Review: Ruth’s Chris Steak House

Last night was our first date night in some time.  Lea and I visited Ruth’s Chris Steak House, inside the Embassy Suites downtown, where you just kind of wander into it in the lobby.

We’ve had our Ruth’s Chris in Huntsville for five years or so, and I’d heard about it probably that much longer again on talk radio, but neither of us had ever been.  I accidentally selected the same night Ron “Tater Salad” White was in town, but our reservation and valet parking effectively mitigated any pain there.  We checked our coats and were seated promptly.  There are no continuous walls separating you from the hotel lobby at large, but the space is designed thoughtfully enough to provide suitable intimacy.

So the signature touch at Ruth’s Chris is that its USDA prime steaks are served to you at a temperature of 14,000,000,000,000,000 degrees.  (OK, it’s really “only” 500 degrees Fahrenheit, after having been seared at 1800 degrees, but still, when she says “hot plate,” she means it.)  They sizzle at the table because they’re bathed in a tablespoon of butter.

The other thing to know is that Ruth’s Chris side dishes each serve two to three people.  I’m sure this works well in a group of four or more, but for two, it essentially means you have to be on the same page for your potato and any vegetable accompaniment.  This seems needlessly constraining, but we dealt with the limitation mostly satisfactorily.

Lea and I are not big wine drinkers, so we didn’t spend any time with the impressive-looking list.  I was a little surprised that not only was there not anything comparable for available beers, there didn’t seem to be a listing of any kind anywhere.  Our server Jay assured me that they had “pretty much anything domestic,” so I settled on a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, which arrived promptly with a chilled glass.  Unfortunately, it was the last one in the restaurant, so I wasn’t able to continue with it.  Failure to inform me of this in time to change my selection was the only (minor) service offense of the evening.

(And a switch to Sweetwater 420 Pale Ale isn’t a bad jump.)

Our appetizer of crab-stuffed mushrooms arrived perfectly halfway through the Sierra Nevada.  The four golf-ball sized portobellos were tasty enough to hold our attention without being distracting.  I also appreciate interesting flavors that don’t rely on salt overload, which has (sadly) become the norm for appetizers.  These delivered nicely.

For dinner, Lea selected a New York strip, well done, while I had the filet, medium-rare (and that’s a stock Ruth’s Chris photo and not one of my particular steak, but it could be).

These came out sizzling as advertised, accompanied by the garlic mashed potatoes and fresh asparagus we had selected.  After making a joke about being careful not to touch our tongues or ear lobes to the plates, we began.

Now given the shtick and the price, the steaks were going to have to be memorable, and they delivered.  They were very high-quality cuts, cooked perfectly to order and with only the subtlest seasoning of salt, pepper, parsley, and the aforementioned butter in order to better showcase the corn-fed flavor.

I haven’t kept a list of the best steaks I’ve ever had, but there was absolutely nothing to complain about with this one.  I hadn’t even a minor gripe with its quality.  I’m certain it was a 90th-percentile steak for me; I think it might have been 95th-percentile.  I cut it with my fork.  The flavor was marvelous and long-lived.  I started taking slightly smaller bites as the steak diminished on the plate, just so I’d have one or two more.

The asparagus was fresh, flavorful, and accompanied with hollandaise.  It was cooked just a bit more than I prefer, with only a slight crispness, but still well within reasonable expectations.  The garlic mashed potatoes were tasty, with only an occasional lump to assure authenticity, and (again) no salt overload.

For the close, Jay set a mountain of chocolate mousse pie between us, which was creamy, delicious, and artfully presented.  We managed about two-thirds of it, I think, and I enjoyed an excellent French press black coffee with it.

The service experience, start to finish, was excellent.  The meal was paced perfectly.  Jay was polite and genuinely conversational (and I really dislike that rehearsed, straight-from-corporate-training quality there is to far too much server communication anymore).  He, the hostess, and the valet all greeted me by name.  It was all warm and attentive, with a good understanding and avoidance of what grates.

If you know anything else about Ruth’s Chris, you know that we’re not talking about the Golden Corral budget-wise.  Now I think I paid a little bit more one time in Destin, but this visit definitely joined my American Express hall of fame for a single meal for two.  With a shared appetizer, three alcoholic beverages, and dessert and coffee accompanying our steak dinners, and adding a 20.1% tip for our server and a fiver for the valet, the start-to-finish experience checked in at $184.

Now eating out is a luxury in the first place, so I’m not going to say that’s too much.  It’s a pleasant evening at a premium restaurant, and that’s what that one cost.  Our previous closest analog is probably Pauli’s, and I’m now interested in returning there soon for a head-to-head.  (I’m reasonably sure I remember that a comparable visit is 20-25% less there.)

Nevertheless, we enjoyed ourselves very much, and I suspect we’ll return occasionally.

8/10

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8 thoughts on “Review: Ruth’s Chris Steak House”

  1. I too have recently eaten at the same Ruth’s Chris and was equally impressed. It was definitely in my top 3 steaks I’ve ever enjoyed. The portions were quite large. I too was very pleased with their attention to detail, coordination, and communication. Everyone we talked to (hostess, waiter, and manager) all knew it was our anniversary. We were comp’d a mammoth piece of chocolate mouse cake. While I do love chocolate, I’m not a big mouse fan and we couldn’t finish it, even when we brought it home we ended up throwing a good bit out. It was probably my only disappointment just b/c I love chocolate and feel bad throwing it out. The rest of the meal was pretty much spot on and sounds like it was the exact same experience you had.

    Our only annoyance was the lack of enforcement on dress code. We’re normally not snippy about first world issues like this, but when we’re shelling out this kind of dough for a nice anniversary dinner, we don’t really want to be sitting next to some guy in a Lakers leisure suit/jump suit and some frat boy in an everyday (worn out) polo and (torn) jeans trying to wine and dine some sorority girl with the level of intellect equal a pile of bricks. So other than the happen stance neighboring diners, it was an all around great meal. Definitely recommended.

    Now I just need to try out Pauli’s.

    Reply
  2. Bo and Tahm, glad your experience was better than mine. I had a probably 30th percentile steak. The server brought drinks and food and disappeared. I came out of there a lot poorer and wishing that Jeff had cooked dinner because I know he does a great job with steaks and I could have filled my own water glass. Now that 801 Franklin has closed, our go-to place for fancy dates is The Melting Pot.

    Reply
  3. Tahm, I had a very brief thought of that nature when I glanced over and saw a guy next to us in jeans. “Sheesh, you think it was my preference to wear slacks on a Friday night?” I thought. Oh well. Pauli’s is quite good.

    Diana, that sounds chilly. 🙂 And welcome!

    Miria, sorry to hear that. We are headed to The Melting Pot on a double date next month. Review to follow.

    Reply
  4. It’s probably a good thing that steak is not one of our favorite meals! My DH has been to the original Ruth’s in NOLA but we have not tried the local one. We never really do fancy here which probably stems from having three children with us. We wind up choosing smaller ethnic places when we do dine out by ourselves.

    Reply
  5. Would this be the Ruth’s Chris Steak House in Mobile? I ask because just yesterday afternoon I was reading “The War Room” by Michael Holley (which I highly recommend, BTW) and he talks about Thomas Dimitroff and Scott Pioli (the GMs of the Atlanta Falcons and the Kansas City Chiefs, respectively) having dinner there during the week of Senior Bowl practices last year.

    As soon as I read that I thought, “Wait a minute, wasn’t Bo there recently?

    Oh, and Jerry Jones, the owner of the Cowboys, ate there, too.

    Reply

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