The Arnie Morton's in Beverly Hills (near the Beverly Center) is better than the Burbank one (IMHO).
By the way, I think it's important to be clear we're actually talking about "ARNIE MORTONS" chain of Steakhouses. There is actually a famous LA Restaurant called MORTONS on Melrose (Old school celebrity hang-out and legendary post oscar location).
One of my pet peeves is people in LA calling Arnie Mortons "Mortons" when there is already an established restaurant by that name.
And yes, Arnie is significantly better than Ruth's Chris, IMHO. Although I have only had Ruth's a couple times, I think I'm turned off by any "fine dining establishment" that offers shoestring french fries, lol.
Ruth's Chris is predictable fine dining, which is the key to franchise success.... But the predictability is also their downfall when compared with smaller local cuisine.
While I prefer Ruth's over Morton's "of Chicago", it doesn't compare with some of our local purveyor's of fine bovine.
If you've never been to Ruth's, you definitely have to try it. If you keep the side dishes to a minimum and don't drink booze/wine, it can be "reasonable".
My brother was visiting me so I took him to the Morton's in Crystal City, VA. We had a horrible time. We both ordered the same thing, NY Strip medium rare. He had to return it TWICE because it was near raw. Incidents like that tend to stick in one's mind. As we walked back to my car, he noticed a Ruth's Chris and commented "we should have gone there."
Next time he is in the area, I'll take him to Capital Grille and give it a try.
I'll chime in with good steak, but way too much $$$. I felt kind of uncomfortable with the "fine dining" but then, I'm a jeans and t-shirt kind of gal.
If I want good charred bovine, I have 2 uncles who are certified pyros and love grilling.
I believe the name was originally "Chris Steakhouse", then Ruth (whatevever her last name is) bought it. Wanting to add her flare, yet keep the original identity, she named it "Ruth's Chris Steakhouse".
Phillip - you really should try it once. While a franchise, it's not that bad....
Ruth Chris Steakhouse is named after the lady that started it, Ruth Fertel when the chain was started sometime back, its an old New Orleans favorite just not in the french quarter. She has since died and now franchises are all around the country. http://www.horatioalger.com/members/...memberid=FER95
I agree. A steak can only be so good. For the kind of money I might spend at Ruth's Chris, I could go to a real fine dining establishment and get food prepared by a real chef.
I have not been to the Ruth's Chris Steakhouse in Minneapolis, but when I was on a business trip in New York we went to that location.
That was seriously the best steak i ever had. I didn't even need a steak sauce. We also had an appitizer of shrimp rolled up in bacon and sizzling in a butter sauce, i could of bathed in this stuff it was that good.
I've been to a few places steak places in our area, Timerlodge and Outback, while both are good steaks, they don't compare to Ruth's. A couple years ago we went to a local place called Manny's which is on the scale of Ruth's and i really was not impressed at all. I needed a steak sauce with it, there was just no flavor to the steak and I thought that Timberlodge was a lot better steak then Manny's.
I've been there and enjoyed it. As a matter of fact, I went there a week after my Morton's experience. Great food and service and about half the price.
I only mentioned Capital Grille because I've walked past their Penn Ave location in DC and their aging room can be viewed from the street. Seeing all those great cuts just made me salivate. Eventually I want to try all the great steak places in the DC area. Has any of the NOVA readership been to "Rays the Steaks" in Arlington. I've read glowing reviews in the "Post" and "Washingtonian".
But right now I can BBQ outside, and my local butcher shop Partlow's sells some of the best cuts of beef I've ever seen (at appropriate prices ) so I may just DIY.....