Ruth's Chris Steak House — Restaurant in Charlotte

My husband and I decided to come here last night (11/10/23) to celebrate his birthday. I'm 9 months pregnant and we are expecting our first child any day now and thought it would be nice to celebrate his birthday and the final countdown at a place we dined at after we got married 5 years ago. We walk in around 9:15pm and the hostess was sweeping. She looked up, smiled, asked us what we needed and then we asked to be seated for two. She looked my husband up and down and said "We have strict dress code policy and don't allow sweatpants". I was shocked because my husband was wearing SUIT pants. And I'm also unsure of who would come in this establishment wearing sweatpants anyway. We kindly explained that they weren't sweat pants, honestly thinking she was just simply mistaken. No big deal. She said "or track pants". Odd, because they aren't those either. And now she's saying she can't seat us. It was very frustrating and the dress code sign displayed RIGHT NEXT to her named everything that was prohibited, none of which my husband had on. I explained to her that my initial frustration wasn't personal to her, but to be able to look at someone and to base service off of what YOU personally have mistaken as "sweatpants" or "track pants" is unfair. I asked to speak to someone else. Eventually a manager came out looked at my husband, made a face as though he agreed with the hostess and asked what he could do for us. I told him I already knew he was familiar with the situation because I'm sure she shared it with him, and that he doesn't look anything like what the sign says, so I'm looking to understand and get more clarification. I didn't say this to them, but honestly it felt like we were being profiled at this point. I also think it looks bad to have a super pregnant woman upset in your lobby so that's why he acquiesced. So he got us sat, only for us to sit in front of a table full of people who had on ripped denim, and a ton of casual clothes on. That was incredibly frustrating to see after having to advocate for us to be able to eat there. I actually used to work at a Ruth's Chris a few years ago, so I'm familiar with the ambience and also just personally and would NEVER come to a place like this for dinner not knowing what to wear or how to act. So I'm HIGHLY offended by their behavior. If it was because it was late, then say that. If you were about to close, say THAT. But to look at him and just decide he doesn't get to eat at your restaurant is literally insane. You have all types of people from all walks of life and different cultures coming to dine here. To leave fashion choices (OUTSIDE of the things listed on your sign) to the discretion of whoever is on duty that day is simply unwise. The hostess asked us if we were celebrating anything and I told her AND the manager several times it was my husband's birthday. That being said- Joe, our waiter did an excellent job and provided excellent service. I'm not sure the message got to him about it being my husband's birthday, but we didn't get any type of dessert or anything for it. But to be honest- it's fine because I won't be back. I highly suggest if you decide to come to this location you have a plan b in your back pocket in case you happen to be African American and they decide they don't like...

Unfortunately, after reading some bad experience reviews. Nothing seems to change. I’m also noticing all 4-5 star reviews left get a thank you, almost immediately. But anything below 3 star, the restaurant ignores. Sadly some folks on these reviews had almost an identical experience as we had when we visited this location.

First things first.. SAVE YOUR MONEY!! Go a couple restaurants down the way or across the street to another steak house. I promise you’ll have a way better experience. My wife and I were visiting charlotte for a work conference (we are originally from Utah, we love our local Ruth’s Chris) we figured for our last night in town we’d go get a nicer dinner to celebrate finishing our nursing conferences. But left with a bad taste in our mouth about this location.

Upon arrival the front desk host barely acknowledged us. Our reservation was at 7pm on a Thursday night. Showed up at exactly 7pm. She had a slight attitude about seating us. Whatever. The restaurant was dead. Maybe 4-5 tables taken through the restaurant. We get seated right next to where the kitchen is located, all we can hear is dishes clashing and waiters going in and out. We Asked to move but was reinsured the other tables were reserved. We’ll talk more on that in a second. In the blunder of everything I had forgotten to take my ball cap off (I forgot to remove it at the door. Totally my fault. I know the dress code there and hats are not allowed) was asked to remove it. Again absolutely, yes I removed with no issue. There was an employee who worked in the back who hung out at the bar area throughout the whole dinner, who also had a hat on I guess those rules only apply to customers? Also strange to see an employee (not a server) going in and out from the back to go lounge at the bar and then proceed to go back and fourth all night. Again we sat right next to the back kitchen door. We got to see it all first hand.

I’ll keep the rest short as I didn’t realize how long the review is getting. Seemed to be one thing after another. The manager went to those 4-5 tables and acknowledged everyone. Asked about how their dinners were. And completely ignored me and my wife. Walked right past us. At the end of the night. 2 more small tables filled so the other tables being reserved was a complete lie. Not sure what we had done to deserve this kind of treatment. Unfortunately this may have spoiled our future visits with any Ruth’s Chris going forward, me and my wife agreed. Topping on the cake. After being showed our table we had to clean off existing trash on the table. Again. Save your money. You’d get better service/cleanliness from the local McDonald’s...

We dined at Ruth's Chris Charlotte on South Tryon St. on Saturday, December 14. We had a party of 11, so 20% gratuity was automatically added to our check. Our server's name was Joseph and he was AWFUL!! He took our drink order, which took at least a half hour to come. He said the bar was backed up but other large groups around us, some that came after us, seemed to have no issue getting their drinks. Some of us never got our drinks and had to ask several more times to actually get them. While waiting, Joseph said he was going to take our food order, which made us feel rushed and is never done in upscale restaurants. At one point, my son asked for another martini and was brought another order of calamari, instead. His fiancé had asked for a glass of cabernet sauvignon and Joseph decided to bring her a $56 glass of Caymus without ever asking about price. Our table was never given a wine list. Therfore, she should have been brought the house cab or been able to approve such a pricey wine ahead of time. She was also charged $37 for another glass of wine that she never ordered and was never brought. While some people's food was fine, at least two in our party said the inside of their filets were too tough to eat. After multiple conversations with the manager, who we had to hunt down because Joseph never sent him to our table when requested, he agreed to comp part of the bill to make up for the terrible service. When Joseph brought the bills, only one person's bill was discounted. When this was brought to Joseph's attention, he told us that for everyone to get a discount, the bills would have to be combined and split evenly 3 ways. We hunted down the manager again, who finally fixed all the bills. Joseph never seemed to care, nor did he apologize, for ignoring our table and ruining our dinner, which was celebrating my son's engagement. Our dinner took over three hours, while the other groups around us were long gone. It definitely crossed our minds that racism was involved in our poor service. We were one of the few tables of white people in the restaurant, and definitely the minority in the restaurant. I absolutely will never go back to this, or any other, Ruth's...