CHIReview
photo credit: Gilt Bar
Gilt Bar
Included In
Once upon a time, the design district of River North wasn’t dominated by high rises and popular restaurants. It was mostly full of galleries, dive bars, and the always-irritating-to-navigate Merchandise Mart. Then, along with the iPad and Season 1 of The Walking Dead, Gilt Bar popped onto the scene. It was trendy, interesting, and completely different from everything else in the neighborhood. And while today it might feel like old news, the more popular (and crowded) this neighborhood gets, the more you need to remember that Gilt Bar is still great.
Gilt Bar is from the same people who own Au Cheval, Bavette’s, and a bunch of other places that are both popular and really good. But contrary to the myth that Prometheus gave us the Au Cheval burger along with fire, Gilt Bar actually preceded all of them. It’s the origin of the extremely dark, chill, speakeasy-type atmosphere you find at these restaurants - and while it doesn’t get a lot of attention anymore, Gilt Bar still has great food (including a burger that’s basically the same as Au Cheval’s). Plus, you can often just walk in and get a table.
The menu here doesn’t have any obvious theme. In fact, it sounds more like a buffet, with starters, salads, a lot of housemade pastas, and entrees that range from fried chicken to mussels to a ribeye. But unlike the last buffet you went to, the food here is actually impressive. For example, the steak tartare with a slow-cooked egg yolk is really well seasoned, and the bone marrow comes with a delicious red onion jam. The truffle bucatini has just the right texture and amount of truffle flavor, and the lone steak on the menu is as good as any you’d find in a fancy River North steakhouse - including Bavette’s. Plus, as mentioned, there’s an exact replica of the Au Cheval cheeseburger here. If you’ve ever waited three hours or more for the famous version, you’ll understand why this place feels like one of those warp zones in Super Mario that takes you instantly to the end of the game.
All that being said, occasionally one of the dishes will make you wonder if they’re actually just testing something out before releasing it into the wild. Like a lobster roll with tough and chewy meat, and pastas that are frequently overcooked to the point that you can’t appreciate their (mostly) fantastic sauces. But considering how good most things here are, these issues are easy enough to look past.
It seems like you leave work in River North on Thursday, and by Friday there’s a new apartment building next door you swear you’ve never seen before. There’s a chance you’re just not very observant, but it’s true that this neighborhood is growing like crazy. Luckily, despite what’s going on around it, Gilt Bar has managed to stay not-insanely-busy while preserving its fun atmosphere and great food. Which is why, unlike the past few seasons of The Walking Dead, it’s still both interesting and very much worth your time.