Sullivan's Steakhouse

The Restaurant

Sullivan's Steakhouse opened in Naperville in 2003 as part of the chain's careful Chicago-suburban expansion, and remains the most ambitious live-music-and-steak room in DuPage County. The two-floor space at the south end of Main Street, across from the Burlington Northern station that runs into Chicago Union, has been styled as a 1940s supper club: dark wood, dim brass lamps, white tablecloths, a long bar at the entrance, and a small stage where a jazz trio plays Thursday through Saturday from 7pm.

The steaks are USDA Prime, wet-aged twenty-eight days, and broiled at 1,600 degrees in a Montague broiler that produces the dark-charred crust the Chicago steakhouse style is built on. The cuts go from a six-ounce filet to a thirty-two-ounce porterhouse, and the bone-in ribeye and the New York strip are the cuts the regulars order. Sides are a la carte and oversized, the lobster mashed potatoes and the truffled mac-and-cheese are the dishes that go around the table, and the wedge salad with bacon and bleu cheese is the way every business dinner here starts.

The bar is the room's secret weapon. Sullivan's pours an extensive martini list, a Macallan and Glenmorangie Scotch shelf that runs to thirty references, and a wine list built around big Napa cabs and California chardonnays that match the steaks. The bartenders know their regulars by name and drink, which is the small-town courtesy a chain steakhouse occasionally still gets right. The room is busy on weekends and humming with mid-week corporate tables, book accordingly.