Mike M.
Yelp
Rosemont is the hub for pretty much every steakhouse chain in the area. I've never really considered Harry Carays to be in the same class as Mortons/Gibsons/Capital Grille, but rather an Italian restaurant that happened to also serve steak. One of their advantages is a more extensive menu of non-steak items, so we usually come here when we're with the kids or some of the lighter meat eaters of the family haha. Every time I give them another chance to change my mind, I'm usually left a bit underwhelmed (at least for that price point).
We went here for Father's day, and the experience was especially bad. Our server Rose was great, but I think the source of the problem is the kitchen. Rose was very attentive and checked with the kitchen multiple times, but our orders were just simply never ready. We came for a very early dinner, so it's not like the place was even that slammed with orders. It started off well with our drink orders and then maybe 15-20 minutes for our appetizers. That's where it went down hill. The steaks and main dishes didn't come for literally another hour after the appetizers hit the table. At that point, it was well over an hour since we actually placed the order. The worst part was that the steaks were almost room temperature at that point, as if they were just sitting under a heating lamp while the rest of the order was being prepared. On top of that, we ordered a bunch of shareable sides for the table, but they were nowhere to be seen until another 20 minutes after the steaks arrived. I thought the point of sides is to eat along with the steak not after it was almost done.
Look, I'm no steak snob. I'll eat even the cheapest cut of beef if it's seasoned right and fresh off the grill. But when you're charging $60-70 for a steak, that price point comes with higher expectations and comparison to other prime steakhouses. Even if we disregard the fact that it came out cold, I have never once thought the steak at Harry Caray's could compete with any of the other big names down the road. In fact, I would hands down take a ribeye from Wildfire for $20 less rather than go back to Harry Caray's.
Overall, I can't say that the food wasn't good. The calamari and toasted ravioli were great, I've heard good things about their Italian entrees, but the steaks have always been underwhelming. Once you add in slow service, especially at that price point, you'll easily be left regretting not going somewhere else for that special occasion.