Full Disclosure: I paid for this meal with my own money. I am not being compensated for this post and the opinions are completely my own.
A few years ago a major development was done in what used to be the outskirts of Middleton. A big part of that development was CostCo, and it also included a bunch of office buildings and a handful of restaurants. (The area continues to bring in the new restaurants, even a few years later!) One of the restaurants that opened was a Ruth’s Chris Steak House. I had heard of this upscale chain before, but had only ever seen it in larger cities like Chicago and New York City. I was pretty excited to see it pop up, because I am a big fan of fancy steak, but it wasn’t super high priority to go try since it is a chain and there are so many local restaurants on our list as well.
Last winter we were given a gift card to Ruth’s Chris for our wedding anniversary! We were pretty excited, but since it is a pretty fancy place we decided to save it for a time that we could savor the moment a bit more and enjoy a nice night out. We finally had that night out last weekend. It was a Saturday night, and even though we were planning on going fairly early and there would only be two of us, I decided to make a reservation. Most people probably would just go and have a drink at the bar if they have to wait, but when I am hungry, waiting is not an option unless you want to deal with a very cranky lady! As it turns out, they were booked for the night, so it was a good thing we had a reservation!
To start, I had a glass of red wine. Red wine and steak go together so well.
We also had bread for the table. Not anything particularly amazing, but it was the soft in the middle, crispy on the crust, delicious type of bread.
For my salad, I had the wedge. I got it without the bacon (of course) and I got it with ranch dressing – which was such a good choice. I mean, I like blue cheese dressing alright – especially on a wedge salad – but sometimes the blue cheese dressing in addition to the blue cheese crumbles gets to be a bit strong for me. The ranch dressing with the blue cheese crumbles was perfect. It was so good I had to make myself stop eating it to make sure I had room for my steak!
With our steaks, we chose two sides. I normally opt for the baked potato, but decided to go a different route this time and try to break that habit – I never eat more than a few bites of the giant potato anyways! The husband and I chose two things that we both could share: the hashbrowns and potatoes au gratin. The potatoes au gratin were pretty good, but the hashbrowns were the clear winner of the two. They were not at all greasy, and had that perfect crunch on the outside with softer potato shreds on the inside. Yum!
For our entrees, the husband and I both had the filet. And we both really liked it. One thing that is a bit different about Ruth’s Chris compared to other steakhouses that we’ve been to is that the steak is served on hot plates. Like 500 degrees hot. Like you can see the butter bubbling on the plate underneath the steak, hot. I’m not sure hot this doesn’t cause the steak to overcook, but it sure does keep it warm the entire time you are eating it, which is definitely a plus! It was perfectly cooked and not too intensely flavored, but enough for it to stand out from other bland steaks we’ve had.
After that meal we were definitely full with no room for dessert!
The restaurant itself is definitely upscale, as it is known to be. The waitstaff were all very friendly and while it was an upscale place, it didn’t seem so fancy that we felt out of place in just business casual type dress. It is not the kind of place that you would go often – unless you enjoy spending lots of money on large meals every night – but it is definitely a good place to go for special occasions every once in a while. The steak was on par with some of the best we’ve had, and the great service and elegant atmosphere does not scream “chain restaurant” very much at all.
Taste: A+, really delicious steak, salad, and, hashbrowns. (And the wine, too 🙂 )
Cost: A-, it is the type of steakhouse where you order everything a la carte which of course causes the bill to add up pretty quickly. Of course it was an expensive meal, but generally I’d say the taste of the food was on par with the cost.
Would I go there again? Yeah I think so. Definitely not somewhere that we would go often, but the food was really good and it was a nice, upscale, relaxing atmosphere.
Filed under: Restaurant Review Tagged: | madison, middleton, restaurant review, Steak
Ruth’s Chris is one of my favorite upscale steak chains. That’s one of the only one’s I’d choose over a privately owned restaurant! Their hashbrowns are incredible.