Thanks for the feedback on Bice killerbrew ^


Just went to Magnum's Steakhouse in Rolling Meadows and Sphinx Cafe in Niles.


Went on a Thursday night to Magnum's Steakhouse, seeing as Magnum’s is in an office building that is far off of Algonquin Rd with not much signage visible, I didn’t expect it to be busy on a weekday night and sure enough it was almost empty. Out of the 17 people in this large restaurant 10 were at the bar. Place was so empty that the busboy seated us, I don't think they had a host(ess), at least none was on when we showed up.

Service was quite good however.

Started out with a ½ dozen oysters and a shrimp cocktail. Oysters were fresh and very good. Shrimp were slightly overcooked but still had a lot of flavor.

For entrees, we both chose meat entrees although as with most steakhouses, there are seafood entrees as well. We love leftover steak for sandwiches, so we ordered large. Mrs. Sweet Willie had the 24oz bone in ribeye and I had the smoked prime rib. All of Magnum’s steaks are wet aged and we were told USDA Prime, but it did not say USDA on the menu only descriptor used was Prime.

Ribeye was good and quite flavorful, not that tender but I really don’t care about that, I want flavor.

I had the smoked prime rib, yes that is correct, Magnum’s smokes their prime rib, it is not a heavy smoke, it was one of the best pieces of prime rib I’ve had, quite delicious.

The side of sautéed mushrooms we ordered was excellent, perhaps heavy on the black pepper but still excellent.

Lots of well known wines, especially reds, Stag’s Leap, Freemark Abbey, Cakebread.

Magnum’s Steakhouse
Location: Chicago Suburban/Northwest
Cuisine Served: Steak
Entrée Price: $20 to $35 Lunch , $20 to $35 Dinner
Street Address: 1701 Golf Rd
Rolling Meadows, IL 60008
Phone: (847) 952-8555

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Tried the Sphinx Café this evening. The owner has not decided what he wants this property to be. ½ of it is a “nightclub” w/old wooden floor that had small puddles on it from today’s hard rain. There is a big screen TV in one end of the restaurant that was playing techno dance music videos the whole time we were there.

Started out with Kibbeh – fried cracked wheat & meat shell stuffed with seasoned ground beef, onions, and nuts. This was ok but just that ok, nothing special

Jerusalem Salad – chopped parsley, tomatoes, and cucumber with a tahini dressing. Good, not great.

We split the hummus platters with Chicken Shwarma and Lamb Shwarma. This was ok but I much prefer the shwarma ½ mile north of Sphinx Café on Milwaukee Ave, at a place called Pita Town.

Sphinx Café
Location: Chicago Suburban/Northwest
Cuisine Served: Mediterranean
Entrée Price: $10 to $20 Lunch , $10 to $20 Dinner
Street Address: 8743 N Milwaukee Ave
Niles, IL 60714
Phone: (847) 967-0030

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