Marina City's Riverfront Classic
Smith & Wollensky in Marina City is the Chicago outpost of the green-and-white Manhattan steakhouse — a classic American format transplanted to a riverfront address with one of the city's most reliable patios for warm-evening business dinners.
The cooking is traditional American steakhouse without modernisation: prime cuts, dry-aged in-house, classic sides, the kind of seafood programme the format demands. The wine list runs deep on Bordeaux and Napa.
What to Order
Dry-aged sirloin or ribeye, prepared in the steakhouse-classic format. Crab cakes, shrimp cocktail, the expected starter selection. Hashbrowns and the steakhouse sides; chocolate cake at the end.
The Patio
The riverfront patio handles a long Chicago summer evening. The interior dining room handles year-round dinners with proper acoustic spacing for business conversation.
Best Occasion: Close a Deal
Smith & Wollensky is one of River North's most reliable classic-format deal dinners. The format communicates a particular kind of New York-meets-Chicago seriousness; the wine list and cellar handle whatever the negotiation requires.