Joe Orr Road Rod wrote:
A relish tray doesn't have to be great (Petey's is fantastic though and on Sundays they add little meatballs), it's more about the idea of it. It harkens back to a time of great indulgence. Big drinks. Big Steaks. Chicago style. Like, it wouldn't be Merichka's without the mediocre cole slaw and cottage cheese.
Indeed. The scrumptious M&P relish tray has that awesome liver sausage, pretzel rolls, topped with chopped egg and onion.
Back to Jack Gibbons, though, the waitresses are crabby because it doesn't matter. They don't need people off the street to come there and fall in love with the service, as they are never empty on a dinner night. The place has been there since 1917 and is more along the lines of a neighborhood speakeasy - almost "Burt's Pizza-esque" with their refusal to cowtow, but not
that bad. The steaks are excellent cuts, although they have only recently been scaled down a notch. (they used to be ENORMOUS). Anyhow, until the recent dearth of financial prominence, they had a built-in test to see if you were a "regular": The original owner HATED soup: thought that serving it was a sign of poverty and thought that to keep it was unsanitary, as it is almost impossible to make fresh by the bowl. They only started serving it 2 years ago because of incessant complaints from gruff patrons suffering in a faltering economy. Previous to that, when a whiny customer would ask for soup, the grizzled old waitress would know right away whether they were experienced Gibboneers or just newbs. Not a big deal, but enough to notice. I always found it fun sitting in the piano/jazz room and listening in to hear if any newbs were in the house.
Morale of the story: you don't go there for service - The waitress is just a human tray with a pencil. I think they make it intentionally bad, actually, but not in an Ed Debevic's way. They still didn't change after they were reviewed on Check Please - why would they? The Steak and Lobster are the showpieces, not the servers. The filet, strip and Porterhouse, all drenched in the famed proprietary lemon butter sauce, are amazing, but THE LOBSTER is the pies de resistance! - the juiciest sonofabitch I have ever had - it is delectable. I once did a Monday-Tuesday showdown with JG's surf and turf vs. House of Hughes, and there was no comparison.
If you go on Fridays, the old jazzman is there playing, and the atmosphere is awesomely 20's-esque. Take a new girl there on such a night, and she'll think you're a Don!
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