Located at 2004 Swan Street, just off the South Loop, Fiddle Creek Steakhouse is a locally owned establishment that looks like it has been a successful restaurant in town for the past few years.

For appetizers, there is plenty offered.  Fresh-baked bread is served free to guests having a meal; it was soft and warm, and  I could certainly tell it was homemade.  I continued my tradition of trying potato skins as an appetizer when available.  I didn’t think that the potato skins at The Agave could be topped, but the ones at Fiddle Creek were better.  Just like the ones at The Agave, I could tell they were home-made and not pre-cut, but what gave them the edge was that they were thicker because more potato was left on. I also sampled the fried pickles, which is a favorite appetizer of mine.  These were the best fried pickles I have had in town thus far.  The pickles weren’t too sour, the batter was not too greasy, and they were seasoned well.  A nice bonus was that’s one fried jalapeños had also managed to make their way onto my plate, which I loved.

Their iced tea was perfect.  The sweet tea at some restaurants is very over-sweetened, and the tea itself has little to no flavor.  However, at Fiddle Creek, I could actually taste the tea itself, and the sweetness was a compliment to it.

For my entree, I broke form and opted to order something other than a steak, even though I was at a steakhouse.  I went for the meat loaf, which was described as “a family favorite passed down from our family to yours.” The meat loaf was full of flavor and very savory.  There was definitely more happening on my pallet than usual with a meatloaf.

The entrees come with two sides, and I thought that sautéed mushrooms and potatoes au gratin would be good companions to a meat loaf. The mushrooms were good, but I felt they had too much worcestershire sauce, and that the juices should have been drained more prior to serving.  The biggest disappointment, which is also a very puzzling one, came from the side that was supposedly potatoes au gratin. I’ve had potatoes au gratin before, and what I was served was nothing like it. What I got looked and tasted just like chunks of baked potato mixed with shredded cheese and sour cream, which is definitely not potatoes au gratin.  It tasted fine, as I am a fan of baked potatoes, but I was left very confused.

It wasn’t perfect, but Fiddle Creek is a place I would recommend.