Tramonto's Steak & Seafood - Wheeling, IL

This is Rick Tramonto's restaurant in the Westin Hotel in Wheeling. For anyone who does not know, he is better known as the chef of Tru http://www.trurestaurant.com/ in Chicago. Great restaurant! One of our favorites.

It used to be very difficult to get reservations here at the last minute, but this past Friday, we had no trouble. Maybe it's because it was the day after Thanksgiving.

Our nephew accompanied us. This was our third visit here and his first. We were anxious to see what he thought of it, because we had taken him to Tru a couple years ago and he loved it.

For appetizers - he had the Beef Tartare, which we all tasted. It was unbelievable and the presentation was really nice. I had the Tempura Rock Shrimp, which I've had every time. It's a little spicy, but so good. The portion size is huge and I always consider getting it as an entree, but everything else looks so good, I have to do both. My husband got the Crab Cake, which was good, but nothing spectacular.

We skipped salads this time, but I have had the Chopped Salad before, which again, the portion size is big.

This being a steak house, it works pretty much the same way as others. You have choices of meats, toppers for your steak and sauces. My nephew had the Bone-in Ribeye with Sliced Bone Marrow on top. It was his first experience with bone marrow, but he really liked it. I got the Filet with a Horseradish crust and the red wine sauce. The crust was excellent. My husband also got the bone-in ribeye, but with a truffled egg on top. He really enjoyed that preparation. For sides, we shared the truffled mac & cheese and the sauteed mushrooms. Both were unbelievably good. The mushrooms included some croutons, which just soaked up the butter that the mushrooms were sauteed in. They were so good and the portion was huge, that I was still eating them today for lunch!

My only complaint is the wine selection by the glass, there was only one chardonnay. They have a good bottle selection, but not many medium priced. They do have a good-size pour, though.


http://www.cenitare.com/