"It doesn’t matter if you’re dining solo at the bar, with a date admiring the cute horsies on the banquette, or keeping the peace at a twelve-seat round table—you’re at this Humboldt Park spot for the fried chicken. It has the perfect crispy-to-juicy ratio, and comes with rich gravy, fluffy biscuits, and chile-maple butter. But the new American menu has a few other things worth trying, like the crab gravy with rice, or their pillowy baked potato gnocchi. Make sure to also check out Split Rail’s basement speakeasy, Dorothy (which has excellent cocktails), and their art gallery next door, The Martin. Food Rundown photo credit: Alina Tsvor Chips And Dip This appetizer sounds very simple, and on a superficial level, it is. But the super-thin housemade chips are expertly salted and fried, and the french onion dip is fresh and flavorful. It’s served with a side of trout roe, a.k.a. rec room caviar. photo credit: Alina Tsvor Chicken Nuggets Like the kind you’d get in a Happy Meal - except these taste like they’re made from real meat. It kind of freaked us out how much we liked them. photo credit: Alina Tsvor Loaded Baked Potato Gnocchi Gnocchi turns out to be a perfect vehicle for loaded potato toppings - which makes sense, when you think about it. photo credit: Alina Tsvor Toast # 2 This is topped with fig jam, brussels sprouts, and fried oysters, and it’s very bad. The sweetness of the jam and the funkiness of the brussels sprouts don’t go well with the oysters at all, and somehow the fact that the bread itself tastes good makes the overall dish worse. photo credit: Alina Tsvor Wild Boar Bolognese The sauce on this tastes like it was seasoned with a Hamburger Helper spice packet. That might make it sound terrible, but clearly Split Rail has a team of scientists figuring out what makes that stuff good without being gross. Spiced Pork And Beef Meatballs We can’t decide if these are actually supposed to taste like meatloaf and gravy, or if the rest of the retro dishes on the menu just create that perception. The meatballs are tender and flavorful, and get an upgrade with a pumpkin romesco sauce. It’s a great dish. photo credit: Alina Tsvor Lamb Tartare This doesn’t really go with the theme, so we figure it’s only on the menu for one reason - someone here can make a great lamb tartare. Order it. Roasted Vegetable Medley Broccoli is the primary ingredient in this medley, which comes with a white cheddar cheese sauce. It’s not exactly diet food, and it reminds us of a frozen Green Giant broccoli and cheese steam bag, in a bad way. It’s too heavy and doesn’t have much flavor except salt. photo credit: Alina Tsvor Fajitas, Reimagined This sounds more like an Onion headline than something we want to eat, but the steak is cooked perfectly, it’s seasoned like fajitas, and the corn puree (a reimagined tortilla, we guess) and red pepper gelee on the plate are really good. photo credit: Alina Tsvor A Duck In Three Acts As you might guess based on the name, this dish has duck three ways: a roasted breast, a duck egg, and a duck leg scrumpet (that’s pressed, rolled in breadcrumbs, and fried). It’s a take on a chicken and rice dinner, and all three versions of the duck taste good, but the parsnips on the side just make us want potatoes." - John Ringor
