Ruth's Chris Steak House

At the downtown Ruth's Chris, the sizzle has us sold

By Dale Rice
American-Statesman Restaurant Critic
July 8, 2004

This is one time when fine dining is all about a single ingredient and a virtually unadorned presentation.

The lone element is a steak. The vehicle is a plain white plate. It's that simple.

And it doesn't get any better than thi.... More

At the downtown Ruth's Chris, the sizzle has us sold

By Dale Rice
American-Statesman Restaurant Critic
July 8, 2004

This is one time when fine dining is all about a single ingredient and a virtually unadorned presentation.

The lone element is a steak. The vehicle is a plain white plate. It's that simple.

And it doesn't get any better than this.

However, there's more to that Ruth's Chris steak than meets the eye. To begin with, the beef is "prime," a U.S. Department of Agriculture rating that applies to only the top 2 percent of beef produced in the United States. Then it is aged, a process that helps break down tough tissue.

Nearing completion, the Ruth's Chris steak is cooked under an 1,800-degree broiler, which almost instantaneously sears the outside, locking the juices inside the meat to keep it moist. It also is lightly seasoned with salt, pepper and parsley.

Finally, it is served on that plain white plate (which has been heated to 500 degrees), with a dollop of butter that rapidly melts and sizzles for minutes after the steak is delivered to the table.

There's no other garnish, no sauce, nothing to distract from the pure pleasure of a tantalizing hunk of beef.

That applied equally on a recent night to a well-marbled rib-eye ($31.95) -- a popular cut of meat in Texas -- and a New York strip ($33.95), which was the favorite cut of Ruth's Chris founder, the late Ruth Fertrel.

Every bite was succulent, tender and juicy, prompting a slow dining process to fully savor the steak and extend the enjoyment as long as possible.

Before we got to the steaks, however, we shared shrimp and salad. Recommended enthusiastically by our server, our appetizer was the shrimp brochette ($11.95). The jumbo shrimp were stuffed with a slice of fiery jalapeņo and a bit of cheese wrapped in bacon and broiled, offering a zesty launch to dinner. They were served with a bell pepper pesto that toned down the punch of the jalapeņo. We preferred them without the sauce.

For the second course, we had Ruth's chopped salad ($7.95). Split in the kitchen, each of the mounds of salad was covered with fried onions. Along with the abundance of raw red onions, the onion flavor completely dominated the small measure of green olives, eggs, bacon, mushrooms and hearts of palm in the mix of iceberg lettuce, spinach and raddichio. I would have liked a more balanced salad.

From a long list of potatoes and vegetables we chose the creamed spinach ($6.95) and Lyonnaise potatoes ($6.95) to accompany the steaks. The sliced potatoes were sauteed with onions, providing a nice contrast between the lightly crisp, slightly salty potato and the soft, sweet chunks of onion. The spinach was lovely, with a perfect balance between cream and bitter leaf.

For dessert, an individual, round apple tart ($7.95) with a streusel topping was crowned with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Service at Ruth's Chris Steak House, one of the few locally owned franchises in the chain, was top-notch, with a level of staffing found only in Austin's best restaurants. Every table within view received a significant amount of attention from a server.

The ambience of the restaurant, located in what once was the men's department of the old Scarbrough's Department Store, remains one of the classiest in the area. Although there is much wood (and wonderful art deco features throughout), the dining area is so well designed acoustically that on a night when every table was occupied we could still carry on a conversation without raising our voices.

That setting and service are two excellent reasons to go to the steak house. They are, however, icing on the cake. The fabulous steak that Ruth's Chris delivers is more than enough justification to dine there.

Brief