Fine Dining - Deep Dish in LA? Reviewing Gino's East of Chicago

Episode Date: August 13, 2025

🍕 Deep Dish in LA? Reviewing Gino’s East of Chicago 🏀 This week, Jacquis Neal (Host of Dropout's upcoming show Crowd Control) returns as we give our full review of Gino’s East of Chicago in...not Chicago, but Sherman Oaks, California. From the deep dish pizza to the dessert (and the GIARDINIERA RANCH), we talk hits, misses, and whether this spot truly feels like home for two Chicagoans far from the Windy City. We also visit the Calibration Station to hear about Jacquis's worst and best dining experiences, which include a Bob Evans dine-and-dash debacle and an unforgettable Disney breakfast. 🍕 Jacquis Rips Up My Chicago Card 🌭 Great Pizza, Mid Italian Beef 🥔 Kettle Chips & Giardiniera Ranch: Revelation of the Meal 🍫 Deep Dish Brownie Dessert Changed My Life 🏙️ Chicago Brick, Cubs Bobbleheads, But No Graffiti 🎢 Chef Mickey’s vs. Bob Evans (Calibration Station) 🪑 A Restaurant That Feels Like Home (Even 2,000 Miles Away) 💬 COMMENT BELOW: What’s the best pizza you’ve had outside your hometown? 📢 SUPPORT THE SHOW & JOIN THE COMMUNITY: 🎉 Patreon (Bonus episodes, full Yelp segments & more): https://www.patreon.com/finediningpodcast 💬 Discord (Food talk, memes, cursed Yelp): https://discord.gg/6a2YqrtWV4 🎥 Watch full episodes: https://www.youtube.com/@finediningpodcast 🔗 All links: https://www.linktree.com/finediningpodcast 🎤 Jacquis on IG: @jacquisneal | Website: jacquisneal.com Patreon Producers: Sue Ornelas & Joyce Van 👉 NEXT WEEK: We dive into the fiery history of Firehouse Subs: heroic branding, steamed sandwiches, and maybe a little stolen valor?

Gino's east of Chicago. The Deep Dish Pizza not only lived up to, but exceeded the hype. But my stomach wasn't big enough to keep up with everything I wanted to try. The Chicago decor brought me right back to my roots. The salt content brought me back to Acid Reflux Boulevard. They made a proprietary Giardinera ranch that was out of this world, but the owner was too interested in the fact that we were Chicago boys. In an America where the discourse over pizza-style preferences can be less than civil,

deep dish is perhaps the most polarizing way one can prefer their Zah. Is Deep Dish better than New York-style pizza? Is Gino's East of Chicago even the best representative of Deep Dish pizza? Let's find out together. This is the Fine Dining Podcast. Your table is ready. Take your seat. The flavor of the day is mediocrity.

Wouldn't you like to try a vibe? Guarantee it'll be the perfect five. Fine tiny, better than you thought, worse than you hoped. Fine tiny. We don't treat mediocre as a joke. Breaking every single place we think, compare it to the perfect five out of ten. Hello and welcome back to Fine Dining, the quest to compare all restaurants to Chili's.

I am your host, Michael Ornellis, and this is the show where I'm using the Chili's test to determine if other restaurants are good or not good by comparison. Why Chili's? Because of all the restaurants I've covered on Fine Dining, they're the only one to score exactly 5.00 out of 10. They're not just the bar. they're the grill and bar and by the end of this episode we will be able to answer a question that dates back to prehistoric cave paintings

is Gino's east of Chicago better than Chili's? You tell me in the comments what you think we're going to break down our lunch there today into what was good about it, what was not good, and what was just there before we give Gino's a score at the end of the episode.

Joining me today to discuss Gino's East of Chicago once again is improviser, comedian, dropout personality, And what it would be like if the president's speech from Independence Day were an actual person, it's Jackees Neal. Hey, I love it. I love it. How you doing?

What's that, brother? I was really holding back acid reflux. Yeah. During that little read right there. It's hitting me, too. It's hitting you. Listen, man, let me tell you something. I love Chicago food.

Love it, love it, love it. I'm from Chicago. I'll have it all the time every day if I could. Can't wait to go to the bathroom. I can't wait I got to go make room for this food that's trying to hit my stomach

Well, the bathroom is all around you when you're in the fine dining studio so make of it what you will Yes, yes All right, well we're just going to jump right

into it Let's talk about all the things about Gino's east of Chicago That was good This is good done like it should be best stuff

that spank or sticking the land And this is good I knew that you could First thing I'll say Let me just say this right off the bat In case anybody was wondering It wants to know the cocaine

It was great It was very Chicago-based It was very Chicago-based cocaine You know They give you that as soon as you walk into the door Got a little windy city in there If you know what I'm saying A lot of blow

I get it I get it I was proud of that That was a good one That's a good one That's a good one Yeah, I will say walking in felt stylistically appropriate to what I expect from a Chicago place. Yeah.

You got a lot of brick, which I associate with Chicago, mostly because my mom is obsessed with Chicago brick. Yeah. So even if that's not an actual thing people talk about, that's a thing that I've heard enough to associate it. But you see it a lot. You see the brick. Yeah. Like there are certain things that I can see a picture and be like that Chicago. And it won't be anything like that's actually, you know,

like that has a sign or anything that shows specifically just like the structure of the buildings well it's you know back porch like wooden patio like I can see it when when your whole city burns down once you might want to rebuild with something less flammable so absolutely you know it does feel appropriate it also was interesting walking in too because you know you say it felt very Chicago but we did also walk in at 1130 in the morning so it was dead I think we were the first two people seated they open at 1130 they open at it they open at it they open at it they opened Open at 11.30. The first customers of the day.

So I wonder what it would feel like for you to even walk in, say, Francis, at like a 5 o'clock or on a Cubs game day or something where, like, there are going to be other Chicago people in there, some Chicago sports on the TV and stuff like that. I'm going to say this. I know in the last episode we were talking a lot about how we both associate dining experiences with being social. I will specify that I want my meals to be social with the people I'm there with. Yeah. I don't dislike meeting strangers and stuff, but I don't hate an empty restaurant. Yeah. Oh, that's fair. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah. Like, if I go to a restaurant, I don't need to talk to other people at the tables. Yeah. But there is something bustling about the energy of a full Chicago bar restaurant. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Unless it's one of those things where it's like a sad empty where it's like, oh, it's not empty because they're not.

good versus like oh they're empty because i'm the first person here and who's coming you know at 1130 on a wednesday yeah yeah yeah yeah the vibes were great there's big display cases of chicago sports decor there's an entire row of hats of like the championship hat for like chicago's cubs winning the world series for a bunch of the bull's victories and stuff like that They have, like, the official caps of those milestones. I've got my 2016 Cubs one still. It's fully sweat-stained now. It's gross.

I love it. Never clean it. I do. I love, look, man, being from Chicago, born and raised, I, there is something very nice about going into a Chicago place and they're feeling like home. The only thing that takes you out of it is you look outside and be like, oh, we're just in show. Home trees. Yeah, yeah.

But, like, there is something. bad thing, it's just a different thing. It's just different. It's different. So being inside of the place, uh, because that's a fun thing, you would think, oh, going to a Chicago place is going to have a bunch of Chicago decor because they want you to feel like, like you're there, you're at home. But if you go to Chicago and you go in Chicago places, they are also full of Chicago to score. Yeah. So it's like, yeah, places in Chicago love Chicago enough that this now doesn't feel put on yeah yeah yeah uh they had a full room that was closed off like a separate dining area that it's just like you know we're the only people in there they're not going to open both

dining room areas right right but on the wall in there they had posters for movies that were chicago based they had breakfast club they had ferris bueller's day off they had a couple others uh that i'm not fully remembering what they were off the top of my head gale sayer's movie about gale sayers who was chicago bear yeah i can't remember the name of it though and then a bunch of sports stuff and it was like signed you know there's a sammy sosa bobblehead there's yeah it's very it's very chicago and like chicago is very sports forward in terms of very yeah so uh yeah no i i loved it uh very sleek restaurant in the inside so uh and then the music we're going yacht rock and like there was like a purple rain cover which is weird but

This is weird and not the same and not as good, but didn't hate it. Yeah. You know, they made it their own. They made it their own. Yeah. I told you, we talked about this, like, while sitting down, it's very interesting, like, outsiders' views of Chicago. Like, I have trouble watching most things that are said in Chicago because they are so inauthentically not Chicago. Yeah.

Like, the bear can't fucking do it. Like, the fact that people, like, are so, oh, the bear does be. Most people parts of Chicago are like, it's not. Like, you know, it was the most Chicago that I love South Side, which is very funny. And I grew up on the South Side. That's a very funny show. But I think Chicago as a, like, pop culture forward city really took, like, hold in the 80s. Yeah.

And so because of that, when people are going to, like, Chicago places, you get a lot of the 80s. Yeah, yeah. Rock and, like, the 80s music. and stuff, because that's when, like, Chicago really got put on the map with, you know, the Super Bowl, the Bears and, like, the SNL skits and all the fucking John Hughes movies that were set in the Chicagoland area and stuff like that. So it's a very interesting, uh, time frame. I do think Ferris Bueller's Day Off hits the vision of Chicago that I have. As far as, like, Chicago media goes. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. 100%. Yeah. But if you talk to people from Chicago, they'll tell you, much different Chicago. Of course. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, what's something that you thought was good about the experience?

I mean, look, there's going to be a lot in this category. Most of our discussion is going to be here. Yeah. I mean, it's very interesting because, like I said, like to me, it just feels like coming home. So I always enjoy, like, going to a place and seeing, like, old newspaper clippings on the wall from, like, the Chicago Tribune or to Chicago Sun times and things like that. So, like, walking past, like, some of those newspaper clippings are always, like, so fun for me to see. Yeah. Because it does feel like, you know, the era that I grew up in.

Because I'm so old, we still had newspapers when I was around. People still knew how to read back then. We knew how to read back then. Yeah. So that is fun. You know, I just enjoy, like, the brick, the kind of overcrowded. and by overcrowded I mean like there's just so much stuff on the walls yeah it's gaudy a little bit and I like really enjoy that because it is unique in a way where it's like yeah man this isn't

fine dining all all chicago this is fine dining this is fine dining fine dining better than you thought worse than you hope all Chicago decor is kind of like oh this person's a hoarder yeah all Chicago decor. Every single display, every desk you find in Chicago, bobbleheads and stuff like that. It just, it's a lot, but there's a lot of fun little chotchkees. There's a lot of fun little. And then, like, there are certain things that, like,

are associated with Chicago, like the Chicago flag. Yeah. Even if you don't know, you still probably recognize the four stars from the Chicago flag. Or, you know, the Chicago incursive from our sports teams or all the local, The Bulls logo is still the most recognizable logo and the only logo that has never changed in the NBA since it's been introduced. Yeah. So, like, there are things that, like, you see from Chicago that have just been in our lives, whether you're from Chicago or you just know of it. Yeah.

That have never changed throughout the decades, which is pretty dope. Serious by the Alan Parsons Project has not changed. No. Yeah. That song, if you listen to it, hasn't been remixed yet. That's great. You know, they still use it to intro the Bulls. Is that true?

Yeah. Wow. Yeah. I haven't been to a, honestly, the last Bulls game I've went to, Michael Jordan was still playing. I was like a child. That's funny. I love that.

I love that. That's the last time we were, you know, good. All right. I'm going to say, I had a mixed opinion of the service. So I'm going to talk about some of it here, some of it in another section. Our server, very knowledgeable, very forthcoming with recommendations, very pleasant. I loved interacting with her. I thought that she was a really good server

from the social standpoint of the service job. Yeah, I thought she was fine. Yeah. I don't need much from servers. And it also can very much depend on, like, just where I'm at that day, you know? Like, sometimes I'm 100% okay with just, like, a very, to the point, like, what do you want that?

As long as, like, as long as I'm not wondering where you are or if I need something, you're coming by relatively quickly or anything like that, I'm okay. With that said, like, she was very nice to my knowledge. I think she is, because I've been to that Geno's East before, she's the only woman that works there, which I'm sure it's not easy to be in a restaurant with all men, like, as well. And you are the only waitress that identifies as a woman. So she's like very, very nice

Had a Chicago field tour to me as well I thought she was fine I'm not even going to go so far As to put it in a different category My one issue And this is not just her This is just in general Across so many restaurants

Yeah The weight that bothers me the most Is when from the point of the check drop To picking up a card When that takes like 10 to 15 minutes I'm always like There is no other step you know that all there is is putting a car it's such a quick thing i'm just like i want like

two minutes from the point of like check drop to pick up and it's not like they were busy no so i'm with you on that that i felt was a little long but like everything else lea came came across at a pace where like i never needed anything that i didn't get yeah and our food came out quick i'm sure we'll talk about that and it came out quick for a specific reason yeah i'm with you on it like a lot the time I'll just, as soon as the check is coming, I'll just have my car be like, just take the card. Yeah. Like I, you know. And it's because I've been burned so many times on the long check drop or it's just like, I may not see you for 15 minutes. Just can we do this? Yeah. Now, if it's, you know, if we need to actually look at the receipt for any reason or make sure the

items are correct or anything. Yeah. Then maybe, oh no. Or do a bunch of math. Or do a bunch of math and shit. Then you need it. Uh, and I'm sure like as a, I've never worked in food industry. So, you know, somebody who has could probably speak to this. I'm sure, like, you're kind of trained to be somewhere in the middle. Like, some people need a quick and some people do take fucking forever. Yeah, yeah. Before they even open the check, let alone, like, put the card in and are ready for it to be paid. Yeah.

So you kind of find yourself somewhere in the middle. But, like you said, it was only like, by the time we left, there were only like two other parties there. So it was pretty quick. Yeah. It could have been pretty quick. And they don't even, they just bring the little car machine over to you now. Yeah, yeah. Yeah.

It was like this doesn't need to take a while, and it took a little longer than, again, it wasn't like crazy. I wasn't. Yeah. I didn't even notice because I went to the bathroom. Yeah. During that time. So my time, part on that was like skewed. Yeah.

You said we'll talk about why the food came out quicker for, let's just. Yeah. I mean, okay, so like the thing that everybody fucking knows about deep dish is it takes long. Yes. To come out 40. It's baked. It's baked. So it takes like 40.

They make it. They have to make it. and then put it in an oven and everything like that. So it generally takes 40 to 50 minutes for it to come out to you, which is just something you know is going to happen when you go to a deep dish place. You need to be at peace with it when you walk into a deep dish place because if not, you're going to be like, what is taking so long? And that's why you order appetizers, you order drinks.

You just know like these 40 minutes is going to be biting on small foods if you are so hungry that you can't wait that long. And hanging out with. And hanging out with your homies. Uh, the reason it was quick is because we ordered the minis, the personal pizzas, which like they weren't tiny. They weren't tiny. They, I'm stuck. I'm this.

They full, they filled me up. Yeah. But those came out. I truly, I was still thinking they would take like 20, 25 minutes. They were out in like 15 minutes or less. And I was like, but when they came out, I was like, oh, shit. The benefits of being the first person in. That too.

You know, they've probably already prepped a crust at the very least. They had already had a few crusts, crust prepped. Yeah. So all they had to do is just put the shit in there, throwing in the oven. It doesn't take as long to cook that small pizza. And they probably, because it's a happy hour special, they may, and this is kind of why my rating was slightly lower for today. I think they probably have some pre-made already because it did not have as fresh of taste as I'm used to from Gino's East. And I think it was because it's a happy hour special that's only from 11 to 3.

We got the lunch hour special, which is a mini pizza, one side, and a pop. Yeah, they call it pop. I did notice that. I love that. I do not. Pop has always been nails on a chalkboard to me. Yeah. Even from Chicago.

I know. And my mom's side of the family still calls it pop. And it's just like, I don't know why, but it's always been nails on a chalkboard to me. Preferer New York pizza. You say soda. Man, give me your Chicago. What your Chicago card. No, I keep it in a vault.

You'll never. You're going to have to Ocean's 11 this thing away from me. So, yeah, I do think, like, that they were probably, it's still very good food. But, like, I do, I did have a, like, incline that this was pre-made, as far as, like, ready to go, pre-assembled, just ready to pop in. It may have been. Yeah. Yeah. And especially with the quick turnaround.

I don't mind that if I don't taste it, but I also had no baseline to compare to. I really liked this pizza. Yeah. You loved it. I loved this piece. Especially as somebody who flips tables over is when cheese is brought out to you. I was yelling. I was like, you serve what here?

You serve what? Deep dish cheese pizza. And I talked to your manager. Sorry, your manager, in quotes. You got just cheese. I got the meaty legend, which is one of their full-sized pizzas. And they were like, they basically told me there's so much meat in the meaty legend that are personal size pizzas can't handle the weight.

So you need to remove one meat. So it's like, it's less of a meaty, meaty legend and more like, uh, it's a meaty, uh, icon as a meaty icon. Yeah. Yeah. Although I feel like, so not to jump in on what you got, the one meat you took away was Canadian bacon. It would be the one meat that you probably don't need.

Canadian bacon. Yeah. Because it still had regular bacon. It had regular bacon. It had sausage. and it had pepperoni. Now, I will say, I don't think in the lunch size special, I don't think it had the sausage patty.

I didn't know, but yeah, so it didn't. It didn't seem like it did. Probably don't have patties. And I think that worked to its benefit. Probably. Now, I'm going to say this. The layer of cheese was not much more than what is on a standard pizza. Usually one of the things about deep dish that bothers me is the placement of the cheese.

I like the cheese on top because it's the furthest thing from my tongue, which is doing the tasting, right? Interesting. But this crust was so good. The sauce was so heavy. I mean, that's just a staple of deep dish, right? Yeah. Is the very thick sauce. And the meat was tasty enough that it kind of any cheese disdain I had going into this completely masked it.

Oh, cool. the crust was so incredible that's good I gave it a 10 out of 10 oh fuck yeah for this pizza that makes me happy yeah that makes me happy I like because I'm just like what notes would I have on it yeah they know what they're doing now

here's the thing 10 out of 10 even in and of itself is a scale is this the best pizza I've ever had no there are other pizzas I would give a 10 out of 10 that rank better than this but like this was a like no notes yeah From everything encompassed together. Yeah, Gino's is good, man. I would probably give the pizza itself a seven out of ten.

Yeah. And but, but like, I have way more history than you do. Not only with this specific Gino's East, but I also have. I see you trying to take my Chicago card. I can smell it. Give me this damn card, man. But I also just have way more Chicago history just being in Chicago morning. I moved away from Chicago when I was 26 and lived there my entire life.

Yeah. So like, I had maybe seven years in Chicago broken up in two shifts in the first three years of that I was a baby. Yeah. Yeah. So, you know. I've had better pizza at that Gino's East before. And I think a big reason was because like when you get the actual deep dish pizza, they are making at all from scratch right in and there. Yeah.

For the most part, uh, versus the lunch special. I, I feel fairly confident in the sand portions of it were pre-made, especially my cheese. Like, they probably just got that ready to fucking. go. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Um, so I'm also judging it against all the other Chicago pizzas that I know and love and taste and just like that. Because like when I go back home to Chicago, like I would never go to Gino's. Never. I would never. Never. I just, I truly would not. Yeah. Uh, Luminaldi's is probably the one I go to the most. That's a chain. But I also go to more local joints. When I had lose in, let's say, 2018, probably around there. Yeah. I didn't think it was

amazing. Yeah. I mean, I preferred this. It's all, it's all relative. Of course. Right. You know, but I also, like, would generally not even go to lose. I would go, if I'm, I would go to some of my local joints. So, like, it's different for me. So that's why mine was a seven out of ten. And I'm also going to say this. It's a generous 10 that I'm giving it. Like, and. And, and, and, And it's more to make a point of like I am endorsing like, hey, if you're in LA and you want deep dish, like you're going to be happy here. Go get it. I've had like eight, nine, like out of ten experiences at this specific genosis. Yes, with the pizza before as well.

Yeah. I thought it was great. What about your cheese? Oh, wait, you said seven out of ten. Seven, yeah, seven out of ten is what I would probably give. Okay. That seven, yeah, about seven, seven out of ten. Okay.

All right. The other bits of food we got. We got the charred Brussels sprouts. It had panco, bacon, bits, some oil. Some garlic, I think. Chard so perfectly. This was great. Yeah.

Let me tell you something about Brussels sprouts, man. Brussels sprouts have had the best BBL out of any food. They've glown our childhood of any fucking vegetable food. For about 10 years now, Brussels sprouts have just been on a high that I'm just like. They hit after time after time after time. After after decades of them joints just being boiled in water, somebody was like, we can do better than this. And now every, and Brussels sprouts be fucking hitting.

Like, you can, sometimes they can be like the best thing on a menu. Yeah. At certain restaurants. Like, specifically with restaurant Brussels sprouts, I'm like never disappointed. I'm just like, what crack are y'all put it? It's the cocaine they gave us with a little bit of heroin. that they put in in the Brussels sprouts. They were good.

They're always good. I went seven and a half out of ten on the Brussels sprouts. Yeah. The Brussels sprouts were about a seven and a half for me as well. Yeah. Yeah. Fantastic. I will get them next time.

Yeah. And especially with how heavy everything else is, it's nice to get like, it felt nice to have that best. They had homemade chips. Yeah. That came with the lunch special. You get a side. And it's like kettle chips.

They're seasoned. Yeah. And they had a. special Jardinara ranch. Now, I love Jardinara. For those of you who don't know, Jardinara is, you kind of

only really find it in Chicago. Yeah. It's like a pepper blend of veggies. I have a bottle here with me of Marconi brand. This is what Portillo's uses. It's like a hot thing. Let's see. It's vegetable oil,

hot peppers, carrots, cauliflower, celery, gherkins, spices, vinegar, salt, calcium chloride, sodium benzate, and sodium bisulfite. I love sodium by sulfide. I love sodium. It's my favorite by sulfide. It's a very delicious blend of peppers that you put in Italian beef sandwiches typically. And I love me, Jardinare. I have a hat that just says Jardinera. I love it. I love it. It's a Chicago staple, you know. Yeah. It's a Chicago staple for sure. And this ranch, it was like a yellowy, I'm not a big ranch guy. I barely. I barely tasted the ranch. All I got was the kick of the Giardinara. This is one of the better condiments. I've, I've had in recent memory.

I did not indulge in this one. No, so because you know. Definitely had a kick. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I try to stay away from things with kicks if I can help it. But the chips were good. I went nine out of ten on the chips and a nine and a half on the ranch. Yeah. This was a delicious little sauce. Again, if you're fine with some heat. Yeah. The, the chips, I thought the chips were a solid seven. I'm always going to prefer a flavored chip over a plain chip, but that's personal. As far as a plain chipped goes, I'll probably give it like a seven and a half, seven and a half, eight probably somewhere in that range. It wasn't plain as far as the taste because it did have that little bit of seasoning. Yeah, yeah. It was fresh. It tasted fresh, but not like in and out fresh. It was like some crack pepper on it as part of it, but not, it wasn't a peppery chip.

No, it just had a little bit. I just had the right amount. It wasn't like, like I said, it wasn't like in and out fresh where their fries are fresh and they're nasty because of it. But like, like this had this had a fresh taste that was like still made with care. Yeah. Yeah. So I would probably give it. I would probably go like eight.

It was one of the better like homemade in-house chips that I've ever had. Yeah. Yeah. Can I be honest with you? Can I be like deeply vulnerable with you right now? Please do. I got my, I got my, I got my Chicago card. Clippers ready to

Oh no Okay The fact that I'm scoring everything So much higher than you I'm like Oh no I'm dashing my credibility Because these things where I'm like

9 10 You're like You thought that's only a set No Not at all I'm like I have no credibility By the way

Like I have You do I have no refined You know what you like I do know what I like Yeah That's important But I feel like

I woke up today And I was like I was ready to score Gino's like a five out of ten. I was just like, Gino's is just going to be okay. Yeah. Deep dish is nasty. Yeah.

And I went in and I just loved the vibes. Yeah. I love the feeling. I loved the food. And I think I'm over-correcting. I don't think so. I think, here's what I think, because I have noticed that. I don't think you're over-correcting.

I don't think you are over-hyping or over-rating anything. I think that... for an experience of a place that you don't go too often. I think you are rating it. I will now. I think you are raiding it perfectly. Yeah. Like, I think from my experience, being there a few times, I have other, you have other Gino's visits to compare it to.

And no restaurant on the planet is going to hit this mark exactly the same, every time, all the time, right? But there was also something to the fact that it did taste like Chicago to me. Yeah, 100%. And so I don't get that nostalgia itch scratched as often as you do. Right. So I think it was a more satisfying scratch. And also that not only is that true, you don't get that it scratched as often as I do. But your itch is probably not as like deep as my itch is because like I have more to go off of to like think.

I still your Chicago card because I need it. Because, like, yeah, but you have, like, I mean, you've been to Chicago a lot and, like, you know, and you know, you know, you know, you're a Chicagoan. But, like, I go back more often than you say you have. And so, like, I get it. You're more of a Chicagoan than me. You know what I'm saying? I've murdered a couple of people. I'm the Chili's of Chicagoans.

You're like the Outback Steakhouse. I'm an Outback Steakhouse. You know what I'm saying? I'm a dirty politician. Yeah, like I shook your hand when we got up. And when I looked down, there was a dollar bill folded up in it. I was like, wow. That was slick.

I didn't even notice. Chicago handshake, baby. We'll talk about the owner. Yeah. I mentioned it as a detraction in the opening, but like sarcastically. This guy loves Chicagoans. Loves it. Loves the opportunity to talk Chicago with people.

loves the opportunity to get to know customers. And I think that's great. I loved his pride that he seemed to have in the place. When you were in the restroom, I got up, took some pictures and stuff. And he was straight up just like, you know, my partner who I opened this with used to work at, I think he said the Tribune or a radio station or something in Chicago. He was like he had all this sports memorabilia that was like all over his office. And we had nowhere to put it.

And it was like, you know what? Yeah, this restaurant would be the perfect spot. And we had this display case. And, you know, it was like he was. giving me the MTV Cribs tour of Gino's East. That's awesome. And, you know, he even like pointed to the kitchen. He's like,

this is where the magic happens. Can't have cribs without that line happening. Yeah. Yeah, he just, he loved it and that energy was infectious. Yeah. And I'm, I'm big on a passionate owner or passionate manager of a restaurant.

Mm-hmm. It really elevates an experience for me. Yeah. When like, they care. Mm-hmm. It's great. It's great. And it's good because you want them to care.

And you can tell when it's not, put on you know because he was working like he he he was at a table doing like owner work probably but like he was so happy to like be taken away from that work to show pride not only in his restaurant but in Chicago too which like the owner and I've talked to them many times uh is always a 10 out of 10 experience for me because like it is I mean you know Chicagoans love talking about Chicago more than anybody on the planet. And, you know, even, and I've talked to him many times, even though, like, he never remembers, which is fine. Like, he sees a lot of people. But today we were talking. And, like, the subject of the elementary school that I went to came up. And he

knew people who went to that school. Like, he was older than I am. So before I did. But, like, that is so rare for me to hear people say, oh, yeah, I know Bradhart Elementary. And, yeah, I know somebody who went there. Yeah. So, like, that also makes me feel, like, at home and more, like, at ease. And, like, he's just really cool, but not put on pride in his city, pride in what he's doing here. Yeah. He felt super authentic to himself.

Yeah, it was really great. It reminded me of, like, the white suburban dad you talk to all the time. Yeah. Even if he's from, like, the actual city of Chicago, which he is and he said he was. Everyone has a friend who This is their dad Out of Sleepover You show up to the sleepover

And he's just like, hey, you know Yeah, how you doing? And like he's just cool Just cool people Even kill energy And prideful And like, you know You'll never miss me with that

Yeah Yeah So that That made the whole service experience A 10 out of 10 for me Yeah, no, I loved it And then the last food item I want to talk about

in the good, that skillet brownie. Oh, yeah, it was good. It comes in, like, the same kind of pan that they bake the deep dish in. Yeah. And the texture of the brown, like, which is a cast iron. Cast iron. A skillet. Yeah.

And it's so, like, gooey, perfect. You and I had talked. I love chocolate-based desserts. I also love, like, fruit pies and stuff. Like, I'm not, like, only a chocolate dessert guy, but I do love a brownie. I love a brownie so much. You said you're more of, like, a vanilla. of dessert.

I am. Are you an ice cream? I love ice cream. One of my favorite desserts ever is like the cookie ice cream, like when they make the cookie and the skill in and put the ice cream and caramel and chocolate. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Which is exactly what we had. Yeah, kind of like that, which is what we have with brownie.

Yeah. It was good. It wasn't just good. It was excellent. Yeah. I only, I was not going to have any because I was full by the time of dessert came out. Yeah. And I was like, I'll have like a bite, you know.

And I ended up having like six or seven bites because it was, it was pretty great. It was my God. Yeah, it was great. I went nine and a half out of ten. And this one, I will defend. The others may have been inflated. This one is like a true nine and a half out of ten. Yeah.

It had the perfect texture of like melty, gooey chocolate on bottom. The ice cream, you know, good juxtaposition with the heat of the brownie. Just everything about it. smell was great. I could tell that it was very rich and like real chocolate as opposed to like

it didn't feel like it had filler. It wasn't. It wasn't no Dunkin Hines. Levening. Oh, I said. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's what I'm talking about. Yeah.

I should know food terms. I've been doing this a while, but I don't know. That's all right. But like eating. You know, you have, you have some desserts where it's just like, oh, this cake is like 40%

not anything. you know 40% literal space yeah 40% volume of nothing yeah and that's not this that's not this this was every bite of it just rich satisfying chocolate nine and a half out of 10 I would probably give that I would probably give it and this is again not a personal thing I would give it like an eight and a half because with those type of like desserts the in skillet with the ice cream know, but I just need, I need caramel. I need a caramel sauce too. Like, if they would have had the caramel sauce on there for me,

it would have kicked it up one more point, it's almost a 10. Yeah. Yeah. But without the caramel, because we talked about this, I'm not the biggest chocolate eater. And even though this was very great, that caramel sweetness would have, like, been just enough for me. I do agree.

Yeah. To, like, get it over the hump. I mean, one of the best chocolate things you can get is there's like a, a brownie, I want to say they serve it in like a cup that has like whipped cream and caramel and Girideli. Oh yeah. So good. And like that, that's like the perfect

caramel and chocolate combo. Yeah. So good. So good. That's everything I have in the good. That's service. That's atmosphere. That's a lot of the food. I do have a couple things to talk about in other section, but really not much. So it's an excellent meal. I am going to go two thumbs up

on the food. Yeah. I'm right there I'm going to go one thumb up on the service. Okay. Out of two thumbs? Out of two, yeah. Because some people have three. Some people have a third thumb.

Some people have three. We don't discriminate, but I have two. And then decor and atmosphere, I'm going to go two thumbs up. I'm going to go two thumbs on the service. The owner always makes it a little higher for me. And even like our server was very attentive. She was nice. Yeah.

She was appreciative. I always love when you can authentically tell somebody, happy to also get a, like, a thank you. I'm like, oh, thank you, like type thing, which I think is really nice. And I love a server who has recommendations. Yeah. A server with opinions goes so far. Yeah.

Because I trust them. Yeah. Like if someone's just like, oh, well, what do you like? Well, I'm like, okay, well, now you're not recommending anything. And can I tell you, can I tell you for a place like that, too, Gnos, that is a place that is well known and you're going to get people from the city it came from. Yeah. To have the confidence to give suggestions in that type of a setting is that means like it's authentic.

Yeah. Because like, you know, if I'm a Chicago and come into Geno's and you give me a suggestion, one, I don't need it. But two, if you do give it to me and it's not good, I'm going to remember that shit way more than I would if it was just like, you know, a restaurant I had never been to or that wasn't popular in that way. So I give her kudos for that as well For having opinions And like they're being knowledgeable And like spot on as well Yeah decor always a two thumbs for me Yeah

Today I mean it's weird because like In terms of Chicago food It's always two thumbs for me Yeah If I was to like say there was one thumb That I would give one that I would give one less thumb To it would be that But it was only because

You know that they've done better for you. I know they've done better for me. And we'll talk about this later. The Italian beef was changed. All right. We're going to move into everything that was not good. This is not so good. I'm not quite sure about.

It could have done without it. The stuff that brings down the mood. This is just not very good. So this is going to be a very short segment for me. I don't have really anything and not good, but I am going to make one point to say, I wish I could have drawn on the walls. You know,

there's that one authentic touch that would connect it to the Gino's East in Chicago. And I think it would be fun to just, you walk in, it's covered in signatures or like Polaroids of people or like a little artwork or like whatever. Something like that,

I think gives a place so much more flavor to its decor and makes it, you know, maybe in their case, It would cover up some of, like, it would distract from the sports memorabilia or something, if that were the case. But I would like something like that. That would be fun. I love a macaroni grill where I can go right on the table.

Yeah. Give me that, Gino's. Let me play a hangman on your wall. That would be fun. It doesn't bother me as much because, like, you know. I'm reaching here. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah.

But I do wonder, like, but it would be fun. I took my partner to Chicago recently. It wasn't Ginos, but we got to draw on. stuff and um it was just fun because you know you just draw your name and like it makes it it's very chicago i do wonder would it turn la people off um which there is a thing screw them you know i mean very true screw them but like you know genos has tried to expand out here many times and fallen on his face so like there is a part where i'm wondering if that is some of the thinking is like this is Chicago we're going to have Chicago blah blah blah but there are certain

parts that that we have to accommodate to the L.A. crowd in some shape, form or fashion. And I wonder if that's one of them. Well, and there is also the point of the original Gino's just kind of was a pushover on the graffiti thing. Like they didn't open with the intent of being vandalized. People were doing it and eventually they were like, all right, fine. There's so much graffiti here instead of painting over it, here's a Sharpie. Yeah. You know, they gave up. Yeah.

It was a submission. And LA already has, like, an issue with graffiti and, like, you know, all those type of things that you may associate around that realm that I wonder if they think. They may be wrong, but I wonder if they think if we allowed this without that to tear people from wanting to be inside the restaurant who don't know that that's a Chicago thing. I think if it was, again, we went back to this with a Yelp review, right? Communication. Okay.

If the waiters, hey, here's your table. Here's a Sharpie. Feel free to sign your name on the wall. Now you know it's part of the gimmick. Yeah. As opposed to just you see it and it's like, what is happening? And maybe they have a couple pictures up of like the original G-Nos that shows like this is how it is in Chicago. You know, we're the only deep dishplace in Chicago that people can draw on the walls and stuff.

Like, you want the full Chicago experience. Here it is. You're right. Communication, I think, would help. Like, you can definitely offset any unease someone might feel like, is this place like dirty or trashy or, you know, whatever. Yeah, but again, this isn't a strong dislike. This is just, I didn't want to talk about nothing in the not good. I will say, having anticipated not liking deep dish, I did just write in quotes on my teleprompter under not good hot gazpacho.

as though that's how I was going to refer to deep dish pizza. That's so funny. But I end up not feeling that way. I mean, in a way, it still kind of is that. It is very much a thicker tomato soup inside of a crust. Nah, it's pizza. Where your Chicago car that, man. This was very much pizza.

Clip your Chicago car real quick. You'll never get to the vault. You'll never know the code is just zero, zero, zero. Same as my PS2. See, if you was really from Chicago, would be 18, 17, when the Chicago fire happened. I don't even know if that's a real year. All right.

Take the card. Yeah, I've got nothing else in not good. I'll put some, just to have something. Yeah, yeah. And this is also stretching. I think if there are no Chicago sports on or no L.A. sports on that are of significance, like they should be playing OSPA. school Chicago sports on the TVs.

I was going to say, just have Ferris Bueller on repeat. Or, yeah, or movie. Or movie. They should have a couple TVs that are playing like Chicago-based things. Yeah. Like the Bears in the Super Bowl, the Cubs in the World Series. Something. That would, that was not necessarily that, it's not good that they don't do that, but

like that would be a nice touch. Just all episodes of the last dance on loop. Love it. Love it. Absolutely love it. What a documentary. Did you have Rob LeGloyovich's, like, arrest? Yeah.

Like the newscast we got, that was the governor in Chicago, one of our many governors who's been arrested. Yeah. And sent to jail. I just want, just give me like Harry Carey clips over and over and over. I'll take that. Man, one of my favorite Harry Carey clips is, like, the Cubs were not good, but we were losing. And somebody hit a routine fly ball to center feet. the other team.

And, like, Harry Carey, there's going to be a cal of corn. It's going to be, we're going out of their seventh inning, blah, blah, blah, blah. And, like, he's just basically, like, gearing up to go to commercial because it is truly a routine flyball. And the center, in the center fielder drops it. And so he's going, there's going to be a routine ground hole on WJ. God damn it. Which is like a fucking, you know. eight, nine year old

child was just so funny to hear him curse on live television out of anger because he dropped out of just like come on guys really

oh man that's so fucking funny I love it amazing all right that's all the not good we're going to talk about the things that were just there

this is a weird one I'm not quite sure what to say about it As you mentioned, they had a bar. We didn't experience it, so it was just there. Good decor. I mean, like, clean looking bar. I don't know.

They had a tap. I don't drink, but I know that that thing back there was called a tap. They did have, they did have beers on draft. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. The only thing in the just there was the Italian beef sandwich. And look, I adore Italian beef sandwiches. Portillo's Italian beef is a 10 out of 10 sandwich for me.

Yeah. I love it. I could eat multiple of them in a day, in a sitting, in whatever. They're that good to me. Yeah. I was excited when I saw that Gino's had an Italian beef. Have you had their Italian beef before? Oh, you said because you feel like it's changed, right?

Yeah, I know it has. This is Buena Beef, which is a brand of beef, which, by the way, Buena Beef, the company that bought the original. Geno's location that then sold it back to them. I looked at their website and they call themselves Buena Beef, the original Chicago Beef. They are not even close to that conversation of being the original, but like you can't stop them from trademarking it. So it's like, so shame on you, Buena Beef.

Yeah, not true. Not true. A Buena Beef. Fuck off. Bringing it full circle. And then it had Jardinara on it, which love it. Great choice. this was very salty

I thought one of my favorite Chicago foods the bun was great but it was just too salty didn't come wet or dip so you came dry

and then you have the that was that was by design on the side yeah because if you get it to go usually they'll dip it wrap it and then it's like and that was a waitress

recommendation to do that yeah and I may have preferred it to be wet I think that would have been a better move, which just because I'm uncomfortable saying wet so much, if you want to look into that camera and tell people what a wet Italian beef is. Let me tell you what a wet Italian beef is.

So you go to 79th, then. It's basically just, so you can get the Italian beef three different ways. You can get it dry, which is just the meat and the bread with the toppings. And that's it. You can get the all juice on the side, which is the sauce. You can get it dipped, where they make the sound. And they dip it into the all-juice sauce. You can still probably get it on the side as well.

But it's just kind of dipped. So it gives the flavor, a little wetness to it. So it's into the bread. Yes. Or you can get that joint wet where that motherfucker is wet. It is dripping from the all-juice sauce all throughout Italian beef, which is my preferred way. Yeah. To have an Italian beef.

I could even tell once the owner knew like one of us and both of us was from Chicago, he came over. He specifically, like, told us the ingredients of the Italian beef because he knows. Yeah. He told us it was the Bueno beef, which, like, Chicagoans are hit or miss about. I'm on the missed side with the Buena beef. He told us the Jardinero was from a certain. He told us the Jardinero was not, you know, and then also the bread was not the authentic, like, Italian beef bread that we normally get. Yeah.

And also, like, this is personal. I'm more of a sweet pepper over Gerardella pepper, but that's just personal, but also wet. So, like, needed to dip it in. It was dry. So all of those things together, like, made the Italian beef just kind of like, this is not a bad sandwich, but this ain't nowhere near as good as this sandwich can be. I went 5.8. Interesting. I probably would go, like, a solid 5.

Yeah. Solid 5 out of 10. I really wanted this to be better. I was so excited. And by the way, I had the advantage of getting it the way I like it. Yeah. Of the jardiner on it. You did say, we ordered a lot.

So, and you did say, like, I'm going to take this home. So she suggested to have it dry with the augeo on the side. I probably still would have suggested to get it wet. I now realize that would have been the move. Yeah. That, that, I'm sure, took off some points. Yeah. And the fact that it was not the well-known.

original bread that it was still a french roll but like you know that's the beautiful thing about like the chicago hot dog or an italian beef or the vienna sausage portillo's beef in particular has the best bread it's because it's the original bread that we're used to in chicago it's soft if you have an ingredient that is a specific brand that works for that food you go get that brand You don't stray from it. My grandma will skip 14 grocery stores to go to the one that she wants to go to to get the brands that she likes. Yeah. Because that's what you do, right?

And, like, that's what makes Chicago so unique is, like, you can make a Chicago hot dog, but it's not a real Chicago hot dog if you don't have the actual Chicago hot dog inside of it. Right. And it's like that with a few things. So for me, the beef is hit or miss. You know, but I can understand the beef, but the bread has to be the exact bread. And if it's not, it will change the taste of the time. Yeah, it's going to suffer a little bit. Yeah.

Now, again, this wasn't bad, but it was, it was middling, and I wanted it to be more than middling. Let me tell you something. A bunch of beef and a French roll is still good no matter how you bring it. Right. But when I've been to the mountain top, when you bend in the mountain top, you know. Base camp isn't going to cut it. Exactly. Exactly.

So that's how I feel about it. It was a solid five out of two. Yeah. Nothing else to me was even just there. Most of this experience was good. I really enjoyed this lunch. It was great. It was a good lunch, man.

We're going to score our visit. We're going to put it to the Chili's test. But before we can do that, yeah, Jockeys, this is your first time on the Fine Dining Podcast. I've been to over 100 restaurants. I am very calibrated to this scale. With Chili's being perfect five, I know what my zero and 10 are personally in my real life. I need to know the same for you.

So we are going to head into this week's Calibration Station. Calibration Station, comparing this meal to the best to the worst. Calibration Station, chugga, chugging, chugging, chugge, chugge, choo-choo. All right, Jacques. Yeah. I want to know what your zero out of 10, the worst dining experience you've ever had at a restaurant is, and I want to hear your 10 out of 10. You can pick whichever order you want, but we got to calibrate that scale.

So the floor is yours, whichever one you want to start with. Okay. My worst dining experience was also in Chicago. It was a place called Bob Evans. I've heard of Bob Evans. They're still around. Are they? Yeah, the one that this specific one is no longer around, but this was in high school, actually.

So me and my two homies, Vince and Matt, we all went to Bob Evans. like breakfast joint. Our waiter was very mean to us. What brand of mean are we talking? We were 17 years old. So she was the, I'm an adult serving these fucking teenagers mean. Yeah. It's like, again, I probably can understand it a little bit more at the age I'm in now because I'm sure we were annoying.

But the food just like took forever. We didn't have right. We had to get dropped off there. So, like, already that experience is just like, you know, we got to get dropped off here. When we're ready to go, we got to call, like, somebody to come get us. The food is taken forever. Our waitress is not, like, super nice to us. The food was just kind of, like, iffy.

It wasn't. I remember, like, not enjoying the food because we had a friend that worked at Bob Evans. So we were hoping that we would go and hook you up. And she would hook us up. But we didn't get hooked up. So already it wasn't a fun time. What kick started it into the bad experience is when it came time for the check, we all three pulled our money together and we literally only had enough to pay the check.

That's it. We had like maybe six cents more to pay the check. So we didn't have enough for tip, which we felt bad. We felt bad about that. Because, you know, even then, we knew the tip. And so we paid account. The waiter didn't come at all, like to, she just dropped the check off and blah, blah, blah. We never saw her again until.

But on a napkin, we wrote, I'm sorry we didn't have any money and a smiley face. Apologies. What we meant was we didn't have any money for tip. However, she saw that as. Did she think you were dying in debt? dying and dashed. So we were outside kind of by a tree waiting for Vince's mom to come pick us up. We were out there for like five minutes.

And all of a sudden we hear her bust outside. Where the fuck are y'all at? Like she was screaming. And we were, and we all three of us, luckily she didn't see where we were at. But when we heard, we all three ran it behind this tree and like did not come out. And she was, yo, motherfuckers, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. We were so scared. And then Vince's mom finally came and we got it.

The car was like, go, go, go. By the way, the smiley face is such a kicker. It's such a kicker. Which, again, if I would see that today, I would also think these motherfuckers didn't pay. So I take solace in the fact that once she actually went in and saw the situation and found out we did pay and it just wasn't a tip. She didn't get tipped. Well, sure, she didn't get tipped. But, like, if I'm assuming if somebody dines and dashed, that comes out of the waitress.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, like, she had extra reason to be upset. But we just not only had, like, a pretty mediocre to bad experience, we ended that experience so afraid. I never went back to that Bob Evans. There's no longer there anymore. But that is probably the worst dining experience I ever had. That was a full zero. Valid?

Yeah. And you're 10. My 10 is Chef Mickey's at Walt Disney World Contemporary Resort. Okay. It's a buffet. This is my first ever Disney World trip. I'm a true Disney Parks fan now. Some people may call that a Disney adult.

I just love theme parks, and Disney parks are top tier for me. Your Mickey ears are showing. Yeah, they are. We were going for breakfast. So it was breakfast buffet, brunch, whatever. And the characters come and walk around. And, like, you meet the character. They come right to your table.

You can take pictures with them all. It's like super fun and everything like that. It was just me and my girlfriend at the time who were there. So we were a table of two. And our waitress, Ruth Ann. I'm 21. So this is 17 years ago. I'll never forget Ruth Ann.

Our waitress, Ruth Ann. So not only am I, breakfast is my favorite food. Hell yet. So like. I say it's the best cuisine. It's the best fucking cuisine. So the Mickey Waffles, on point. The food on point.

So the breakfast is all is very good. Already top tier. And then, like, this is my first time at Disney. So seeing Mickey Mouse walk around and Minnie Mouse and Chippendale and Donald, Goofy, Pluto, all of them, that's also just, like, super fun. I'm just like, you're just in it. You're immersed. It's also at the contemporary resort, so you can see the Monorail go past. You see the Cinderella's castle, like, right outside the window.

Like, you're just immersed in it. And Ruth Ann was the best every time, no matter where she was in the restaurant. and she was like a 60-plus-year-old waitress, super nice. She loved that we were there together as a couple of my first time there. She felt like a warm auntie or grandma. Yeah. And like every time no matter where she was, when the character came to our table, she was right there. Let me get y'all pictures so we can have pictures together and not have to like ask or like take each other's individual pictures or selfies.

Because in 2008 selfies weren't as big of a thing. but like she was on your flip phone on our nukyos right so we had our like you know point in shoots she was right there ready to take our pictures we never had to look for she was and but she was still serving everybody else she was so nice to us it was the first like real sit down restaurant we had gone to on that trip so it was my true first experience of the disney hospitality experience amazing i'll never forget it it was i go to chef mickey's or that version of like the type of restaurant at any Disney Park. At this point,

I only have one more to go to in the world, which is Hong Kong. And like, it's all because of Ruth Ann in that first experience. Like, amazing. Top 10.

All right. Well, somewhere between Ruth Ann, Goofy and Pluto and a literal getaway vehicle from a fake dine and dash scenario. Yeah, lies today's lunch

at Gino's East of Chicago. So let's see how it fares against the perfect middle of all of that Chili's, as we put it, to the Chili's test. It's not to set scale. Will it pass or will it frame? Is it the worst? Is it the best? Let's put it to the Chili's test. So my overall experience of the restaurant, it is top tier.

It's a great. I love Geno's East. Half the reason I love it is because it is a taste of home. Yeah. So, like, knowing that, and I try to, I don't know if I should separate this from my, like, scoring of it because bias is a part of it, but my bias actually probably lessens my score because, like, at home, I would probably not go to Geno's E's store. And I've also been to this one and have had, like, you know, varying experiences, all of them high. But because of the Italian beef, because the pizza, while it was very good, I've had fresher. In my opinion, because of those couple of things only, I will rate this a 7.43. Very respectable. It's on the high end of good. Almost great. Yeah. Almost great. I've had great. I've had great at that Geno's East. But when I put everything, my experiences, my bias, everything together and base it off of that, I got to put it right in the 7.43 range. So for me, I had great today, I thought.

Yeah. I would say I almost had excellent. I'm almost at that cusp of like, you know, really high tier restaurants. The thing holding it back was service. And I mean that twofold. One, there is just like a step above level of service, that Ruthanne level where it's like almost like a curated meal with an expert. We didn't have that here. but like the owner also brought up the service score.

And I really did like our server. There were just a few moments where I was looking up and I wasn't getting just like a visual check-in or like something like that. And I may have wanted like, you know, I wanted a drink refill and there wasn't really a moment to ask because I just didn't see her enough. It's not the biggest crime, but it did, I think, prevent this from getting to that next level. The food other than the Italian beef all across the board impressed me. Jardinara ranch is a revelation with these amazing kettle chips, with an amazing brownie, with great brussels sprouts, with a pizza that I scored a 10 out of 10 on. Yeah.

You know, there's just a lot working for Gino's East of Chicago. And I say that as someone who walked in today expecting to call this place overrated and not that great. Genuinely, that was my thought. I was ready to just, this is going to be my episode where I stick it to deep dish. It didn't happen because Gino's East, they carried that. weight. Yeah. They carried my weight.

They put me, they gave me a piggyback ride. So I'm, I'm almost, or I'm more than a full point higher than you. I gave Gino's east of Chicago an 8.47. A full point. Now,

when you put my score together with your score, that's going to be its destiny on the Chochee of mediocrity. Oh, snap. Okay, where we are? Where we are? Geno's east goes up on the Chochie at a 7.9 five. Okay.

Which is right under Gaiocaku. It's a literal perfect tie with Gukaku. And just under Portillo. Just under Portillo. We got the Chicago Joyce pretty much. Now, if I would have, I wonder what I would have had to give it to put it at Portillo's, which is that at 8.04? Yeah, so you'd have had to give it 0.18 more. You would have had to give it a 7.61 to tie portillas.

Damn. Sorry, sorry, G-Nos. But I do love Portillo's more. I was going to say that said, if you're asking me, would you rather go to Geno's Easter Portillo? I'd rather go to Portillo's. So, like, to me, it's right there. Listen, that's good, man.

That is, that is, what's better than Geno's on this list? We got Portillo's. We have Rudy's barbecue. Never been there. Gus is very debatable. Oh, interesting. Rain Forest Cafe, atmosphere is great food, who knows. Stinking Rose.

Ah, I've only been there once, but like I didn't like it. It was good. Casa Bonita. Yeah. Astros. And dance hamburgers. It's so surprising to me. I love that.

Yeah. I love that. That's surprising to me? Yeah. That's surprising to me. You don't love Maestros. I don't remember it being the best restaurant of all time, which according to this is the best of this list. This is the ones I've done for the show.

I've been to many better restaurants. But I will say of Maastros, I went to the Ocean Club in Newport Beach. I think the Beverly Hills one is not great. Okay. I've been to, there used to be one in Burbank that I've been to. Interesting. And like, yeah. But anyway.

I'm happy with that. I'm happy with that. I think on a better day, we would have gotten that over to eight. That mid-eighths. Yeah, we would have gotten that over an eight. But that feels good. I'm like, you know, when I see what you got ranked lower, I'm happy with that as a Chicago way. So, Gino's East of Chicago officially, definitively, better than Chili's.

Okay, Jacques. That is the fate of Gino's East. I need to go somewhere next time. I got to put another place up against Chili's. I'm going to reach into the You Must Bowl and pull out. Let's do it. Let's see where I'm going next time. All right.

Next week on the Fine Dining Podcast, I will be going to... Firehouse subs. Boom. All right. I can't wait until you go there. I can't wait until I go there specifically. That place, I've heard so many great things about it. I don't know about great things, but I've heard things about it.

When you go to that place, you, my gosh. I will be there. My gosh. Jockeys, thanks so much for coming on. It was a delight catching up with you, dining, talking Gino Z's talk in Chicago. Hell yeah. I've done episodes where I've kind of scratched that Texas itch before. I've not done one that was super Chicago heavy before.

So this was great for me. This was great for me. Listen, man, I'll talk food all day, but you get me in here to talk any Chicago thing. I'm here any day of the week. Hell yeah. If I could trouble you to both tell people where they can find you on social media and just let me keep my Chicago card, man. I need it. I need it. Let me give it back to you. Here you go. Take you so much. Look, it's not the most earned. It's all right. But I was born there, man. It's okay. You can have it. Find me where I'm going to be cutting Michael's Chicago card on my Instagram. gram reel at Jackie's Neil on everything. Also, if you are a fan of Dropout TV, I have a new show that I'm hosting on that platform called Crowd Control, which would be coming out sometime in September of 2025. So check that out. And then my show Comedian Clash, always show upcoming

and we'll have a few for the next few months. Amazing. Yeah. Awesome. And you can follow the show on Instagram and TikTok at Fine Dining Podcast or Blue Sky, Fine Dining Podcast. com, B-Sky.com. Come join my Discord, join the conversation, talk about episodes. You can tell me I don't deserve my Chicago card. That's fine.

I'll take it. I'll see it. I'll cry to it. It's all good. And if you want an additional episode, every single month, I cover a restaurant that isn't on the proper run of the show every single last day of the month.

There you go. And you can get full Yelp from Stranger segments. and occasionally I'll do little impromptu reviews. Like I just reviewed Burger Kings, how to train your dragon special meal or whatever. It was fine. The bread color was orange. That's cool.

Burger King up here, 4.29. Yeah. That's, you know, that feels right. That's right. If there's one place we've nailed, it's that. Awesome. Well, that's another one in the books. I'll see you next week as I go to.

Firehouse Samps. Thanks for watching. have a fine day well there's another one in the folks we judge the service up to the cooks and while we may have gotten a couple of dirty looks though the journey can never stop that from the bottom down to the top

we got a new embo and everything's on lock and that's because chilies to the letter to a tea We're going to stone, mediocrity, acridi. So now we got a brand new kind of test. That's the worst we gotta know. Could we shivering out of the air? Triple Dipper got the ribs of main course. A big little in the middle.

It's gone. Now it's got to be the lock for what we use when we put things up on the charge game. So there's another one in the books, yeah, there's another one in the books, and we will see you next a week and next a week, baby.