Sisters Marie: Steak & Date Night

“Infused with fresh Hawaiian gold pineapples...”

Have you ever heard a more beautiful combination of words? Turns out, it tastes just as fantastic as it sounds…This form of liquid heaven is actually titled “The Knockout,” an award-winning signature drink at Sullivan’s Steakhouse. I was hesitant to try it at first, as I figured it would be overly sweet but with the reassurance from our (amazing) server Rebecca, I was more than pleasantly surprised. You know things are getting serious when I order one right after another...the whole list of cocktails looked enticing but this one had me at hello.

That said, this was a fantastic start to our date night. We were graciously invited to test out the Summer menu at Sullivan's and being from around the area, I had been previously but many years ago (before I was legal) so needless to say, this was a superior experience from the start. We were seated at a cozy booth in the dining room which was oozing with ambiance thanks to the just-right lighting, a floor to ceiling wine room and sounds of the Rat Pack flowing through the speakers. Rebecca made us feel welcome from the start, going out of her way to share her favorite items on the menu and answer any questions we had (and we had many -- we're THOSE people who can't make ordering decisions without analyzing every detail).

3(ish) courses later, I can officially say, there was not a poor food selection made. We warmed up our stomachs with the Crispy Shanghai Calamari (those red peppers, though)...This pretty much made every other kind of calamari look sad in comparison. I liked it so much, I would go back just to order this (well, and a pineapple martini).

From there, I had an amazing Filet Mingon cooked to perfection, topped with a bourbon peppercorn sauce and finished off with Gorgonzola garlic butter. Is that not the best mishmash of flavors you could imagine? I had a peppercorn steak once and never looked back...for me, it's the only way to go. My husband had the summer trio which consisted of lobster, crab cake & and 6 oz. filet. When he claimed, “this is the best crab cake I’ve ever had,” I knew this place had automatically been added into our rotation of date night destinations.
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The main course was amazing – one of our favorites ever, we might say. But then we had dessert and if you know me, you know this is how to get to my heart. It wasn’t a matter of if we had room – It was about WHICH kind we were ordering and HOW MANY.

Because I know this much to be true...Dessert is never a question.

Please scroll & excuse the drool once you get there...

Seriously. SERIOUSLY?

Black velvet cake with a cream cheese layer in the middle and warm chocolate ganache on top. I don’t need to describe this for you…it’s self-explanatory. So was the look I gave my husband after that first spoonful of ganache – He just looked at me and said, “Yep. You're obsessed.”

Can you blame me?

P.S. The dessert was heavenly but it's even better when you share it with someone special. Even though he may have made a few Instagram Husband quips while having his photo taken, I can't help but think, hey...he's pretty cute :)

P.P.S. We can't leave home without the Apple watch. How would we complete any tasks in our daily lives without Siri? (He makes IG jokes, I mock the watch -- It's only fair!)

Everything about our evening made it memorable – I'm serious when I say it was one of the most fun outings we'd had all Summer which ended with a lovely stroll along the River walk. You guys already know how I feel about the food here but the service was far and away the most impressive component of our visit. Every single person played a role in making us feel not only welcome but like we were the only ones in the restaurant. I’d like to give one more shout out to our server Rebecca who was so pleasant to talk to and endlessly helpful.

We also spent some time talking to the General Manager, Chris Pieters, who sincerely wanted to ensure our needs were being met. If you’re ever looking to host a gathering or just make a special reservation in the Naperville area, I’m confident he and the team at Sullivan's would do a wonderful job.