Hub 51 in downtown Chicago is a place I've read about and recently had the chance to try during a lunch meeting with the General Manager from Music Direct in Chicago. My colleague, John, had flown in from New York to help me with a presentation with a new dealer in the northern suburbs and we decided to visit Music Direct for a lunch time visit. We invited the G.M. out to lunch. Josh knows that my number one rule when it comes to dining in Chicago is "no national chain restaurants!" He directed me to the corner of West Hubbard and N. Dearborn in the River North area of downtown Chicago (see map). Actually, it's not very far from the Hilton Garden Inn in River North that I like to stay at when I have to stay downtown.
R.J. and Jerrod worked in a number of the Lettuce Entertain You establishments over the years. In fact, R.J. Melman was named after Rich Melman's original restaurant - R.J. Grunts. While Hub 51 is part of the Lettuce Entertain You network of restaurants, it should be pointed out that Dad had no input on the restaurant. His boys have their hand prints and signatures throughout the restaurant. The menucould be called a fusion of Japanese, Mexican and American food. Hub 51 features sushi, tacos, large sandwiches, steaks and seafood. Of course, it's not your typical tacos, but a variety consisting of steak, grilled chicken, grilled fish or pork tacos. The sandwiches are billed as being "two-handed" and consisting of huge burgers, a "knife-cut" BLT, and an ahi tuna sandwich. They also feature beef tenderloin kabobs, pulled pork platter, braised ribs, and daily seafood specials that are caught "off-the-hook" rather than in nets. For the light eaters, Hub 51 also has a number of salads to choose from. We arrived at Hub 51 around 12:30 and while the place was full of diners, we were able to get in right away into a table tucked in the back corner of the place. Our waiter came around and gave us lunch menus for us to look over. The lunch menu features a number of sandwiches, sushi rolls (regular sushi doesn't begin until later in the day, and about six luncheon features including Chilean sea bass, grilled Amish chicken breast, and their chicken enchilada stack. If you're a regular reader of Road Tips, you'll know that I'm a sucker for good fish tacos. Not the kind that are basically breaded white-fish fish sticks, deep-fried, then put on to a taco shell. I like the grilled fish tacos served with cabbage, a sweet and spicy sauce and drizzled with lime juice. It turned out Hub 51 had those tacos on their menu. While I was tempted to try the green chile cheeseburger or the huge BLT, I kept going back and looking at the fish tacos. But I'd had fish tacos the night before and I ended up ordering the pulled pork tacos instead. I can come back the next time I'm staying in downtown Chicago for the fish tacos. John was torn between a number of items, as well. He finally ended up ordering the lunch sandwich special that day, a grilled chicken sandwich with avocado, cheese and a Mexican salsa topping. Josh asked us if we liked sushi. Well, of course we do! He said, "They have this tuna appetizer that they marinade the tuna in a ginger sauce and serve it with crispy rice and sort of a lime-infused tomato salsa. It's just unbelievable." He went ahead and ordered that for us and he ordered the grilled chicken tacos. He told me, "I've got the fish tacos here. And they are excellent. But I always seem to order the same thing when I go to restaurants and I wanted to break up the monotony today." The shakishaki tuna appetizer that Josh ordered up was everything he said it would be. The tuna was sushi-grade rare and the tomato salsa was a great compliment to the meal. I especially enjoyed the taste of the tuna in the ginger marinade. We laid waste to that appetizer in less than five minutes. As we waited for our lunch to show up, we talked about a myriad of topics that seem to be affecting the consumer electronics industry today - from politics, to the Internet, to the proliferation of big box retailers taking over the market, to long-time brick-and-mortar businesses having to reinvent themselves. We all agreed that if we had to do it over again in our lives, we would have steered clear of the consumer electronics industry. But as John pointed out, "We're here and we may not be getting rich, but it's still fun." I have to say the pork tacos at Hub 51 were just excellent. I thought the pork looked a little over-cooked at first, but it was tender and very flavorful. It's hard to find good pork tacos in the Midwest, even though some of the best pork comes from Iowa and Illinois. But Hub 51's pork tacos were some of the best I've ever had. Both John and Josh said their lunches were outstanding, as well. Josh's chicken tacos were very similar to my pork tacos. And John's grilled chicken sandwich looked very good, too. And he said as much a couple times through the meal. Hub 51 is the new trendy place to be and to be seen at in Chicago. I'm glad Josh brought us here for lunch since I'd read nothing but good things about the place. The food is good and interesting, and they seem to do a great job in trying to please everyone with a little bit of everything on their menus. Yes, the next time I go back to Hub 51, it will be for the fish tacos.
Hub 51 gets its name from the address - 51 W. Hubbard. The inside of the building looks like it may have been an old garage at one point in time. It features high ceilings, exposed ductwork, an outside wall that faces the street that looks like two large garage doors and sort of a contemporary industrial decor. It's also somewhat loud and, as I was told, always busy - even in the middle of the afternoon. Hub 51 features valet parking for $8 bucks during the lunch time - a bargain considering some of the high prices of the parking garages in the area.
Hub 51 is the brainchild of two young guys who have a legacy in the Chicago restaurant world - R.J. Melman and younger brother Jerrod Melman. If you're familiar with Chicago restaurants, there's no doubt you recognize the Melman name. The Melman brothers are the sons of Lettuce Entertain You Restaurants Rich Melman whose 40 year career has given the Chicago area (and branching out to other large metro areas across the nation) restaurants such as Maggiano's, Shaw's Crab House, Wildfire, and Osterio Via Stato. Lettuce Entertainment has nearly 40 different restaurants under their umbrella - many of which I've eaten at, and enjoyed, for many years.
Our lunch came out and the waiter sat the pulled pork tacos down in front of me. The presentation was very good with a number of different items to throw onto the tacos with the pork. There was salsa and rice, a little guacamole, refried beans and a sort of dark sauce that went well with the pork.
Hub 51 is an expense-check meal as it is not cheap. It was close to $100 bucks with drinks and tip for the meal. But Music Direct has become a solid business partner with us and our relationship gets stronger with each visit. So the meal was worth it. But just like any good restaurant in the heart of any big city in America, you're going to pay for it. I would have been more upset had the lunch not been that good, but Hub 51 was very, very good.
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