09/24/08

Best steak in Chicago

by thedoglvr

Let me start with the best part: I ordered the filet medallions oscar and I COULD CUT IT WITH A BUTTER KNIFE! I have had meat that tender only one other time in my life. This was one of the best steaks I've ever had. Okay... now from the beginning...

We made reservations with 3 hours noticed and were seated at the time of our reservations. There wasn't much space to sit or gather but the host staff was very friendly and did offer the bar area for seating early. Our table was around the border of the dining room, which is square in shape with a raised border section over the lowered middle. We had a nice view of the bar and our table was perfect for 'people-watching'.

We each ordered flights of wine. I had the progressive and my fiance had the whites. The amount of wine in each glass was very generous - about a half a glass - and much more than the "shot" of wine that I have had in flights in the past. One of us had the barbecue chicken dish and the other had the filet medallions oscar. The medallions were SO tender and the portions were perfect. The filet was ordered rare, and a truly good rare seems to be hard to come by. Wildfire got it right. Other restaurants give you meat slightly well done and others seem to hand you something that isn't even warmed and somehow still frozen. This was a truly enjoyable cut and cooked filet.

The service was prompt. Nothing spectacular, nothing terrible. Just good, courteous service staff.

For me personally, I will go back again for one of the best steaks I've ever had.

• Pros: location, price (relative), generous flights of wine, ambience, try the filet
• Cons: few seats in the greeting area

07/11/08

Outstanding Chicago steakhouse

by dsg29

My colleague and I needed a great steak to celebrate the end of a long week. I picked Wildfire because it was close to our hotel on State. St. I made the reservation through Wildfire's website for that same evening. In fact, I did it with less than 2 hours' notice. I'd go back again, regardless of where my hotel is in the future. I love a good steakhouse, and Wildfire is among the best I've experienced. The ambiance is classic upscale steakhouse. It's busy, but you can hear dinner companion without shouting. The service is prompt, professional, helpful and of a level I'd expect at a great steakhouse (think Morton's, Capital Grille, Smith & Wollensky...Wildfire is at least equal to any of those) The wine list is excellent, but it's really all about the food. My colleague pronounced her filet medallion the "best she's ever had, anywhere, anytime". My NY Strip was excellent, and the parmesan crust (Wildfire's trademark is their interesting seasoned bread crumb crusts--6 varieties) gave it an added flavor unlike i'd ever had before. The sides are shareable and terrific. The key lime pie for dessert was sublime.

Wildfire is outstanding, from the moment you enter until you stagger back out onto the street. If you're in downtown Chicago and you want a terrific steakhouse, Wildfire stands proudly with all the other better-known competitors. Give it a try. You'll be happy you did.

• Pros: Incredible steak, great service, very good wine list, good atmosphere
• Cons: none

05/04/08

Great steak and a value for steak

by Celstrial

Haven't been to Wildfire in a while and after this weekend, I'm wondering why I don't come back more often. In a town of great steak, it's not easy to say "highly recommended" to just any chop house, but Wildfire does a great job and at a very good value. We had the cold plate with shrimp, lobster, mussels, ceviche which was a safe but good choice, not the best, but for the main course I had a 10oz prime rib with a side of au jous and horseradish which were great! Perfectly medium rare and warm by the time it was served. I had a side of button mushrooms which were perfectly seasoned and paired well with the meal. My date had a full rak of ribs which he enjoyed thoroughly. For dessert, we had the chocolate chip/pecan cookie baked in the pan to order with a dollop of vanilla ice cream which was a perfect, comforting end to a great dinner. Portions were large enough for left-overs which was even great a day later. Steaks average 20-high 30 dollars which is great for a steak -- compared to the other steakhouse down the street. Again, like every downtown/river north hot spot, make reservations a few days ahead.

• Pros: Great steak value, good loud ambience, wide open dining room
• Cons: Need reservations on weekends

04/22/08

Lovely Chicago Steakhouse

by Ladybug626

I used to live in the Windy City and one of the places I really miss is Wildfire. It's got a great location (heart of downtown Chicago). It's got great ambiance & atmosphere - nicely lit, casual & not too crowded for a more personal experience. The food is awesome - portion sizes are plentiful. The bar is well stocked with good wine choices & the martini menu is a fan fave. Some of my favs were the cedar planked salmon, filet mignon, coconut shrimp and the red skin mashed potatoes. I've also heard good things about the ribs & creamed spinach. A reservation would help if you go on the weekends and/or plan a large table.

• Pros: food, service, wine/martini list, ambiance
• Cons: parking in downtown Chicago can be pricey

02/14/08

My favorite steakhouse

by sdticks

This is my favorite place to get a bone in ribeye. I wish they would expand to other cities as I no longer live in Chicago.

• Pros: Great Steak
• Cons: Nothing

03/14/07

Turn the AC on for god sakes!

by opusonewine

The food was great but it's no Gibson?s or Kinzie Chop House quality. My biggest complaint was that it was hot, really hot. Maybe it was just that night. One other thing, when will restaurants realize that red wine is not supposed to be "room temperature" but CELLAR temperature (58 degrees). Nothing worse than 80 degree wine.

• Pros: The crusted steak sampler is great.
• Cons: Very hot.

02/27/07

Like, the best meal ever!

by khrisms

I am a New Yorker...which means you can pretty much stick "snob" at the end of my name when it comes to food. Supposedly, NYC has some of the best places to eat in the world. And while in many instances, particularly when it comes to hole-in-the-wall joints, this is true, lately it has been one dissappointing meal after the other. It is becoming the Washington, D.C. a place where you eat to be seen, and much less the place where going out to dinner is a national pasttime. Blame it on the transplants, I suppose. But, meals have been mediocre...service the same. But here in Chicago, I have had the best meal I can remember in a long time (other than Bravo, an Italian restaurant in Clevelands South Suburbs) The blue-cheese crusted steak was cooked to perfection--at an actual by-the-book medium temperature with a perfectly browned crust of maytag blue cheese. The vadalia onion crusted loaf of bread was perfectly warm and accompanied both my shrimp and crab bisque and my steak quite wonderfully. The only thing that was not perfect was my chocolate martini which tasted too much like a hershey bar--and even that was good. To top that all off I had a wonderfully knowledgable server who was attentive to my needs and honest in her reccommendations. Please, do yourself a favor. Skip the Palm or one of those other steak places reccommended to you by the hotel conceirge if you are visting the Chi, and go straight to the Wildfire!

• Pros: Great service and perfect steaks
• Cons: Its a little noisy

12/30/06

My favorite comfort food restaurant

by chitowngirl_reviews

For good comfort food that you won't be dissappointed by, Wilfire is great. The atmosphere and ambiance is comfortable. Enjoy good food in your jeans. I go here several times a year and I've never been dissappointed by the food once (even if I'm a vegetarian that eats fish, a pescatarian?). Go here for a family gathering or just to treat yourself to some good food.

12/08/06

Very Good but I would give it a 9 or 10. That is reserved for Superb.

by m4torres

I was traveling to Chicago and ate here based on the great views it received. The food was is very very good but my steak was quite salty and I love salt. So that disappointed me. Thankfully we also sat in a side dinner area becasue of the structure the main dinning area is very loud with people talking about and the bar located adjacently to the dinning area. All in all it was very good and I was happy but it really could have been better. If traveling to Chicago again I don't think I would eat there again-with all the great choices in that city I would try something else. Maybe my expectations were to high.

• Pros: For the price it was very good
• Cons: Steak was over salted

11/14/06

Great local option for steak and seafood

by marge715

Although a tad corporate (Lettuce Entertain You owns about a zillion restaurants in Chicago) this is a great place. Their food is consistently good from their steaks to chicken to fish and their more causal salads and sandwiches. Their onion loaf to start is amazing as are their martinis. Service is always prompt and friendly.