The York

Cool bar (huge square shape), cool bartenders(all females when we were there) and even cooler restroom.

We were recommended to come here from the folks at The M Shop. Seems they have a connection to one of the chefs in the kitchen.

First and foremost - Highland Park isn't as trendy or up-and-coming as folks say, but I've only been here since November 2012. So, just be socially aware when you step out of the car and have your ninja-skills on alert.

The York - A little light on the decor, but lots of room to meander. Lots of space at the bar and plenty of tables for couples and groups. The drinks - very well made. I like a good Old Fashioned and they're "on-point". Beer - great selection and the staff knowledgeable about each and every micro-brew offering.

But for us, The Yorks has the best bar-food ever. My wife's favorite is their steak chimichurri w/fries (or salad). Me - I like their daily specials. I had their shortribs at our last outing - fantastic! Fish and Chips - awesome. Anything we've ever ordered we weren't ever disappointed. Highly recommend this establishment.

Don't get me wrong, I am a huge fan of hipster gastropubs which basically all base their interior design on "urban chic" with a warehouse industrial vibe. However I absolutely do NOT approve of stainless steel prison toilets! You know the small kind with no toilet lid or anything that  makes you cringe as a woman as you decide whether or not to try and squat over it instead because it reminds you of those dirty beach bathrooms on hot summer days. Yes they are clean here and they go really well with the decor but come on!

We were newcomers to The York so found ourselves a little confused when no one came to our table to serve us. But we figured out that you just order at the bar and that they have no physical menu which requires you (especially if you are short like I am) to bend your neck back as much as you can in order to read the chalk-scribbled menu on the giant board they have hanging across from the bar. Which is a really unfortunate place to hang the menu as the space between the wall that it is on and the bar is pretty narrow so you have to stand there trying to maneuver to a proper reading spot (the spotlights create a glare on the menu so you will have to move around to read the whole thing) whilst being bumped into by people trying to order food and drinks from the bar.

Now the food was okay however is definitely overpriced. I frequent gastropubs and understand that the food will always be a little overpriced but The York just overdoes it for what you get.

I decided upon the Shrimp Bruschetta. The plate consisted of 3 pieces of toast topped with shrimp, cherry tomatoes, and this really delicious sauce that tied it together so well. This is one of the better spins on bruschetta that I have tried. However for $12, 3 pieces of bruschetta is not going to cut it.

To counterbalance the tapas size of the Shrimp Bruschetta we decided to get one of the specials of the day which was described as Skirt Steak with bleu cheese, bacon, lettuce which was priced at $16. This was going to be "entree" of the night which we would share. When this came out however I was shocked!! 4/5 of the plate was literally covered by this HUGE half of a head of iceberg lettuce topped with dressing, bleu cheese, and bacon bits, while the other 1/5 of the plate consisted of our MINUSCULE "skirt steak" which was haphazardly thrown into a small pile. There was probably about 6 pieces of skirt steak all together. They really should have called this dish a Wedge Salad with a side of skirt steak! I resorted to cutting the already tiny pieces of steak into smaller pieces to make us feel like we were eating more. My boyfriend just forwent pretending it was a steak all together and mixed the pieces in with the wedge salad. I would usually get upset about wasting good meat like that but the steak itself didn't even taste like anything special so I didn't protest. We ordered it medium-rare and it came out more on the medium side and seriously lacking in flavor.

Special Plates of the day are meant to interest customers in a unique dish of the day to intrigue them to pay the higher price point but this was just a rip off.