The inside was a Italian style steakhouse, dark and awesome ambiance. It reminded me of Bavette’s Steakhouse in Las Vegas. So I do a little digging online and and come to find out they are owned by the same company so it all makes perfect sense. They had the old red and white checkered table clothes and the battery powered lantern on the table. 

 

We all started with water and the guys both got mixed drinks, a bourbon old fashioned and a Gold rush. The gold rush was bourbon, honey, and lemon. My friend got a lemon drop martini and I ordered a Malbec with dinner. They brought bread which was super soft rolls with almost a pretzel like exterior. Accompanying the bread was a butter drizzled with honey. I enjoyed it.  I was now ready for the real food.

 

Appetizers were decided as oysters, fritto misto(fried calamari), meatballs, pigs in a blanket, and skillet cornbread. Pigs in a blanket were sold out for the night. Insert sad face here. Oysters were West Coast but I don’t remember the name. I’m always so bad at that. The meatballs had excellent flavor. A nice mixture of different meats and the sauce was very flavorful. Calamari was nicely fried and contained several small cubed fried potatoes as well. They were unexpected but tasty. I tried a small piece of cornbread. It seemed good by my friends said it was delicious.  It was accompanied by a wildflower honey butter as well. Next came my smoked salmon Caesar salad. It was decent. I always enjoy the crispy potatoes in there. I’ve had the same salad at Bavette’s and it was much better. I still ate over half of it. 

 

Funny fact about us, if there are meatballs or crab cakes on the menu they definitely end up on our table. We kept discussing what we would have for mains. I wanted the prime rib and was informed they were out for the night. No big deal so I got the ribeye instead. My best friend got fried chicken because that’s her favorite. My husband had the crab cake so we could all try it. He didn’t want a huge entree because of all the apps and sides.  The last friend got fish and chips. We had an array of food that’s for sure. 

 

As sides we ordered the truffle Mac and cheese, thick sliced bacon, and au gratin potatoes. I’m really proud of us because normally we’d order about 6-10 sides and we are never able to eat them all. As you can see we love variety and trying all the things. I don’t eat Mac and cheese(blasphemy I know!) but they liked it. They said it wasn’t too truffly.  I think I made up that word. I loved the au gratin potatoes. Last few times we’ve tried them out they weren’t cooked all the way through. 

 

Can you just stop for a minute and look at the crispy fried chicken in the picture and notice that small bowl of amazing mashed potatoes there?  The silky whipped potatoes were good but that chicken au jus drizzled over the top was just something I can’t describe. I wanted to lick the bowl. Also the fried chicken was flavorful, crispy, juicy and just pretty damn good. Like I said we try a lot of fried chicken and it’s a top contender for sure. 

 

I’m a bad foodie and didn’t take a picture of my steak. What a shame!  I’m glad the prime rib was out because the ribeye was where it’s at. It came sliced with steak salt. The outside was seared so perfectly but the inside was a medium rare. I couldn’t stop eating it. I sampled the crab cake of course and it was ALL blue crab. Absolutely zero filler. Yum!  Fish and chips looked good and he liked them. 

 

Everyone was too full for dessert but since we were celebrating my birthday the waitress asked if hypothetically they had something flavored chocolate/vanilla/browned butter which would I choose?  I said browned butter and am I so glad that I did. She brought me a dish of browned butter   Ice cream and I’ve asked myself several times since then why in the world I haven’t had it before. Honestly I was expecting a cake but I’m telling you I got something much more and I wasn’t disappointed. 

 

Overall a very successful meal. I love when I randomly pick a spot and it’s everything we wanted and more. The restaurant was perfect. Next time you are in Chicago wander down that brick alleyway and grab a seat at Trivoli Tavern. You won’t be disappointed. Until next time, go enjoy a meal and share what you ate. I’m always open for suggestions.