Editorial: Chicago's steakhouses sear through the city's restaurant crisis

Chicago Tribune

7 days ago

Chicago's restaurant industry is experiencing a crisis made far worse by the city's short-sighted decision to ditch the so-called tipped minimum wage. As we've written, that self-inflicted wound is raising labor costs at all kinds of eateries, from community taquerías to luxe dining establishments.
But there's one surprisingly resilient oasis in this sea of problems: steakhouses.
Chicago has meatpacking in its veins. And after a rough time during the pandemic, steak joints are on the rise again in Chicago and across the country.
Given today's high costs, this might seem like a risky moment to open an expensive restaurant. But indulgence still sells, high-income patrons have money to spend from a rebounded stock market and successful steakhouses sell a decadent experience that's been updated for 2025.
They recognize, for instance, that some customers are drinking less, and provide tempting (and pricey) no-alcohol options for adults. They accommodate customers whose diet or medications affect what they can order. They mix up the menu with trendy Asian flavors and creative vegetarian options. They feature organic, locally sourced ingredients. And they newly encourage sharing a big steak at the center of the table, instead of expecting every diner to order their own.
The rebound in steakhouses comes at a time when restaurant frequency and traffic is under pressure overall. Besides the challenging business climate in Chicago, President Donald Trump's tariffs are contributing to rising food costs, and his immigration crackdown threatens to disrupt the food-service workforce.
Restaurants around the country are trying to automate tasks to reduce their labor requirements, using robotic equipment for everything from deep-frying to making sushi. But the industry continues to be labor-intensive, and high-end steakhouses are expected to provide a high level of service.
Slated to open later this summer at 360 N. Green St. in the fast-growing Fulton Market neighborhood, Adalina Prime is part of the new Chicago steakhouse breed.
The focus will be on making customers feel valued, Jonathan Gillespie, a partner in Adalina's parent company, told us. 'There's so much competition and things have gotten so expensive, you really want to show the diner that we're grateful for having them. The experience is paramount.'
That means investing in thoroughly trained staff and creating a welcoming environment. Instead of the typical dark wood, leather banquettes and framed portraits from your grandfather's steakhouse, for instance, Adalina Prime will greet guests with a greenery-laden patio, an open-air atrium and an exhibition kitchen. At the end of the meal, no one will be shoving handheld credit-card devices into the faces of diners. That sort of buzz-killing technology 'should never be apparent to the guest,' Gillespie said. (Amen to that).
While Chicago's strength continues to be homegrown restaurants like Adalina, as well as independent steakhouses with grass-fed roots in Central and South America, many cities across the country rely on chains. Sure enough, popular meat palaces like Texas Roadhouse and LongHorn Steakhouse are thriving even as the Red Lobsters and TGI Fridays experience hard times.
Apart from those steakhouses, many restaurant chains are having trouble making a profit. Dickey's Barbeque Pit faces a mutiny from angry franchisees and Cracker Barrel is struggling to attract a younger crowd without alienating its aging, tradition-bound regulars. At the high end, customers are rebelling against cocktails that cost as much as entrees, mystery surcharges automatically tacked onto bills and, of course, those annoying credit-card machines, which are so often pre-programmed to suggest tips at 20% or higher.
Even the world's biggest restaurant chain, Chicago-based McDonald's, has had to make changes after middle- and lower-income customers got priced out of its menu. In large markets, McDonald's has introduced more affordable options and meal bundles, including a $5 meal deal that at least gets people in the door.
Now if only Chicago would work harder to create a more favorable business environment at this sensitive time for the industry.
The tipped minimum wage enables restaurateurs to pay a lower base to workers who earn gratuities that boost total earnings over the standard minimum wage. Chicago is phasing-in annual increases to the tipped hourly rate, putting especially intense pressure on independent eateries essential to the city's identity.
'I can't charge $24 for a burrito,' Christina González from Taquería Los Comales told us last month. 'My customers won't come.'
Even some servers agree the higher tipped-minimums are bad news, as strapped owners respond to the higher cost by cutting their hours and cross-training them to juggle multiple roles.
We've given up on Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson seeing the light. Instead, he's stuck in his own world, weirdly equating a policy that stands to put small-scale entrepreneurs out of business with striking a blow for racial justice. After this page published an editorial on the topic that touched off an outpouring of concern, we hoped the Chicago City Council would wake up and postpone or cancel the tipped-wage increases. So far, nothing is getting done.
It's time for action, before the city loses more of its precious eateries. The steakhouse boom can only do so much to shore up Chicago's flagging dining scene, so vital to our city's culture. Our restaurant scene cannot live on steak alone.