When you are traveling, and have a really tight schedule, you don’t always have time to look for a new, exciting places to eat. Even if you have the time to look up a few places, you might not have the time to actually go to one. In this case, what you wish for is a great restaurant inside the hotel you are staying at. This is exactly what happened with me when I traveled to Chicago. I stayed at Sheraton Grand, and thankfully, they had a real restaurant in it.
The inside was a nice size, much bigger than I expected. The restaurant is on the ground floor, and right by the hotel entrance, therefore, they have a street view. The interior is classic, with wood floor, dark furniture, and tables covered with white tablecloths. Lots of photos in sepia, creating kind of historic atmosphere. What history, you might ask? Well, the history of the man behind the restaurant.
The man behind the restaurant is Don Shula, is a legend in football world. He was the head coach of the Baltimore Colts and Miami Dolphins. What makes him legendary? Coach Shula is the winningest coach in NFL history with 347 career wins! He is one of the few coaches to win consecutive Super Bowls, and he has contributed so much to many charities. He opened the first Shula’s Steak House in Florida in 1989, now there are many, many locations in the US, including this one in Chicago. To keep that part of history alive, we were taken to our table with a football! Their signature steak menu was on the football, how cool is that? They do have more steak offerings on the actual menu, on paper.
They brought out a nice sized complimentary bread with butter. It was fluffy and a filling, which is dangerous to do before a meal…
I started with a nice glass of red wine. They had Gerard Bertrand wine from South of France, with European winery of the Year on their winning belt. I chose Corbieres Red Blend ($20), well balanced with intense ripe dark fruits, elegant spice and vanilla notes. It was nice and velvety, a good glass at the end of a long day.
Since I was not super hungry (regrettably), I didn’t order their steak. Instead, I ordered Pan-Seared Sea Scallops ($38). It comes with roasted corn, bacon, asparagus and truffle oil. It was much bigger than I expected, which was a nice surprise. The scallops were really nice and plump, soft and tasty. The roasted corn was sweet and flavorful, asparagus was crunchy and fresh, and bacon added that extra punch of deliciousness. Didn’t get much truffle flavor, but it was still a good dish, I enjoyed it.
We did order a couple of side dishes to share. Asparagus ($11) and Truffle Fries ($11). Asparagus was steamed and served with a side if hollandaise sauce. I am not sure the reason why I don’t have a better photo of the asparagus… Anyways, they were ok, fresh and crunchy, a bit too crunchy for me, but it was still good. I don’t think I have ever had asparagus with hollandaise before, it was quite interesting. The sauce made the veggie more filling and savory.
The truffle fries were nice and thick steak fries, and tossed with truffle oil, parmesan cheese and parsley. It was tasty, soft, and very potato-y. Even thought it was soft, the outside had a nice amount of crisp, crunchy-ness to it that made the fries even better. It was addicting and I totally enjoyed this. I was too full to finish them all, which was such a shame…
My companion ordered one of their steaks and seems like he really liked the steak, as he devoured it all. The staff was really nice, friendly and polite. He made sure we were well taken care of. We didn’t have to ask for anything. It was a very pleasant, relaxing dinner, I wish if I was more hungry so I could have tried their steak…maybe next time.
Shula’s Steak House – Sheraton Grand Chicago, 301 E North Water St, Chicago, IL 60611