Pete Miller’s Seafood & Prime Steak

Went with my girlfriends family for a celebratory meal. Started with a really good Caesar salad. I had the 14 ounce prime strip steak medium rare. It was cooked and seasoned perfectly. Tremendously flavored piece of meat, very impressive and enjoyable. Two others at the table had very good filets and another guest had a very large portion of BBQ ribs. The ribs were tasty and fell right off the bone. Loses a star cause the service was subpar for a place charging higher end steakhouse prices but overall very good experience!

My husband and I were exploring our way around Evanston and wandered into this restaurant. We were happy to see that the prices were actually not that steep for steak or the seafood so we both ordered our favorite dish. First up we got the Calamari which was perfect. It had two great sauces with it, extra horseradish in the cocktail sauce which was a nice touch. My husband’s main course was the Prime Rib Baguette. He said that it was good but they had treated the meat more like Italian beef and the meat sauce overwhelmed the flavor of the prime rib way too much. My main dish was Alaskan King Crab Legs and Garlic Mashed Potatoes. The crab legs were slightly overdone so that shell was rubbery, making it impossible to use the cracker to get them open. They also hadn’t pre-​cut the legs in any way so I had to resort to using my fork, which got really messy with the crab juice going all over the table. The portion was also a little small. The garlic mashed potatoes we had as our side weren’t very flavorful as I couldn’t hardly taste any garlic in them really.
As for the jazz ambiance and service, they saved the night. Our waiter was very friendly and the food all came out lightening fast. The noise level of the jazz assemble was perfect and really added to our experience. The cocktails we ordered were really good and the beer selection was pretty good too. I would go back to this place but I would order different entrees.

Fabulous steak menu as always. And the Rusty Nail, my favorite drink, was well made. Best steak inn Chicagoland. Kudos to Michael, a top-​notch server.

good steak and wine list!
Also like the evening music
fondly problem is that i gain weight every time i go :(

Pete Miller’s is a local upscale jazz supper club that my family has gone to for nice New Years dinners, Mother’s Day brunch, and other special occasions. They have great steaks, seafood, drinks, and we’ve never had a problem with service. The live music is always nice, too.
Tonight 15 of us got together to celebrate my cousin’s 60^th birthday, in the private room off the main dining room. Another cousin arranged the event and the preset menu, and our server, Alex, was on point with the timing of everything and his attentiveness. Excellent service.
We had appetizers (veggie quesadillas and delicious meatballs) and lobster bisque to start. It was tasty, yet strange with vegetables in it, but NO lobster! We were expecting actual chunks or pieces of lobster… Then we had our choice of chicken, salmon, or filet; with pecan green beans or macaroni and cheese. The chicken was herb roasted. It was very tender and very flavorful! Surprisingly good! The salmon was good, and our filets were all cooked to order. Yum! (See the pictures I posted.) We had chocolate cheesecake for dessert. (Very rich!) The food was all good. Besides the soup, we had no real complaints here.
The only thing that was disappointing was that there were 4 separate tables in this room, and we were not all together. This was a family event! We couldn’t all eat together and had to keep getting up, in a rather cramped space, to talk to our loved ones across the room. For a private party you’d think they’d set up one large table, yes? No! Not this time. I think my cousin didn’t want to make an issue, but we were disappointed. We like it otherwise, so I think we will stick to smaller family dinners and do large gatherings elsewhere.

Been coming here since 2013, and this is still a great dining spot. Great raw oysters and Oysters Rockefeller, lobster bisque, and scallops wrapped in bacon are just some of the great starters. A really, well made Caesar salad, including anchovies by request (yes please!). Wonderful steaks, including a 14 oz prime rib & an filet (Oscar style is done incredibly well here). Great cocktails, wines… just can’t be beat.

This is our fourth time here, and the first time since they changed the menu.
The atmosphere was great as always — live jazz music, friendly service, and elegant vibe.
I was excited to see that they finally added side dishes to their mains, which made the dish prices more reasonable.
Most of us ordered burgers from the menu bar and several of us ordered fish and seafood. The burgers were excellent. So was the seafood. My husband and I both ordered the Tuna and it was DIVINE! The tuna was seared with sesame and was rare on the inside — just perfect. The only negative thing was that I requested the dish to come without any dairy (it usually comes in cream sauce) and they brought it swimming in cream. When I called on the mistake the waiter said that it was exactly what I asked — no gluten. Wrong. Gluten is not dairy. I had to explain it several times but he was very nice and finally replaced the dish. I don’t know if they really made a new dish or just took the sauce off because it took like 5 seconds to bring a new plate (which looked disappointing but tasted great).
Other than that — great experience! I would definitely recommend on going if you’re looking for a bit more but not too much upscale place.

Went in with low expectations and they were just barely met. The service was fine. No complaints. But the steaks there are nothing special!

I hate writing this review, as I’ve been to Pete Miller’s many times to dine in for special occasions — and dining in is great, we’ve had great service and food was always tasty.
This review is specifically for their carry-​out — it’s just not worth it. I was coming in every weekend to order the same thing for a while last year (my husband and I go through phases with restaurants/​favorite dishes and we prefer to get carry out to eat at home on the weekends as our weeks are beyond exhausting). While the hostess was always lovely, my order was wrong almost 100% of the time. I would get home multiple times and there would be things missing or the quality just wasn’t there. They would change frequently how they packaged the items so I could never depend on getting what I ordered and the consistency that I expect was not there. Sometimes even when calling ahead and getting a time estimate I would have to still wait 20 – 40 minutes after my quoted time to get my sandwich.
Since this was beyond frustrating and not dependable, we decided to take our business elsewhere — it honestly started to stress me out and before I would leave, I would have to take each item out of the bag and since something was always missing, send the hostess back to the kitchen to get the missing items.

Cory and staff were amazing. Our section was busy and there was nothing he couldn’t handle. All staff present were top notch. The steak I had was perfect. I did see another steak on the menu, a 32oz wagyu «tomahawk» which by the very description will be met with another visit. Thanks again to the whole team!

I had a really nice classic steak dinner here. We started with oysters, which tasted fresh and came with a great cocktail sauce + horseradish. The steaks (I had the filet, my date had the bison) were both delicious and cooked perfectly as-​ordered (although we agreed the filet was better than the bison, I suspect that’s not the restaurant’s fault). The garlic mashed potatoes were also very good.
The live music was a nice touch, and while that definitely made it louder, it was not so loud that I couldn’t still hold a conversation.
The menu is not particularly creative/​trendy, and it’s pricey (especially if you order alcohol). But I’d recommend coming here for special occasions when you’re looking for well-​prepared classics.

Saw Pete Millers featured on Checkplease (local chicago tv) and was determined to have a jazzy, swanky Chicago-​esque type of night since they boast live jazz, aged steaks and classic chicago ambience. It didn’t quite pan out. Was seated nearest to the entrance on a freezing night. Every time someone entered the restaurant the draft was unbearable.
Rare, small tuna appetizer took 45 minutes to be delivered to the table after we reminded the server we had ordered it. Lobster bisque was weird and had vegetables in it. Best part of the night was the steak. The petite filet was tender and simply prepared with salt and pepper. Fries, potato and boyfriend’s ribeye were underwhelming, under seasoned and basic.
For $ 200 dinner splurges, I kind of expect more. Not to mention the live jazz. which was barely jazz and more karaōke-​ish. The performer was doing a lot of cover music and it did not fit with the ambience. Weird night. Oh and the carrot cake was just aaight.. Sorry. it was not what was pitched to me…

Had dinner here on New Years Eve and we really enjoyed it. We were not expecting much in terms of food or service given the night we chose for our first visit but we were pleasantly surprised by both.
The place has an school vibe and it’s a cozy space. Usually has live jazz on the weekends although I would prefer just instruments without the vocals.
The wife and I started with a spicy shrimp appetizer with salad and a bowl of lobster bisque. All were very good. I wanted the prime rib but they ran out so I went with a slab of ribs and they were also very good as were the garlic mashed potatoes.
Although our waiter was slammed he was very attentive and accommodating.
Not much of a beer selection which was the only real drawback of the night. We will return soon on a less crazy night.

So good! Food is amazing and the service was exceptional. I ordered the filet trio and was very pleased with the variety and the portion size. The 20^th anniversary ribeye lives up to its name and is also a massive cut of meat. We brought our own wine and there was a corking fee but it was a fair price. Our server was attentive, helpful, and incredibly professional. We were there for Christmas Eve and we made reservations soon after thanksgiving with no issue. The seating is a little crowded but overall the ambiance was very nice. Highly recommend if you’re in the mood for some very good steak.

As other reviewers have said, the Evanston Pete Millers location is the original and as we have seen demonstrated time and again, the original is seldom equaled and even less often surpassed.
I have been to Pete Millers several times in the past and love their live jazz and cocktails– the food is excellent too although my ex was one of those women that Frank Sinatra sings about: «She gets too hungry for dinner at eight…». Because of this I have only had dinner a few times at «Pete’s» but each time was perfectly excellent.
It’s really great that on most nights the entertainment starts at 8 PM as opposed to so many places in the city of Chicago where 10 or later is the norm. The Jazz musicians that play at Pete Millers are a veritable who’s who of Chicago talent– I’d list a few but I’d be afraid that I would leave someone out so I’ll just say check their website for who is scheduled to play this month.
I wanted to mention that Pete Millers mixes probably one of the best classic gin martinis in all of the mid-​west. I have to restrain myself as having «only one» frequently turns into 2−3 – 4-​or more (and I hope the Evanston Police aren’t reading this).
In any event– for a relaxing night out with Jazz and cocktails, Pete Millers is the place to go to have darn near all of your senses sated.

Babes and I are semi-​regulars at Pete Millers, meaning a couple of times a year. We come almost always because Pete Miller’s is as close to a supper club as you can get. Check the music calendar and find a group/​performer you like, and the evening is perfectly charming. This particular night, I picked a great band, the Rhythm Rockets, and reserved a table in the front, which was waiting for us when we arrived, and the evening was set.
Pete Millers is old school, steak house food. Martinis and Manhanttans. We had firecracker shrimp appetizer and shared a steak tartare. Then we shared a first class piece of prime rib. Some hours later came the carrot cake. All was as good as you will get at most Chicago steak houses, and not as expensive either. Of course this is in the burbs.
There are 2 Pete Millers. I like Evanston, the room is more clubby, and I think the music set up is better. Don’t expect foody, trendy, foo foo cuisine, that is not what it is about.
Enjoy.

Nice steak house for the suburbs. The steak was flavorful and done to my liking. The lamb chops were fair but not that good. The BBQ ribs were good but nothing to brag about. The cheese cake was great.
Best of all was the service and the live music !!!
Defiantly come back when not feeling like a drive to the city.

An utter disappointment. I went with a large group that decided to use the rather large bar section instead of the regular dining area. The bar area has tables and could easily accommodate around 75 or more people. We had around 40.
First off, the largest table which had fourteen settings was reserved and occupied by five women the entire three hours we were there without any attempt by the staff to repurpose some of it for our very large group. In fact, no effort was made to help us with seating at all.
Second, I spent over an hour trying to order food both from my table and at the bar to no avail. I gave up. Two people at my table managed to obtain food while the other three did not. Ordering drinks was also painful and unreliable whether at the bar or the table. At one point, the waitress actually took a drink order from my friend sitting next to me and while both my friend and I were still trying to speak, she abruptly turned away and rushed off leaving me without the ability to order. My friend had to chase her down!
Third, the bartender had a scowl the entire time as if we had ruined his chances of going home early. The waitress was clearly out of her depth and made multiple billing mistakes. She was clearly overwhelmed and I would place the blame more on management than her. I left her a good tip, not because she provided useful service, but because I saw first hand what her management had done to her and it wasn’t right.
Finally, the utter lack of management was appalling. I have never witnessed such a callous disregard for one’s employees or such a blatant disinterest. Absolutely no effort was made to reassign staff, prepare the kitchen, or otherwise actually manage the situation.
I will never know what the food is like as I will not do business with an establishment that seems to care so little for its customers and employees. Apparently, anything more challenging than a few football fans drinking beers and shots or taking grandma out to dinner is way too much for this place to handle.
Today there are forty new people in this world who will most likely never set foot in nor recommend this restaurant. Keep going like that and you won’t have a restaurant.

To say I was disappointed is an understatement.
Yesterday evening, and its now slightly past midnight, I walked in to the place between 815pm-​845pm in with 45 – 50 people in groups of 5 – 7 people.
Also still trying to figure out how they address some bad reviews, but ignore a review alerting them they offend several dozen people. Sophia you lack any credibility.
In 2.5 hours I managed 2 drinks and no food despite 4 attempts to get food and another 3 to get booze, with the two bartenders on staff.
The host asked one of our group if we wanted to move in the dining room and despite telling him we would be happy in the bar, he did nothing to soldier his waitstaff leaving his two bartenders to fend for themselves. Multiple people in our group complained and another 15 – 20 people not associated with us filed in as well. At one point I watched a cook came out from a back door off the bar and the look of surprise that the room was ²⁄₃ filled said it all. They were wrapping up the line and the prep while the staff was was being slammed with a late rush.
Evening more mortifying is the fact that the Northwestern football team had a night game, you should have been prepared.
My friend who suggested this place to celebrate the passing of a good friend was mortified. He said this was the place, but shortly there after said he had never seen such poor service.
I personally had a discussion with the female bartender and asked her point blank if I had offended her as I couldn’t explain why I had been totally ignored. She said «no», she said she was terribly sorry, but you could tell she didn’t recognize me or my efforts to get served. At one point she was waiting on five tables while the other bartender was waiting on two. At that point there was no bartender behind the bar to even make drinks… brutal.
Honestly the food that was served to my friends looked good. I just wish I could offer my opinion.
By the time I was leaving people from the other group were walking their bills up to the bar to pay. No surprise since that’s how many people ordered.
By the end of the night the female bartender brought me food in a bag to go. I left it behind. Not sure what was in there, but given I didn’t order it I didn’t feel comfortable eating it.
I presume if its a normal night and you need a deuce or a four top you’ll be ok… but if there pressed or stressed with numbers… I suspect your shit out of luck.
If its a choice between eating there or going elsewhere… look at the crowd and if you have more than 4 people and they are busy… PASS!

Good steak house, not in the Chicago elite but quite good. I started with the lobster bisque, which had a very nice flavor. Not sure how I feel about the fresh carrot and celery in it, added a nice crunch but did not feel consistent with bisque. There also wasn’t much lobster in it compared to the bisque at Perry’s or Capital Grille.
Main course I had was prime rib. Normally avoid it at top steakhouses and it was good, decent sized portion, but not incredible and no bone even in the king cut. Nice touch that it came with a side (I had a good sweet potato and my friend had broccoli).
Great service and a nice atmospher.