Boston Chops Downtown — Restaurant in Boston

2nd time attending Downtown Boston Chops. Food was VERY good (due to low expectations), excellent service, excellent steaks, quite good sides (better than Ruth Chris but not as good as Strip by Strega’s), excellent appetizers, decent desserts, and good wine. Nice, classy vibe. Clean, spacious bathrooms are single-stalls and are on the right side of the restaurant. Tip: go right before dinner time / before it gets busy. Food & service tends to be better. Although the popovers won’t be as fresh.

1)  Appetizer = Roasted Bone Marrow - $12 – two bone marrows, with 3 pieces of grilled bread, parsley salad (scallions & fresh parsley), and bacon & onion jams (jams tasted like grilled, fall of the bone, pulled pork and the onion wasn’t too over-powering). All ingredients together complimented each other very well. Excellent and would definitely get again.

2)  14 oz Prime Rib Eye Steak with confit Garlic & Herb Sachet - $49 – perfect medium rare, steak was tender & juicy, could definitely taste the hint of butter that was used in the grilled pan, and would most definitely get it again – I fully believe the garlic & herbs really made the steak fabulous. The 3 garlic cloves were soft enough to be crushed and smoothed against the steak. Decorated on top were rosemary stems.

3)  14 oz Bone-In Filet Mignon - $57 – super tender, melt in your mouth, juicy steak. Definitely one of the best filet mignons I’ve had. Would definitely get it again. Steak was perfectly medium rare but was a lot more rare closer to the bone.

4)  Popovers – slightly burnt on the outside (usually not) but still buttery and soft on the inside. Wasn’t as hot or fresh as the first time we went.

5)  Side = Herb Roasted Fingerling Potatoes & Lardons - $10 – could’ve been more thinly sliced, but the herbs were nicely strong and flavorful. Potatoes were dowsed in oil but it didn’t feel heavy or too greasy. Lardons were chopped up into tiny pieces and were burnt & hard – tastes great when eaten together with the potatoes but wasn’t a huge fan. Overall, texture wasn’t as good as Strip by Strega’s potato sides (which were smooth & melt in your mouth) but loved the herb-flavor of this side dish.

6)  Side = Pork Belly Mac & Cheese - $13 – large piece of Pork belly right in the middle, nice crisp panko crust on top which complimented well with the smooth mac & cheese. Very buttery but not too cheesy. It was good but tasted even better when paired with the Creamed Spinach Gratine side.

7)  Side = Creamed Spinach Gratine - $9 – wasn’t too creamy so that you could still taste the spinach without the bitterness. Loved it.

8)  Smith & Perry Pinot Noir from Willamette Valley, Oregon - $13 – lovely. Tasted at first oaky but after letting it air for at least 10 minutes, it was smooth, light, and refreshing. Excellent.

9)  Dessert = Classic Crème Brulee w/ Vanilla Bean - $12 – wasn’t as rich in vanilla bean as Strip by Strega and the top didn’t have a snap-crack which was a little disappointing. But still a good over-all crème brulee. There were no complimentary fruits on top as well. Good experience but wouldn’t get it again.

10)  Dessert = Sticky Toffee Pudding in Butterscotch sauce, Fig Crumb, and Rum Raisin - $12 – slightly disappointing. Piece of loaf cake looked burnt, but it really wasn’t. However, it tasted slightly dry. Sauce was nice! And complimented well with the cake. At the side was a scoop of vanilla ice cream (which went excellently well with the cake) sitting on a bed of fig crumb. Texture of both ice cream & crumb was interesting but was soon not a huge fan since the crumb tasted a little burnt. Good experience but wouldn’t...

High quality of service is the simplest way to sum up the experience. The bread that was served was so crisp on the outside and yet it wasn't too dry on the inside. Afterwards my appetizers arrived the Calamari and the Roasted Bone Marrow. The Calamari was made well and portion correctly. It was not oily at all and came with a tangy sauce and what appeared to be mayo. The Roasted Bone marrow was a bit difficult to eat because there wasn't a utensil that could comfortably dig out the marrow itself. The marrow paired well with the jelly on top of the toasted bread. I definitely recommend it, however, bone marrow has a unique taste and texture that not everyone will enjoy.

Afterwards our entrees arrived. I ordered 14 oz Prime Rib Eye Steak medium rare. My girlfriend had ordered the 8 oz Filet Mignon medium rare. Its important to note her order was from the Steak Frites portion so it came with Arugula and fries. However they offered me fries too and I accepted. Just clarifying in case others order the 14 oz Steak and are surprised at the lack of fries. The Steaks were cooked as we asked and needed no refiring. They also arrived after we finished our appetizers so it was well timed. Sauce for the steak only portion is an extra 3$ but the Steak Frites portions do come with some sauce. Both Steak were delicious, with nice shading on the cross section.

We also ordered a twice baked potato which after the main entrees we realized was a mistake because of the how filling the steaks were along with the appetizers but we did try it. The bits of potato chip were nice to have in the baked potato and the bits of meat were well paired with the potato itself. Be warned this baked potato is big!

The environment is well suited for close knit groups and romantic dates. However there is a bar area if you're dining alone or with clients. The waiter was attentive and accommodating. I don't think I could have asked anymore from a restaurant.

All in all I would definitely recommend Boston Chops to anyone who loves steak.

Also sparkling water is on the house and that definitely made it a nice plus. Our meal ran us about...

Editing review as I tried this again- First visit was 1 star and second was 4 stars. Giving them the benefit of the doubt and editing my review to 3 star.

Experience 1- (1 Star) Horrible experience here last night. Went for a pre-theater dinner during Dine Out Boston. Our entrees took an hour to come out and we had less then 5 minutes to eat. The real negative experience wasn’t necessarily that the food was delayed but the way the manager handled the situation. We clearly saw the waiter tell her our meals didn’t get put through but when we asked how much longer it was going to be she said, “it will be right out.” Food came item by item and was clearly not even close to ready. The manager and waiter never apologized nor was anything taken off our bill. The icing on the cake was that as we were running out the door to make our show, the manager rolled her eyes at some of our party clearly unaware some of us were still in the restaurant. As someone who loves the South End location, I think her behavior was an embarrassing representation of this restaurant group. I’ll return to the wonderful staff in the South End but I would be hard pressed to go back to the downtown location based on this experience.

Experience 2- (4 Stars) Tried this again pre-theater when we could get there much earlier and it wasn't Dine Out Boston. Drinks were fantastic and the service was the high quality you would expect from this sort of establishment. Our waiter (sadly can't remember his name) immediately asked us if we were going to see the show and set expectations about certain menu dishes taking longer. He also told us about a fun Hamilton themed cocktail they were featuring to go along with the show. Food was fantastic and came out promptly. All and all a great experience and enough of a change that I thought to revise my original review. Hope the...