For quite some time, we've been hearing of a steakhouse out in the small Illinois town of Hillsdale, about 25 miles (as the crow flies) from the center of the Quad Cities. I was having a birthday dinner and my wife asked me where I would like to go to celebrate - her treat. I could have had my pick of a fancy, top-end place we've been to in the past around the Quad Cities, but I wanted to try Prime Steakhouse in the small town of Hillsdale, IL.
And it's not that Prime Steakhouse isn't fancy or top-end, they are one of the best kept secrets in all of the Quad Cities. It's the quintessential Midwestern supper club destination located in a small town that draws people from a 40 mile radius on a regular basis. Owner Agim "Jimmy" Saliu is a veteran of a number of family-owned restaurants in Eastern Iowa, primarily in DeWitt and Clinton. Prime Steakhouse has been open in Hillsdale for nearly 15 years as Saliu took over the former Rustic Inn supper club which originally opened in the late 60's.
It was about a half-hour drive from our house in Davenport out to Hillsdale to Prime Steakhouse. (see map) I have stopped in Hillsdale many times over the years at the Shell service station just off of I-88 to top off my gas tank while heading home from Chicago or to grab a slice of pizza (or two) on my way into the city. I never knew until just a couple three years ago that a steakhouse/supper club was in the small town of about 500 people.
Prime Steakhouse is only open 4 nights a week - Thursday (4 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.), Friday and Saturday (4 p.m. to 9 p.m.), and Sunday (4 p.m. to 8 p.m.). We heard that wait times - especially on the weekend - can be upwards of an hour. We got there right around 5:30 with no reservations and were able to be seated straight away. Parking was a breeze with plenty of spots open up and down Main Street in Hillsdale, as well as a small parking lot off to the side.
If we would have had to wait to get a table, the small bar area would have been a good place to hang out. They had a well-stocked back bar and a good selection of beers to choose from. It was a cozy spot where I would have no problem hanging out having a couple three beers before sitting down for a meal.
The dining room at Prime Steakhouse was like walking back into the 70's. Big booths, large tables, and a number of drop-down light fixtures made the room glow, but not oppressively so. It was a comfortable space - nothing fancy - but not pretentious at all.
The same young lady who seated us in a booth in the dining room was also going to be our server. We also found out that she was going to be our bartender, as well. She worked her butt off all night as she was the only server - and bartender - on the floor that evening. She held up well as more parties came in for dinner as time went on. She was cheerful, helpful and on top of everything that we asked for.
The menu at Prime Steakhouse was what you would find at most Midwestern-style steakhouse. Prime rib on Friday and Saturday night (it was a Thursday night when we were there), a variety of steak cuts, pork chops, seafood, chicken entrees and pasta dishes. Potato sides such as fries, hash browns and baked potatoes were available with most entrees.
And, of course, there was the salad bar which featured all the fixings you'd expect from a Midwestern supper club - fresh greens, assorted veggies for toppings or sides, the pre-requisite Ranch, French or blue cheese dressings. My wife and I always love finding pickled beets on a salad bar and the ones at Prime Steakhouse were rather unique in that they were mixed with all spice. We found it to be an interesting combination, something that we'd never encountered before. They had a garlic dressing that my wife got. Any time she gets a garlic dressing I have to take a bite of her salad because I wouldn't be able to get 10 feet near her later in the night because she would reek of garlic. And I LOVE garlic, but it's a bit oppressive to live with her if she has garlic dressing and I don't. I got the tangy and sweet French dressing on my salad. I have to say that I thought the garlic dressing was pretty weak, but the French dressing was very good.
They had a special off the menu that night - a New York strip with a butter garlic topping. I really thought long and hard about that, but the filet was also interesting. My wife was also intrigued by the special. I said, "You get the special and I'll go for the filet. That way we can both try them." For her potato side, she got the hash browns topped with cheddar cheese and onions.
The filet was a 12 to 14 ounce cut and I asked our server to add the mushroom burgundy wine sauce. I thought I had asked for the sauce to come on the side, but it was slathered over the rare-cooked filet. But I was fine with that. For my side, I got the garlic-mashed potatoes. I asked our server if I could get some of the mushroom burgundy sauce for my mashed potatoes. She said, "Oh, a lot of people ask for the sauce with the mashed potatoes." Once again, I thought the sauce would come on the side, but it was liberally spooned over the garlic mashed potatoes. And I was fine with that, as well.
I have to say that my filet was cooked perfectly, the beef was tender and the mushroom burgundy sauce did not overpower the flavor of the beef. I was extremely impressed with the steak that I had. The mushroom burgundy sauce was a nice complement with both the steak and the garlic mashed potatoes. It must have been the garlic dressing that I had earlier as I didn't detect much of a garlic flavor in the potatoes. But, still, they were fine.
My wife's New York strip with the garlic butter was, well, disappointing. First of all, the garlic butter was way too salty. My wife remarked that it was salty after her first bite. And she salts everything, so if she says it's salty, it's salty. She cut a piece off of her strip steak for me and I tried a bite. It was severely over-salted for my taste. I rarely salt anything either during the cooking process or after it's been served, so I can detect salt content on food almost immediately. To me, this was almost inedible. My wife even thought it was way too much salt on the steak. She pushed the garlic butter topping off her steak and went ahead and ate it that way. The cut of meat was tender, but the residual flavor of the overly-salted garlic butter sauce was just too overpowering.
Jimmy Saliu came out to talk with us to see how everything was with our meal. My wife told him that she likes to salt her food, but the garlic butter on top of her steak had way too much salt on it. Jimmy apologized profusely and offered to get her another steak. But she was already 3/4's of the way through the steak at that point. After we finished up, Jimmy came out with a piece of vanilla cake - on the house. It was all right - probably a food purveyor type of cake and not made in house. But it was a nice gesture on his part.
He chatted us up for a moment and asked where we were from. We told him we were from Davenport and had been hearing and reading about his place from other people, as well as on social media. He said, "We don't really advertise that much. We don't have to. We've been here for years without really having to get the word out. We leave that up to our customers."
And I would have to say that I was a convert after visiting Prime Steakhouse. My beef tenderloin filet was very good - tender, juicy, cooked perfectly rare the way I like my filet cuts. But my wife was disappointed in her strip steak with the butter garlic topping as it was way too salty. But that won't deter us from going back out to Hillsdale to eat at Prime Steakhouse again at some point. The service we had from the young lady who was working not only all the tables in the restaurant, but was also working as the bartender that night. The owner Jimmy was friendly and personable, and it was nice for him to give us a piece of cake for dessert free of charge. Prime Steakhouse isn't a fancy, upscale steakhouse. But the steaks they serve would rival any cuts of beef I've had at some of the big city steakhouses I've visited in the past.
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