Abe & Louie's — Restaurant in Boston

We were in Boston for a show on a Monday night this July (2022). I made a reservation for two for 5:30, although we arrived around 4:45 and were quickly accommodated. The entire staff from the valet, to the front door, host, waiter and bussers were all exceptionally polite and quick to service any needs. The waiter (Victor) explained that dietary restrictions (gluten in our case) could be easily accommodated, as well as any desired substitutions of menu offerings. Huge shout out to Victor, who was one of the nicest most pleasant waiters we've experienced, and seemed truly interested in our satisfaction and any questions or feedback we had. We'll request him for any possible future visits, in hopes he's still there. The atmosphere is typical high-end steakhouse, with dark wood treatment throughout, and well spaced and comfortable seating. At the time we arrived, the bar was about 1/3 full, and the dining room only had a few tables seated. By the time we left (2 hours later) it was packed! For cocktails, my wife had a cosmopolitan with Grey Goose, and I had a Manhattan Skyline, one of the signature cocktails. The drinks were served quickly, and they were exceptionally good! My wife is pretty particular about her cosmo's, and this version made it to the top of her list. Mine was a take on the classic Manhattan, with Buffalo Trace, barrel aged sherry, peach and bitters. It was excellent. Both were served in large martini glasses. We chose the escargot appetizer, which was very good. The phyllo was well cooked and not soggy, and the butter/garlic was well proportioned and not overly garlicy. A very minor critique is that the snails/portions (of which there were six) were rather small. For entre's, the wife chose the wagyu hanger steak as a surf & turf with a lobster topping and asparagus hollandaise. The steak was perfectly cooked and seasoned, with good flavor. Maybe this wasn't the best cut for Wagyu, as we've had better Wagyu elsewhere, although don't get me wrong, it was very good, maybe just not worth the Wagyu premium. For myself, I chose the 50 day dry aged NY strip, also as a surf & turf as noted above. Again, the steak was perfectly cooked and seasoned, and was one of the bigger restaurant strip portions I've ever had (~1.5" thick). At this point, I struggle with words to describe how flavorful and exceptional this steak was. The outer crust had a perfect blend of season and texture that previewed the perfection that was to come. As I chewed into the first bite, the boldness of the beef flavor that dry aging offers came through in dramatic fashion. This is what world class dry aged beef tastes like, when cooked and seasoned perfectly. It was sublime. In both cases, the accompanying lobster and asparagus for our entrees were very good. The asparagus was well cooked, not too limp and not too firm. The lobster was tender and well portioned, although the tarragon seasoning was slightly stronger than I prefer. The clear star of the evening in both cases was the steak. Of course this type of meal comes with a fairly hefty price tag, although you don't seek out a meal like this if you're being frugal. Patrons to this level of food know what to expect, and for us, this type of meal is an infrequent treat we may experience once a year. And in this case, it was worth...

This has been our go-to steak place in the city of Boston for years, both for business entertainment and family outings. Great atmosphere, nicely decorated, generally good food service with a smile and good food. The buzz and people have always been exciting - what you'd expect from a good steakhouse.

Unfortunately, our most recent visits have shown a deterioration in service and quality. Our last 3 visits have been problematic, and last night's meal has prompted this review with the hope that someone will take note and action to improve.

The wait time for ordering and receiving our food has progressively become longer. Last night, we sat at 7pm and first received our food after 8:10 pm. The steaks were cold and had obviously been sitting in the kitchen for way too long.

Also, the food has progressively gotten saltier - both the meat and side dishes. As a heart patient, I limit salt intake. Last night, I couldn't eat the sides we ordered because the salt was way too overwhelming. I also only had a few pieces of steak (vs. the usual portions) because the saltiness was higher than usual. Now, if I ever go back, I will need to remember "no salt added" when ordering. That really sucks!

The sangria was great - thank goodness. That's because the water filled in my glass had white particulates floating at the top of the glass. Gross! It looked like my fish tank when I sprinkle fish food for the fish to eat in the morning. My wife's face cringed when she saw the things floating in my glass and we all stopped drinking the water thereafter. Doesn't reflect good health practices but I don't know whether it's Boston water or the restaurant's glass cleaning practices. I suspect the latter.

The manager came over and apologized. She gave us a complementary dessert tray (which was very nice) and a $50 discount card on the meal. That was a good-faith move and was well-received by everyone at the table. That said, it is a bummer that our [previously] favorite steak place has to fall back on comping desserts and discounting the meal due to poor service, deteriorating food quality and emerging questions about health practices. If this was a one-off experience, this review would not have been written. Unfortunately, it's not - kudos to the manager, but A&L is probably better off fixing what's broken as the business can't survive this type of deterioration.

If this had happened elsewhere, this would have been a 1-star review. I gave 2-stars because the heritage/history of this restaurant warrants the extra star for the "go get 'em" improvement we hope...

After we first sat down, a waiter brought us water: two cups of water for two adults, and one empty foam cup (no lid), to be shared by our two kids. They kept piling more empty dishes on our table, even when we evidently had more than enough. We later had quite a few stacks of empty (and unused plates) removed. All the waiters and waitresses who brought our food just stood there and waited for us to move plates that were in the way. I already had plates in my hands, and I actually needed to place them in my lap and to take off more plates from the table to hold in my hands before the waiter/waitress could put the food on my table. As soon as the food leaves the waiter's/waitress's hand, s/he backs away from the table, leaving me with my plates. Not their problem, I guess. It seemed that no one was energetic enough to properly receive guests. Not the kid bringing us water, not the food-carrying waiters, and certainly not our ordering waitress. She gave me the feeling that we must quickly dine and hurry on out of there, because she didn't have the patience to deal with us. My steak came, and it was very salty. Had I kept on eating it, my throat would've been damaged. I asked our ordering waitress to come and told her of the situation. She asked me, "So, no seasoning?" "Can I have a little bit of seasoning? Maybe not a whole lot?" "So, no seasoning?" "Does it have to be either 'too salty' or 'completely bland'? Is there nothing in between?" "They normally put seasoning on it. If you don't want seasoning, I can tell them not to put it." Somehow she doesn't seem to want to understand what I'm saying. "No, I replied, please put seasoning on the side so that I can apply it myself." The steak came back bare, no seasoning, with a burnt surface. I thought I could just add salt and pepper to it, but the taste was bitter. Moreover, the surface was lukewarm and the core was ice cold. Seems like the steak guy's not so happy with my visit as well. Gosh, it's even worse than economy class cabin service. I went to the manager, Dave, to whom I explained the situation: The steak is cold and burnt. We received very bad service. Was I expecting too much from Abe and Louie's? Upon seeing the manager approaching the table, the waitress showed up. Waitress told him that the steak was a "fourth" one. I didn't quite understand what that meant. Wasn't it only a second attempt? How was it counted as a fourth one? By that point, I knew I had enough of this restaurant. First rate pricing, third...