CHIReview
Included In
Chicago has a million steakhouses: classic institutions popular with tourists, places to conduct Very Important Business, and the sceney spots—ones with good sound systems and selfie mirrors in the bathroom, that may or may not deliver on both style and substance.
Fioretta, an Italian steakhouse in Fulton Market from the team behind Lyra and Prime and Provisions, is definitely sceney. But it successfully straddles the line between being the type of place where you can order negronis poured tableside from miniature gas cans, and a place to take your beef aficionado CEO.
photo credit: Kim Kovacik
photo credit: Kim Kovacik
photo credit: Kim Kovacik
The food is everything you want from an old-school seeming steakhouse with a humidor (which, yes, this spot has). The steak is excellent—like an olive-fed wagyu New York strip so tender you’ll wonder whether that cow had a personal masseuse. And since Fioretta bills itself as Italian, the menu also has dishes like carpaccio, and crispy chicken parm so thin it’s sliced with a pizza cutter. Most importantly: there are little plates of housemade pasta for when the whipped potatoes aren't special enough to accompany your $165 steak.
photo credit: Kim Kovacik
Fioretta delivers on style too, channeling mid-century glamour without being over-the-top theme-y. Bartenders in waistcoats and checkered marble floors might make you think people are here coat-checking fedoras and debating McCarthyism. There’s the requisite retro food-on-a-trolley—Caesar salad made tableside by a server wedged against velvet booths, dodging diners and staff careening through the aisle.
photo credit: Kim Kovacik
photo credit: Kim Kovacik
photo credit: Kim Kovacik
The crowded, buzzy atmosphere is distinctly 21st century. A bottle sparkler will probably make an appearance, as will eight carafes of wine for the shout-talking team dinner across the room. With so much activity going on, plus an open kitchen and live music on the weekend, Fioretta can get loud. But it's also fun, and let’s be real— you don’t need to hear an expensive meal to enjoy it.
Food Rundown
photo credit: Kim Kovacik
Octopus Carpaccio
photo credit: Kim Kovacik
Bone-In Ribeye
photo credit: Veda Kilaru
Olive-Fed Wagyu NY Strip
photo credit: Kim Kovacik
Chicken Parmesan
photo credit: Kim Kovacik
Cacio e Pepe
photo credit: Kim Kovacik