Cut 158 Chophouse: Elegant Dining For Downtown Joliet

JOLIET, IL - Just two months ago, the former Tin Roof Restaurant building across from the downtown Joliet Public Library was empty. It had for sale signs on the windows. On Thursday night, the restaurant was packed as friends and family of the new restaurant owners sampled the menu for Joliet's highly anticipated Cut 158 Chophouse. Friday is the grand opening.

Mayor Bob O'Dekirk was one of dozens of people at Thursday's special event. He pointed out that the chophouse owners already have a stellar reputation across Joliet for operating first-class restaurants. The family owns the successful Hamburgerseria on Essington Road. In August, they opened The Cork Wine Bar on Essington Road at the strip mall across from Fire Station No. 8.

Last February, they opened Panini Fresco, an Italian sandwich shop in the former Subway across from the Will County Courthouse.

Now, their latest endeavor involves a high-end steakhouse in the heart of downtown Joliet, at 158 North Chicago St. It's up the street from the historic Rialto Square Theatre.

Given the family's restaurant track record, "I'm confident they will make the new steakhouse a success," O'Dekirk told Joliet Patch.

I was also invited to Thursday evening's special downtown event by the restaurant owners. My wife and I stayed about 90 minutes. We had a chance to sample numerous selections from the menu.

Our take: the appetizers at Cut 158 Chophouse are plentiful and outstanding. Some of our favorites were the steakhouse nachos, stuffed mushrooms, Grilled Jamaican Jerk Shrimp and the Oysters Rockefeller.

But our favorite was the Crispy Fried Cheese Curds.

After having lived in Wisconsin on two separate occasions, it's great to know where to find top-notch cheese curds south of the border.

From the main menu: the quality of steaks at Cut 158 are something else.

Again, I speak from experience, having lived in the heart of cattle country - Omaha, Nebraska, for nine years, from October 2003 through 2012.

The tentative dinner menu at Cut 158 features a half dozen different steaks including a 26-ounce Tomahawk, a 32-ounce Porterhouse, a 16-ounce New York Strip Steak, an 18-ounce Bone in Ribeye, a 10-ounce grilled Filet Mignon and a 12-ounce Cuban Coffee Rub Skirt Steak.

We tried the Cuban Coffee Rub Skirt Steak and thought it was amazing. In fact, I've never tasted a steak quite like this. It gets my recommendation as one of the items on the menu that you should not overlook.

This is not your ordinary skirt steak, folks, believe me.

Moving on, we also tried the New York Strip Steak and found it incredibly tender. It has plenty of flavor and it's another great option to consider.

Lastly, but not to be forgotten, Cut 158 Chophouse has "a great variety of wines by the glass and by the bottle," one of the owners pointed out to me.

I didn't have any alcohol. I just went with the water.

How does Cut 158 Chophouse hope to succeed?

"We prefer word of mouth," one of the owners remarked. "We focused on making this as a destination."

Cut 158 Chophouse would be the envy of downtown Omaha's Old Market if this place was marking its grand opening in Nebraska on Friday, Jan. 4, 2019 but it's not.

It's right here in Joliet, the City of Champions, and this place is worth checking out.

The executive chef is Mario Rubio, who lived in Florida a dozen years. He cooked at the Hilton Resort until his home was destroyed by a hurricane in 2017. He now lives in Joliet and had been commuting to Chicago to work as a chef at The Signature Room.

Cut 158 will open at 11 a.m. today and stay open on Fridays and Saturdays until midnight. During the week, it will open from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. It will also be open on Sundays 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.

It's dine-in only, no carryout orders.

At this point, the owners strongly encourage people to call ahead to reserve seating. The phone number for Cut 158 Chophouse is 815-409-7411.

Based on my dining experience, the food is going to be spectacular.

Main image via John Ferak/Joliet Patch Editor