Rockit Bar & Grill

If you've been around the Chicago restaurant and bar scene long enough, you've probably heard of Billy Dec, or at least been to one of his places. He, along with Arturo Gomez and Brad Young, have teamed up to open hotspots like Rockit and Underground. Their names permeate the club scene and keep reporters abuzz trying to see what Rockit Ranch Productions has cooking, and how they'll try to re-shape the 'ultralounge' scene going forward.

My latest visit to Rockit was for a friend's decent sized birthday party, of about 18 people. Rockit was able to accomodate us on a Thursday night at 8pm with a reservation made well in advance, but be warned that this probably wouldn't be the case on a weekend. The scene is usually pretty busy even during the week, and street parking is non existent. Like most of their neighboring bars, Rockit offers valet service for $12 for 0-3 hours, and $17 for 3 or more hours. The interior of Rockit is lined with wood and exposed brick, as well as the standard flat panel TVs. There is a nicely sized bar on the main level, and another on the second floor. The second floor also features 4 pool tables and loud music.

Before our entire party arrived, a few of us hit the long wooden bar for a couple of the specialty drinks on the menu. Cocktails ($9-13 each) and beer ($5-7 per bottle) aren't cheap, but neither is the real estate. It's a high-rent district, and pretty much every place in the area is priced accordingly. We first sampled things like the Banana Split Martini ($12; not very Banana flavored, and way too sweet, even for girls), the Dirty Girl Scout ($9; compares favorably to a well made Grasshopper), and some 'Raymond R Collection' Chardonnay ($8; Monterey, CA). The bartender's ability and responsiveness was average, and so were the drinks. The Dirty Girl Scout was the only drink any of us would have liked to order again.

When most of the rest of our party arrived, we were promptly seated. Each menu is enclosed in a vintage LP cover from classic rock albums of years gone by, which provides a unique touch. After a few minutes we ordered our food and drinks, and about 25 minutes later our food was served, which was relatively quickly for how busy the place had become. Our server was attentive, but there were some gaps in visits that had us waiting to order more drinks.

The menu is relatively standard American cuisine, and for dinner our party sampled everything from the Rockit Burger to the Seafood Diavolo to the Rockcorn Shrimp. The Rockcorn Shrimp (tossed in a chili lime sauce; our actual order is pictured below) and the Lobster Burger (served with sweet potato fries) seemed to be the best bets to me. We also ordered the Chocolate Bread Pudding for dessert, and while it certainly tasted like chocolate, there was not a hint of bread pudding in the dish, so foodies searching for a nice take on the classic will be dissapointed. Overall the food and drinks were decent, but not spectacular. The portions seemed average, with most or all of us being full after our entrees.



Aside from a $50 Prix Fixe tasting menu on Monday nights and a weekend Brunch 'special,' there aren't any special deals at Rockit, but that doesn't stop tourists, suburbanites, and other high rollers from coming through the door. The location, ambience, and star power keep Rockit busy nightly. Dress to be seen, and be ready to spend.

Rockit Bar & Grill
22 W. Hubbard
Chicago, IL 60610
312-645-6000
Visit: Thursday October 30, 2008
Food: 3 out of 5
Service: 3 out of 5
Ambience: 4 out of 5
Overall: 3 out of 5

Kirkwood Bar & Grill

Chicago's Lakeview area is filled with plenty of fun and unique taverns, restaurants, and bars, many of which cater to alumni from schools ranging from Texas to DePaul to Purdue. Kirkwood Bar & Grill is one such place that combines good food with a lively atmosphere, a classy interior, and the rare spot for Nebraska Cornhuskers' alumni to watch their team on Saturdays in the fall during college football season.

Like most other places competing for the 21-45 age crowd, Kirkwood offers a variety of specials on food and drink throughout the week. On our visit to Kirkwood this Tuesday, the specials were $5 glasses of wine, $14 buckets of Miller beer products (5 bottles per bucket), $5 Southwest Salads, and $3 Jameson or SoCo & Lime shots. These aren't exactly knockout specials, but wine specials always do help to attract young women, and when you have young women coming through the door you'll also attract plenty of men to follow.

Our group of 6-10 people throughout the night was able to be seated immediately, as Kirkwood was busy without being packed. Our server was friendly and fairly responsive to brining fresh rounds of drinks, but didn't go out of the way to highlight the nightly specials or ask if certain parties needed seperate checks. We mainly stuck to the $5 wine glasses and appetizers. The wine was tasty but not spectacular, but the thing to make note of was the Steak Nachos for Two ($10) and the Buffalo Rolls ($8). The Steak Nachos were served on a huge platter, and stacked about 5-6 inches high with chips, fresh guacamole, freshly diced black olives and tomatoes, jalapenos, sour cream, melted cheese, and real grilled chunks of steak. This plate was huge and tasty, and was the best thing we had. The Buffalo Rolls were also a highlight because it was essentially an egg roll cut in half, but instead of normal egg roll ingredients it contained blue cheese and delicious slow roasted chicken, marinated in a house buffalo sauce. The rest of the menu is filled out with a variety of soups/salads, appetizers, sandwiches, and desserts.

Kirkwood is part of the 'Four Corners Tavern Group,' which also consists of Brownstone, Sidebar, Schoolyard, WestEnd, and Gaslight bars. At each of these bars you can expect a fairly similar menu, average nightly specials, and plenty of wood and flat screen TVs lining the interior. Kirkwood caters specifically to Nebraska and Indiana alums, broadcasting all Nebraska football games and Indiana basketball games. There are plenty of other TVs though, so on any given saturday or sunday you can probably find the team you're rooting for, as most of the Four Corner bars also subscribe to things like the NFL Sunday Ticket. If you're in the mood for a a drink and itching to see your favorite team play, stop by this Lakeview spot for consistently decent food and drink at a fair price.

Kirkwood Bar & Grill
2934 N. Sheffield (Sheffield & Oakdale)
Chicago, IL 60657
773-770-0700
Visit: Tuesday October 28 2008
Food: 4 out of 5
Service: 3 out of 5
Ambience: 3 out of 5
Overall: 3 out of 5

Coobah

Our latest trek was to Southport hotspot Coobah, a hip Cuban inspired latin-fusion bar and restaurant in Chicago. With nightly food and drink specials during the weekdays, Coobah manages to keep customers coming through the door, even in times of a weakened economy. The decor and interior design seems to be shooting for a 'rustic modern' feeling, and it pulls it off very well with a great lighting scheme and exposed natural timbers. There are large windowed panel doors that can swing open in the summer for open-air seating. The feel is very cozy, and seems to be a great place to head to for date night, or if you just want to hang with some friends.

Coobah features live music on Wednesdays (Bossa Saravah Live Band) and Thursdays (live Cuban jazz), from about 7:30-11pm. The kitchen is usually open until 11pm on weekdays, and 1am on weekends, and the bar stays open until 2am. Hoping to check out some live entertainment, we visited on a Wednesday night around 8pm, and were able to be seated immediately. The band did not disappoint, kicking out the jams at a nice noise level until after we left around 10:45pm.

Coobah's menu changes frequently, but features many staples of Cuban fare (such as the Cubano Sandwich), as well as infusing their own modern takes on other dishes, using a blend of ingredients from Latin America, the Phillipines, and Spain. For example, the basic Caesar salad is called a 'Sugarcane Caesar,' and features romaine, raddichio, sugarcane caesar dressing, and Manchego cheese (which is a frequently used cheese throughout homes and restaurants alike in Spain). The 'Pork Tenderloin Bicol' is a lean pork tenderloin stuffed with shrimp, bacon, coconut, and pineapple, served on a bed of Jasmine rice. Side dishes available include tasty things like tamales, carmelized plantains, saffron potato au gratin, and more. It seems to be a truely unique and inspired menu overall, with an adequate wine and drink list to match.

Speaking of wine, Wednesdays also feature half price bottles of wine, so we sampled the 2005 blend of Malbec & Tempranillo, by Urban Uco. Our server was professional in her presentation and serving of our wine, which was an Argentinian red blend featuring hints of blueberry, vanilla, dark cocoa, and oak. It would have been a decent deal at the regular price of $30, but with the half off special on Wednesdays it was only $15, which felt (and tasted) like a bargain (as far as drinking bottles of wine in restaurants goes).

Overall, the wine list is moderately priced, features wines from throughout Latin and South America, and offers plenty of options for both whites and reds. The drink list also offers 18 types of tequila, 16 types of rum, and plenty of the basic drinks like Sangria, Margaritas, Mojitos, Caipirinha (and its cousins the Caipiroska and Caipirissima). It also features some house favorites like the Mexican Coffee, Creme Brulee Martini, and the Horchata Martini, which I'll touch on later.

For dinner, we ordered the Grilled Skirt Steak and the Cubano Sandwich. The Skirt Steak was cooked perfectly and was juicy, but not quite brimming with flavor as hoped. It was served with Jasmine rice and carmelized plantains, which were tasty. The Cubano Sandwich however, made up for this. The flat bocadillo roll was grilled nicely and contained succulent slices of ham, sliced thin and topped with swiss, mustard, and pickles. Every Cuban place can usually be measured by how they prepare this signature Cuban dish, and Coobah delivered big time here. The sandwich was delicious, filling, and is served with a choices of one side dish. The fresh pork tamales on the side menu looked great, but we ended up going with the coconut mashed potatoes, which were all-worldly.

After dinner we were too full to order a dessert, so we headed over to the bar area for a drink. The bartender Julie was making mojitos all night, and often adding fresh strawberries, raspberries, or blueberries at the request of customers. Similar to how you can judge a Cuban restaurant by it's Cubano sandwhich, you can often judge a bartender by how they make a mojito or mint julep. Julie took the time to properly muddle all the ingredients when making mojitos from scratch, while chatting up everyone in the bar area. We sampled a strawberry-raspberry mojito and the Horchata Martini, and they were both tasty and appealing to the senses.

Overall, I thought our first experience at Coobah was very good. It offers an intimate yet lively dining experience that is good for both couples and groups. They offer enough specials throughout the week to please the budget minded crowd, while still delivering great food and service, and I will be checking this place out again for sure, making sure to save room for something from the dessert menu. ; )

Coobah
3423 N. Southport Ave.
Chicago, IL 60657
773-528-2220
Visit: Wednesday October 22, 2008
Food: 4 out of 5
Service: 5 out of 5
Ambience: 5 out of 5
Overall: 4 out of 5

Gaslamp Strip Club

By the name of this place, you would expect there to be a heavy bouncer with sunglasses at the door, a $10 cover, strip poles, and Pacman Jones "making it rain." The reality is that it's a wonderful place in the heart of San Diego's Gaslamp District to grab a steak, sip a chilled cocktail, and chat with your friends over the hum of someone's funktastic iPod mix. With open air seating, exposed brick, cute waitresses, dimly lit mood lighting, and large '50's-style pinup girl paintings on the wall, the mood seems to be sultry yet energetic.

The thing that sets the Gaslamp Strip Club (GSC) apart from other steak places is that the novelty is that you grill your own steak (or other meat) exactly how you want it to be cooked. The prices are cheaper than a normal steakhouse by a longshot, but the GSC's menu offers 21-day old aged cuts of angus beef, including a nice thickly cut 20 oz. Porterhouse for only $20.95. That is an exceptional deal, and you'd probably pay twice that at some of the city's other fine steakhouses (with the difference of course being that you do the work here). I've been here a handful of times, and the lively atmosphere and great food will ensure that I keep going back whenever I'm in town, if past visits are any indication.

On my last visit to the GSC, we waited about 25 minutes to be seated on a Friday night (around 7:30pm), because the place was packed. We sat down at the bar and had a couple rounds of drinks from their custom cocktail list, is really one of the main attractions. For the wine drinkers there is a large wine list and even a walk in self-service wine cellar, with each section priced clearly. The bar is fully stocked with premium liquors, and our bartender Matt Stanton really knew how to mix the house drinks, and also freestyled some drinks for us based on what type of ingredients we like. My last cocktail was delicious, and was some concoction of Booker's bourbon, Tuaca, and some kind of fresh juice.

Once seated, our party was promptly served a large house salad, which everyone shares. Our order was taken, and the cuts of aged meat were brought out after about 10 minutes, and we were then on our way over to one of the multiple industrial strength 5x5 foot fixed gas grills, spread out throughout the restaurant. With cocktails in hand, we stood over the flames of the grill, tending to our cuts of NY Strip steak, kabobs, and more. At each grilling station there is also a rack of spices and rubs to add flavor to the meat, if you so desire. I threw on some Montreal steak seasoning and Worcestershire sauce, and then watched my steak closely while chatting up other guests around the grill. In addition to the free house salad, every order of meat is accompanied by a thickly cut portion of garlic bread, which you can also grill lightly (I'd recommend about 10-15 seconds, near one of the edges of the grill).

If you, or one of your guests knows how to cook a steak, it's pretty easy to come out of here with a fantastically cooked and tasty steak. The cuts of meat are good looking, juicy, and you can truly grill it just the way you want it. The grills are allegedly kept around 450 degrees in the middle, and around 400 on the edges, so you can really get some nice grill marks without burning your steak. Aside from the complementary house salad and garlic bread, there are also a plethora of interesting side dishes available, from 'Sauteed Asparagus' to 'White Truffle Mac & Cheese.' With prices ranging from about $6-8 each, the sides are large and meant to be shared by 2-3 people each. We sampled the 'Cheddar Potatoes Au Gratin,' and it was steaming hot and delicious. I've had quite a few things on the side menu in the past, and I'd recommend all of them except the 'Sauteed Broccoli & Carrots,' which is frankly rather boring, especially compared to the other available options.

A lively dining experience here isn't cheap, but it isn't very expensive either, especially when compared to other steakhouses. It's about on par with most of the other restaurants down in the Gaslamp, with most entrees ranging from $12-20 each, with salad and garlic bread included. Sunday and Monday nights during the football season feature deals on different cuts of meat (dropping the price to $11 each), and bottled beer at $2.50 for domestics and $3.50 for imports. I've had a great time each time I've gone to the Gaslamp Strip Club, and it has delivered time and time again to all of the guest I've brought with. I've eaten all over the Gaslamp District in San Diego the past 6 years, and this is probably my favorite place. It's a great place for a date, a night out on the town, or even a birthday party for adults. Do take note that it is a 21-and-over establishment, so if someone in your party is under 21, try to call ahead of time and speak to a manager to see if you can slip someone in who won't be drinking.

Gaslamp Strip Club
340 5th Avenue
San Diego, CA 92101
619-231-3140
Visit: Friday October 10, 2008
Food: 5 out of 5
Service: 5 out of 5
Ambience: 5 out of 5
Overall: 5 out of 5