Ruth's Chris is Always a Miss

I'd opted to go to Ruth's Chris Steak House (9th St. NW DC location) for the second restaurant week place I'd eat. And after eating there, I was so utterly disappointed that I couldn't believe it. (I've received better service at McDonalds.) So when I heard that I was being forced to give it another shot for a work event this week, I thought, "This is my opportunity to blog about Ruth's Chris while giving it a chance to redeem itself." If only it did! Since I'm sensing a pattern, I figured it was time to reveal the real deal: Ruth's Chris is a joke. There, I said it.

Let's leave the food off the table for a second. Our waiter largely did! The staff for my first visit was, dare I say, rude! Not only was he incapable of bringing us the correct dishes when we were ordering off a (very) limited prix fixe-type menu, he put down the wrong items knowingly and he blatantly ignored our table when we were out of beverages, were in need of more bread and just flat out wanted what we ordered. He creepily called us all "mademoiselle" throughout the meal to boot.

My event this week had much improved service, though between courses was soooo slow! And I'm talking enough time to go walk three blocks away, repark my car so it didn't get ticketed and walk back two blocks slow, all before dessert.

Then there's the food. I've had two salads there, the wedge of iceberg with blue cheese dressing and a Caesar. I really think I could have gotten a better salad at Outback on both of these occasions, though the Caesar was heads over better. If there's anything that annoys me, it's a boring wedge salad, and the wedge was so unrefined that it seemed more suited to be a side dish to hot wings.

The first time, I had the raspberry sorbet for dessert, which was light and yummy (though, like I said, it took a while to get the right dessert in front of me). But the other night I ordered what I thought was a sure bet: cheesecake. I'm no snob. I love digging into bar food as much as the next girl. But bar food as a bar price tag. This is Ruth's Chris. You're presumably coming for an air of refinement. So when the waiter put down in front of me an approximately five-inch-diameter mini-cheesecake--not a slice, people, a whole cake!--I just thought, that's it. I might as well be at the world's nicest TGI Friday's.

That all being said, the steak is really great. The petite filet is good, but can't hold a candle to the New York strip, which is beautifully marbled in delicious fattiness. The filet came with shrimp, which was sadly overcooked and not worth the few extra bucks.

So there you go, my first scathing review. I'd love to say I'll never eat there again, but apparently that's where my office has our Christmas party. So I'll see you in a few months, Ruth's Chris. Keep that steak sizzling and amazing, because it's the only thing you've got going for you.