Perry St. Chophouse — Restaurant in Lawrenceville

Edit 2 years later: nobody ever reached out nor responded to me about this. They are still sending me emails on a list I didn't sign up for. Disappointing.

Two months ago, I decided on Perry Street Chophouse as my birthday dinner, I was ever so excited. Worst birthday dinner of my entire life.

I made a reservation, my only request was "please seat us at a table away from foot traffic or noise, if possible." We arrived, our table was the very first table in the restaurant -- every person arriving would see us, every patron would walk by us, all kitchen staff would pass us on the way to other tables. But it was fine, I understand the request may have been impossible to accommodate, no sweat.

I was ready for a drink -- drink menu was fine-ish, but most cocktails were smoked or had chicory flavor, I ended up ordering an Old Fashioned. It's a whiskey bar, after all, Old Fashioned is a go-to for me. My better half isn't a huge fan of whiskey -- she preferred a vodka cocktail. We were informed they do not have vodka at the bar. Okay, how about just a Mimosa? Nope, no orange juice available. That's -- insane, but, okay, so no drinks for her. After 50 minutes of being seated, my cocktail finally arrived. 50 minutes. I've ordered thousands of drinks in my life -- thousands -- and never in my life have I ever sent one back, but there's always a first time for everything. At Perry St Chophouse I sent back my first cocktail. It was like drinking sugar water -- it was watered down, way too much sugar, almost tasted like they added Cointreau instead of just orange or bitters (also there was no sign of bitters). Also, it took 20 more minutes for somebody to come by my table to ask how we were doing. So 70 minutes in and finally I got pour of scotch to replace my sugar water.

I ordered a simple filet, medium, and a French Onion Soup. I was told we'd get some free fries with a steak order, wonderful. I was hopeful at least the entree would be redeeming. The soup was mediocre at best, fine but not interesting -- a heap of melted cheese on a slightly salty onion broth. The steak came out, the runner asked if I'd like to check the cook on the steak, I said sure. I tapped it with the knife and I already knew... this steak was black and blue at best. After cutting, sure enough, it was as rare as rare can be. At this point I was ready to go, so I decided to just send it back and ask for the check. It was my birthday, I was ready to go somewhere else.

The owner (I think) walked over, I didn't ask for him. He asked what happened with the steak, he asked how far off they were on the cook. I said I asked for medium and they sent rare. He insisted that they deserve the chance to make it right -- I agreed that he probably deserves the chance, but I was nearly 90 minutes into a terrible night and I was ready to go. He didn't like that answer. When we discussed the cocktail and that it was too sweet he said "an old fashioned has sugar in it." Yes, it does... a proper Old Fashioned has exactly one sugar cube or exactly one teaspoon of sugar in it -- he didn't want to have that conversation, though. He was aggressive, he was dismissive, he left the table in a huff and puff. Shame.

In the end, my better half had a nice entree and appetizer. They ended up charging us for the "free" fries because I sent back the steak. Fine, whatever, I was happy to pay. I left the waitress a 20%+ tip because she was great -- not her fault anything went wrong.

I ended up walking next door to Local Republic for my dinner, it was incredible. Amazing cocktails, amazing food, every time.

I hope the owners figure it out; downtown Lawrenceville needs a great chophouse, but unfortunately they're...

Hands down, amazing, if you have not been yet, you absolutely should make Perry Street Chophouse your next stop.

I have recently relocated from New York with my husband as of a month ago, this night reminded me of a night at my favorite rooftop bar in Manhattan, Nubeluz.

When we first had arrived, We were attentively greeted and walked promptly to the host-stand. we requested the bar due to no reservation and time frame (We arrived two hrs before closing) but the phenomenal Bartender by the name of Angel was able to accommodate us!

We were sat close to the bar, at a high top table, which may have had us a bit closer to the air-vents, but no matter, we were quickly moved to one of the beautiful booths, comfy, warm and a nice view of this beautiful interior. The velvet Blue couch matches the space and tone so elegantly. The Cocktail/water glasses are so beautiful, and the bar, an eye catcher, the copper detailing, the red leather bar stools, I felt like I had entered an underground jazz lounge in New York.

After being seated, Angel requested our drink order. My mother, who is a cocktail/food enthusiast, had a lot of questions about the ingredients used, not only was he able to elaborate, but also spoke to traditional ways of making the drink, the house take, and Angels version. My mother had an old fashion, I had the Perry Street Chophouse version of an espresso martini, and my husband had the revolver. The drinks confirmed Angels expertise as well as the vibe for the night.

After our drinks, we were then greeted by the patient and sweet Kenya. I say patient because we were so indecisive and my mother kicked it up a notch with another round of questions, nonetheless, Kenya was able to answer every question with ease, and made recommendations that either were great, or made us choose. We started with the Oyster Rockefeller, amazing, so much flavor, not over cooked, not under cooked, just perfect, this is coming from someone that tried already and said no. I’m not a fan of seafood at all so this gave me something new to order when out. Well done. My entree was the springer mountain airline chicken. It was so tender, juicy, the skin was lightly crisp, and sat on top of fluffy, smooth Yukon smashed potato’s with charred rapini, and to top it off, a maple glaze which was such a nice undertone to the full entree.

My mother had I believe the filet mignon. I didn’t get a chance to try it, but her and my husband ranted about steak for a good chunk of dinner which was confirmation, it was cooked to her liking. Last, my husband had his tester dish, The Caesar Salad, which he consumed and had no complaints about. My plate became his objective. The cherry on top, HONEY AMARETTO CRÈME BRULEE! I had crème brûlée in NY, did not like it, your version AMAZING. The honey was not over burnt, or too thick, it was a nice, fine, thin layer covering the, smooth, light and airy crème brûlée. Perfect!

Overall, the flavors of every dish, beyond expectations for me. Exceeds actually. The hospitality forces you to admire every little detail of Perry Street Chophouse. The live jazz music, I haven’t seen my mother in 3-4 years, she flew in for our birthday, mine (the 7th and hers the 17th) I have always wanted to offer a piece of NY to her, thank you for doing this unintentionally. I’ve never seen her so happy and patient, calm, thank you Angel, Kenya. She’s good so I’m elated!

thank you Jaime. I can’t imagine the work that goes behind making this type of experience happen for guest. I appreciate you, you must be a phenomenal leader to your team! Thank you for the cutting board! You saved me, I...

UPDATE.......7/8/23 As you can see from my earlier post from five months ago, I once thought highly of Perry St. Chophouse. Unfortunately, my last experience fell flat. On May 28, we had a private room for a family dinner (Party of 15) that was booked two weeks in advance. The situation was completely mismanaged from the start. It was a Sunday evening and restaurant was totally unprepared to provide a decent amount of service to a party of our size. To start, we had only one Server assigned to our room and that should have served notice how the rest of the night would go. Our Server was overwhelmed and clearly out of sorts. We had a scaled down menu as they were out of a lot of the items that we really wanted to order. The flow of food service was inconsistent. Some people were getting their plates 15 minutes after others. We had bread service at one table, and the other table was told they ran out. My son ordered Bone Marrow Butter, which never came, My sister ordered dessert, which never came. I ordered a drink "Big Tymer" that was watered down when it finally came. It was one thing after another and each time the Server came by, she gave more excuses than resolutions.

We spent $1800 yet received service of a fast food restaurant. I immediately attempted to reach out to the Manager the next day to tell him about our experience. He said he wanted to speak more, so I sent him my phone number. To date, I have not heard anything. For the amount spent, I feel totally disrespected and undervalued as a patron and I could have booked any other steakhouse but chose this one because it is local to me. This was a major letdown.

Wonderful second visit to this welcomed establishment in Downtown Lawrenceville. Perry Street Chophouse is quickly becoming my favorite upscale restaurant, not only for the proximity to my house, but the amazing food, service, ambiance, and cocktail program. We were there for a family outing on Sunday at 5pm. I was able to get my favorite booth since our reservation was early enough. Our Server's name was Mary and she made sure our experience was enjoyable from start to finish. Very attentive and prompt without being overbearing. We started with Crab Cocktail along with the best Mussels I've ever had. That creamy herby broth was the bomb. Our appetizers were followed by Venison Loin, Rack of Lamb, and Sea Bass in which we all said we would order again. Oh and how can I forget my favorite cocktail, The Big Timer, and my wife raves about The Lucky Lady. For dessert, we were both in the mood for their Creme Brulee' which did not disappoint. I also would like to acknowledge the General Manager who checked on our table and made recommendations on more than one occasion. Well done, and we...