Ruth's Chris Steak House — Restaurant in Columbus

I must update the review below. I spoke with a manager today. He was very apologetic, and listened to my long list of concerns about our visit yesterday. A customer wants to be heard, and I felt heard today. Thank you for contacting me. I appreciate it.

I met two friends for dinner at Ruth’s Chris. Our reservations were for 730 but we arrived at 7:15 and were immediately seated, and decided on sandwich since it was late. We were advised that they do not serve sandwiches in the dining area. We were moved to the bar area. after about 15 minutes, the server took our food Order. We decided on three steak sandwiches and an order of mac & cheese. It was taking an unusually long time. It was 830. I asked for a manager and the kitchen manager came out and apologized. He said there was a large party in the dining area. I told him we had just been relocated from the dining area and didn’t see a large party. He said our food should be coming in about 10 minutes. At 8:40 the food came to the table, and the fries were cold, The mac & cheese was room temperature, and the cheese on the steak was Room temperature. We were starving so we kept the steak sandwiches, but we asked for new fries and mac & cheese. The items look cold when they came out because the cheese wasn’t warm and melted on the Steak and on the mac & cheese. It is unusual because everything is always perfect at the restaurant. We are frequent patrons of your restaurant. the server Said she would get us a new fries and she left the cold ones on the table. After a few minutes, she returned, took the french fries and threw them in the trash. The kitchen manager returned again and offered us a free dessert. It was A nice gesture. However, there were several things that happened during this visit that was just unacceptable for an upscale restaurant. What was wrong with this visit?

I don’t appreciate being relocated to the bar because we decided to have steak sandwiches. It was embarrassing

After being seated in the bar, it took one hour for the food to be delivered

After the food was delivered, None of the food was fresh except for the bread.

When the fries and macaroni and cheese were being remade, the server came back to the table and took them off the table and threw them in the trash. We were not going to eat them, but it was just that she took them off the table and threw them away as if we were trying to be deceitful and get free fries. If we could not afford to eat at Ruth’ Chris, we would have visited a McDonald’s. We would not have spent $90 on three steak sandwiches and mac & cheese. Despite everything $15 tip was left. There were two checks at the table one was under Brandon K Howard, total $43 Ann’s a $10 tip left on a credit card. the other Check total was $37.55 and I paid cash.

I am extremely disappointed with the food, and the service. Chris Smith, the manager, Was the only pleasant experience. He was nice enough to apologize and offer dessert. The server should have allowed us to remain in the main dining area, served our sandwiches there, but let us know that normally you have to sit in the bar area to order sandwiches, but they would make an exception this time. Disappointing that you cannot sit in the main dining area if you’re only spending $75. You need to change that...

This was my first time here and I was referred word of mouth by a mutual friend about how great the food is here so I decided to bring my mom here for her 50th birthday on 10/30/22 to celebrate this special day in which we had a dinner reservation. The host and waitress were nice and welcoming and the ambiance was nice. The portions for the appetizers were extremely small in my opinion and overpriced. We ordered a the shrimp cocktail for $20 and only got 4 cold shrimps on ice with cocktail sauce and we ordered the spicy shrimp appetizer which was really good but had maybe 6-8 small shrimps on the plate which was priced for over $20. For the entree we ended up getting the King salmon with shrimp dish and the stuffed chicken which came out piping hot and the chicken was super delicious, however Ruth's Chris restaurant does not offer sides with their entrees which is ridiculous especially for the prices which forces diners to pay extra for a separate side dish. I have never heard of a restaurant not including at least 1-2 complimentary sides with a dinner entrée. Overall the food was good but I will not be back, our bill was over $150 dollars just for dinner for two and we didn't even order any drinks or dessert. I can personally go to other restaurants and still get quality food for less and get more for my money. Plus the restaurant didnt do anything for my mom's birthday, the server only said happy birthday when we first sat down and that was it. This did not make my mom feel special at all, which was sad and disappointing

***Update December 14, 2023 Today I came back to Ruth Chris with my mom to give them a second chance since I do not live in the Columbus area and happened to be in town for business. I was highly impressed and satisfied with my experience this time. It was a 10 out of 10 from beginning to end. The manager Karrie was super sweet, accommodating, and helped make my mom's dinner super special along with some excellent service and conversation from Christian (one of the servers who I highly recommend) and the manager Matt was really nice. Christian was the best server I have ever had, very knowledgeable and attentive which is super important and he even made some great recommendations about some menu items that we should try.The food from appetizers to the stuffed chicken were delicious and hot which I loved and even though there was a delay with the kitchen getting our appetizers out, the server did a great job at keeping us informed about how long the wait will be and he continously refilled our drinks, cleaned our table when we finished a dish, and he kept checking in on us to make sure we were satisfied with our meal which was awesome. I enjoyed seeing my mom have a great time and feel special. I can honestly say we will definitely be back...

Our visit to Ruth’s Chris was extremely disappointing from start to finish. Despite having only one party ahead of us, we waited about 15 minutes to be seated. The restaurant was relatively open, yet we were placed right next to a large, loud group in an otherwise empty section. This made it difficult for either us or the group to enjoy our meals, as the close seating arrangement felt unnecessary given the available space.

Service was slow and unorganized from the start. One of the place settings at our table included a knife with food still on it, as if it had been used and not properly cleaned. It took nearly 50 minutes to receive our drinks—one of which was incorrect. Our server initially forgot our son’s drink order, and throughout the meal, we had to ask multiple times for drink refills and more bread, as they were gone long before our food arrived.

During our 50-minute wait for drinks, my wife expressed interest in leaving to dine at Jeff Ruby’s down the street, sensing that a poor experience was already unfolding. She voiced concern that, given the delays and early missteps, the rest of the evening would likely follow suit. Jeff Ruby’s represents the level of food quality and service we are accustomed to in this category, and in hindsight, we regret not making that decision.

When the food finally came, the issues continued. My son’s steak, ordered medium, arrived well-done, while our bone-in filet was raw. As we cut into it, the waiter noticed and immediately took it away, expressing his disappointment and assuring us he would bring a new one. However, instead of a new steak, he returned with the original one now overcooked. One of our sides was forgotten entirely and only arrived much later—at which point our son refused to eat it. The asparagus was wilted beyond being edible, and the crab cakes were dry, flaky, and similarly inedible. All of the sides resembled frozen bag meals that had simply been steamed or reheated before plating. Given the overall poor quality, we left most of the food untouched.

Service remained inconsistent throughout the meal. My husband ordered me a drink while our son finished his dessert, but instead, the waiter brought him another drink and forgot mine altogether. When we inquired about valet service, our server had no idea how it worked and took nearly 30 minutes just to confirm that we could pay with our card.

Even the restrooms were in poor condition—no toilet paper, some on the floor, a leaking toilet, and a broken doorstop.

For a restaurant with the reputation and price point of Ruth’s Chris, this experience was unacceptable. From slow service and poor food quality to incorrect orders and a lack of attention to detail, it was a complete disappointment. We will not...