Ruth's Chris Steakhouse...what a ripoff!

[AllyCat]

Company party there so I guess I shouldn't moan because I didn't have to pay for it. But jeez!!! $35 for a steak. It was good according to husband (I'm a veg so ended up with vegetables for $19), but that was ALL you got. Salad? $8. Vegetable side? $6.75 Oh, we got bread with the meal. Whoop-de-doo. Completely unimaginative cuisine. The "sauteed spinach" was literally a bowl of plain, tasted-steamed spinach. Husband got the broiled tomatoes which was 2 slices of tomato on a plate for $6. If you want a topping on your steak like lyonnaise or bleu cheese, that was an extra $6-12!!!

Anyone else been there? The place was packed and I'm trying to figure out where everyone is getting the dough to eat there. Dessert: $8 for a little bowl of creme brulee with a few unripe berries on it.

And of course, they have to tell you how they cook their steaks "1800 degree broiler to seal in juices served on a 500 deg. plate". "And how is everything tasting?" (my current pet peeve about eating out is that stupid phrase...just a little too visceral for me at meal time. But everyone says it. What's wrong with "are you enjoying your meal"?)

[youthere]

1. but but but...SEAN HANNITY eats there!

[CreekDog]

26. that doesn't really help

:puke:

[Redstone]

2. Never been there, and I guess I won't go now.

Redstone

[johnnie]

3. And it was probably packed

Suckers is what I say.

[AlCzervik]

4. Same thing at Morton's, everything is ala carte.

[MonkeyFunk]

5. most steakhouses are like that

at least the expensive ones - everything's a la carte, and the sides are just for show. If you don't enjoy a good steak, it's not worth it.

That said, I think Ruth's Chris is just OK as far as steakhouses.

[bbernardini]

6. Should have gone to Olive Garden instead.

Now excuse me while I don my flame-proof protective suit. :)

[racaulk]

15. *smacks your hand* Bad!

:rofl:

[CreekDog]

27. OMG Flamebait!

:spank:

[stuntcat]

7. they give food for our NPR pledge drives :D

Free food for the room of people answering phones.. which is GREAT, they get a mention on the air and the volunteers all get to pick over a table full of FREE food. But yah, the stuff they give us is totally not special, it doesn't look good and I can't eat half of it anyway. I'd only go to the restaurant if my meat-lovin' relatives were gonna pay for it all.

It's totally sweet how they give that tough-looking food to the volunteers!

[SteppingRazor]

8. A la carte is pretty standard for high-end steakhouses.

Comes with the territory. For what it's worth, I think Ruth's Chris cooks up a damn fine slab of meat.

[AllyCat]

9. I understand the ala carte thing and high-end restaurants...

...but usually, the ala carte item has some culinary ingenuity for what you pay for it. This was nothing special at all. I mean, there wasn't even a spritz of lemon juice on the spinach or parsley on the tomato. Caesar salad was ICEBERG lettuce, not the traditional and more appealing Romaine. Just seemed a bigger ripoff than most expensive places this party has been.

[MonkeyFunk]

10. What?!

A Caesar with iceberg?

That just ain't right.

[SteppingRazor]

12. Yeah, that's chain restaurants for you.

I think as a general rule, the larger the chain, the crappier the food, relative to similar restaurants. It even works in fast food. For example McDonalds is larger than Burger King, which is larger than Wendy's. And McDonalds' food is crappier than Burger King's, which is crappier than Wendy's.

Ruth's Chris is a larger chain than Morton's, and Morton's has better food than Ruth's Chris.

It works with almost any culinary genre, I have found.

[Rabrrrrrr]

11. Bah. Ruth's Chris is one of the shitty high-end steakhouses.

Up there with Smith and Wollensky and Gallaghers.

I wouldn't eat at one unless someone else is paying.

[azmouse]

13. I ate there once many years ago. I'd never go again.

The food wasn't very good and as you noticed too the prices were very high.
Not worth it.

[redqueen]

14. Overpriced food for people with more money than sense, IMO. (nt)

[Skittles]

28. that's it

status-seekers

[Ellen Forradalom]

16. Two words: expense account

[Burma Jones]

17. For New Yorkers, avoid Uncle Jack's Steakhouse

There's no substitute for Peter Luger's, none.

In DC, I like The Prime Rib, but, my Nephew waits tables there and I get my Martinis comped.......

[lazyriver]

45. Greatest meal I've ever eaten was at Luger's. Only place

I've ever been where porterhouse is a medium thru which fine art is created. So good it shouldn't even be legal.

[BrotherBuzz]

18. Ruth's Chris Steakhouse used to advertise on Rush Limpball...

so that joint is on my boycott list and I will never set foot in one.

[AllyCat]

24. Well, that explains why we went there. Husband's boss is a neo-con.

She has this hideous photo of Shrub on the bulletin board in the kitchen. I want to pull it down every time I go in there and my husband has to stay my hand each time.

[RebelOne]

39. And they also advertise on Sean Hannity's radio show.

[Kat45]

19. Never heard of it!

Where is this place? Is it "trendy" now? That said, I've found that high-end steakhouses tend to give you just the steak for that high price, and it's extra for anything else. My boyfriend, who is a chef, and I have been to a couple of them. One he loved, the other one didn't get his steak right (medium rare), and to him that is unacceptable for a steak house.

[AllyCat]

29. It's a chain. The one here in Madison is owned by Barry Alvarez

and all his Rose Bowl rings, etc are in the Cigar Room.

[Kat45]

35. Never heard of him either.

But I'm guessing he's a retired football player? :-)

[AllyCat]

47. Former coach of WI football team

Went to 3 Rose Bowls. Not a football fan myself, but he's a huge celeb here and showed up at the bar the night we were there. All the guys in the group were tripping over each other to shake his hand. I guess it's like women seeing a male movie idol or something like that in public.

[GOPisEvil]

20. If it weren't for expense accounts, that place would go out of business.

[Skittles]

37. you're right about that

I was offered a company dinner there and I said no thanks - I'd rather eat at Sonic.

[gmoney]

21. confusing name...

Sort of like "Carl's Jr."...

[hippywife]

33. The name:

http://www.ruthschris-austin.com/general_history.htm

[IzaSparrow]

22. not at Ruth's Chris...

but I once went to a bachelor party at a nice steakhouse in Boston, and it was agreed that we'd split the check (and pay for the groom-to-be) equally. I got a thrown together vegetarian entree, and a small salad. Price tag--$85. Shhhhhiiiiiiitttt!

Oh well. The groom has a bigger head than me, and we got to go Rock and roll neon bowling afterward.

[SoxFan]

23. Doe's Eat Place

Another major rip-off. I heard all about it during the 1992 Clinton campaign, and I finally paid a visit.

It's a dump, in a war zone of a neighborhood, and the food, while good, is absurdly overpriced.

[hippywife]

25. Yep. Had many client dinners there

in the past. Best place I've ever eaten. It is pricey but it was always the best meal, service, wine, etc. Always loved it. Always consistently reliably perfect every time, in every city.

[AllyCat]

30. Huh. The one we went to had this really unenthusiastic waitron

who kept standing around talking to us about the all the places she'd waited tables and what their money problems were, and blah blah blah...her best line "I hope this is the last place I work". Before she retires? before she dies? She likes it? She doesn't?

[hippywife]

34. Well, she must certainly be

an aberation. Totally out of the norm. Never had any but top notch, very professional servers.

[LibraLiz1973]

31. I adore Ruth's. It ROCKS

But, to each his own.

[LittleClarkie]

32. We have a place like that here. It's called Flemmings. All ala carte

and expensive as hell.

[Midlodemocrat]

40. We have a Ruth's Chris, a Fleming's AND a Morton's here.

All of them were great. Had a very enjoyable meal. Great service, fabulous wine list.

[MrSlayer]

36. They are pricey but they do use top quality prime beef.

I prefer to order my steaks from Omaha and cook em up myself.

[Inchworm]

38. Alls I remember is they had good port

it was a long night :)

:hi:

[LynneSin]

41. Ruth Chris is nothing more than fast food chain for the well-to-do

The prices are outrageous but yet there seems to be a Ruth Chris in every major city in the US (making it to me, fast food chain).

Only time I ate there was on business (who would go there on their own) and I wasn't really that impressed but since it wasn't my dime - who was I to complain?

[pstokely]

43. So, it's just a fancy Outback Steakhouse?

?

[LynneSin]

44. Pretty much - yes

Look, I'm ok with a high end restaurant perhaps establishing a few restaurants in key markets but there is a fine line between that and ultimately becoming a chain.

Look at how many locations there are of Ruth Chris:
http://www.ruthschris.com/locations/locations.html

How can you not call this a chain.

Sure, I've had Outback food and I've had Ruth Chris food and without a doubt Ruth Chris is way better. But if I had to choose between Ruth Chris and a local steakhouse, I'd probably go with the local steakhouse.

[Kat45]

48. Shoot! I just looked it up and there is one in Boston.

I'm surprised to see that since I've never heard of it. My boyfriend is a chef; I'll have to ask him his opinion of the place.

[pstokely]

42. What do you expect from a place that uses OxyRush and Hannity as product pluggers?

?

[EnviroBat]

46. That snobbish joint is completely over-rated... n/t

[Bake]

49. Say what you will

I've eaten at several RC's, and never gotten anything other than an excellent steak, perfectly cooked to order.

Bake