Chicago Restaurant Week 2008 - Ruth's Chris Experience

Ruth's Chris Steakhouse
431 N. Dearborn Street, Chicago, IL 60610
Website: http://www.ruthschris.com/
Phone: (312) 321-2725

Yea! Chicago finally got its own Restaurant Week! Seeing that Chicago has some of the best restaurants in the country, it's about gosh darn time! Basically, for $21.95 at lunch or $31.95 at dinner, you get a 3-course prix fixe menu at some of the best dining spots in Chicago. The only catch is that most of them don't have their menus posted, so it's a gamble to what's being offered. Ruths Chris was able to disclose their special menu to me over the phone, so I was able to make a decision to book them that way. The key is to avoid places that offer things that they would normally serve for cheap anyway.

Here is the Ruths Chris 3-course prix fixe menu:

First Course (Appetizer):

• Louisiana Seafood Gumbo
• Steak House Salad

Second Course (Entrée):

• 8 oz. Petite Filet
• 12 oz. Ribeye
• North Atlantic Salmon Fillet
• Stuffed Chicken Breast

Side Dish with Second Course:

• Mashed Potatoes
• Sautéed Mushrooms
• Creamed Spinach

Third Course (Dessert):

• Bread Pudding with Whiskey Sauce
• Chocolate Mousse Cheesecake

I have never been to Ruths Chris before. I have visited its rivals Morton's (my favorite), Sam & Harry's (eh), and Flemings (eh) on plenty of other occasions though. But I heard some great things, so thought this would be a good opportunity to experience a $50-$75 meal for $32. The appetizer course, side dish, and dessert course typically costs about $8-$9 each, then the entree about $20-30. So you can definitely see the savings here.

The restaurant itself was VERY busy. Even though we made reservations, we had to wait about 15-20 minutes. We were taken to a room upstairs, a bit away from the commotion, but still a bit loud. It was hard to hear our waiter and our waiter had a hard time hearing us. But I guess that's expected from a restaurant that was completely full.

For the starter course, everyone in the party got Louisiana Seafood Gumbo. It was nicely seasoned, great flavor, perfect temperature and consistency. The sausage had a little bit of a kick, but not too much. Overall, it was a great way to start the meal.

For entree course, I chose the 12 oz. Ribeye and the rest of the party was split between the ribeye and the filet. In all instances, the steaks were seasoned exactly right, served on a hot dish with melted butter, and cooked just how you ordered it. My only "ding" is that my steak was a very bad cut. Out of the 12 oz of steak, at least 4 oz of it was a chunk of fat. No, I'm not talking about marbling...I love ribeyes and get it often, but I have rarely seen this much fat on a ribeye that I was able to separate out just by cutting off the top 1/3 of the steak.

Everyone at the table ordered a different side dish and everyone liked theirs. I ordered the Sautéed Mushrooms, but there was not much flavor...just cooked in butter. However, you get whole mushrooms, not slices. So that was a bit odd. I was expecting sliced mushrooms that you can mound on top of your steak.

Most everyone, including me, got the Chocolate Mousse Cheesecake for dessert, but one person got the Bread Pudding with Whiskey Sauce. Everyone enjoyed their dessert. The cheesecake was very light and fluffy, with a mousse texture. I would classify this more as a mousse with a hint of cheesecake flavoring.

Overall, everyone did enjoy their meal and I think I'll put it on my list of restaurants to revisit. And at the Restaurant Week prices, I wouldn't hesitate to go back.

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If you are curious about some of the other restaurant menu offerings, visit: http://www.timeout.com/chicago/blog/out-and-about/?p=3698