7SQUARE

"Modernizing" an institution as cherished as the chophouse is tricky. Do it right, and you've elevated the sacrament of meat-worship. Do it wrong, and the gods will chain you to a rock, where an eagle will return every day to devour your liver. 7SQUARE's done it right. 7SQUARE's a stylishly updated take on your dad's favorite restaurant -- a place where men are men, and ham isn't just for Easter. Their menu's dominated by tweaked classics: a perfectly seared pork chop w/ apple cider and bourbon braised Crispin apples, root beer glazed short ribs, and a puck-shaped mound of chunky steak tartare -- served with thick-cut potato chips, it's paté for the hairy-chested. And of course there's HamSquared -- a tasting plate that raises pork to the power of two. All this protein is brought to you in an extremely date-friendly setting (minimalist white walls, glass and steel fixtures, art). Or if mom's in town, you can drop in pre-horrible Broadway musical, attack a Grass-Fed Rib Eye w/ buttermilk onion rings, then mercifully miss the entire show when you slip into a divine chop-induced rapture.