Cut 432 — Restaurant in Delray Beach

Incredibly overpriced for the quality of meat and service the restaurant offers.

My wife and I went there yesterday for her birthday dinner. We've been at this place before with our friends and really enjoyed the food then, that's why it became our place of choice for the celebration. But this time it was completely different.

The room was crowded and very noisy as if it was a pub and not an upscale steak house. The restrooms weren't clean. I cannot say that our waiter wasn't courteous, but when my wife accidentally spilled a little bit of champagne out of her glass (it was the only drink she ordered) on her dress and on the table, all that the waiter said was "if you're all right, I'm all right too". Never offered a paper towel because cloth napkins don't really absorb liquids from hard surfaces, not to mention offering another glass. And when he noticed a dot of dirt on my fresh plate, the man tried to scrape it off WITH HIS FINGER! The plate that I was supposed to eat from! He only replaced it, because one side of the plate was chipped.

The food overall wasn't a disaster, the jumbo shrimps and the sides (we ordered tater tots, caramelized onions and mashed potatoes) were really good. On the other hand, the buffalo mozzarella didn't taste anything different from regular mozzarella, so we weren't really impressed. But the main disappointment was the meat. My filet mignon was literally burned from one side, even though I ordered it medium, my wife's veal chop wasn't medium well but medium rare and tasted more like pork. Considering that each entree costs over $55, we really don't understand what happened to the quality of the steaks since our first visit.

And the "cherry on top" was the episode when we saw a guy walking his dog by the entrance. We just watched this because we were sitting very close to it and were facing the street. When the dog sat on the little lawn to potty RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE ENTRANCE, the two or three waiters that were standing outside just continued contemplating the scene and never said anything to the dog owner who just walked away when the pet was done! Disgusting.

For those who may think we are trying to pull out a Karen, I promise, we are not at all demanding customers, we are simple working class people from simple families, not spoiled by luxury life. My intention was to take my wife to a good place for a special occasion, but we left there with a feeling that we've got tricked. I just honestly think that a simple dinner for two with the food and the service provided wasn't worth $327 (including the tip) that we left there. We've been to places that are way better and less expensive.

I sincerely hope that the restaurant will not rely on the fact that Delray is a popular town and people will come by anyway and I hope they focus more on quality rather than the quantity. If not for us, because we are not likely to ever come back there, but for future customers....

At first everything was great. Hosts took us to a regular 4 top table, we requested a booth and the staff gladly and kindly accommodated our request. We waited at the bar and the Bartenders and Manager were all very attentive. Once we sat down at our booth we were approached by our server for the evening, and that is why the 3 stars and not 4 or even 5. I did not catch his name at first because the introduction, the list of specials and the list of 86's (which he made a point to tell us first thing, even before anything else, that they were out of Del Monico) it was so fast that we simply decided to let go. The tab was picked up by our host so I do not have a name. Very condescending and informal. It gave us the feeling of not being really welcomed unless we probably looked the part that we meant to run a high rollers tab. Again, that was the impression we got but for sure he attempted several times to rush things in order to rotate the table quick. For example, you simply do not serve the bottled water into glasses splashing it all over the table because you are passing by quick and trying to get to another table….this happened over and over again. His section was not even full (Sunday evening) so that is not even an excuse for "being in the weeds"(It never is). My wife ordered Ahi Tuna and his remark was "Do you know that it is served rare"... (Really?). So, you just assumed we have never had Ahi Tuna before?. We were there with long time friends that were in town visiting and wanted to enjoy the evening; not just sit, eat and leave. If that would've been the case we would've gone to the place next door and eat Philly Cheesesteaks standing on the curb. My wife and I always thought about trying this place out. Now that we've done so we can say that we are certainly satisfied with the atmosphere, the food and the staff (special mention to the bussers and food runners which were top notch) but, certainly we will not be back. Servers like this gentleman should work at another type of venue not at a place that seemed really nice at first but that unfortunately gets opaqued by such an unprofessional behavior. Lastly, you do not bring the check to a table unless you are asked for, not at this level of restaurant or at least the level this restaurant pretends to be. We really wanted to like it. By the way, I had my share of years in the food industry working every single position there is, from bussing tables, to server, to bartender, front of the house manager, GM, owner. My wife has traveled all over the World…sometimes has even eaten Ahi Tuna......

I took my fiance to Cut 432 tonight for her birthday. It was our first time here and had made reservations online. I noted in the remarks section that it was her birthday, not expecting anything and requested outdoor seating. The online reservation system works great as they call you a day ahead to remind you and ask for you to call back and confirm. I actually had to move our reservation and was easily accommodated. We arrived and were promptly seat outside as requested. Our server was good at explaining the daily special. We ordered the Crab Cake appetizer and let me tell you, as a trained chef with 20 years in the food and beverage industry, this IS the best crab cake I have ever had. Well worth what you will pay for it. She ordered the dry aged Delmonico and I ordered the Chilean Sea Bass as it is one of my favorite seafood entree's. Both meals were exceptional in quality, quantity and presentation. A NOTE on DRY AGED Beef: It is my opinion that when ordering dry aged beef, you should order it at 1 temperature cooler than you normally would. The process of dry aging removes the moisture, intensifying the flavor and developing a wonderful crust when prepared. If you like your meat medium, order dry aged beef medium rare, if not rare. She normally orders medium and I talked her into medium rare. She was totally satisfied with the outcome. I think you will be too. The steak was perfect and the sea bass was extremely good, maybe just a tad bit overcooked but that is me just being picky.

The best part was at the end of the meal. As I got my wallet out in anticipation of the check, the server brought a wonderful piece of cheesecake to the the table with a candle and even sung happy birthday to my fiance. I never said a word to arrange this ahead of time, only noted it in the remarks section of the of the online reservation system. Truly a wonderful ending to a great meal!

Over all a great place. A little small, a little overpriced, but as a place to go on a special occasion, I think it fits the bill. It was expensive but I walked out feeling like I got a fair deal. I will come back, if they drop the prices a bit, I would come...