Continuing the Father's Day Tradition at Mastro's

This year my family continued the tradition of dining out at a steakhouse for Father's Day and my Dad's birthday. Two years ago we went to Chicago Cut, last year we went to Del Frisco's and this year we went to Mastro's. I had been wanting to dine at Mastro's forever but was pretty much waiting for a special occasion.

My family arrived a little early for our reservation so we sat in the piano bar for a cocktail. Mastro's has a live band every night and the band playing on Father's Day was awesome! Any band that can play top 40 hits using bongos is pretty cool in my book. I heard the martinis were pretty fantastic so I ordered the Elderflower Martini with Belvedere citrus vodka, Hendrick's gin, St. Germain, and fresh lemon. It was perfect and it came with enough for a second drink in the martini shaker. Everyone else thought it was super strong but I didn't. I'm not sure what that says about me...

Elderflower Martini

My dad ordered a split of prosecco and my mom ordered a simple Cosmopolitan. The bartender served hers with a bit of dry ice which kept it extremely cold and added to the presentation.

Cosmopolitan

My sister and her boyfriend joined us at the bar and then we made our way to the main dining room. For it being Father's Day, it wasn't as crowded as I had anticipated.

We ordered a few salads and appetizers to start including the Beefsteak Tomato & Onion salad and the Heirloom Tomato & Burrata salad. The burrata was fantastic but I can't say I'd order the tomato and onion salad again...nothing really out of the ordinary there.

Beefsteak Tomato & Onion

Heirloom Tomato & Burrata (not so photogenic eh?)

At the recommendation of our server, we ordered the Jalapeno Tuna Sashimi. You may be surprised to know Mastro's offers a selection of sushi and sashimi. I was so happy we ordered the tuna sashimi because it was my favorite! The quality of the tuna was fantastic and I loved the heat from the jalapeno.

Jalapeno Tuna Sashimi

Since we were at a steakhouse, our whole table ordered steak! Most of us ordered filet mignon but my sister and her BF split the special 33 ounce Tomahawk bone-in ribeye. This thing was MASSIVE but they managed to polish it off. After trying theirs,  I had wished I ordered a bone-in steak, but now I have a reason to come back! My steak was extremely tender and juicy--the perfect texture in my opinion. Mastro's serves all of its steaks on 400 degree plates, along with several verbal disclaimers.

All of Mastro's steaks are served a la carte so we ordered two sides for the table, the scalloped potatoes, and the sauteed mushrooms. If I had it my way, I would have ordered the king crab black truffle gnocchi, but, like I said before, I have an excuse to come back. Both sides were fantastic--super flavorful.

Half of the 33 oz Tomahawk Bone-in Ribeye, Scalloped Potatoes, Sauteed Mushrooms

Since we were celebrating my dad's 30th birthday ;) we were sent a complimentary five-layer chocolate cake. The general consensus was that the frosting was delicious, but the cake was fairly mediocre. Sorry Mastro's.

The dessert Mastro's is known for is the Signature Warm Butter Cake. This baby is one heck of a dessert and would make even Paula Deen blush. Not only does it ooze out butter, you can smell it a mile away. I mean that in the best possible, way of course. It's insanely decadent and dense and best eaten in moderation.

Signature Warm Butter Cake

We enjoyed our experience at Mastro's but felt the service was lacking in comparison to some of the other Chicago steakhouses we've frequented over the years. I will say, the steak was one of the best I've had, as was the sashimi, and my martini. For a meal of that caliber (and price) I expected more attentive waitstaff and filled water glasses.

I've giving Mastro's Steakhouse 4 ghosts for their fabulous martinis, steaks, and sashimi. Skip the chocolate cake and splurge on that Warm Butter Cake!

Mastro's Steakhouse
www.mastrosrestaurants.com
520 N. Dearborn Street
Chicago, IL 60654
312.521.5100