Steak In the Slaughterhouse Capital of the World
Chicago is a major transportation hub, a nerve center for American finance and an international tourist destination to boot, but the city got its start in a decidedly unglamorous way. In the mid-19th century, Chicago was just a wide point on the new railways heading east from the nascent agricultural heartland developing across the Midwest and Great Plains. Just 50 years on, it had become the central United States’ principal urban area and the epicenter of the domestic slaughterhouse industry. Today, Chicago’s legacy as a meatpacking town lives on in its thriving restaurant scene.
Starting Small
Before the Civil War, Chicago’s meatpacking industry consisted of small stockyards that served a growing but still-tiny local market. The continent’s interior had yet to be developed, and city fathers were more focused on establishing Chicago as a freshwater port than a hub for then-inefficient modes of overland transportation.
Hitting Its Stride
Two trends, one temporary and the other permanent, changed this calculus during the 1860s. First, the Mississippi River blockade at the height of the Civil War temporarily ended livestock shipments down to New Orleans and forced a scramble to find alternate railroad and canal connections to Lake Michigan and points east. A strategic location on the lake’s southern shore made Chicago the primary beneficiary of this shift.
More importantly, the completion of a transcontinental network of railroads centered at Chicago drove a wave of consolidation in the local meatpacking industry. The city’s expansion accommodated the construction of ever-larger stockyards, culminating with the establishment of the city-like Union Stock Yards during the industry’s early 20th-century heyday.
A Lasting Legacy
Today, Chicago’s legacy as the “slaughterhouse capital of the world” lives on in its bevy of top-notch steakhouses. Good steak may be a mark of refinement everywhere, but Chicago’s historical obsession with red meat makes it especially important here.
1. Chicago Firehouse
Ignore the kitschy interior and set your sights on the wet-aged 22-ounce porterhouse, a dense, full-flavored cut that positively drips with juice. The Firehouse plays up its accoutrements more than most traditional steakhouses: It offers an extensive boutique liquor list and a killer seafood salad.
2. David Burke’s Primehouse
The Primehouse isn’t exactly unorthodox, but its proprietor’s iconoclasm has raised an eyebrow or two over the years. All of its cuts are aged in a salt-tiled cellar for anywhere from 35 days to nearly three months, and range from bone-in rib eyes to straight-ahead salt-and-pepper-seasoned sirloins. This is a steak lover’s steakhouse.
3. Fulton’s On the River
You’ll pay a premium for Fulton’s prime waterfront views, but you won’t care once you’ve tasted its incomparable 24-ounce porterhouse. A world-class wine list and a seafood menu that’s even more impressive than its red-meat offerings don’t hurt either.
4. Gibson’s Steakhouse
Plagued for years by a reputation for low quality, Gibson’s relentless self-improvement campaign has finally paid off. From a basic but delicious 24-ounce sirloin to an earthier, more complex 22-ounce ribeye, its steaks are bigger and juicier than they used to be.
Like many world-class cities, Chicago is renowned for deftly blending the historical and the innovative into memorably in-between creations. Take an evening to experience a particularly delicious blending of old and new at one of the city’s outstanding steakhouses.
Hannah Winters is a guest writer for Delivery.com Chicago, a site she recommends for finding the best delivery options.
