Gale Street Inn menu items

Can anyone recommend any of the dishes at Gale Street Inn aside from the ribs and steak? Plenty of others will be eating ribs, so no worries on missing out on the best part of the menu - I'm just looking for something less meaty/heavy. Has anyone tried the pasta dishes there (garlic shrimp capellini or mushroom ravioli)? Any other suggestions?

The only dish I have ever had at Gale Street Inn that is worth talking about is the Prime Rib when it is on special. It's really not all that spectacular, but it's a better alternative than the meat jello ribs and food service quality chicken dishes.

stevez wrote: it's a better alternative than the meat jello ribs

Agreed.
I ate there about two weeks ago for the first (and likely only) time. How anyone could find these ribs excellent, much less edible, is baffling to me.

My wife and I stopped in Gale St. the other day ( hey, it was right there ) the wife ordered a pulled pork sandwich that urned out to be pretty tasty, not on the level of Honey 1 but it may be worth checking out.

I'll second stevez's report of a very good prime rib at Gale Street. I also enjoy their twice-baked potatoes (weekends only). Not too long ago, I had a rather tasty london broil there.

Obviously, LTE, none of this satisfies your need for a "less meaty" recommendation. I think the silence on this subject speaks volumes. If you don't want meat and potatoes, Gale Street is probably not the best place to be.

Best,
Michael

eatchicago wrote:Obviously, LTE, none of this satisfies your need for a "less meaty" recommendation. I think the silence on this subject speaks volumes. If you don't want meat and potatoes, Gale Street is probably not the best place to be.

Michael,

I agree, Gale Street is a 'meaty' kind of place and while I am not a fan of their baked/fall off the bone ribs, I do enjoy the prime rib special, steak and burger. While Gale Street's beef will never be confused with David Burke's dry-age prime, from a cost/quality/portion viewpoint it fares well.

Love the convivial bar, old school atmosphere, efficient waitress and overall vibe of the place, just hard pressed to recommend something other than beef. Oh, I remember, my brother in-law had pork chops one evening that were darn good.

Speaking of the bar, Gale Street serves a mean lunch bar burger, though having lunch at Gale Street's bar, which is quite to conducive to imbibing, is not recommended if you have a busy rest of the afternoon.

Enjoy,
Gary

Gale Street Inn
4914 N Milwaukee Ave
Chicago, IL 60630
773-725-1300
http://www.galestreet.com/

How could I not mention the bar?? It's probably the number one feature that draws me there. On a cold, winter night, a scotch, a beer, a steak, and some old-school charm at Gale Street are hard to beat.

As far as the ribs go. I think they're the best example around of the meat-jello style. Still, I stick with the prime rib.

Best,
Michael

eatchicago wrote:As far as the ribs go. I think they're the best example around of the meat-jello style.

Agreed. All the hate for GSI ribs on this board make me sad. You have to take them for what they are people. They may not be the same kind of ribs you're used to, but jesus are they delicious.

Commbrkdwn wrote:

eatchicago wrote:As far as the ribs go. I think they're the best example around of the meat-jello style.

Agreed. All the hate for GSI ribs on this board make me sad. You have to take them for what they are people. They may not be the same kind of ribs you're used to, but jesus are they delicious.

I don't hate them, and I don't care that other people do. I was raised under the belief that this was the only way to prepare a rack of ribs. I've since learned otherwise and I consider the "meat jello" vs. BBQ argument to be the equivalent to comparing a pizza to a grilled cheese sandwich: two totally different things you can arrive at using similar ingredients. Method comes into play.

As far as meat jello goes, I rarely ever order it anymore, but if I did, I'd go for Gale Street.

eatchicago wrote: I've since learned otherwise and I consider the "meat jello" vs. BBQ argument to be the equivalent to comparing a pizza to a grilled cheese sandwich: two totally different things you can arrive at using similar ingredients.

That was very well put, Michael.

Hit Gale Street Inn this past weekend for, what was, an outstanding dinner.

We were four for dinner and started off with some aperitifs: a couple of Grey Goose martini's, straight-up for me garnished with stuffed olives. Really well-made to my medium-dry specifications and nicely portioned.

Incidentally, we've always pretty much eaten in the bar-area booths which are extremely comfy and offer a wonderful "night out in the City" feel. I can only think of Gibson's downtown featuring a more boisterous (in a good way) bar scene. GSI is understated compared with Gibson's but filled with true Chicagoians drinking classic cocktails in a dimly-lit, familiar atmosphere. There are few places with a better atmosphere to dine-in in a bar atmosphere than at GSI. Might be the best bar area of a restaurant to dine-in in all Chicago - I'll have to think on that one.

Anyway, knowlegeable staff, friendly service all night long. The whole dinner took over two hours, mainly because we wanted it that way.

The battered shrimp appetizers were good. Nicely-sized shrimp and a thick batter but very tasty with some good cocktail sauce. Blackened chicken tenders had a good hot spice, really tasty.

GF and one other had the ribs which were outstanding, fall-off-the-bone style. I know some loathe these kinds of ribs - I think you're crazy. As far as I'm concerned, good ribs are good ribs, no matter how they happen to be prepared. But that's just me. My favorite type of ribs are what I'll call "Texas-BBQ-Smoked". That's what they do down at Honey-1 and their rib product, IMHO, is underwhelming on a good day. Way too chewy. I don't care if the ribs are "prepared the right way" if the end product is no good. Now, I LOVE Honey-1's Tips & Links Combo...YUMMMMMMMMMY...but it's hard for me to fathom anyone liking their ribs...now not the STYLE of ribs...their product. Chicago cannot do justice to the "Texas-Style" ribs. But, Chiacgo does damned good fall-off-the-bone style. You really need to go down to Tejas for the other kind.

Anyway, the ribs were great.

My 12 ounce Filet Mignon was really, really, and for me, surprisingly very good. Perfect light char/carmelization effect along the outer part of the steak and for maybe an eight of a centimeter inside. Perfectly cooked rare red all the way through. A+ for preparation and probably a solid B+ on the steak quality...a step below the high-end steak joints in terms of quality of the product but very, very good. And I gotta say, it's been some time since a steak, after being sliced, looked this good.

Perhaps the best twice-baked tater I've had in Chicagoland. Gigantic, great taste. And, for me, wonderful soft skin with beautiful flavor. A real treat.

We opted for draft Stella's after the martinis - poured in a Stella glass.

For dessert - brownie a la mode. Wonderful fresh, sweet, big brownie with three nice scoops of vanilla ice cream and a healthy dose of whipped cream and chocolate sauce. DAMNED FINE!

What a wonderful meal in a fabulous atmosphere. I highly recommend this Chicago institution!

Gale Street Inn
4914 N Milwaukee Ave
Chicago, IL 60630
Phone: (773) 725-1300
Fax: (773) 725-0859

P.S. - In case anyone was wondering, total bill with tax and tip was about $60/person. Pretty good for what we got I must say.

I love the "meat jello" description of the ribs @ Gale Street. It is the perfect way to describe them.

hilarious..

LTE wrote:Has anyone tried the pasta dishes there (garlic shrimp capellini or mushroom ravioli)? Any other suggestions?

The last time I was at Gale St. was, I think, two years ago with my mom and sister. I wasn't especially hungry when we went, so I just had the grilled calamari, which I thought was not exceptional but very good.

Can you order food at the bar? It's on my way home, and I'm often tempted to stop for a bite, but I hate to tie up a booth or a table.

PortPkPaul,

Welcome to LTH!

Yes, you can order at the bar. You can also order carryout and come pick it up.

GSI is really a wonderful place.

There are probably AT LEAST 12 bar stools at the bar. The bar area is nicely sized.

Bster

I've found the ribs at Gale Street Inn to be delicious and outstanding, contrary to what I consider some of the nutty "jello" characterizations of some on this thread. They tasted like tender, tasty, fall off the bone, delicious baby back pork ribs, not like some gelatin dessert -- I'll never understand that comparison. But everyone's tastes are different, I guess.

Personally I like both types of Ribs . The difference is I don't consider Gale Street type Ribs as "Barbecue"

ps
Iwasn't aware that you can make a Medium Dry "Martini" with Vodka

Iwasn't aware that you can make a Medium Dry "Martini" with Vodka

Don't quite understand this one, but it's early in the morning - maybe I'm missing something. Generally, if you say "Vodka Martini", the bartender gives you 3 parts vodka and 1 part Dry Vermouth. When I say "medium-dry" I want them to use very little Vermouth but not completely straight vodka. If I wanted straight vodka, no Vermouth, I'd say "Dry Vodka Martini". Seems like Bartending 101 to me.

Bster

According to the website, they will be closed 9/3 through 9/7 for kitchen renovations.

Bster wrote:

Iwasn't aware that you can make a Medium Dry "Martini" with Vodka

Don't quite understand this one, but it's early in the morning - maybe I'm missing something. Generally, if you say "Vodka Martini", the bartender gives you 3 parts vodka and 1 part Dry Vermouth. When I say "medium-dry" I want them to use very little Vermouth but not completely straight vodka. If I wanted straight vodka, no Vermouth, I'd say "Dry Vodka Martini". Seems like Bartending 101 to me.

Bster

Yeah, that's actually news to me. Dry vodka martinis--at least as I know them--always have vermouth. I'd consider "dry" to be around 8:1 I would consider extra dry to have just a few drops of vermouth, or vermouth poured into the cocktail glass and spilled out (what remains being just enough vermouth for "extra dry" martini). If I just wanted vodka, I'd order, well, vodka.

Binko wrote:

Bster wrote:

Iwasn't aware that you can make a Medium Dry "Martini" with Vodka

Don't quite understand this one, but it's early in the morning - maybe I'm missing something. Generally, if you say "Vodka Martini", the bartender gives you 3 parts vodka and 1 part Dry Vermouth. When I say "medium-dry" I want them to use very little Vermouth but not completely straight vodka. If I wanted straight vodka, no Vermouth, I'd say "Dry Vodka Martini". Seems like Bartending 101 to me.

Bster

Yeah, that's actually news to me. Dry vodka martinis--at least as I know them--always have vermouth. I'd consider "dry" to be around 8:1 I would consider extra dry to have just a few drops of vermouth, or vermouth poured into the cocktail glass and spilled out (what remains being just enough vermouth for "extra dry" martini). If I just wanted vodka, I'd order, well, vodka.

I took the original comment as being one along the lines of "there's no such thing a vodka martini" type of thing (note "martini" in quotes). Gin purists and all that. See also discussion here.

there's no such thing [as] a vodka martini

I don't want to get into a ridiculous discussion further diluting a thread dedicated to a wonderful meal at Gale Street Inn...But, I just couldn't help myself responding to this comment.

Main Entry: vodka martini
Function: noun
: a martini made with vodka instead of gin
- http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary
Merriam-Webster Dictionary online

mar·ti·ni /mɑrˈtini/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[mahr-tee-nee] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun, plural -nis. a cocktail made with gin or vodka and dry vermouth, usually served with a green olive or a twist of lemon peel.
- http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/martini
Dictionary.com

And yes, I was wrong about the "Dry" Martini having no Vermouth. But I could've sworn the "Extra Dry" is without Vermouth. No matter, I always get my Martini "medium-dry" so my knowledge of the stronger varieties is limited.

But, alas, I stand corrected....

Chart from Ecommkitchen.com (I found the inclusion of Vodka in this chart amusing)

Using Standard
36 Proof Dry Vermouth
With 90 Proof
Dry Gin
Or 80 Proof
Dry Gin (or Vodka)

3-to-1 ( Traditional)
76.5 Proof
69.0 Proof

5-to-1 ( Dry)
81.0 Proof
72.6 Proof

8-to-1 ( Extra Dry)
84.0 Proof
75.1 Proof
-http://e-commkitchen.com/recipes/Beverages/martini.htm

Bster

This seems to be the only thread devoted to the Gale Street Inn. The place gets several other mentions on LTH, but always in general "BBQ" threads, where its meat-jello ribs are found wanting in comparison to the more authentic kind.

We were there a month ago on a Saturday night, and I think the problem (if there is one--there certainly isn't one as far as the GSI is concerned, since the joint was jumping) is one of categorization. It may be true that the GSI's ribs should not be mentioned in the same breath as Honey1's or Smoque's, but here's the thing--the GSI's ribs don't ask to be mentioned in the same breath! They are their own thing. (I note, by the way, that the words "BBQ" or "barbecue" don't appear on the GSI's menu, so the place can't be accused of misleading anyone.) The real question should not be, are these ribs the same as Honey1's? The real question only needs to be, are you enjoying eating these ribs?

I did.

Yes, the meat fell off the bone, etc. I make no case that meat that falls off the bone is superior to meat that doesn't. I make no case that meat that is baked tastes better than meat that is slow-smoked. I only make the case that the meat at GSI that fell off the bone and was baked, not slow-smoked, tasted good--damned good. Judging on what GSI does, rather than what it doesn't do, I give the GSI a sauce-covered smile.

It didn't hurt that the big baked potato tasted like a baked potato had oughta (which for some reason is increasingly unusual), or that the bartender makes an excellent martini. We had a great time at the Gale Street Inn.

It shouldn't be compared to places that do real BBQ. It doesn't need to be. And people don't need to choose. It's possible to love both kinds, I would imagine, as long as invalid comparisons are checked at the door.

riddlemay wrote:I only make the case that the meat at GSI that fell off the bone and was baked, not slow-smoked, tasted good--damned good.

RM,

You should have been in Orange County, CA last week, two McFib's for $3.13. Talk about fall off the bone, you don't even need teeth for those bad boys.



Enjoy,
Gary

We’ve typically enjoyed Gale St. 2-3 times a year. Not in our regular rotation but always had good experiences when we dined there, particularly for the friendly service. These days we are looking harder at our geographically local spots and trying to patronize as many as we can.
Gale St. completely closed at the beginning of the shut down. They re-opened a couple of weeks ago. After tonight’s pick-up meal, I think they used that time to plan and get organized. Everything was packaged and labeled perfectly. Their system for contactless pick-up was seamless. We ordered a kid’s meal and it came with a coloring sheet and crayons. My husband’s jambalaya was delicious and a huge portion. I had a whitefish special that came with rice pilaf and broccoli. The jalapeño glaze was nice with the fish. We added their multigrain bread loaf/honey butter and a salad with housemade creamy garlic dressing. This was a nice family meal at a reasonable price. They are also offering wine. Regardless of how you may feel about their ribs, Gale St. is a local spot I would be sad to see gone.