The Local's Guide to the Best Steak Dishes Near Oak Park

Local's Picks for the Best Steak Dishes Near Oak Park

Amerikas |734 Lake Street, Oak Park

Amerikas chef/owner Armando Gonzalez embraces authentic Latin flavors in seasonal dishes that represent the diversity of American cuisine. The brunch menu features classics, like French Toast and benedicts with a Latin twist, and inventive tacos and enchiladas created with handmade tortillas. Their dinner dishes are designed for sharing. Choose the Barbacoa, a lamb shank braised with guajillo and ancho peppers, avocado leaves, mushroom risotto, and pistachios.

Or try the Carne Asada, Amerika’s standout beef dish made with a 16-oz. Black Angus New York Strip, charred tomatoes, chipotle goat cheese, yuca fries, chimichurri, and blistered chile toreados, which pairs beautifully with their signature Old Fashioned crafted with mezcal, sweet white vermouth, triple sec, honey, and bitters.

Carnivore | 1042 Pleasant Avenue, Oak Park

Pick up local, responsibly sourced, organic meats and fish at Carnivore to prepare at home, as well as ready-to-eat items like house-smoked salmon and scratch-made terrines. An artisan butcher shop, Carnivore also offers a small, focused lunch menu with one of the best burgers in Chicagoland, the brilliant Carnivore Bacon Burger, a half-pound beef and bacon patty—yes, the bacon is in the burger!—on a golden challah bun topped with lettuce, tomato, onion, pickle, and house mustard sauce. 

Carnivore is a true advocate of the farm-to-table concept. Their offerings come from local partners, including Spence Farms and Odd Produce. Pleasant Hill Bees brings the honey, Hufendick Farms provides the Angus beef, Opportunity Knocks fills the refrigerator with delicious pickles, and Dark Matter Coffee provides rich, canned iced coffee.

Head around the corner to Anfora Wine Merchants (128 South Marion Street) for the perfect complement to your artisan steak. This Italy-centric enoteca features small, iconic producers that specialize in dynamic, low-to-no intervention and ecological winemaking practices. If you’re not interested in rushing home to cook,  relax with a glass of wine from their by-the-glass menu.

Elba’s Golden Steer | 7635 Roosevelt Road, Forest Park

When you’re in the mood for an old-school supper club experience, Elba’s Golden Steer is your best bet. They have been serving classic steakhouse favorites in Forest Park for over 50 years. So beloved by locals (residents and celebrities!), when the owner announced his retirement last year, Elba Caragher, a 23-year employee, bought the business and the building and promised nothing would change.

Crisp, fresh salads are still served on chilled plates with a blue cheese crumble; French Onion Soup is blanketed with ooey-gooey cheese; and the potatoes are twice-baked. Head over on Friday or Saturday for their famous Prime Rib with all the trimmings, and pair it with a classic whiskey sour, ice-cold martini, or house wine.

fourteensixteen | 14 West Calendar Avenue, La Grange

Inspired by visits to local markets, Chef Bret Bohning mixes the freshest sustainable ingredients available with flavorful pantry staples to create fourteensixteen’s seasonal menu of farm-fresh dishes such as Watermelon Gazpacho, Berkshire Pork Meatballs, Rushing Water Trout served with foraged mushrooms and English peas, and unforgettable wood-fired steaks.

The standout, Wagyu Coulotte, comes from Mishima Reserve, which blends the beefiness of American cattle with the tender, rich, and healthier qualities of the Wagyu. Enjoy this cut, perfectly grilled, along with a fresh vegetable, whipped chive potatoes, and a handmade cocktail, craft beer, or a reserve wine thoughtfully chosen by your waiter. fourteensixteen offers a gorgeous rooftop dining space, perfect for a date night or a special evening out with friends. 

Hemmingway’s Bistro | 211 North Oak Park Avenue, Oak Park

Another great date night spot, Hemmingway’s Bistro offers French-inspired cuisine, live jazz on Wednesday evenings, and an unforgettable Champagne Brunch on Sundays. Step into the charming dining room—you’ll feel like you’ve entered 1920s Paris—for bistro favorites, such as Coq au Vin, Cassoulet Toulousain (pork rib, duck confit, veal sausage, and white beans), Salmon Niçoise, Beef Wellington (available on Saturday and Sunday, after 4 p.m.), or a very American Amish Chicken Pot Pie. 

Owner/Chef Christopher Ala’s standout beef dish is the Steak Frites, a brasserie classic served with crispy hand-cut pommes frites, an herb-stuffed baked tomato, and beurre maitre d'hotel, a compound fresh sweet butter packed with parsley that melts down luxuriously into the seared steak. Heavenly!

Maya Del Sol |  144 South Oak Park Avenue, Oak Park

Preserving recipes handed down for generations, Maya Del Sol creates innovative dishes by combining bold flavors from Mexico and Central and South America with seasonal, locally sourced ingredients. Share the fresh seafood ceviche, sweet corn tamales, or decadent mango-braised beef nachos, then choose the Carne Asada, an adobo-marinated skirt steak with a bright, herbaceous chimichurri and broccolini, or the Center Cut Filet served with aromatic Cabrales blue cheese, asparagus, mashed potatoes, and a habanero-sangria reduction. 

Enjoy your meal with a hand-crafted margarita that’s shaken tableside, sangria made from scratch, or a creative cocktail in one of three dining rooms or on the fantastic patio—it's one of our favorites in Oak Park!—for a memorable dining experience.

NRebozo | 7403 Madison Street, Forest Park

With a perfect balance of complexity, creativity, and distinct flavor profiles, NRebozo crafts every dish and its vast array of moles—40 to be precise!—with a deep understanding of and passion for the traditional flavors of Mexico. The restaurant's most popular dish, Fiesta Mole, comprises six enchiladas, each individually coated with a different flavorful mole, filled with cheese, chicken, chorizo, guacamole, hibiscus, or grilled steak. Every steak dish is a knockout.

Try the Atocpan, a hand-cut 21-day aged mesquite grilled skirt steak served with two cheese enchiladas (one with Mole Poblano and one with Pipian Mole). Or enjoy a Chile Poblano Pepper filled with savory beef, dry nuts, and dry fruits, dressed with a rich walnut sauce and topped with fresh pomegranate; this highly anticipated dish is offered only during the fall and winter.

Posto 31 | 1017 East 31st Street, La Grange Park

Begin your experience at Posto 31 with a cocktail, and you’ll see the blend of passion and craftsmanship distinguished throughout the restaurant’s inviting space and lovely patio. Their pasta is hand-crafted daily and topped with a traditional Pomodoro sauce or a rich meaty bolognese made with prime beef and pork short rib.

Most dishes have an Italian flair, such as the specialty pizzas, beef meatballs, milky soft burrata cheese appetizer, and heavenly tomato and herb focaccia (also made in-house). The classic burger and Filet Medallions with roasted peppers, onions, mushrooms, and mashed potatoes served with a demi sauce have a decidedly Middle-America flavor.

Sebastian’s Ale & Whiskey House | 8900 Fairview Avenue, Brookfield 

Look no further than Sebastian’s Ale & Whiskey House if you enjoy next-level food, craft brews on tap, and a selection of every whiskey, scotch, and bourbon imaginable. This elevated sports bar offers more than your average pub grub; their dishes are created by foodie masterminds who believe pub fare doesn’t have to be, well, grub. And if you love bacon, even better! The menu and daily specials list kick bacon-loving up a notch with their bacon-wrapped pickle spears, bacon mozzarella sticks, bacon jalapeños, bacon croquettes, and a bacon-wrapped hog wings appetizer (four 2-oz. bites of tender pork on shank, wrapped in bacon, served with a sweet chili sauce).

Check out their tender grilled Filet Sliders served on a pretzel bun or their tasty selection of sandwiches and burgers. Try their customizable creamy mac and cheese and add any combination of toppings—buffalo or grilled chicken, chili, chorizo, pulled pork, Italian beef or sausage, pepperoni, steak, shrimp, and, yes, bacon. 

If your dining companion doesn’t share your love of all things meat, no worries, a new and extensive vegan menu offers impossible meatballs, chili, mac and cheese, a chicken parmesan sandwich, and even a selection of desserts!

Steak + Vine | 37 South La Grange Road, La Grange

A relaxed neighborhood spot founded by hospitality veteran and lifelong La Grange resident, Nick Gangas and his best friend, renowned Chef Michael Wilson (Morton’s Chicago, Michael’s Key West), Steak + Vine offers a classic steakhouse menu of prime cuts and fresh seafood, an expansive wine list, and excellent bourbon, cocktails, and local craft beers. Tuck into a Centercut Filet topped with a blue cheese or horseradish crust, with a wedge salad and a baked potato or cheesy au gratin potatoes. Save room for dessert! The key lime pie with fresh whipped cream is somehow tart and sweet—every bite is glorious!

In warmer months, Steak + Vine encourages diners to bring their furry friends along to enjoy its “pooches on the patio” menu. These VIPs, very important pups, can choose salmon or ground beef with brown rice and a pup cup for dessert!

Tacos 76 | 838 Madison Street, Oak Park

Karla Linarez, Tacos 76 owner, Oak Park resident, and self-proclaimed “taconnoisseur” shares traditional, closely guarded recipes kept within her family for generations. Inspired by the flavors of her parents’ hometown of Guadalajara—the birthplace of mariachis, tequila, and birria—Karla incorporates into her recipes the vibrant flavors she discovered in taquerias, cenadurias, puestos, and mercados during her countless trips to Mexico.. Her menu highlights simple, fresh, Mexican comfort foods with traditional fillings.

We always choose Carne Asada. Karla’s grilled skirt steak, seasoned to perfection, elevates every taco, burrito, quesadilla, and torta. And because no good taco is complete without a refreshing margarita or cerveza, Tacos 76 created a list of fresh lime juice margaritas, a mezcal hibiscus fresca, homemade red sangria, and a large selection of beers to accompany their specialties.

Village Pub | 8839 West Cermak Road, North Riverside

A family favorite in the North Riverside community since 1968, Village Pub offers made-from-scratch Italian dishes, such as lasagna, chicken vesuvio, and sausage and giambotta, an Italian sausage grilled with sweet peppers, potatoes, onions, and mushrooms. Everyone has a favorite dish on the menu, and we indulge in their standout steak dish, the house special Skirt Steak with Potatoes, served Greek, Vesuvio, or Velasco style with jalapeño peppers, garlic, oregano, and roasted potatoes in white wine sauce. 

Whether you favor the classic craftsmanship of an American steakhouse, an elevated pub menu at a neighborhood sports bar, or enjoy the distinctive flavors of Mexico, Central, or South America, come spoil yourself around Oak Park when you are craving a memorable steak dish. 

Victory Italian | 100 S Marion St, Oak Park, IL 60302

A beloved gem in the heart of Oak Park, Victory Italian has been wowing the community with its hand-crafted menu and exceptional dining experiences. With an inviting patio that offers the perfect setting for mini escape, this neighborhood favorite serves up a world-class Chicago meal without the need to venture downtown.

Their menu is a celebration of Italian-American cuisine, and a standout dish is the Strip Steak Gambino Style—14 ounces of prime steak perfectly seared and served with a flavorful medley of peppers, pepperoncinis, onions, and roasted potatoes. They also feature incredible pastas, and small plates, like the Mediterranean mussels or grilled calamari. At Victory Italian, you can sip, savor, and share (if you want to!).