Saturday, July 13, 2013

The Chicago Firehouse

Location: 1401 S. Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 60605
Chicago Firehouse on UrbanspoonThe Chicago Firehouse Restaurant on Foodio54
A Quick Word:
A little over a decade ago, one of Chicago's iconic firehouses was converted to a restaurant.  This south loop establishment brought a fine dining experience to this neighborhood.  Featuring steaks and seafoods for dinner, it can be a little pricey for many.  But, their lunch menu offers a portion of their menu for a more reasonable cost.  After attending the CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS STANLEY CUP RALLY, a few of my friends and I decided to refuel at this restaurant.  The portion sizes are generous and the atmosphere is simply beautiful.  They have a gorgeous outdoor patio that removes you from that city feel.  Unfortunately, when it comes to service, I was a little disappointed.  Our waitress was on the slow side, both on taking orders and simply bringing us our check.  She wasn't very friendly to our table for some reason when compared to the other tables she was covering.  The food was all pretty good, but some of it came out cold or not prepared to preference.  For those reasons, I could only give them a 3.5 mile rating.  Maybe their dinner service is better?

What We Ate:

CFH Burger

I was excited when my friend wanted to split two of the sandwiches.  My choice was the CFH Burger. This burger is cooked to preferred temperature and was topped with sautéed wild mushrooms, caramelized onions, applewood smoked bacon, and your choice of cheese.  We chose the aged cheddar cheese and the burger requested at a medium rare.  When it arrived at the table, the burger looked great.  The cheese was melted and all the ingredients were well-supported by the dense bun.  Unfortunately, the burger was overcooked.  It was closer to medium-medium-well rather than the medium rare we requested.  Luckily, the burger was still moist and was great beef quality.  The bacon was thick cut and the cheddar cheese added a nice sharpness to the burger.  It came with thick cut french fries that I really enjoyed.  Good size meal!

Turkey Club

After scanning the menu, she decided on the turkey club sandwich.  It sounded amazing.  The sandwich was a triple decker made with wheat bread and filled with generous portions of turkey breast, applewood smoked bacon, arugula, tomato, and a lemon dijon aioli.  This sandwich reminded me of Thanksgiving leftovers.  The turkey is thick cut (definitely not deli-style) and all the vegetables were fresh.  The bacon was disappointing because it was more of a soggy mess than crisp.  And, for being so generous on the turkey, they were kind of stingy on the lemon dijon aioli, which was disappointing.  This sandwich is definitely big enough to share, especially if you split an appetizer or order a cup of soup.  Unfortunately, the fries on her plate were on the cold side...  I bet the used an older batch.  Once again, perfection was not met.

The DOs/DON'Ts:
DO:
- Definitely sit outside!  The patio area looked beautiful; unfortunately, we didn't realize that until after we sat inside.  My fault.
- Prices at lunch are very reasonable when compared to their dinner options.

DON'T:
- Service is a little slow, so don't be in a rush.

How far would I walk for this food?



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