a head for the wrong room. It covers the old rooms that have been doing this since the 1940s, the River North strip where most of the big names sit within a few blocks of each other, the newer places that cook over wood or dry-age in-house, a handful of suburban options for people who are not coming downtown, and a short section on how to order so the bill makes sense.

Prices are from the restaurants’ own menus as of late September 2026 and will move. Downtown, valet runs $21 to $23.

The old rooms

The oldest room on this list is Gene & Georgetti at 500 N Franklin St, under the Brown Line tracks at Franklin and Illinois in River North. The restaurant opened in 1941 and marked 85 years this summer. The menu is half steakhouse and half Italian: 21-day aged steaks, chicken alla Joe, eggplant parm and a garbage salad big enough to share. Lunch starts daily at 11 a.m. and dinner at 3 p.m., which makes this one of the few places on this list where you can get a proper steak lunch on a weekday. The room is dark wood and movie posters. Brown or Purple Line to Merchandise Mart, then two blocks; valet out front. Phone (312) 527-3718.

Chicago Chop House at 60 W Ontario St is younger as a restaurant but older as a building: an 1897 Victorian brownstone with three floors of old Chicago photographs on the walls. The menu is hand-cut USDA Prime steaks, steak tartare, lamb chops and Chilean sea bass. Hours are 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday, phone (312) 787-7100. Two honest drawbacks from the restaurant’s own site: the building is not ADA accessible, and parties of six or more get an automatic 18 percent gratuity. Valet is $21 cash or $23 by card. Red Line to Grand is a three-block walk.

Gibsons Bar & Steakhouse at 1028 N Rush St in the Gold Coast opened in May 1989 and is the room most visitors mean when they say “a Chicago steakhouse.” The house sells Gibsons Prime Angus beef and Gibsons grassfed Australian beef, a bone-in ribeye, a red king crab cocktail, Bookbinder’s soup and desserts the size of a hubcap, including the carrot cake and turtle pie. The bar is loud and busy late, and the Rush Street sidewalk patio fills in summer. Red Line to Clark/Division, then walk east on Division. Valet available; phone (312) 266-8999. Expect a wait on weekend nights even with a reservation.

The River North strip

Within six blocks of the Merchandise Mart you can walk to most of the big-ticket rooms. Street parking is metered and scarce, so plan on valet or a garage.

Bavette’s Bar & Boeuf at 218 W Kinzie St is the one everyone argues about. The Hogsalt room is dark and loud, and the menu reads like a French bistro crossed with a supper club: a 10-ounce ribeye steak frites at $44.99, a 42-day dry-aged bone-in ribeye at $99.99, spiced fried chicken at $27.99, short rib stroganoff at $29.99 and truffle mac and cheese at $20.99. One thing you need to know right now: the restaurant closed for a break after service on September 19, 2026, and says on its site that it will reopen in mid-November. Reservations open 21 days ahead at 9 a.m.; the bar seats walk-ins. Valet is at 230 W Kinzie.

A block east, RPM Steak at 66 W Kinzie St is the Lettuce Entertain You and Giuliana and Bill Rancic version of a modern steakhouse: nearly two dozen cuts from butchers around the world, an eight-ounce “Duke” ribeye cap at $68, a 16-ounce Prime “Bernie Miller” chop at $78, a 12-ounce Westholme wagyu strip at $135 and Japanese Matsusaka wagyu at $62 per ounce with a two-ounce minimum. The burger with yuzu kosho aioli is the cheap way in.

Asador Bastian at 214 W Erie St is the Spanish answer. Chef Doug Psaltis cooks boutique steaks over live fire in a 19th-century townhouse and sells beef by the pound, so a table can easily spend $70 or more on the beef alone before sides. The dining room is reservation-only and books 30 days out; the bar room opens daily at 4 p.m. and takes walk-ins for the full menu, the smart move for two. Brown Line to Chicago, then two blocks south.

Modern steakhouses

Swift & Sons at 1000 W Fulton Market is Boka Restaurant Group’s big West Loop steakhouse in a former meatpacking warehouse. The menu has premium cuts, house pastas, a Beef Wellington, roasted salmon and a sundae trolley that rolls to the table for dessert. Hours are 4:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 4:30 p.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 4:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday; phone (312) 733-9420. Green or Pink Line to Morgan, then two blocks north; Fulton Market street parking is metered into the evening.

Maple & Ash at 8 W Maple St in the Gold Coast is the loud, expensive one, with velvet booths, candelabras, a wood-fired seafood tower and a 40-ounce dry-aged tomahawk. Dinner runs 5 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 4:30 p.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday, plus Sunday brunch. There is a dress code (no athletic wear, baseball caps or athletic sneakers), a 3.5 percent staff benefits charge on every check and $22 valet. Phone (312) 944-8888. Red Line to Clark/Division.

Boeufhaus at 1012 N Western Ave is the neighborhood version, a small tavern-sized room with exposed brick on the Ukrainian Village and Humboldt Park line. The draw is steak frites and a $25 burger-plus-drink deal during “Happy Haus” from 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. daily, with $2 beignets. Hours are 3:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday and until 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday; closed Tuesday. Phone (773) 661-2116. No L stop is close; take the 49 Western or 66 Chicago bus, or drive.

El Che Steakhouse & Bar at 845 W Washington Blvd in the West Loop cooks everything on an open Argentine-style wood grill under chef John Manion, including a 32-ounce bone-in ribeye, morcilla and oysters. The wine list is all South American. Doors open at 5 p.m. daily, happy hour 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday through Friday; phone (312) 265-1130. Green or Pink Line to Morgan.

The Bull Moose at 2020 N Halsted St in Lincoln Park is the newest room on this list. The 76-seat steakhouse opened in late spring 2026 on the second floor above the restored Beaumont’s tavern, in an 1890 building, with chef Johnny Besch dry-aging beef in house. Every steak comes with soup or salad and Robuchon-style potatoes, and the 18-ounce ribeye is $110 and meant for two. Hours are 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, 4 p.m. to 11 p.m. Friday, 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday and 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday. Brown or Purple Line to Armitage, one block away. Street parking nearby is permit-restricted at night, so read the signs.

Tango Sur at 3763 N Southport Ave in Lakeview is the budget pick and the only BYOB on this list. The DiSapio family’s Argentine grill sells a 16-ounce entraña (outer skirt), a 16-ounce bone-in costeleta with chimichurri, empanadas and a parrillada with short ribs, sausage and sweetbreads, at prices well below the downtown rooms. Hours are 5 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 5 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. Friday, 3 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. Saturday and noon to 10:30 p.m. Sunday; phone (773) 477-5466. Brown Line to Southport, then walk a block north. The room is candlelit, tight and busy on weekends.

Suburban steakhouses

Gibsons Bar & Steakhouse Rosemont at 5464 N River Rd is the same menu as Rush Street in a bigger, quieter building near O’Hare, with six private dining rooms that seat up to 144. Blue Line to Rosemont, or drive; parking is easier than downtown. Reservations line (866) 442-7664.

Vistro Prime at 112 S Washington St in Hinsdale is chef Paul Virant’s steakhouse, a block from the Hinsdale stop on the Metra BNSF line. The menu mixes steaks, chops and seafood with burgers, pizza and salads. Hours are 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 4 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday, with a bar happy hour from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Sunday through Friday; phone (630) 537-1459.

Al’s Steak House at 1990 W Jefferson St in Joliet is the old-line charbroil house, more than 60 years in, with Grecian-style steaks and a double-baked potato, prime rib, ribs and Shrimp DeJonghe. Plan to drive; checks are a fraction of downtown. Hours are 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday; phone (815) 725-2388.

Ordering: cuts, sides and what to skip

Cuts

Bone-in ribeye is the safe order at the classic rooms. At the dry-aging places (Bavette’s, The Bull Moose, Maple & Ash) the strip or bone-in ribeye is where the aging shows; a filet gains little from it, so save that money. Wagyu by the ounce at RPM or Asador Bastian is a two-ounce taste, not a main. At the Argentine grills, order entraña (skirt) medium rare; it is the cut those kitchens are built around.

Sides and sharing

Sides are sized for the table; two for three people is plenty. At Gibsons and Gene & Georgetti the salads and desserts are enormous, so split them. The Bull Moose builds soup or salad and potatoes into the steak price, which changes the math.

What to skip

Skip the seafood tower unless someone else is paying. Skip by-the-glass pours at the big rooms and order a bottle from the lower third of the list, or eat at Tango Sur and bring your own. Skip Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m.; a 5:30 p.m. or 9 p.m. table at the same restaurant is quieter and easier to book. Downtown, skip driving: valet is $21 to $23 and every city place above is within a ten-minute walk of a Red, Brown, Green or Pink Line stop.

Good to know

Bavette’s is closed until mid-November 2026; check the restaurant’s site before booking. The Bull Moose opened in late May 2026 and its hours may still shift. Sidewalk patios at Gibsons and Maple & Ash close for the season once it gets cold, usually by early November. Chicago Chop House is not ADA accessible. Checked September 28, 2026.

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