Families Still Get A Relish Tray Before Dinner At These 6 Illinois Steakhouses

Pull up to an Illinois steakhouse with dark wood booths and low lighting, and there’s a decent chance a chilled tray of pickles, crisp vegetables, and cheese spread lands on your table before you’ve even opened the menu. That little tray used to be standard across the Midwest, and in a handful of places around the state, it still is.

Kids grab the carrots, grown-ups go for the beets, and dinner starts before the steaks ever hit the grill. Here are six Illinois steakhouses where the tradition is alive and the beef is worth the drive.

1. Log Cabin Steakhouse, Galena, IL

Galena’s Main Street is lined with 19th-century storefronts, and tucked among them is a family-run steakhouse that has been feeding travelers since 1937. Dinner here opens with a complimentary relish tray, followed by a fresh garden salad and warm bread.

Steaks are the headline. Bone-in ribeye, an 18-ounce prime rib, and lamb chops come with a choice of potato, and hand-cut fries arrive crisp and well seasoned.

A Greek streak runs through the menu too, with saganaki appearing as a starter that gets attention from the whole table.

Seating leans cozy and intimate, which is part of the charm but also worth planning around with a group. High chairs and a kids’ menu are available, and the staff tend to keep water glasses full without hovering.

Doors typically open at 4 PM Wednesday through Sunday, with Monday and Tuesday closed, though hours can shift seasonally so check ahead. Reservations are recommended, especially Saturday evening in peak tourist months.

Free parking is available in a lot and along the street, a genuine relief in a town where Main Street fills quickly.

2. Jack Gibbons Gardens, Oak Forest, IL

A century of service is a rare thing in the restaurant world, yet this Oak Park Avenue institution has been grilling prime cuts since the 1920s. Aged, seasoned steaks arrive alongside homemade soup or salad and, yes, a relish tray that shows up before the main event.

Thick Chicago strip steaks, ribeyes, and lamb chops anchor the menu, joined by prime rib, roast duck with stuffing, Alaskan king crab legs, and oysters Rockefeller for anyone building a bigger spread. The ultimate chocolate cake handles dessert duty.

Upholstered booths, dim lighting, and live music on some evenings give the room an unmistakable retro feel. It reads quiet and grown-up, but high chairs and a kids’ menu mean families fit in fine, particularly earlier in the evening.

Weeknight service generally starts at 5 PM, with Saturday at 4 PM and Sunday at 3 PM, and hours may vary, so confirm before heading out. Monday through Thursday nights tend to be the calmest stretch.

Parking is free and usually plentiful, which makes a southwest suburban drive with kids in tow considerably easier.

3. Sorrento’s Restaurant, Maple Park, IL

Out on Route 64 in Maple Park, a farming village of roughly 1,400 people, a family-run supper club keeps a full pre-dinner sequence intact: relish and cracker tray, soup or salad, and fresh bread before the entree lands.

Prime rib is the specialty, with a full cut that includes soup, salad, and a side at the listed price. Aged strip steak, pork chops, and fish round things out, and the baked French onion soup is a frequent first course.

Brandy ice closes the meal for those saving room.

Price sits in the $30 to $40 range per person, gentler than most steakhouses on this list. The dining room is genuinely large, which helps when you arrive with grandparents, cousins, and a stroller.

There’s a fireplace, a kids’ menu, high chairs, and a full vegetarian menu.

Hours generally run Tuesday through Sunday with Monday closed, opening mid-afternoon, though seasonal changes happen, so call the day of if timing is tight. Tuesday afternoons are quietest.

Parking is free and ample, roughly an hour west of Chicago off the I-88 corridor.

4. The Heritage House, Harvard, IL

Candlelit place settings, fresh-baked dinner rolls, and a relish tray with cheese and crackers greet you before anyone takes an order. Along US-14 in Harvard, a quiet McHenry County town near the Wisconsin line, the original supper club format never went anywhere.

Homemade cooking carries the menu, and the salads that follow the relish tray get nearly as much attention as the entrees. Comfort food is the through line, served in a dining room with a fireplace and a calm, unhurried pace.

Here’s the part parents appreciate most: the price range runs about $20 to $30 per person, making this one of the more affordable ways to give kids the full supper club experience. Good for kids, high chairs, and a children’s menu are all part of the setup.

Wednesday and Thursday open at 4 PM, Friday and Saturday run later, and Sunday starts at noon, with Monday and Tuesday closed. Hours can change with the season, so it’s smart to check before making the roughly 90-minute drive northwest of Chicago.

Free parking is generally easy to find, and live music appears on some nights.

5. Pop’s Uptown Supper Club, Antioch, IL

Tall Italian-style breadsticks standing in a glass, right next to a traditional relish tray. That’s the opening move at this Chain O’Lakes supper club along US-45 in Antioch, about an hour north of Chicago in Lake County.

Steaks, chicken, and chops fill out a generous menu, with comfort dishes like broasted chicken and meatloaf with mashed potatoes drawing steady repeat business. Portions run hearty, and cheese trays join the relish tray as part of the pre-dinner ritual.

Energy here is livelier than the average supper club. Live music, sports on the screens, outdoor seating in warm months, and a fireplace for January all coexist.

It’s family-friendly with high chairs and a kids’ menu, though there’s usually a wait, so reservations help enormously when small children are involved.

Service typically runs daily from 4 PM to 11 PM, but seasonal adjustments happen, so check before you go. Friday and Saturday evenings are the busiest stretch by a wide margin; weeknights are noticeably calmer.

Parking includes a free lot plus on-site and street options, and pricing lands roughly between $30 and $80 per person.

6. Tortoise Supper Club, Chicago, IL

Downtown Chicago might be the last place you’d expect a relish tray, yet River North’s North State Street delivers one inside an upscale room with a grand piano and a fireplace.

The supper club format gets a polished treatment. Traditional American cooking runs from steak tartare and oysters on the half shell to lobster bisque, a Caesar with bread, and an oak-aged bourbon barrel meatloaf.

Dessert is a genuine event, with cherry pie, peanut butter pie, and the namesake Tortoise pie on the list.

Live jazz sets the mood most evenings, and the dining room stays cozy rather than cavernous. Brunch is served as well, and there’s a full vegetarian menu, useful when one person at the table doesn’t eat beef.

Hours generally run Tuesday through Saturday starting at 5 PM, with Sunday and Monday closed, and those can shift, so confirm ahead. Reservations are strongly recommended for both dinner and brunch.

Parking is paid lot, paid street, or valet, standard for downtown, so budget for it or take the Red Line and walk a few blocks.