2961 Michelson Dr.
Irvine, CA 92612
Anniversary time has rolled around again for Kaite and me. After seven years of marriage and 13 years together, we are not really into getting each other gifts. We prefer to splurge on dinners. As I write a restaurant blog and everything, I know you must be shocked. In my biased opinion, an anniversary calls for getting a little dressed up and going to a nice steakhouse. We decided to celebrate our big day at Ruth's Chris Steak House in Irvine this year.
OC is home to the big five national chain steakhouses: Mastro's, Capital Grille, Fleming's, Morton's, and Ruth's Chris. The only one I have not reviewed up until now is Ruth's Chris. For me, the clubhouse leader is Mastro's, with Capital Grille and Fleming's following right behind. I have been to Ruth's Chris before, but it was long before I had met Katie. So it was time to find out where this steak house ranks among the big five.
Ruth's Chris started in New Orleans, Louisiana, in 1965. Ruth Fertel, a single mom, bought the existing, 60-seat Chris Steakhouse and was in business until a fire destroyed the restaurant in 1976. She needed a new location for her restaurant, but due to her contract, she could not keep the original restaurant name. So she just added her first name to it, and that's why they have the funky-sounding Ruth's Chris Steak House moniker.
They are now in 21 countries and have over 80 restaurants open and operating, two of which are in OC, this Irvine spot, and another in Anaheim. This Irvine location is situated at the corner of Michelson and Jamboree, in the busy shopping plaza that also features North Italia, Lemonade, Houston's, and Mother's Market. Parking can be a little pain here, especially at meal times, so we always veer towards the parking structure behind the LA Fitness.
This Irvine Ruth's Chris is open for lunch only on Fridays and for dinner from 4 to 10 most nights. The decor is much brighter than other high-end steakhouses, and the dining room is a little more lively. Appetizers hover around the $20 mark, while steaks start at $50 and climb from there. As in all high-end steak restaurants, sides are an additional charge. When we were visiting in April, they had a three course special promotion, my ribeye was $88, and Katie's filet and lobster were $74. I do not see it on their current menu, but keep an eye out for it in the future. Here's how this night shook out for us.
Most high-end steak houses will start you off with a Bread Basket. Ruth's Chris was no exception. They feature a well-made sourdough with an ample supply of softened butter. As a result, the bread came out warm, allowing easy spreading. They also were not shy when it came to refilling the basket.
Katie decided that we needed to start things off with an appetizer, so she selected the Mushrooms Stuffed with Crabmeat ($19). These came four to an order and were topped with some romano cheese. They went out of the broiler smoking hot, and I almost burnt my hand moving the plate. I was not in love with these. If I had been blindfolded, I probably never would have guessed that there was crab in these. This was definitely misnamed, as it was more like mushrooms stuffed with crab cakes. The crab was not prominent as it was all filler. The romano cheese also detracted from what should have been the main focus, the crab. I'd skip these next time for sure.
As much as I did not enjoy the mushrooms, this Caesar Salad ($14) got me back on track relatively quickly. Romaine hearts with plenty of shaved parmesan, garlic croutons, grated romano cheese, a couple of grape tomatoes, and a creamy Caesar dressing made up this straightforward version of a Caesar salad. This salad had just the right dressing, and the cheeses added great flavor. Not anything earth-shattering, but an excellent and enjoyable salad.
Entrees are next, and Katie's selection, the Steak, and Lobster ($74), will start us off. This came with a six-ounce filet and a five-ounce cold water lobster tail. Katie has this habit of ordering her steaks medium well, which is not ideal. Big kudos to our server, who did not roll his eyes when she told him how she wanted her steak this evening. I did try it, and it was not too bad for being medium well. The lobster was fine on its own, maybe a tad overcooked. Nothing that couldn't be disguised by dipping it into the provided melted butter.
I also upgraded my entree to the 16 Ounce Prime Ribeye and Shrimp. ($88). As is the custom at Ruth's Chris, this came to the table on one of their 500-degree plates and was still sizzling. They finish their steaks with plenty of butter and parsley. This steak was okay but lacked the wow factor for me. I expect a ribeye will be fatty, but this cut seemed to have a little extra. I eat the fat, so I had no issue, but if you are averse to it, you might want to get a filet or maybe the New York strip. The shrimp was a tad rubbery when I got around to trying it, perhaps because it was still cooking on top of the hot steak.
With our meal, we also got Creamed Spinach and Garlic Mashed Potatoes. My favorite out of the two was the spinach. Nice and creamy, but a little on the rich side. If you eat spinach, the cream is the way to go. The mashed potatoes were bland, especially when billed as garlic. I did not detect any garlic used here, but their consistency was nicely done. Not too soupy and not too dry.
Our last hurrah at Ruth's Chris would be dessert. Our meal included one dessert, and our server gave us the other one, a lovely gesture. The Creme Brulee was topped with various berries, which I allowed Katie to have. The creme brulee was okay but was rather lackluster once I broke through the sugary crust. I did not note the Mini Bread Pudding we were gifted with, but it also failed to impress. It was okay but could not match the butter cake over at Mastro's.
Ruth's Chris kind of fell flat for us this evening. Except for the salad, everything else was just average, and in a high-end steak house, you expect more than that. When we left, we were pretty underwhelmed with the quality of the food here and the selection. They don't seem to have a signature item that would hook us. We did enjoy that they offered a prix fixe special, which helped keep the bill down a bit, especially compared to their competitors. One shining spot was the service we experienced. From the table decorations for our anniversary, the warm greeting at the front door, our servers' competency and friendliness, and the roving managers going table to table making sure all was well, the hospitality of the employees here was definitely first-rate. Unfortunately, the meal could not match it.
Out of five pelicans (because this restaurant chain started in Louisiana, and that state is known as the Pelican State), five being best to zero being worst, Ruth's Chris Steak House gets 2.5 pelicans.
For more information about Ruth's Chris Steak House, head to their website by clicking here: https://www.ruthschris.com/
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