Ruth’s Chris – The best chain steakhouse?
Chas and I were able to meet up at this Ruth’s Chris location in Parsippany, New Jersey last week. This was not his first time visiting a Ruth’s Chris but it was my first time. I was cautiously optimistic. I will start by saying that I have had a lot of great steaks in a lot of great steakhouses around the country…but oftentimes find I can make one just as good at home.
The Food and Beverage Offerings
We started with some adult beverages. Chas decided to get an Old Fashioned so I figured I’d get a Manhattan to check them against each other. I am normally a bigger fan of an Old Fashioned but this Manhattan was definitely better. *Pro Tip – If you prefer an Old Fashioned, the bar inside the hotel just past the restaurant made a better one than inside the restaurant.
I personally did not order any appetizers but I did try a couple from around the table. Chas got the Ruth’s chopped salad and Val got the Lobster Bisque. The salad was unique and looks like it was built inside a ring. The flavors were good, nothing insane, but good. The Lobster Bisque was velvety and had a solid lobster flavor. I personally would not pay the cost for these items, but that’s not to say they were bad in any way at all.
Samantha and I split the “Porterhouse for Two” and for the table we had fried potatoes and grilled asparagus as our sides. The steak was cooked exactly to medium rare as requested, and as expected from this company, was covered in butter. Great flavor to the steak, you can absolutely tell that it is a quality sourced piece of meat. The thickness was proper as well, giving you not only a good strip portion, but the filet which is often thinner with a porterhouse was also a nice size. Nice char while keeping the proper internal temperature.
The grilled asparagus was pretty standard honestly. It came with a hollandaise sauce that was also basic. That’s not to say they were not good, just nothing stood out about them. Chas was upset that they had taken their signature shoestring potatoes off the menu so we went with just a regular cut basically just being French fries. They were cooked well and lightly seasoned but again, just a fry at the end of the day.
I then had a “Ruth’s Coffee” for dessert. This had – Frangelico, Bailey’s Irish cream, brandy, fresh brewed coffee, whipped cream, and drizzled chocolate. This was very similar to the “Cappuccino Bern’s Steakhouse” from Bern’s Steakhouse in Tampa, Florida. There are things that make Bern’s a cut above mostly anywhere else and in this drink was a very noticeable one.
You can absolutely tell that Bern’s roasts their own beans in house for their coffee offerings. This was a very good drink but this was surely a house roast they use from their food purveyors rather than something they source and roast themselves. Still a very good drink that I would definitely order again.
Was Ruth’s Chris the best?
You pay for your meal here, that’s for sure. No way around spending a lot of money when you come here, but if the food and drinks are worth it…then it’s worth it. As it pertains to the chain steakhouses I have been to (ie – Texas Roadhouse, Longhorn, etc.) I would say that this is definitely a strong step above those. Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse in Parsippany, New Jersey – Didn’t Suck!