Knight's Steakhouse Downtown — Restaurant in Ann Arbor

Wanted a perfect night out as always but tonight was a particularly important night so it would have been real nice. Had a reservation and was seated right away, in the middle of two aisle ways. Plenty of open tables, you would think this spot would have been a last sat section type of area, nope, right away place is wide open. People flying by both sides of us the whole time. Server was on point besides lying to us about the asparagus, said they were skinny like my pinky no bigger I said great I don't like it when they are as big as my thumb. He wasn't right though because what do we get, large asparagus one of which bigger than my thumb! This stuff was so hard you could only eat the top 3rd of it at most and not seasoned at all not even a hint of something. Ordered our bourbon butter hanger steak medium rare came out rare, the 5 slices there was. Had to get what sauce we could before it was a bloody mess. Steak came out all cut up also can't stand that. It should have been sent back right away and we didn't. Still can't believe this. I can do rare, wife can't so was trying to give her the more done outside bit. So I bought better looking asparagus at Kroger for 99 cents a bunch and I know how to season and marinade it I'll actually include a pic of that.. Expected for $34 theirs would be better... Yeah $34 for 5 slices of steak and 5 asparagus, ridiculous. Don't know where the Yukon gold potatoes were. The ceaser salads we ordered had practically no dressing on them. We got a bread basket about halfway through our stay, was a surprise and would have been nice if it was brought out like 30 minutes earlier... What a mess, server kept telling us he could have a manager come over and it's like no that's not what we want, if you can't handle it I'm not going to make a scene. And since he wasn't going to just bring something I did tell him while my wife was in the restroom that if he could bring us a dessert that would be real nice since it was our anniversary.. Oh and not sure why the table was covered in lint or dust but it was all over it that and salt. Can see in the one pics. Beast steak knives here and they do have Eagle Rare 10 year, $14 a hit though, kinda steep for something that's $37 a bottle and they don't have the right ice here either. No big round or square, so no old fashioned. Who wants an old fashioned with a bunch of...

The atmosphere was nice. It gave the impression of a restaurant designed to be enjoyable in a welcoming atmosphere. I expected my experience to be on the same level as J. Alexander's and restaurants like it.

The service was decent when the waitress came to the table. She was polite and efficient. However, she did not return to check for needs for a good while after we were served dinner.

I was with a large group (10+ people). We were seated just before 9 p.m. We received appetizers 20-30 minutes after being seated and after the orders were taken. The bread (bland) was brought out in between the appetizers and soup/salad. The french onion soup was good.

Our entrées came out 15-20 minutes after the tables around us. They were also part of our group.

I ordered the 6 oz Filet Mignon with yukon mashed potatoes (straight forward, no flavors of butter, cream or sour cream) with gravy (tasted similar to an add water mix) on the side. It also came with warm blanched green beans, yellow squash and a bit of riced cauliflower (roughly 1/8 cup). I also added sautéed mushrooms. The mushrooms were tough and chewy. I inquired about the cooking method. They tasted like they were fried in plain oil, I was told they were sautéed. There was not a detectable amount of garlic, parsley, salt or pepper.

This meal would be a great fit for someone that does not enjoy spicy or heavily seasoned food. Everything was neutral, nothing too salty. A1 sauce was helpful for the Filet. The seasoning was barely noticeable. Sadly, the steak was cut with the grain rather than against it. It was pretty chewy until I started cutting my steak in half with each bite to shorten the grain of the meat.

If you reserve tables for a large group, be prepared to eat dinner staggered from the rest of you group. I believe that was the best way the kitchen insured that they were serving hot food.

I did like that there are two single restrooms with changing tables available on the dining level. *Additional restrooms...

Service: The service was excellent. We had reservations for a group of 16 on a particularly busy day in Ann Arbor. The lone waiter was very attentive and took good care of us.

Food: I had the Black & Blue Porkchops. They were superb. It was trimmed well; leaving just enough fat on the rind to melt into the meat, moistening and flavoring it. It was seared perfectly enlivening the flavor; yet still moist and tender. The melted crumbles of blue cheese were a generous portion and of good quality. The overall portion of the 1 chop meal, with a baked potato and steamed green beans & carrots, was enough to fill me up. But, the chop was SO delicious I wish I would have ordered the 2 chop meal. We shared the charcuterie board; it was all very good.

Gripes: I understand that during this pandemic the sanitary reasons for not providing a real menu and doing the QR code/online menu on your phone thing. But, I still strongly object to it. When dining out with a group we should be all talking, laughing, and enjoying ourselves. Instead, we're all left passing around a single QR code card & helping the older or less tech savvy successfully scan it; the whole process is frustrating and takes a lot of time. Then, trying to navigate an unfamiliar menu and remembering where on the tiny screen scrolling list the items you're considering are located is a chore. A nice printed menu is SO much easier to quickly skim, navigate, and remember your considerations. A group should be enjoying jolly conversations, maybe discussing what looks good, and just having a good time. Instead we're all left silently frustrated, staring at our damn phones. I'd imagine a printed menu would increase sales, especially of appetizers, if menu choosing was more of a group conversation; as opposed to a silent frustrating chore. Table turn around time would improve for the business if this time consuming task were eliminated. This is a fine dining establishment; please provide printed...