Smith and Wollensky in Chicago, Illinois: America's Premiere Traditional Steakhouse

On a recent trip to Chicago my boyfriend and I chose to have dinner at, "Smith and Wollensky: America's Premiere Traditional Steakhouse," as stated on their website.

Smith and Wollensky's offers diners USDA Prime, dry-aged hand cut beef. They also offer fine seafood. In fact, on my visit I chose to have a tuna steak for my meal. Smith and Wollensky's allows you to choose from one of five desired preparations for your steak, they are: Simply Grilled, Au Poivre, Oscar Style, Gorgonzola Crusted, and Cajun Seasoned. To have your steak prepared, "Au Poivre," means that the meat is coated with cracked peppercorns and served with a sauce created with cognac, heavy cream, and the fond from the pan that the meat was prepared in. I chose this preparation for my tuna steak, and was not disappointed. The cracked peppercorn coating provided just enough spice and seasoning that I needed to add nothing when it arrived to our table.

My boyfriend chose to have an 18 ounce sirloin, Simply Grilled. He was extremely happy with his choice when he arrived. We chose to share a baked potato from their Sides for Two menu, which also offers the following: Whipped Potatoes, Creamed Spinach, Hash Browns, Seasonal Vegetables, Onion Rings, French Fries, and Truffled Mac and Cheese. Needless to say there was more than enough potato for the two of us.

To complete our dinner we shared a generous piece of carrot cake. The cake was moist and the cream cheese frosting was perfect, not too sweet as you may sometimes find in restaurants. The size of the piece of cake was so large that we took about half of it home.

Our experience at Smith and Wollensky was wonderful. From the attentive service by the wait staff, who had our water glasses constantly full, to the exquisitely prepared meal, which had included a tin of seasoned bread and butter that I couldn't get enough of, to the very generous portion of carrot cake that we shared for dessert.

While Smith and Wollensky isn't a restaurant I can afford to visit regularly it is someplace I hope to visit again someday and highly recommend for everyone at least once in their life.

So, if you have the chance visit one of these Smith and Wollensky's locations for a fine dining experience: Chicago, Miami Beach, Washington D.C., Las Vegas, Philadelphia, Columbus, Houston, Boston, and New York