Alfonso Padilla
Morton’s of Chicago The Steakhouse
1050 N. State St.
312-266-4820
American
When Alfonso Padilla started out at Morton’s of Chicago, The Steakhouse, in 1979, his job was that of dishwasher. He quickly moved up through the ranks to pantry chef and sous chef. In 1987 he was named head chef, and now supervises a staff of about 15.
The restaurant estimates he’s overseen the broiling of some 1.2 million steaks. “Customers ask what I’d recommend,” he says. “I tell them, ‘You should order the filet mignon if you like your steak very tender, but the New York strip if you want the best flavor. And if you want more, get the 48-ounce porterhouse, which really is two steaks in one. One side is the filet mignon, and the other is the New York strip.”
Reared in San Julian, Mexico, Padilla had worked on his family’s ranch. “I liked it but I told my Daddy, ‘I’m tired of working at this. I want to do something else.’ In 1975 he arrived in Chicago, where he got a job as a dishwasher at Carson’s The Place for Ribs. He and his wife, whom he met in Mexico, live in the city with their three young children.
“I love living here,” he says. “It’s a better life here. In Mexico you work and work, and there’s no money. And it really wasn’t hard getting used to Chicago winters.”