River North's 1941 Italian-American Steakhouse
Gene & Georgetti on Franklin Street is the 1941 River North Italian-American steakhouse — Sinatra ate here, the photographs on the wall confirm it, and the room continues to operate at the same address with the same format. The format is American steakhouse with proper Italian-American grounding.
The cooking is uncompromising 1941 steakhouse: prime steaks, classic sides, the Italian-American pasta and chicken dishes the format demands. Nothing has been modernised; nothing needed to be.
What to Order
Prime ribeye or porterhouse — the dish the room is built around. Chicken Vesuvio — the Chicago Italian-American classic, treated with the seriousness it deserves. The garbage salad as a starter. The wine list is unsurprisingly deep on Italian and Californian producers.
The Setting
The dining room is the experience. Wood-panelled, photograph-covered, the steady rhythm of an institution that has not changed its format in three generations. The bar absorbs walk-ins; the dining room handles serious dinners.
Best Occasion: Close a Deal
Gene & Georgetti is one of Chicago's most distinctive deal-dinner rooms. The 1941 lineage, the Italian-American format, the photographs on the walls — combine into the kind of dinner that signals a particular kind of Chicago seriousness. The format keeps the meeting focused.