Ruth's Chris Steakhouse - Irvine

If you would allow me to analogize OC’s chain steakhouses to department stores: Mastro's is like Nordstroms--expensive but you get what you pay for in quality, execution and service. Capital Grille, which is flashy, a recent add-on to the landscape, is like Bloomingdales--fashionable with its porcini rubs and coffee-dust applied to its hunks of cattle meat.

Ruth’s Chris is then like Macy’s--predictable, ubiquitous, but also dependable. Which brings me to Morton's, which in my opinion and I’m sorry to say, is like today’s Sears--not at all what it used to be, its heyday long passed.

I ate at Morton’s not too long ago, but I didn’t post about it because, well, if you haven’t noticed, this blog is all about recommendations, not pans. But I did revisit Ruth’s Chris recently, and proved my Macy’s analogy is still accurate.

It was as great a meal as I expected. The 6-ounce filet mignon I ordered I ate hungrily like I hadn’t eaten steak in a long time. I drug each dripping forkful of rare, tender cow flesh through the sputtering puddle of melted butter that sat on a plate heated to the temperature of a red hot poker.

And on top of the steak, there was a halo made of fat shrimp. For a side, I ate roasted Brussels sprouts showered with crispy bacon and simmered in what I would guess is balsamic vinegar and more butter. And from my companion’s side dish, I plopped spoonfuls of mashed potato onto my superheated plate. It hissed on contact.

And before all this, I slurped a gigantic bowl of minestrone soup, a really well made one with juice-bursting tomatoes, crisp-tender vegetables, and bits of the grated parmesan slowly melting like snowflakes. And oh the broth! How good is this broth? I could’ve drank it by the gallon if it were possible. And then there was the salad with beets, roasted walnuts, and a flurry of goat cheese.

All of this was part of a $42.95 four-item prix fixe of theirs called “Ruth’s Classics”, which included a starter, an entrée, a side dish, and a dessert of a flourless chocolate cake that ate like an oversized chocolate truffle.

No, I didn’t pay for this meal, but I would’ve done so gladly, because when it comes to steakhouses, I’m better off spending the money on the Macy’s of steakhouses than the TJ Maxx.

Ruth's Chris Steakhouse
2961 Michelson Dr.
Irvine, CA 92612
(949) 252-8848

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