A Father's Day Feast!

Every Father's day is a big deal in the Topper family because not only is it Father's Day, but my dad's birthday is either on or around the same day. Papa Topps is a huge fan of steak so that always determines the restaurant he chooses for his big day. Last year, we went to Chicago Cut Steakhouse and this year we made our way to Del Frisco's in the Gold Coast.

Del Frisco's is located in what was once the historic Esquire Theatre. The theatre, originally built in 1938, has since closed and has been restored into retail space. Del Frisco's takes over the majority of the space, with two levels and a beautiful patio overlooking Oak Street.

Del Frisco's in the Old Esquire Theater

We took took two escalators to the main dining room which was accented with a stunning three-story wine cellar. We were seated in a plush booth and immediately ordered some champagne to celebrate the occasion. Our server Chris was very knowledgeable about the menus and offered some great suggestions for our meal.

My sister is usually the one who picks out the wine for the table, and this time was no different. She chose a Sinister Hand blend of grenache, syrah, mouvedre and cinsault. It opened up nicely during our meal and was a great compliment to our steaks.

Sinister Hand Wine

Del Frisco's offers a $49 menu option which includes your choice of a salad, entree and side dish. The best part of the deal is that all of the portions are the same size as the regular menu. We couldn't pass this up, so we each chose the items we preferred.

My dad chose the Blue Cheese Wedge salad with bacon, cherry tomatoes and blue cheese dressing. The massive size of the salad blew me away and it had a hefty portion of blue cheese crumbles.

Blue Cheese Wedge Salad

My mom and I chose to start our meals with a classic Caesar Salad. Del Frisco's version includes uncut leaves of romaine and the typical fixings of parmesan, dressing and croutons. I really loved how light the Caesar dressing was!

Caesar Salad

Each steak on the fixed menu comes with your choice of seafood. My parents both chose the 8 ounce filet mignon paired with sauteed shrimp in a NOLA cajun sauce. The steaks were perfectly cooked to our likeness and well-seasoned. I could taste the quality of the beef and appreciated how flavorful it was. It definitely didn't need any sort of sauce.

Filet Mignon with NOLA Shrimp

I also went with the filet but decided to combine it with a crab cake. This crab cake was probably the best one I've ever had because it had virtually no filler. The cake had huge lumps of fresh crab meat and was served with a remoulade.

Filet with Crab Cake

My sister decided not to get the set menu and instead chose to get Del Frisco's house specialty, their bone-in steak. The 22 ounces of bone-in strip steak had extra flavor from the bone and she was able to finish nearly all of it. Needless to say, I was impressed (and so was our server).

22 oz Bone-in Strip Steak

Each of our entrees also came with our choice of side so we decided to mix it up and share each other's. We tried the chateau potatoes, sauteed mushrooms and I upgraded to the lobster macaroni & cheese. Each side is served by a different Del Frisco's server so when our entrees arrived, we had a whole army of servers. I've never seen service like that before and I loved it! We each got a generous helping of the three sides which were perfect with our steaks. I loved the gigantic amount of fresh lobster meat in the macaroni & cheese, the sauteed mushrooms were delicious but I felt the chateau potatoes were oversalted. I found myself chugging water the rest of the night because there was so much salt in the food.

Chateau Potatoes, Lobster Macaroni & Cheese, Sauteed Mushrooms

No celebration is complete without a sweet treat to end the evening. Our server brought out a huge slice of one of Del Frisco's signature desserts, a six layer lemon cake. I'm not usually a fan of fruity desserts, but I love cake, and this dessert was no exception. Each layer melted in your mouth and the decadent frosting was absolutely perfect. It was a very light cake, which, after a large steak dinner, was great.

Six Layer Lemon Cake

Overall, our family's meal at Del Frisco's was fantastic. From the perfectly choreographed service and beautiful dining room, to the tasty steaks and sides. I definitely recommend dining here for a special occasion, or even when you're simply craving an indulgent experience. Del Frisco's gets 4.5 stars!

Del Frisco's Double Eagle Steakhouse
www.delfriscos.com
58 E. Oak Street
Chicago, IL 60611
312.888.2499