We heard great things about Gene and Georgetti’s and that it was a Chicago classic. What can I say? It may be a Chicago classic but maybe in the 50+ years it has been around, the quality of food must have gone WAY downhill. Six got filet mignon, I got linguini mussels marinara, another got Clams with white sauce. Broccoli, mashed potatoes, their “famous” potato slices, and creamed spinach were our sides. I will run through each item:Filet mignon: The filet was very tender, but as dry as a bone. Out of the 6 people who had it, NOT ONE PERSON had a drop of juice on their plate. And no one ordered it more than medium rare.
Mussels Marinara: I would have to admit, the quantity of mussels was impressive, there were a lot and they were pretty well done. However, the marinara sauce? If that is what it was. It tasted, looked and, I think for the most part, was, just a can of crushed tomatoes with some onions chopped up in it. There was a watery liquid pooling on the bottom of my plate. The sauce was so thin, that you could barely get any of it with the noodles. It was soup-like and very, very bland. I didn’t taste a hint of garlic, a hint of salt, or even a hint of flavor for that matter. For an Italian restaurant, one would think they would have a decent marinara sauce.
Clams with White sauce: I only had one bite, but it tasted like clams swimming in warmed cream… that was it. Very bland, no flavor.
Mashed Potatoes: THEY WERE INSTANT!!!! (I am dead serious here). That is all I should have to say about that.
Broccoli: Rubber… cold and rubbery.
Creamed Spinach: Not bad, but nothing special. I have had better.
Sliced Potato Thingy: Again, not bad, but pretty flavorless. Just potatoes fried in butter. No salt, no garlic, no rosemary, nada.
So that is my review on Gene and Georgetti’s. Anyone can say they love the place, it is a Chicago classic, but, I would NEVER go back there. I thought, especially for the price that the place was horrible.
