Mastro's Steakhouse — Restaurant in Chicago

We came in as a party of 10 with a reservation to celebrate my mom’s 70th birthday on a Monday night and so this was a big event that meant a lot to us as our mom is very special to us. It was pretty much empty in there so I have to say I was definitely disappointed with the service overall seeing as how it’s not like it was a Friday or Saturday night. The server seemed to be annoyed by us, wasn’t very friendly, seemed to have some attitude and little patience. When we paid her and told her to keep it she just grabbed it and walked away. No smile or appreciation. We are a family of restaurant owners, bartenders, and servers - For a bill of around $1,540.00 we gave the suggested tip built into the total but she could’ve made a way better tip on top of that had she at least TRIED.

Many of our glasses of water sat empty and I was extremely thirsty for the majority of our meal. I had to ask to drink someone else’s water.

Several of us ordered the pan seared Chilean sea bass which was good, but what is up with the presentation? They literally threw a piece of fish on a plate - my Mom’s fish was literally curled and rolled around on an empty plate when he put it down. For a $50 piece of fish - I would think they would add some garnish or literally ANYTHING else to the plate.

My Sea Bass was room temperature and my sister’s steak was cold - they had to take it back to warm it up. All of the other food was okay though. Shrimp cocktail, Mac and cheese, lobster mashed potatoes, oysters, pork chops, Brussels sprouts, were pretty good. My mom loved the butter cake. Unfortunately I was disappointed by the big ticket items - all of our steaks and sea bass were not worth it. The bartender was very kind, friendly, charismatic, and hard working! He was very busy and was doing his best to be fast and make a good drink but I ordered 2 margaritas that were supposed to be cucumber and jalapeño flavored - pretty watery and did not get much of the flavors at All. I was pretty disappointed in the cocktails.

We discretely asked the waitress if they did anything for birthdays and she said “don’t worry I got the birthday girl covered” - then she came to the table and announced to everyone including my mom that they will be bringing her a dessert on the house. (…ok? Now she knows…) She then stated that she HAD to tell us all beforehand that it was coming for some reason I didn’t hear. I mean im grateful that she treated us to dessert but What the…? I’ve never seen a server spoil a birthday surprise like that. I would’ve rather we ordered and paid for our dessert ourselves and assure they didn’t ruin the little surprise.

For a $$$$ 4 dollar sign restaurant, nope. This wasn’t it. There are way too many good, great, and excellent restaurants in Chicago with impeccable service and quality at equal or lesser price points - this restaurant didn’t cut it for me. It’s fine depending on what you prioritize in a dining experience. Definitely not what it was 10 years ago. I would recommend going somewhere else for a special night out. I regret not going somewhere else for such a special occasion for our moms big day and wish I could do it over again…

Oh I forgot to mention: in our room there was live music - a solo artist singing and playing guitar and he was wonderful - I will definitely give them that - he was so sweet and even sang my mom a song she wanted to hear and sang her happy birthday just beautifully when the dessert came out. Wonderful entertainment by him! If it wasn’t for him, I don’t think the mood or atmosphere of the night would’ve been...

Mastros was highly recommended for steak by our family so we went for my birthday. The food quality & flavor was excellent. The Wagyu steak (please reach out to Broadleaf Farms and ask about the Broadleaf Wagyu Beef) & Rack of Lamb are halal.

Appetizers-- The Jalapeno Sashimi was super fresh and the Lobster Bisque was light but packed with flavor.

Main Course -- The Wagyu Tomahawk 40 oz steak (requested extra seasoning on the crust) was cooked to perfection (medium). The Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Creamed Corn, and Rosemary Mushrooms complimented the steak nicely.

Dessert and Coffee -- The Butter Cake left me speechless (not only cuz I was stuffed to the rim but also cuz it was divine). Very unexpected warm softness topped with cold ice cream. Perfect duo. Paired with a cappuccino was a great ending to the meal.

However, I was quite disappointed with the service. I'm not sure how much of an effect covid had on the service but here are some things I wish that could've been different --

We ordered a side of roasted garlic. Our server didn't bring it out with the steak so we had to ask for it a second time. Then, she came back and told us that it would take too long to roast it so she's making a "special" sauce. This sauce was pureed garlic cloves. Not the best addition to the steak. It was obvious she had forgotten to put it the order.

We ordered an extra scoop of ice cream with the butter cake and did not get it. Although we didn't want it at the end, this was yet another item "forgotten" by the server.

As I was sitting there enjoying my meal, the table was obviously getting messy with crumbs and such. There was no service to clean the table cloth (like at other steakhouses).

We usually order our drinks without ice and USUALLY they are still cold with a good amount of fizz. Well, without ice our drinks were flat and warm.

The take-home boxes were not thought out. They are similar to fancy chinese take home boxes that I use for party favors at a baby shower. I mean. C'mon! At least have the streamline black microwaveable to-go boxes!

This is where I wasn't sure if covid played a part here (which doesn't make sense yet because they already had contact with my food). I had to pack the food up myself to take home. Ok, we aren't talking about some Red Lobster here (altho I think they actually pack your food for you), I'm talking about a restaurant that's considered to be high-end in Downtown Chicago. So no, I should not be packing my food on my night off (esp on my birthday).

Now, usually I don't write this much in detail about a restaurant unless it needs to be said. At a bill of approximately $400 IT NEEDS TO BE SAID. When I go to a restaurant that's considered to be high-end, I expect high-end service. Although the food was a rating of 5; the service brings their rating down to a 3, unfortunately.

If my cons won't bug you at that price tag -- go for the food -- you...

Overall: A friend and I went here for Chicago restaurant week 2024. They were amazing!! This was our first time ever coming and they did NOT disappoint. So much so, that I may be back in a few days (just a week after going)! The service was attentive and polite. The atmosphere was nice. The food amazing. As we were leaving, we saw people checking in for a birthday party and they had balloons and a cake. Some nicer restaurants don’t allow balloons or decorations, so this was nice to see. I have an idea about coming for my next celebration (whatever that is). Food: We both had the ribeye. Mine was medium and hers was well. They were both juicy and flavorful! I had the lobster bisque and she had the mambo salad as starters. I didn’t enjoy the bisque at all. But that’s on me! The cream was so heavy I could smell it and it made me sick (I have to have light dairy). But, I didn’t see anything else on the chicago restaurant week menu I liked as a starter and I didn’t know what mambo salad was. Turns out, it’s Caesar salad with a special dressing that includes wasabi. I’d get this next time. Then I added shrimp to mine entree as an enhancement and some lobster mashed potatoes and my friend had lobster mac and cheese. Both were full of nice size lobster pieces and so delicious!! For dessert, we both chose warm butter cake…TO GO because we were STUFFED!!! I ate it the next day warmed up, but I did not like it AT ALL. She said the same. If I go back again during restaurant week, I’ll choose sorbet for dessert. Service: Everyone was so attentive! They were on point. Our glasses of water stayed refilled. The dishes didn’t sit long on the table before someone asked to clear them! There was a point in dinner when the guy getting up at the table next to us bumped into our table and spilled my friend’s water all over. We waved someone over, but another waiter was already on the way with a napkin. He apologized and all was well. So service was great. Even when they picked up and got busier! Atmosphere: I didn’t care for the singer. But that is a personal thing. Other patrons seemed to enjoy it and were even filming. They do keep lights lowered which can be a great mood to set for the romantic people coming, but for others it’s way too dark. This meant when people took photos or video, they had their bright a** flashes on it what was mostly a dark space. Can you say blinding!? Also, as pointed out earlier, the tables were too close! A guy spilled water by bumping into our table. Then when a family was sat to our left, they bumped into our table trying to fit in. Even I couldn’t squeeze into the space. I don’t know if this is always like this or they packed more tables in for restaurant week, but I give that a one star! It was like bumper cars. We were getting hit from both sides! And because we already had our food and drinks, we didn’t want t ask t move! Good thing dinner was...