Repeal Oak Fired Steakhouse — Restaurant in Louisville

We ordered: A bone marrow appetizer, but they informed us they were out. We got a crab cake appetizer instead An iceberg wedge salad to split A 22oz dry-aged ribeye cooked medium rare for me An 8oz petite filet cooked medium well for my wife A side of baked mac and cheese and whipped yukon gold potatoes to split

The appetizer arrived just a few minutes after ordering. The crab cake was phenomenal - it is 5oz of pure crab with less than 1tbsp of binder, so it just falls apart and the crab was fresh and delicious.

The salad arrived shortly after our table was cleared of the dishes from the crab cake, with replacement silverware to boot. Even though we split one salad, it was a sizable portion for both of us. The bacon that topped it was a thick cut slab of deliciousness that had a hint of sweetness thanks to the maple syrup glaze. The veggies were fresh, the buttermilk sauce was a nice contrast with the savory bacon.

The salad came with a plate of fresh baked bread, and oh. my. God. This bread is the star of the show. It is easily the best house-baked bread I've ever been served at a restaurant and it isn't even close. It comes with a small container of whipped butter to spread, but you don't even need it. There's some butter already melted on the top of the loaf, and then the loaf is topped with some flaky salt. This bread was like a croissant and a soft pretzel made sweet love and produced the best tasting loaf that was ever created. I will have dreams about this bread, and it may be the sole reason I choose to return to Repeal.

On to the main course. Our steaks came promptly after our table was cleared of the salads with a hefty steak knife that is obviously plenty sharp. The appearance of the steaks was exactly what you'd expect from a steakhouse of this caliber. I cut into mine, and it was cooked a perfect medium-rare with just a tiny ring of grey around the outside from the sear they gave the outer portion of the steak. There was plenty of char on the outside as advertised. This is where my review turns a little less positive. The steak was... good. It wasn't mind-blowingly delicious as I was led to believe. Don't get me wrong, this is leagues above something you can get at Texas Roadhouse or prepare at home, but there was just something about it that didn't quite sit right with me, and my wife agreed. The char on the outside was just there to be char, it left almost a burnt taste instead of a delightful flavorful crust. The steak was juicy and incredibly tender, but the flavor of the steak left something to be desired. For the price that I paid for the steak, I've had much better. The sides were very good though; the whipped potatoes were equal parts butter and potato, so it's pretty hard to screw that up because it's just a vat of deliciousness. The baked mac-and-cheese was also delicious. Perfectly crisp on the top and cheesy goodness throughout.

As we were enjoying our main courses, the executive chef came to our table to check in and let us know if there was anything else we needed. This was a regular occurrence, I saw him do this at several different tables. Definitely a nice touch to have the chef come out and greet you and ensure everything is to your liking. Our server Josh was incredibly friendly but not overbearing. Everyone was very happy to serve us, from the hostess that took us to our seats, to the wait-staff that told us to have a great evening on the way out. The tables were promptly cleared and refreshed with fresh silverware after we finished each course. The service is some of the best I've experienced at higher-end restaurants without a doubt.

Overall, I will likely return to Repeal, but not for the steaks. They have several other options available on their menu that sounded great, but Repeal is supposed to be known for their steaks, which honestly is where most of my disappointment comes from. I was more impressed with everything else rather than the steak that should've been the highlight of my meal. The steak was delicious, but I've had...

We went here for our Anniversary last night and it didn't quite live up to the standards that I hoped it would by reading some of the other reviews prior to our visit. We are originally from South Alabama near the Gulf so maybe it's just a regional taste difference, but we like our food to be well seasoned and have some flavor. Since moving up here we have been more disappointed than not with the resturants that are highly rated in the area including Jeff Ruby's. Last night we ordered several menu items to try. For appetizers we ordered the Oysters Rockefeller, 4 of the east coast oysters, and the Wagyu hot stone appetizer. The Rockefeller was ok, not the best I've had, the spinach mixture on top was kind of bland, but was helped along by the addition of the bacon and parm crisp. The east coast oysters were a complete disappointment if I was the server those never would have hit the table. They were extremely small not even a half a teaspoon in size. At $4 each, if you want to try them, I recommend ordering just one first to see if you have better luck with them than we did. The hot stone Wagyu appetizer was the best it was a unique experience and tasted good as well. We skipped the soup and salad course, and ordered our main course next. For it we had the bone in filet, the New York strip, the lb. of baked king crab, macaroni, fries, side of thick cut bacon, and the millionaires baked potato (might not be calling it the right name, but you get it). I will start with the steaks and the main reason for us choosing this place. They were choice quality at best. Our waiter came to the table and gave us what he said were really sharp steak knives but they were not, and after watching the people around us sawing at their steaks we hoped the knives were to blame, but not totally. Our steaks were tough especially the filet, and the filet also wasn't cooked correctly. It was cooked rare but my husband ordered it medium, so we swapped, being I like my steaks medium rare. The amount of gristle in the filet made it extremely hard to eat. Both steaks were very under seasoned and bland. The king crab was also a huge disappointment we should have ordered a smaller portion to try first. We ate it anyway, but it was the only thing we received that had too much salt. It was served in the shell but cut open for easy eating. The problem with it was it was sitting in a lot of briny water that caused the crab to become mushy. The best king crab I have had in the area so far has come from the River House Restaurant. This tasted like what you get at Sam's Club for a lot less $$$$ The sides were fine. The macaroni could use a touch more salt, the fries were more like un-breaded potato logs, and the millionaires baked potato was good if you like truffles, but not worth $20 in my opinion. My husband really enjoyed the thick cut bacon his only comment was that it needed to be cooked a touch longer. The star of the night was the free rolls. They were the absolute best part of the entire meal. Lastly the desserts. We ordered the key lime pie and the bread pudding. The key lime pie was lacking in that classic tartness that one expects when they order it. The bread pudding however was very good. My only critique of it is, why in a place that serves bourbon, was it not served with a bourbon sauce instead of carmel? That would really take that dessert over the top. That concludes the food review, as for the atmosphere, it was loud and cramped. Probably not the best choice for an anniversary celebration. The company was good, though, and we will continue our search for the best restaurants in the area. I'm just disappointed because this restaurant has been on my list of places to try for a while now and unfortunately we left wishing it had...

We were so excited to get a reservation at repeal steakhouse. We made the reservation for 730 on a Tuesday night and ended up arriving around 7 PM. We were fortunate that they were able to seat us right away. We were escorted through the front and to an elevator to take us up to the second floor and were seated in what was like a conservatory type area. We were very thankful that we were not seated on the first floor. It was incredibly busy as that was the bar area and it was super loud. The conservatory area was much more our speed. It was quiet and it was easy to carry on a conversation.

Our server, Bryce, was exceptional! Both my husband and I have spent over 20 years working in the hospitality industry and he truly exemplified what great service means. Once we were seated, Bryce immediately approached us and got us started with drinks and offered us some suggestions for dishes. My husband is normally a ribeye guy and when he was talking to Bryce, Bryce convinced him to get the New York strip. Luckily we both were planning on ordering steak so we still got the ribeye as well. What I love is that Bryce immediately recognize since we were both getting steaks that we might be interested in sharing our steaks and offered to put it on a meat board with it coming in pre-cut so that we could share the steak. It was a brilliant idea and it worked perfectly for us. We also got a side of the mashed potatoes as well as the cream spinach. The steak was cooked perfectly! We did request for one of the steaks to be cooked Pittsburgh style and it came out absolutely perfect. The steak is not over seasoned so you can actually taste the flavor of the meat. The cream spinach was very well balanced, and exceptionally cooked and I really appreciated the crispy bits on the top. Mashed potatoes were fluffy, buttery and delicious. My husband opted to start with the lobster bisque and he really enjoyed it. Enjoyed the lobster pieces in it as well. I opted for the beet and goat cheese salad and was blown away at how perfectly cooked the beets were and that goat cheese was so creamy. I literally still think about that salad!

We would definitely go back to repeal. Not only because the food was exceptional, but because the entire time Bryce was exceptional when it came to the service. He was consistently checking in with us consistently carried on conversation. In today’s world, it can be hard to find great service, know that if you come here and especially if you have Bryce as your server, you’re going to receive exceptional...