I was, too. The prices defy explanation; I paid $45 (Cdn) for a steak no better than a $17 striploin I could buy at Canyon Creek. The a la carte sides were no better.
By comparison, the only other steak as expensive I’ve ever bought, at Morton’s, was vasty superior. Ruth’s Chris is the second most overpriced restaurant I’ve ever eaten in.
Hamlet, RickJay, while I’m no RCS spokesperson, I’m sorry y’alls experience wasn’t more pleasant as you’re two guys I think are quite deserving of having your expectations met. As mentioned, apparently quality can differ significantly from location to location.
I would agree with your assessment of Mortons… err, having learned my lesson, at least the one in Houston’s Galleria. It’ll make you wanna spank your granny.
I ate at that very same Morton’s. Christ Almighty, what a meal.
Here’s the real deal courtesy of Fortune Small Business magazine.
If you think Ruth’s Chris is a tongue-twister, check out Ilona Keller’s Dugan’s on Roosevelt Boulevard in Philadelphia. The fascia is barely big enough to hold the letters!
I’ve only heard reports of “meh” food for the price and outrageous costs of sides as everything’s an extra. Want a potato? Salad? Pay up.
Unless someone gives me a wad of cash, I’ll stick with Outback. I know they’re not the best on earth, but they’re consistently good and for $15-20, you’ll waddle out very happy and full.
You mean “Peggy’s Sugarfoot’s” wasn’t the first to do this?
This should be better-sorry.
http://www.fortune.com/fortune/smallbusiness/lookback/0,15704,490061,00.html#
It’s good, but it’s not that good. Put it half a step short or long, depending on the night, of Smith and Wollensky’s and you’re in the ballpark.
That’s where the old Stone St. Tavern was until recently, correct? I’m looking forward to getting there. I’ll return the downtown favor: Mark Josephs = excellent - certainly the best downtown. MJ’s Grill, on the other hand = eh, but more affordable.
What bothers me about Ruth’s Chris is the photo in their ads. In my book, steak should not be that shape.
It looks like, well, meatcake. :dubious:
[Cartman]Beefcake!
BEEFCAAAKE![/Cartman]
Yes, the name is bizarre. My mind wants to keep adding names as the chain goes through owners, moving from Ruth’s Chris to Booth’s Ruth’s Chris to Miss Tris Booth’s Ruth’s Chris to … well, you get the idea. Monty Python-style over-the-top absurdity. 
I’ve been to Ruth’s Chris in Los Angeles, and while it was a damn fine steak, Los Angeleans are going to be better pleased to head to either location of the Pacific Dining Car. The steak is better. The prices are the same. The atmosphere (at least at the Santa Monica location) is so much better than the crowded, rushed feel of Ruth’s Chris. AND, they’re open until 2am! The chocolate souffle is to DIE for.
Go to Pacific Dining Car if you love steak as steak was meant to be eaten and in the LA area! Go! Go now! Shoo!
I’m with you on this. If I’m going to pay $45 for a steak, you better add a damn baked potato with all the fixins’ and a trip to the salad bar.
Ahh… so you have a shitload of money, do you?
How you doin’? :dubious:
I’m a Hereford House girl. Though, it’s hard to find a ‘bad’ steak in KC.
My friend who talks with a lisp likes the restaurant but hates saying the name. He thinks it was named so that people with a lisp have a harder than usual experience just trying to pronounce Ruth’s Chris.
When my husband and I travel, we try to find the best steakhouse in the area. Consequently, we’ve eaten at Ruth’s Chris and St. Elmo’s in Indianapolis, Mortons in Cincinnati, The Chop House in Chicago, and Manny’s in Minneapolis. One of our lifetime goals is to eat at all of the top 10 steakhouses in the country. Since the top 10 changes from time to time, we may never be done!
And by the way, almost all of the high end steakhouses offer their sides ala carte but are usually large enough for two to share.
We ain’t hurtin’…
The Plaza III prices*, though, aren’t really that bad for steaks and side dishes. More expensive than other places in KC, sure, but compared to some coast prices, it’s almost a steal. One of the more expensive steaks I ever had (and pretty tasty, too) was in the Prime Steakhouse at the Bellagio in Vegas. Wonderful service and delicious peppercorn porterhouse–worth every penny. The best steak I’ve ever eaten was a Hawaiian ribeye at a place off of Ward Parkway, not too far from Pembroke Hill. The restaurant is no longer there (and I can’t remember its name), but good god was that a wonderful meal. I wish the place was still around.
*Not a bad selection of wine, either–but the mark-up on wine is horrendus. I know the wine steward gets a cut of each bottle sold, but taking a common wine (such as Beringer Stone Cellar Chardonnay) and selling it for $30 a bottle when you can get it for $11 in the grocery store? Wow. And that’s just the low-end selection.
Get over the name–the steak is worth it. Best meal I ever had was at the Detroit location. I am looking forward to trying the Nashville one next time I am in town.
If you wanna go with the expensive as hell steak chains, for my experience Del Frisco’s Double Eagle kicks the shit out of Morton’s or Ruth’s. A-fall-to-your-knees-and-praise-god selection of cigars and Scotch too.
For $45, I had better not see a salad bar at all. I expect the damned salad to be prepared by chefs and presented to me at my table. For $45 I don’t expect to fetch my own food.
My first and last experience at a Ruth’s Chris was the night before my mother’s funeral. My brother-in-law took the whole damn gang of us out to dinner after the wake. Must have cost him a small fortune cause we are a big family. Anyway, I wasn’t all that hungry (under the circumstances) so I just ordered an appetizer - the smoked salmon. Big mistake - Huge mistake. It seemed unremarkable at the time but four or five hours later I was in big trouble. I had serious food poisoning. Thought I was dying and couldn’t understand why no one in the house answered my moans, cries and wretching noises. By morning, I was so dehydrated that I could hardly speak - let alone move. Being more than 20 seconds away from a bathroom was out of the question so I missed my own mother’s funeral. I was too ill to even express my horror that the whole clan was leaving me in the house to die alone.
I later learned that they thought I had just relapsed on drugs (sober several years at that point) and was making an excuse about food poisoning. I didn’t file an official report about it with the health department because I thought it might seem rude to my BIL who footed the bill.
I hate that place and its stupid name. :mad: