So, the Woman Who Knows Most Things and I were discussing the sad state of affairs when it comes to steaks in restaurants these days.
We lamented that back in the day (when we were dating and first married) Outback Steakhouse actually had pretty good steaks. Now, not so much.
As a rule, 99% of the steaks restaurants serve are poor to bad.
Even in "steakhouses"... I'm looking at you Longhorn and Texas Roadhouse.
Flavorless steaks- tough and poorly prepared, with uninspired service; Or worse, snotty service with overpriced dogmeat.
The exception in chain/franchises, of course, is Ruth's Chris and Morton's.
Been to RC twice and Morton's once... Both were pretty damn amazing.
Expensive, yes, but on a satisfaction-to-the-dollar scale, well, we're not going more than once or twice a year, so it is worth it.
There have been a couple other places that really were top-notch...
One was in Indianapolis- St Elmo's down on South Illinois St.
Wow. The experience was amazing.
Ketel One Martinis, their signature shrimp cocktail (hard to impress me with shrimp- but they managed to do it - the secret is in the sauce) and an amazing hunk of red meat.
(Man... I wonder if I could get Tam and Bobbi to do a blogmeet there?)
Not truly a "steak" place - Lawry's was a very memorable experience too...
From the Caesar Salad prepared at the table to some of the best prime rib I've ever had.
It has a place in my top ten.
Another place that used to be a must-experience when visiting Orlando-
Charley's Steakhouse (although word has it that it has gone downhill since being acquired by once of the super-restaurant chains.)
There have been a few others... I wasn't overly impressed with Smith & Wollensky's, but there was a local place that was really good 20 years ago- The Tree Steakhouse... They tried to expand and screwed up their business model... Shame.
(Of course- this discussion is about regular steakhouses- not Brazilian Steakhouses... Different kettle of meat, as it were.)
Why did we get on this topic?
Because there was a commercial on the tube for Applebees touting their steak entrees...
I don't know about your experience, but I've found that the food usually looks better on the commercials, and this looked awful- I remarked that if it looked that bad on the 'tube, the real thing was probably horrific.
TBG- ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒE
We lamented that back in the day (when we were dating and first married) Outback Steakhouse actually had pretty good steaks. Now, not so much.
As a rule, 99% of the steaks restaurants serve are poor to bad.
Even in "steakhouses"... I'm looking at you Longhorn and Texas Roadhouse.
Flavorless steaks- tough and poorly prepared, with uninspired service; Or worse, snotty service with overpriced dogmeat.
The exception in chain/franchises, of course, is Ruth's Chris and Morton's.
Been to RC twice and Morton's once... Both were pretty damn amazing.
Expensive, yes, but on a satisfaction-to-the-dollar scale, well, we're not going more than once or twice a year, so it is worth it.
There have been a couple other places that really were top-notch...
One was in Indianapolis- St Elmo's down on South Illinois St.
Wow. The experience was amazing.
Ketel One Martinis, their signature shrimp cocktail (hard to impress me with shrimp- but they managed to do it - the secret is in the sauce) and an amazing hunk of red meat.
(Man... I wonder if I could get Tam and Bobbi to do a blogmeet there?)
Not truly a "steak" place - Lawry's was a very memorable experience too...
From the Caesar Salad prepared at the table to some of the best prime rib I've ever had.
It has a place in my top ten.
Another place that used to be a must-experience when visiting Orlando-
Charley's Steakhouse (although word has it that it has gone downhill since being acquired by once of the super-restaurant chains.)
There have been a few others... I wasn't overly impressed with Smith & Wollensky's, but there was a local place that was really good 20 years ago- The Tree Steakhouse... They tried to expand and screwed up their business model... Shame.
(Of course- this discussion is about regular steakhouses- not Brazilian Steakhouses... Different kettle of meat, as it were.)
Why did we get on this topic?
Because there was a commercial on the tube for Applebees touting their steak entrees...
I don't know about your experience, but I've found that the food usually looks better on the commercials, and this looked awful- I remarked that if it looked that bad on the 'tube, the real thing was probably horrific.
TBG- ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒE
This happened to me at a Chain steakhouse a couple of weeks ago was there for fifteen to twenty minuets waiting for someone to come and take my order when the manager came up and asked if had enjoyed my meal. I handed him the menu and walked out.
ReplyDeleteAw man, don't tell me they f'ed up the Tree!!! Ate many a good steak there! Another good one (to me) is Mccormick and Schmick's for a chain steakhouse. In Houston, it used to be Houlihan's out at Town and Country.
ReplyDeleteIf you're in Vegas, give Craftsteak in MGM a try.
ReplyDeleteSwanky private club in Nashville last night, steak was so- so at best. When I go to a high end restaurant, I kind of expect them to do a better steak than I can on my rusty Webber grill.
ReplyDeleteBlogMeet at St. Elmos? Maybe..... When you gonna be in town?
ReplyDelete