Chicago Steak Blog: "It Will Get You Drunk": Ruth's Chris

Ruth's Chris Steakhouse

Order: New York Strip (Medium-Rare)

Juiciness: Okay

Beefyness (Natural Flavor): Okay

Size: Good

Preparedness: Good

Seasoning: Moderate-to-heavy salt saturated very heavily with butter

Advertised Weight: 16 oz.

Estimated Weight: 15 oz.

I had the pleasure of joining my fellow tax accountant Chris Malicdem for a steak dinner (about 7 hours earlier than dinner time) this past Friday. Like me, Chris is a rabid Bulls fan who enjoys pondering hypothetical questions such as "would you carry Derrick Rose's baby if it were possible". At least until it was revealed on WGN this Saturday that 76ers rookie point guard Michael Carter-Williams was Derrick's daddy. I'll just have to have Jimmy Butler's kids if this keeps up. Anyways, like me, Chris also enjoys a good steak.

There's a lot of pressure to write a negative review on this steakhouse. It's a non-Chicago based chain. I walk down the street every day and run into meat lovers on the way to work telling me they would like to discredit Ruth's Chris because they'd rather taste meat than butter. (Every day). Is it fair to assume the quality of the steak is any worse because the flavor gets masked behind the butter? No, but I understand their desire to not have butter be the dominant flavor.

Another concern people have with Ruth's Chris is that the sizzling plate cooks the steak as the meal goes along. This, in theory, makes it impossible to have the steak cooked the way you want for the duration of the meal. Being paranoid that this could happen to me, I did lift my steak a few times throughout the meal to blow on the bottom of my steak. I'm sure I looked weird doing this. Who knows whether or not that actually helped but at the end of the meal the steak was still medium-rare and any effect the 500 degree plate on the steak's "doneness" was minimal.

The steak itself? It tasted great. Is a buttery, perfectly cooked piece of meat going to taste bad? That's a rhetorical question. I did, however, find it very difficult to judge the quality of the steak itself under all the butter and seasoning. A quality steak should be able to stand on its own, and while I have no evidence to believe the steak can't, I really can't tell.

What I liked: Thick steak. Cooked perfect. Butter tastes better than I want to admit. I'll definitely think back on the experience and remember the endorphin rush that came over me and how excited I was when I heard the sizzle of the plate as the waitress put the steak in front of me.

What I disliked: Eating a steak knowing it's going to make my stomach feel somewhat ill afterwards, again because of the butter. I could only give grades of "Okay" for juiciness and beefyness because the overwhelming texture and flavor was butter.

What I would do different next time: Next time I go to Ruth's Chris I would like to order a steak without butter to see how the meat stacks up. Ruth's Chris does serve prime steak, appears to have an attentive staff, and the cooks nailed the preparation so there's nothing to make me think it won't do fine. I will followup sometime down the line when i get the opportunity.

Part of me wants to give this steak a higher rating for tasting so good going down and a part of me wishes to give it a lower rating for making us both feel moderately ill from the butter we ingested.