Two of my co-workers and I went to Morton’s in downtown Minneapolis, MN the other day. We weren’t planning to get the $35 steak, just the $11 burger.
One of them decided to go with a seafood salad instead.
The burgers were great! But you would expect that, since they are what they call “sirloin burgers”. But the only type of a bun you could get for it was an onion roll. Now I don’t like onions, so I didn’t want that. I asked if they had something else, the closest thing was to give me the bread that they serve with steak dinners. I said that was fine. When it came, the bread was oblong, which didn’t really fit my round burger very well.
The other burger eater of the bunch didn’t care for the onion roll, she said it was very hard.
The salad lady wasn’t impressed either.
But the most disturbing part was that one of my co-workers decided she wanted to take a $10 order of crab cakes home with her, so she ordered it to be ready when we were ready to leave. No problem. Until she got back to the office and decided that she wanted to eat one. She opened the bag and low and behold, there was ONE crab cake. $10 FOR ONE CRAB CAKE?!?! That was ridiculous.
So she called Morton’s, thinking there must have been a mistake. Nope. One cake with lunch, two if you order at dinner. Same price though. What the hell sense does that make???
All in all, none of us will be making another trip to Morton’s.
I figured I’d post this here in case anyone else was thinking of going to one of their restaurants (nationwide chain). You might want to know what you’re in for.
I have been to a number of Mortons around the country and found them to be a great place to get good steaks.
I think your problem might be that you expected it to be something it isn’t. It’s not a burger kind of place. It really is more suitable for business entertaining or a special night out. When my wife and I go to Mortons, I expect to spend over $150 for two of us, which is quite bit for us to spend. We think it’s worth it.
Thanks for posting this. When we moved into our new home Morton’s sent us a $50 “welcome to the neighborhood” type of certificate/coupon. I was wondering what to expect out of that. If I can sneak away for dinner with two at $100 (then subtract $50) I will probably give it a shot. Mrs. ShibbOleth doesn’t drink much and we don’t eat desserts, so I am hoping that would be about ballpark for two dinners plus maybe two glasses of wine.
As for crabcakes, how big were they? There is a place called Faidley’s at Lexington Market in Baltimore that has some of the finest crabcakes in the world, but they were about $7-8 for one last time I was there, which was at least five years ago. Well worth the price, they are made with lump crabmeat, almost no fillers, and are the size of a small softball. Heck, they’re almost worth a trip to Baltimore. Is the Morton’s one comparable, or was it at least tasty?
Thanks for the review. There will be a new Morton’s in the small underground shopping mall down the street from here. I’ll give an $11 burger a try one day when I don’t need to worry about being back at work in an hour.
You guys, this is why I go to Outback. Seriously. Great steaks, and pretty cheap at that. Where I live we have Ruth’s Chris Steakhouses (which I’m guessing is like Morton’s), but man, they are expensive.
So I go to Outback if I want meat, meat, meat. If I want good steak and fanciness, I’ll let somebody else pay for it!
Morton’s serves up a great steak. They will also serve up a hefty bill. Was it good? Indeed it was. Was it the very best steak I’ve ever had? Close. Although Phoenix is not known for it’s fine kwazeen, there are a couple of places that do serve steaks on par with Morton’s at a more modest price. Would I go back? Sure, if I was trying to impress the future Mrs. Toad.
Mr. Ruby and I enjoyed Morton’s the last time we ate there, but it was pricy. ($150) Is it a good value? No.
Our goal is to eat at the country’s greatest steakhouses. We’ve eaten at Chops in Chicago, St. Elmo’s in Indianapolis, Mannies in Minneapolis, Morton’s in Cincinnati, and Ruth’s Chris in Indianapolis. All are in the $100+ range without cocktails but we usually save this kind of dining for a special occasion.
There’s a place in northeast Minneapolis called Little Jack’s. Been for ages. IMHO, they have the best steak for the price. It’s a little pricier than Timberlodge, but not as over the top as Ruth’s Chris, Manny’s or Morton’s.
Next time you are near Tampa try Bern’s. It’s a different kind of experience than the places you’ve named. And next time you’re in Cincinnati try The Precinct (it’s on Columbia Parkway in an old Police station, hence the name).
The appeal of Morton’s is that it’s always the same. Hence, it’s great for business dinners/lunches (especially if you travel and entertain) because you never have to worry about the quality.
They have good food, great wine and stunning service in a mostly quiet place that is well equipped to handle large or small parties, in or out of private rooms, special orders or not.
I have been to Morton’s all over the place and have always been given the same menu presentation (vebatim), seen the same menu items, the same bread, the same steak knives, and had the same stellar service.
If you want a burger, go to TGIFridays.
Shibb: I heartily agree with The Precinct recommendation. Although I never cared for the atmosphere, the food is fantastic.
NOOOOOO! You can’t get a burger cooked less than medium anymore. No offense Sue, but I think Friday’s has too many lawyers. I get really pissed when I think about that new policy. Makes you wonder where they get their meat since there are plenty of resturants here in Dallas that serve burgers medium rare by default.
Sheesh. Morton’s is too chainy these days. What you need to do is go to 1028 N. Rush St in Chicago, for Gibsons, the best steakhouse in the United States.
Oh wow, you mentioned The Precinct… I feel like a fool. I lived in Cincinnati for 9 years, and I never ate there. And now I look at their menu and I’m damn near in tears, I want a good dinner. I am so damn tired of living down here with nothing but Outback and Lone Star crap steaks, cookie-cutter restaurants on one side of the street and fast food boxes on the other. I miss Cincinnati terribly all of a sudden, and I’ve been down here for over 4 years. There’s a place just down Delta Avenue from The Precinct that was called Funky’s Blackstone Grill; anyone familiar with that? I know they changed their name, and might just be Blackstone now. I was introduced to creme brulée and tilapia there; it was beautiful. There was a restaurant by our house called El Coyote; they served good steaks there, too. For special occasions, we’d go downtown, to The Bankers Club on the top of the Fifth Third building, and that’s where I learned how to eat in a formal setting. We’d go there when I was 7 and 8 and people would always stop by our table and complement my parents for raising such a sweet and polite boy… Sometimes, when my dad was out of town for work, my mom and I would go up to Beechmont Mall and Uno’s, and we’d place our orders and then go up to the bookstore for 20 or 30 minutes, and we’d always find something to buy. Now I have to drive to Orlando just to eat at Uno’s. And sometimes my Aunt Peach would take me into town, up to Joseph-Beth Booksellers, and she’d take me to a little restaurant called Arthur’s that had the best grilled cheese and bacon sandwich…
I really really really miss those things.
And I’m sorry I hijacked the thread. Anyway, anyone ever eaten any of those places?
My God, I totally forgot Graeter’s! The best ice cream ever! They had one called Raspberry Chocolate Chunk, and if you were lucky, you’d get a bowl and find an actual chunk of chocolate, as big as half a fist, and it would be the most wonderful semisweet baker’s chocolate, surrounded in raspberry ice cream…
