Tortoise Club

Wow! Really enjoyed this place. Food was fantastic. We got the salmon and filet mignonette. Delicious. Service was excellent: we got seated but wanted closer to the music and they found us a new table quickly with no fuss. Waitress was experienced and very helpful. The live music and overall atmosphere is what has us coming back again.

I love this place. The ambiance, the food, the service — it’s all fantastic. It reminds me of a throw-​back supper club when dining out was an experience, not just a meal. It’s great for large groups or an intimate dinner withe an array of entrees to please everyone.

I really wanted to love Tortoise Club. It was my choice for a special occasion dinner with a group of close friends. But I didn’t love the TC. I didn’t really even like it. The ambiance is exactly what I had been looking for, very traditional, clubby and mature. My first impression of the look was positive but immediately I sensed an off-​putting smell, like all of the wood (lots of wood) had been recently varnished. It was not pleasant, especially for a restaurant. Next, we had requested an area for our group and we were seated in a little alcove which would have worked well if it hadn’t been about 80 degrees with no air movement. It was uncomfortable all evening. We made mention and our waiter (more on him later) did relate our complaint to the manager. I guess the heat was turned off and to be fair, it was an unusually warm day and the room was packed. But still eating when you are warm– not good. But what of the food you say?
Meh. The food was spotty. I, myself had a dreadful meal. My companions seemed to enjoy their meals more but no one raved.
Let’s begin with the rolls. Many restaurants give you bread with your meals, free, gratis. But not TC. You can order their special Parker house rolls. What I found special was that they cost 4.95, had weird pepper on the top and were served with an unpleasant-​tasting dill butter which sounded better then it tasted. Oh, and you get four per order. I have had much better bread and rolls for free (Wildfire corn bread or onion loaf– unlimited).
Next was an uninspired Cesare salad, nothing special for 7.95. So I was super looking forward to my entrée, steak frites. But what I got was far from steak frite. It was supposed to be Waygu beef and maybe it was but it was tough and tasteless. I couldn’t cut the steak. And then there were the frites. I have never seen a more sad pile of soggy French fries. They weren’t frites– I have had delicious steak frites at Mon Ami Gabi and DJ bistro in Lake Zurich among other places. To compound the pain, the waiter wanted to argue with me saying they had never had a complaint on this dish. I asked him to try the frites and even he had to admit they were soggy and cold. So I got the skirt steak which tasted better but was still tough and the celery root mash which was too salty. So basically my meal sucked. As I said, my companions seemed to like their meals. Two had the skirt steak, one had chicken, one had the Cornish hen, one had salmon and one had white fish. Dessert was okay. Folks liked the cherry pie and the peanut butter pie which I felt was too rich but strangely tasteless. We did get free champagne to toast our special occasion and my meal was comped which I would expect. Would I go back. No. Plenty of other great Chicago restaurants to try. I would have given only one star based on my experience but gave two because my companions seemed to like it more than I.

The Tortoise Club is a great spot in the thick of it all. It has an old style charm about it — with modern, delicious American food and cocktails. I’d say that it’s fit for foodies, friend gatherings, special occasions and dates. I wouldn’t bring a family with small kids here.
I was recently here with a large group celebrating a birthday — and the service and food were fantastic. The cocktails were even better!
A great spot worth a visit!

While I was staying downtown at the Wyndham which is amazing the front desk told me to eat at the tortoise club which was 2 blocks away from the hotel. When we got there it had a very old but romantic setting. Dimmed lights, thick table cloths, and more silverware then I am use to. When me and my gf got there we were instantly greeted by 2 associates. We sat in a very nice booth with candle light. I had the New York steak crusted with blue cheese with grilled asparagus. For the price of almost $ 50 a steak it was okay, I had it done medium but it seemed rougher than normal and the blue cheese was overwhelming the taste of the meat. If you are downtown and really want to go «fancy» and treat your lady go here, the food is just okay but the location is perfect and the ambiance is amazing along with exceptional service.

Selected our meal based on past reviews-​lovely spot for a valentine dinner! Great meal!

Tortoise Club is a great spot for a nice dinner out with friends or a fancy date. This upscale restaurant has a warm, welcoming feel. I enjoyed the live music playing in the background while we spent time in conversation, good food, and drinks.
We tried a few items on the menu and I personally felt the Oak Aged Bourbon Barreled Meatloaf, Steak burger, and calamari were the top dishes!
The meatloaf was rich in flavor and not dry whatsoever. The meatloaf came with mashed potatoes and Brussels sprout sprinkled with bacon bits. Portions were rather small in my opinion, definitely not enough to share, but if you don’t like sharing then it’s perfect.
The steak burger was perfectly tender and juicy the way a good burger should be. The burger came with a side of fries.
If you’re party is generally hungry then you’ll want to order at least 1 hors d’oeuvres for every 2 – 3 people for your entrée to be filling.

I came heat for restaurant week with friends on Saturday and really enjoyed my meal. We started with steak tartare and wild mushroom soup. The tartare was delicious but the soup was alright. My entrée was a birkshire pork chop. Now that made the meal worth eating! Cooked to perfection! For dessert I had the tortoise pie. Not really my thing, it was too sweet for my taste. The waiter was great and suggested a great Cabernet that went well with my chop. I would definitely return but maybe some new menu items.

A few friends and I came here for happy hour one Friday. It was a nice atmosphere, with plenty of seating in the bar area. The oysters were okay. Nothing too spectacular. The Chicagoan was a good drink, but a bit strong for me. If you don’t like a strong-​tasting drink, be sure to ask them to dilute it a bit. Easy to rack up a tab at happy hour because there aren’t any drink specials.

Stopped by with co-​workers for the restaurant week lunch special. The lunch special consists of 3 courses — appetizer, entrée, and dessert. The choice of appetizer was soup of the day (mushroom/​asparagus), tomato soup, or house salad. Choice of entrée included kale and quinoa salad, bacon cheeseburger, fish and chips, and meatloaf. Dessert was limited to tortoise pie — chocolate custard, candied walnuts, bourbon-​caramel sauce, and whipped cream.
I started with the house salad — green leaf lettuce, julienned granny smith apples, candied walnuts, goat cheese, cranberries, and vanilla vinaigrette. The salad was great and I especially enjoyed the light vinaigrette, although I didn’t really taste any vanilla. I was conflicted between the meatloaf and fish/​chips. I ordered the fish and chips based on our servers recommendation. The fish and chips is not a great value — one piece of fish comes with the order. While I enjoyed the flaky fish, tempura batter and tartar sauce, I couldn’t get past the portion size. The fries were decent as well. The dessert was outstanding and reminded me of a walnut brownie. The dessert is extremely rich if you’re wondering.
My co-​workers enjoyed their bacon cheeseburgers and meatloaf. I had a taste of the meatloaf and it was definitely the highlight of the lunch. I would return to order the meatloaf.
**I revised my rating because the restaurant week lunch special, specifically the fish and chips is not a great deal. With tax and tip I paid $ 30 for my meal.

Nice place with live music, but crowed was so so. I guess midwest, I shouldn’t expect more ;-)
We stopped by for oysters and champagne, but next time would like to try full dinner.

I came here with a small group, and was able to secure the private room that was beautiful, and warm on a cold snowy night!
They have a great wine selection and we ordered the Fleur De Campo Pinot, which was complimentary with everyone’s orders.
I loved the menu immediately because they have gluten free items very clearly marked. It made it very easy for me to order.
Favorite appetizers were the oysters and the relish tray. We also ordered the calamari, but I would say that it was not as special as the mix of East Coast and West Coast oysters and relish options.
The favorite plate of our group was the whitefish, lamb rack, and the filet steak. All were delicious and cooked perfectly.
Our server was excellent.
Great steakhouse atmosphere!

Good steak and very nice ambiance, but service could have been SO much better, so we will go with 2 stars on this one.
We had a reservation for 7, and we were sat by 7:05.
We were sat in a cozy corner half booth, half table, and our server came over shortly after.
I could already tell from the initial contact I wasn’t going to like this guy, and every small interaction thereafter proved me correct.
I was doing my thang trying to be fun and engaging, and the whole time he was as stale as three month old bread. I asked him how their Moscow Mule is («since I’m very picky about my Moscy’s») and he was like, «yea, it’s fine». K well I guess I’ll have one. Thanks for making that sound so enticing sir.
Anyway, onto the food…
We had an amazing Crab Cake for the appetizer, which had a sriracha aioli, pickled cucumber, and crispy jalapenos on top. YUM. So so good. I’d come back just for the crab cake.
My boyfriend and I both went with the Chicago 250 Filet, medium rare, and the twice baked blue cheese and bacon baked potato on the side. I also got a blue cheese crust on mine.
So anyway, this is where it got really weird…
My steak was fine, my boyfriend’s was definitely overcooked, there was no pink or red in there… He was just going to eat it, and I told him he was nuts if he did that, and we’d just get a new one, it would only take 5 – 10 minutes…
I called our overly friendly waiter over, and told him that the steak was overcooked and his response… «I don’t know what you want me to do about that.» oh and then asked him to cut through the steak to show him his steak to prove it wasn’t cooked correctly. WHAT?! What does that even mean. I was so turned off at that point I literally had to look away because it was so unbelievably uncomfortable. We both sat there in disbelief, steak still in front of my him for the next 5 minutes, not really knowing what to do. Anyway the manager finally came over and was like «I heard you may have had an overcooked steak.» To which I replied, «Actually, we could really care less about the steak being overcooked, I just didn’t appreciate the way the server handled it and how rude he was.» Anyway, he comped the steak, and we didn’t get a new one.
Long story short, there are many other steak houses in Chicago…

Get the burger. It was recommended by the bartender and it did not disappoint. (It’s also the cheapest thing on the menu) Almost want to head back here again before I head back home just to get it again.

Not great. Food was delicious but for me it’s about people and kindness. I Expected a lot more from location and décor. Staff were not friendly and rushing Xmas party setup. This would not delight me on a date. Easy for them to improve. Smile more. Eh?

Started with a friendly greeting as we came in, a warm and welcoming atmosphere occurred. Chimmee (rhymes with Jimmy) did a great job being attentive and giving us recommendations on wines and entrees. Since this was pre theatre! We told him about our 7:30 curtain time and he made sure to get us through all courses with plenty of time to spare from our 5:30 reservation. (No service delays at dessert time which is so common in many places) The wine selections were great. Bottles run from $ 50 on so and make sure you have plenty of credit on your card available.
We started with the lobster bisque, which had a few strips of zucchini added for enhanced flavor. Wonderful!
For the entrees, my partner had the filet. They have 2 sizes and choices. one was stuffed with blue cheese and one without but had asparagus and worchester sauce. The small size was perfect.
So i had the market fish special, which was a grouper with some kind of crab topping. Missed the whole explanation but … I will say this, it was among the best fish dishes i ever had anywhere. (And given the number of places and excellent fish offerings I’ve tried, this really says a lot).
Dessert was a peanut butter pie. Again it was the recommendation of Chimmee and what a great one it was.
I can’t say enough great things about this place. One of my new favorite downtown places. Pricey but worth every penny!

I have always tried to avoid Tortoise Club. And I really shouldn’t have. We came in for a birthday dinner — a group of 8 on a Sat. night which isn’t always easy to find in the River North area. We had incredible service, I had the best char, and we were very well taken care of.
Our waiter was great. He was over friendly and I felt like he wasn’t use to getting a larger group so he was doing his best to make sure we were liking everything. It is an older crowd, but the live insturmental music is great, and the environment is fun and chatty.

This is my first review and it’s for a reason. This is one of my favorite restaurants in Chicago. It seems old school but their menu says they’ve only been open since 2012.
Do not consider this a stand alone steakhouse. This is a restaurant that happens to serve a limited selection of high quality beef. The first time I went, I skipped the steak as I had just had it the night before. I am glad I did and have had the same thing each time I go (switching up the appetizers). Friends I have gone with did enjoy the steak and loved the blue cheese stuff twice baked potatoes.
All of the appetizers I have tried have been delicious. I’d highly recommend the Chicken Liver Pâté (if that’s your thing…). It’s some of the best I’ve had and I’ve ordered it each time. The steak tar tar is great too. My friend ordered the calamari the last time, and it was interesting. It was breaded calamari but is not served with marinara – instead it sits in some kind of sauce I can’t even describe – somewhat spicy, but lemony and light. Definitely unexpected and unique.
As far as entrée’s go, I have had their meatloaf each time. I went out on a limb the first time I ordered it since I’m not a huge meatloaf fan. This is not your mama’s meatloaf. It is flavorful and moist, but with a crispy, flavorful and savory crust. It comes with whipped potatoes and the best brussel sprouts cooked with bacon. And this coming from someone who doesn’t like brussel sprouts either.
However, the dessert is one of the biggest draws here. Get the tortoise pie or you’re doing yourself a disservice. It is a chocolaty pie, firm like a brownie, but gooey in the middle, with walnuts. No ice cream needed. The last time I went my friend had the champagne ice cream which she raved about.
They’ve got live music on Saturdays in the bar too – but it’s not overpowering. Although I think the drummer was about 70 years old but it was cute.
Anyway – I highly recommend it if you’re looking for classic Americana with a twist.

Conveniently located traditional upscale restaurant. Clientele tends to be on the older side, which I take as a good sign (I think older people tend to know the good places, and they have more $$ to actually go haha).
Great ambience with live music, dimmed lights, and table cloths. I’m a sucker for table cloths. Service was great and the waiter gave very good recommendations.
Highly recommend their cocktails, especially the sazerac.

Tortoise Club strikes me as some old school throw-​back where ad execs take their lady friends for lunch. Located in the basement of a nearly inaccessible building (fire hazard??), my friend and I were greeted by two blonde short skirts asking if we had reservations. We were sort of anxious that we didn’t but the ladies let us in passed a couple of tables of ‘ladies who lunch’ into a dining area that was dark but upscale into one of their many open tables (it was about 30% full at noon).
Long story short, the service was ‘meh’, the french dips were fine and it was a perfectly reasonable place to have lunch. I could definitely do without the snooty ladies at the door who hoovered over the table next to us not so quietly gossiping about a TV host that was there and scheming to walk by him. It’s a $ 12 sandwich in a quiet place but don’t take your laptop or hope that the upscale name gives you anything worth paying extra for.

We had a nice pre-​theater dinner here. This is a cozy clubby place — dim, leather, banquettes. Nice. You feel like you’re a big shot eating here. There’s a nice cocktails and wine list. My wife was in the mood for a pinot noir and they had three different selections and she was given tastes of all three — one from Burgundy, one from Santa Barbara and one from Oregon. She picked the one from Burgundy, a Marsannay from Louis Latour. Yum. I had a cocktail — their house Sazerac is made with mezcal — nice.
Service is friendly. Food was in general, good. We had the Spanish baked clam appetizer — clams with chorizo and crunchy breadcrumbs. Clams were very small — difficult to eat — I would not recommend these. Our salads were good — a first rate Caesar salad marred only by croutons that tasted unfresh, not yet stale, like they’ve been in an unsealed bag for a couple of days. We shared the pheasant pie — this is something they’re known for — this was delicious. Rich, roasted pheasant meat with vegetables in a savory pie crust garnished with cracklings and a foie gras sauce. For dessert, we stuck with the pie theme and tried the cherry pie — also very good.
Overall, I enjoyed this meal quite a bit. You can valet here for dinner and leave your car here for a show which is a great deal!

Of the little bit I know of Chicago, I would say this is one of the best happy hours there. 1 dollar shrimp an oysters? Great deal! The fresh horseradish cleared out my sinuses!
The bartender was very knowledgeable of his craft and a cool dude. The waitress was great and nice too.
When I go back to Chicago, I am going back to the Tortoise Club.

My friends and I came here to celebrate my husband’s birthday at Tortoise Club. We walked by here few times and finally decided to give it a try. Our server (forgot her name) but she’s a cute petite young girl was helpful and friendly… accommodating to us since we took awhile to order since the 5 of us wanted to chat. Total time we spent at Tortoise Club was probably around 3 hours. We love the atmosphere — it has a very Chicago feeling, playing jazz music in the background, dimly lit room with artwork around. A nice place to have dinner and catch up with friends.
Our table started with the shrimp and guacamole, crab cake, and each one of us ordered a soup. I had the tomato soup which was decent. My husband had their special cream of corn chowder with crawfish which he thought was ok… didn’t taste much of the crawfish, mainly corn. The shrimp and guacamole was decent. Crab cake was a disappointment, 2 small pieces for $ 17 and it was heavily breaded. It did not taste as good either.
I had the roasted amish chicken. It was decent — I like the sauce on the chicken. It came with potato salad and corn on a cob. I didnt eat much of the corn, but potato salad was decent. My husband had their steak. which he thought was good along with the asparagus. Two friends ordered their white fish. one didn’t really like it, the other liked it. I forgot what my other friend ordered. Shortly later one of my friends threw up in the bathroom — not sure if it was from the food she just ate or from breakfast.
We ordered the strawberry shortcake to share with the table as dessert. It was a belated birthday celebration for my husband. The presentation of the shortcake is nice, but the biscuits on the short cake or the actual cake itself was dry. Didn’t really enjoy that, but it came with lots of fruits so we all took bites of the fruits.
Overall it was a decent time, and food is just average for our liking. We did enjoy the atmosphere and the music.

This may look like any of the hundred other steakhouses in River North, but the food here is a but above (no pun intended) and it’s not all about steak.
The bar can be pretty loud after work, and the patio gets crowded on nice summer days, but even when full the dining room has some reasonably un-​boistrous corners.
We stared with the excellent smoked salmon, a generous serving with bagels and condiments, and the hamachi crude, which was topped with peppers with just the right amount of spice.
For entrees we also enjoyed the rich and tasty Oak Aged Bourbon Barrel Meatloaf, which came with some very creamy seller root mashed potatoes. The Lake Superior Whitefish had a really nice crust and a pleasantly citrus tinged beurre blanc.
The Not Your Father’s Root Beer float was the perfect dessert.
Wine markup seems a bit steep, although there was a nicely priced Scotch flight the week we visited.

–3.5 stars–
Tortoise Club is quite the random restaurant on State that’s easily glossed over by the thousands of folks passing by on foot each day. I was one of them too, always wondering just what exactly was inside this ‘Tortoise Club’ place until I decided to stop by for lunch.
We started off with the complimentary cheesy and sesame chips which was super unique and tasty albeit some parts of the chip were incredibly salty. For our mains, we got the French dip and the Tortoise club sandwich. The French dip was alright, the prime rib had no flavor by itself so you must dip the sandwich into the light rosemary au jus for a much tastier bite. The Tortoise club sandwich was like your typical club sandwich with bacon, lettuce, chicken, egg, and avocado. The sea salt vinegar chips on the side were very good. You can tell it’s made in-​house; definitely nothing like the ones you get from a bag of chips at convenience stores.
Dessert was the real shining moment for me. We got the white peach and champagne sorbet which was DELICIOUS! It was probably my favorite part of the meal. The taste of champagne really sticks out and then you get a hint of the white peach in the background as well. We also got the bourbon pecan ice cream which although also very tasty, after having the champagne sorbet, the bourbon did not stand out as much until you eat more of it.
Tortoise Club is a quaint little spot from the outside, much bigger once you walk in. It’s fairly dim inside but the little lamps at each table work to brighten things up a bit. They have private dinner ro

Had been pushing off going here but I’m glad that my fam was finally able to go.
Service was great. Food was greater. Décor was the greatest. Looks like Ralph Lauren designed the place and I just want to live there.
The Food…
Oysters: 2 east, 2 west. Wasn’t presented which ones were which (really?) but I could figure it out. Very small. Pretty fresh– east tasted a little off but it’s probably a seasonal issue not the restaurant. No shell and separated. Not enough cocktail sauce bc served with other raw items.
Tuna tartar: best ever. This was smokey and fresh… Indescribable. Wish the crackers weren’t so flimsy. They couldn’t hold the tuna. You should stop with that rice cracker stuff. So many places do it and it doesn’t work. Use an actual cracker.
Caesar: Perfect. I eat a lot of caesar salads and this was one of the best. Dressing tasted a little bit tangy which I really liked.
Steak: perfect again. I loved the potato it came with. Perfect.
Desert: cherry pie– why not served warm? Good but not mind blowing. Ice cream was fantastic
Not Good Stuff…
Do you not offer bread? My table didn’t get any but I thought I saw bread at other tables.
No drink menu at the table. WTF. Do I look like I don’t drink bc that’s just crazy. Always drink menu. Always.
(Star taken away bc oysters not presented, not enough cocktail sauce, rice cracker issues, no drink menu, and mediocre pie)

Came here this past Monday after work. I never talk about servers but our server seemed like he hated his life. Monotone and no personality. I enjoyed watching other servers talk to their tables and saw how enthusiastic they were and then I looked at my server. That can really alter my experience at a restaurant like this.
The fact that he knew it was $ 1 oysters and shrimps for happy hour and didn’t mention it and charged us full price for it at the end. And then tried to make it seem like it was our fault for not mentioning it though it was clearly advertised when you walk in. Was it not your job to tell your table what the specials were when greeting the table? And you failed to do so. Come on now, I’ve been a part time server for 10 plus years, don’t try to rack up your bill like that.