The original steakhouse was Chris Steak House. It was purchased by Ruth Fertel, who eventually changed the name to Ruth’s Chris Steak House when the original location burnt down and they built a new one and she wanted to keep “continuity with the previous location.”
The gimmick is that the plate is hot to keep the steak hot. I’m not sure that 500 degree’s is the optimum temperature.
In my house, I’ve started warming the ceramic plates to 200 Deg. F, to keep the eggs warm while I eat them. I hate cold eggs. Blech.
“I just wanted to know what your idea of ‘hot’ is.” /Elaine Benes
I suspect this is the Chris of “Ruth’s Chris.” Info on him is rather thin post the 1965 sale to Ruth. Guess he just retired.
You should go in, order several hundred dollars worth of food and then try to pay with a barnes and noble gift card and a jar of change.
It sounds like she was trying to ask Siri a question and fell down the rabbit hole of the interwebs.
I think this is awesome that not only did the users here provide the answer, instead of “let me google that for you links” and insults, but they provided several personal experience details you wouldn’t get off google as easily.
(“be prepared to drop some serious cash, don’t touch the plate if they say it is hot, it’s hot”)
I put two plates in the microwave and nuke them (it’s a modernish model, but I don’t know the wattage) for one minute.
And you don’t even need a source of moisture. Why this works is worth, and I think has already received, another thread.
. . . from all the 500-degree plates.
I’ve wondered that too. It a pain in the ass to pronounce, it doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue.
You should pull the tablecloth back and look at the tabletop at a Ruth’s. The one in Providence has plate-sized scorch marks at each place setting. Cheap table, too for such a pricey restaurant. Seeing the damage done I understand why, but it was still a really cheap table.
As I understand it, a man named Chris owned “Chris Steakhouse.” He sold it to Ruth Fertel, who continued operating it under the name “Chris Steakhouse.” One of the terms of the sale was that if the business moved for some reason, it could not continue under the original name. But the business needed to move (I believe a fire destroyed the original location). Ruth, wanting to continue to operate on the goodwill Chris Steakhouse enjoyed, but unable to use the name, simply changed the name of the new location to “Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse,” and the chain grew under that name.
I asked once when I was at a Ruth’s Chris, and that’s the answer I got.