THE Steak House — Restaurant in Las Vegas

Ok, let's be honest here...who would ever expect a phenomenal steakhouse located inside a property that seems to cater toward families with smaller children? I mean, Circus Circus wouldn't be the first property that would come to mind if someone were to ask, "What Las Vegas property should I visit to experience a good steakhouse?" Regardless, my family and I ate here on 24 Dec 2023 as a celebration towards the holiday season and because we've been wanting to try this restaurant ever since we moved to Las Vegas in 2014.

When I walked in, it felt like we were transported somewhere else - you definitely forget that not too long ago you had screaming children running past you in the hallways/main floor. The employees, from the time we walked in all the way to when we departed were outstanding. And although all of our servers were extraordinary, our main server, Felix, did such a sensational job. The restaurant décor is very rustic and surprisingly well-maintained considering how old this restaurant is. Between the booth fabric, all the way to the lighting/woodwork, it's evident that the owner/employees take pride in ensuring this restaurant provides a comfortable feel to its customers.

With respect to the food, I want to start by saying that the bread was fantastic. I've had many variations of bread at steakhouses all over Las Vegas and the bread here was warm, soft, and very simple. Trust me, I've received bread before where I'm wondering what I'm actually eating - this is clearly not the case here. We ordered the Grilled Garlic Shrimp, Crab Cake, Petite Filet with Baked Potato, 16 oz Ribeye with Baked Potato, Salmon Fillet with Garlic Mashed Potato, House Salads, Black Bean Soup, and Chocolate Mousse Cake. Also, all three of our main entrées were accompanied by asparagus; I suspect that this changes based on the day since every entrée specifies "chef's vegetable" with it. To note, the Grilled Garlic Shrimp is a must-have; the Black Bean Soup was also notable, and the Salmon/Petit Filet were cooked to perfection. Although my ribeye temperature, along with the seasoning were perfect, I wasn't as enthusiastic with the quality of the cut - seems more on the lines of USDA Choice, versus Prime. I'm not 100% if that's accurate, but the cut was underwhelming for me...yet, the flavor was still adequate. I do enjoy how this restaurant serves their main course with sides included - this was a change of pace compared to other steakhouses where sides are a la carte.

There are a couple things that I feel are inaccurate information (or maybe it's not): (1) Both Google and THE Steakhouse website (through the Circus Circus website) specify this restaurant to be a 3-dollar sign restaurant. Frankly, aside from the dress code being "casual," I feel that this should be labeled as a 4-dollar sign restaurant based on the total I had to pay compared to other 4-dollar sign restaurants I've been to in this city; and (2) the menu on the website is slightly outdated/inaccurate. It doesn't specify the price of each item/entrée, nor does it contain several items that are actually available in the restaurant (i.e., two different sizes of ribeye/filet, crab cakes, and dessert items).

The "perceived" negative items I've identified above are not indicative of my comprehensive rating, it's more of an opportunity for this restaurant to improve its operations here and there without eliminating the positiveness of my overall review. If you haven't been here before, you definitely need to give it a try. I promise, you won't have Bozo the Clown walking around making balloon animals at your table because you're in Circus Circus. Overall, this restaurant is impressive - I highly...

This restaurant was recommended to me by a Las Vegas local who said, "If you want an old school steakhouse experience, go to THE steakhouse at Circus Circus." I tried setting up a reservation online, but the online reservation app did not permit reservations for 1. The app said to call the establishment for reservations. When I called, I was asked how many in my party, when I stated "1", I was told there's always a spot at the bar for walk-ins. So this is what I did. I drove down to Circus Circus, walked in and was seated at the bar. Apparently individual patrons do not qualify for a table.

The atmosphere is definitely old school. Darkly lit, dark wood, period furnishings. This certainly fit the description I was expecting. The bar was small and old. I had a direct view of their back storage room, their waffle mat floor pad, and a chipped green sconce shade. Not quite the atmosphere or accommodations you would expect for a $76 petite fillet...which brings me to the food.

The meal started with 2 hot rolls. The small baguette roll had a slightly crunchy and satisfyingly tough crust that surrounded a soft interior. It was great! The pretzel roll was good. The rolls were served with a choice of a soup or salad. I opted for their black bean soup. The soup was served hot (had to wait for it to cool), included no proteins, and was a bit thinner than expected. It was a generous serving and was salty-good. Nothing special, just good.

I ordered the petite fillet medium. It was prepared as requested. It arrived with asparagus, wild rice (my choice over some potato options) and Bernais sauce. The asparagus was lightly steamed and had nice crispness to them. I did not detect any seasoning besides some butter. The wild rice was underwhelming. It tasted of beef bouillon cubes and the texture reminded me a bit of the boxed seasoned wild rice you buy at the supermarket. I cannot comment on the Bernais as I do not like terragon...so I did not eat the Bernais.

Now to the fillet, it was cooked as asked. The char on the outside actually burned the exterior of the steak a bit. The flavor of the char did not smell or taste appealing to me. It reminded me a little of the smell of burnt hair. The quality of the meat was the most disappointing. It was not a firm, upright medallion you would expect from a prime grade beef fillet. The fillet looked like the cellophane wrapped budget fillet found in your grocer's refrigerated meat aisle. It was soft, lacked form, not very tender, and produced a number of pieces of meat I had to remove from my mouth because I could not chew through them. I can honestly say I have had better $20 steaks. The highlight of the meal was the baguette bun.

I suppose I could have voiced my disappointment to the management, but I just wanted to leave. The fact they don't offer tables to single diners should have been a red flag for me. Rightly or wrongly, I did not feel like a valued customer and felt like my feedback to management would not matter or make a difference. ...

My partner and I went to this steakhouse after passing it for well over ten years because of the price. My partner, who since he was a boy had been going to Las Vegas and, most times, Circus Circus, every year, dreamed of one day going here. Unfortunately, it did not live up to his expectations, nor the value of what it costs to eat here.

We had no problems with getting a reservation and the service was exemplary, but the ambiance and food were mediocre. We had the misfortune of having our romantic evening quashed by a large, rowdy group who took the restaurant from a pleasant whisper quiet to a Denny's level of noise pollution.

The wine and bread were good, the shrimp was appetizing, and the black bean soup was quite fine. Then, we got our entrees. I was taken aback at hour large the portions were, but didn't mind.

The garlic mashed potatoes, as our server had said, were excellent. The asparagus was plain, with no accompaniment or seasoning. The steaks, however, had problems. My partner ordered a 12 ounce filet mignon, medium, and I ordered the New York strip, medium-rare. While the crust was rather good on mine, the flesh itself was somehow very, very bland.

Oddly, it barely even tasted like steak. I abhor people who use condiments, other than au jus, with beef... but, this had to be salvaged with a bit of horseradish from the shrimp cocktail we had earlier. It wasn't overdone or anything, it simply tasted like nothing on the inside. I think I have had vegan meat substitutes with more flavor.

My partner had a similar experience, except that his medium filet mignon was cooked right on the edges and -rare- throughout. He also complained of it being excessively chewy, did not like the accompanying béarnaise sauce (I believe that was what is was called) and had to order a side of mushrooms to make it more palatable. He barely finished half before he had had enough of the excessive amount of myoglobin dribbling off of the steak.

We both agreed that the steak served at Texas Roadhouse was better than this and that simply isn't acceptable for a place of this price point.

Add on the to the fact we dealt with the rowdy, loud group that took our experience from romantic to diner-style, we became antsy to get our check and leave the place to get dessert in a quieter setting. We didn't bother to complain or mention anything to the management or server; we just wanted to leave.

My partner got to realize his dream of coming here, after finally having the financial means to do so, only to leave with expensive leftovers fit for our bulldog.

Service: 5/5 Ambiance: 3/5 (formerly 5/5 before the group came in) Food: 3/5 (steak and asparagus had...