There is no more mercurial restaurant than Gene & Georgetti, the storied River North Italian steak house that’s a living set piece for a Chicago that dies a bit more every day. Sometimes it welcomes you with a drunk uncle’s embrace, dirty martinis in each hand. Other times it acts like you haven’t even arrived.
Still, it’s difficult to imagine this unapologetically dated concept opening on the edge of a sleepy city neighborhood, across the street from an Olive Garden and within arm’s reach of the Kennedy in Old Irving Park.
A perfectly broiled bone-in rib eye sells for nearly $20 less in Irving Park than it does in River North. Same for the filet mignon, the New York strip, and the surf and turf. Have a yen for G&G’s signature Chicken alla Joe? Here it’s known as Chicken Mirabella, a juicy roasted bird smothered in sauteed peppers and pepperoncini. Of course the Mirabella treatment can be applied to steaks and sausage and probably your mostaccioli with marinara sauce if you wanted.
3454 W. Addison 773-463-1962 mirabellaitaliancuisine.com
