Choose Chicago: Gene & Georgetti, Chicago’s Oldest Steakhouse, Turns 75 Years Old!
Since the restaurant first opened in 1941, Gene & Georgetti have been serving up some of the best steaks the city has to offer. Help Chicago’s oldest steakhouse celebrate its 75th anniversary with an order from their special menu. From the Filet Mignon to the Chicken alla Joey, taste why this steakhouse has been a sizzling success!
Gene & Georgetti was the realization of the American dream for partners Gene Michelotti and Alfredo “Georgetti” Federighi. Though he spoke little to no English upon his arrival, he worked numerous jobs ranging from night watchman, porter, dishwasher, and bartender, saving up his money to someday open a business of his own. While working as a bartender, he encountered his future business partner Federighi, who was working as a chef. In 1941, Gene & Georgetti opened its doors, with Alfredo manning the kitchen, and Gene working the front and holding down the bar.
Now 75 years later, the restaurant is still in family hands: Gene’s daughter Marion and her husband Tony Durpetti work hard to keep the restaurant in the family while also treating their staff and customers like family.
Gene & Georgetti goes to great lengths to ensure that their steaks are the best you’ll ever taste. The evenly marbled prime beef is vacuum sealed in Cryovac and wet-aged in its own juices for 28 days at 30 degrees on site the broiled in a 1,100-degree Vulcan broiler. You can count on a cut that’s heavily chared with a dark crust, so tender you can cut it with a butter knife.
The sides are perfectly tuned into the main steak course and included classic creamed or garlicky, sauteed spinach, broiled mushrooms, french fried onion rings, and potatoes to please, served five ways: pan-fried Lyonnaise style, roasted a la Vesuvio with rosemary, mashed, garlic mashed, or quite simply baked.
The traditional Italian fare here is stellar, too: the pasta is handmade on site, the minestrone hearty and homemade, the tiramisu rich with marscapone. Gene & Georgetti has perfected the Shimp de Jonghe, a garlicky shrimp casserole; the original recipie Chicago is attributed to the DeJonghe brothers, Belgian immigrants who ran the famed Dejonghe Hotel and Restaurant from 1899 to 1923.
At a time when many steakhouses focus on image, Gene & Georgetti keeps its eye on excellent service and quality food. Apart from a mural of a windswept, sleepy Italian seaside village in the main dining room, and the photos of famous regulars that line the original wood-paneled southern wall, the decor here is understated, timeless and decidedly masculine; not much has changed over the years and the clientele appreciates that fact. A large, autographed poster of Lucille Ball recalls her 1974 feature film musical “Mame,” in which Gene & Georgetti played the role of a 1920s speakeasy.
The seating area near the 2nd floor fireplace makes for an especially cozy and memorable dining experience. The 2nd floor mural depicts the neighborhood as it was when the steakhouse opened, a primarily Italian-American area, anchored by the Church of the Assumption (323 W. Illinois St.).
The Special Anniversary Menu:
The Gene & Georgetti 75th Anniversary Menu for two, available for three days only, beginning Thursday, July 21 until Saturday, July 23 costs $75 (for two guests, not including tax and gratuity). All proceeds from this menu will benefit the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, which honored Gene & Georgetti with the inaugural Chicago Classic award for lifetime achievement at their 2015 Jean Banchet Awards.
Select two appetizers from:
Pan Seared Bacon-Wrapped Day Boat Scallops, Sundried Tomatoes and White Wine
Classic Fried Meat Ravioli with House Made Marinara
Sautéed Italian Sausage with Tri-Color Bell Peppers
Bacon and Blue, Hand Cut Bacon with Blue Cheese Mousse on a Cucumber Coin
Burrata Heirloom Cherry Tomatoes with imported Olive Oil
Handcrafted Flat Bread with Pesto and Roasted Vegetables
Choose two salads:
Roast Beet & Goat Cheese, tossed with Radishes, Red Onions served on Organic Bibb Lettuce
Garbage Salad, Gene & Georgetti’s Signature Salad with Chilled Iceberg Lettuce, Salami, Mozzarella Cheese, Tomatoes, Red Onions, Black Olives, Pimento, Celery, Radish tossed in Red Wine Vinaigrette topped with a Jumbo Shrimp
Salad Alla Joe, House Created Salad with Cool Crisp Romaine Lettuce, Broccoli, Bell Peppers, Pepperoncini, Black Olives, Radishes and Tomatoes in a Gene & Georgetti House Vinaigrette
Arugula Salad, with fresh Figs, Pinenuts, tossed in a Fig Vinaigrette
Panzanella Salad, Heirloom Cherry Tomatoes, Basil, Crostini, Fresh Mozzarella in a Light Vinaigrette
For the main course, choose two entrees:
Braised Short Rib in a Red Wine Reduction with a Creamy Polenta
Mango Chilean Sea Bass with sautéed Brussel Sprouts and Mango Chutney
Bucatini Carbonara, a true classic like Gene & Georgetti
Rigatoni tossed in a Squash Ragu
Signature Eggplant Parmigiana with House Made Marinara and Mozzarella Cheese
Surf and Turf, Broiled 5 oz. Filet Mignon with Gulf of Mexico Jumbo Broiled Shrimp
Filet Brie, Bacon-wrapped Beef Medallions topped with Pecan-Crust Brie
Broiled Rib Eye, Broiled wet aged 16 oz. Rib Eye
Guests will also choose two side plates that include Roasted Cauliflower, Brussels Sprouts, Sautéed Rapini, Crab Mac and Cheese or Asparagus and will end on a sweet note with either a Chocolate Crunch Praline, Key Lime Tart, Spumoni or Tiramisu.
Click here to check out the feature on Choose Chicago’s website!
