Take Me Out to the Ballgame - Harry Caray's
Written: May 15 '05 (Updated Mar 26 '07)
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Pros: Good menu variety, friendly service and free dessert for my sister's birthday
Cons: Crowded table, overpriced, valet parking is not clearly advertised.
The Bottom Line: We had a nice meal, but aren't that fired up about going back for a second try.
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| chelledun's Full Review: Harry Caray's |
On my brief visit to Chicago yesterday, I worked up quite an appetite at the Shedd Aquarium. After driving around the city a bit, my family was lured in by the sign (shaped like a giant bat) in front of Harry Caray’s, an Italian Steakhouse. This restaurant is located on West Kinzie Street, and has a few other smaller locations around the Chicago area.
General Information
This restaurant is an Italian steakhouse named for the late baseball announcer Harry Carey. It has been in operation since 1987, and has won several awards in that time. The restaurant has four floors, and is the home to many special events and private parties.
Harry Carey’s is open for lunch from 11:30-3:00 p.m. and for dinner from 5:00 p.m. until 10:30. Weekend hours are slightly extended. The bar is open all day and night, from 11:30 to close. One complaint I must offer is the parking situation. On our visit, there is a sign inside the restaurant offering valet parking for $7.00. However, there was no way to see this sign until we had already parked in a lot across the street for $13.00 and entered the restaurant. Keep this in mind and ask someone from your party to run in and request valet parking.
Atmosphere
I enjoyed the atmosphere of Harry Caray's. The walls are covered with baseball memorabilia, particularly focused on the cubs. It is displayed in a tasteful way, however, more elegant than a neighborhood Applebees’ or something. The dining rooms feature dark wood and white tablecloths. On the main floor, I noticed the area was sectioned off into two smaller dining rooms instead of left as one large on. The bar area has a rather upscale look, and be sure and visit the “holy cow” there, complete with Harry-style eyeglasses.
Our Experience
After we realized the parking snafu, it was really too late to move our car since my father had already paid $13 for parking across the street. We were seated almost immediately. I have to complain that the table was a bit crowded, as we were at a round table in one of the corners. There were only five of us, but I felt like I was really having to juggle my dishes around and there wasn’t an inch of space extra on the table. Eventually I started stacking the bread plate and extra plates in the middle to make room for my entrée. I looked around, and it seemed that many of the tables for groups larger than four were similarly small and wedged in the corners.
The meal started with some warm bread and butter. My family is big bread people, but we didn’t actually go through all of it. It wasn’t really warm, which was a bit disappointing. The menu was quite extensive, featuring appetizers, soups, sandwiches, steaks and chicken dishes, and many Italian specialties. People at our table ordered several different types of food, which made me happy as I could taste them all for the review I was already writing in my head.
The food was a bit slow to arrive in my opinion, but not too bad. I was in a pasta mood, so I had spaghetti with chicken. I added the chicken because the only other pasta dish with chicken did not have a red sauce, and I can’t do creamier sauces. The sauce was good but I found the chicken to be just a bit overcooked. My husband really enjoyed his rotini with Italian sausage, and ate the whole thing. I was most jealous of my mother’s selection of the one of the house specialties, bone-in chicken vesuvio. This was the best deal of the day for sure, as for $11.95, she got a huge chicken breast, vesuvio potatoes, and a bowl of penne pasta with marinara sauce. The chicken was very good. My father’s chicken parmigiana sandwich was an interesting offering, but definitely a knife and fork sandwich, and pretty rich for me.
The service was very attentive. We had mentioned it was my sister’s birthday upon entering the restaurant, and she was presented with singing waiters bearing a free piece of key lime pie. This was pretty good, with just the right mixture of sweet and sour filling on a very tasty crust. No one else had dessert, we were perfectly content just to mooch off hers.
This isn’t a cheap restaurant, even for lunch. Even the cheaper sandwiches cost about $10, and entrees go up as high as $37.00. The food was pretty good, but probably overpriced for what it was.
Overall…
We had an overall enjoyable experience at Harry Carey’s. The food was decent, and the atmosphere was pleasant. However, I don’t think it will be on the top of our list to visit again when there are so many other great restaurants in Chicago. It was nothing too spectacular, an I am giving it three stars because of all the competition out there.
*While you're in the area...
Shedd Aquarium
Millennium Park
Field Museum of Natural History
Walnut Room at Marshall Field's
Rainforest Cafe
Recommended:
No
Kid Friendliness: No
Notes, Tips or Menu Recommendations Key lime pie, chicken vesuvio
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