Clearman's Steak 'N Stein — Restaurant in Pico Rivera

So, it's not a bad steakhouse. As long as you know what your getting into. Steak n stein is a nostalgic place. The decor is reminiscent to 1950's steakhouse. Its dark, old decor, carpet flooring, cheese paintings. There's even a water fountain in the middle of a dining room. Upon entering the first room is filled with smoke. It's mostly from the kitchen, as it's a smoke free environment. But you walk in and it's dimly lit and you see smoke hovering around the lamps. We got there at 725 on a Saturday night for our 730 reservations. I read other reviews that said they had to wait and so did we. It was a 20-30min wait before we got seated. The place was packed, so I get it. The service was good, the waiter was friendly and attentative. The tables are pretty close to each other. They serve the food via carts, so it was funny to see the staff struggling to get by pushing the carts through narrow passages. They start you off with house salad (just lettuce and some croutons) with three dressings and chopped red cabbage and looks like sliced loaf bread, that they turn into garlic buttered bread. It was good. So bottom line we did not get to enjoy our meal at the restaurant because for a 730 Reservation we didn't get our meal until 9pm. We had my 1yr old daughter with us, and it was way pasted her bed time. She started to get really cranky. So it's our fault for putting her through that. But we didn't expect the dinner to take that long. I figured 1hr tops. Be home by 830-9pm. But not in this case. So we had to get our food to go. The manager was nice and apologized for the wait and inconvenience. They even gave us a discount. Which I appreciated. But, to be honest if you plan on going to dinner her, expect it to be a long dinner, especially on a busy night like a Saturday. I mean, it is what it is. You would have a nice time with friends and family at this place if your expectations aren't to high. The meat was good. I got a bone in rib eye, my wife a filet mignon. The filet had a nice char, was tender, but not very juicy. My rib eye had a decent char as everything is flame grilled. But it's missing the crust from a pan skillet. But it comes down to preference. Since I was home, I just threw the rib eye on my skillet added butter and gave it a even crust to my preference. It was still a good medium rare-ish steak. But as I said before. It's a nostalgic steakhouse, with black Angus or another 90s chain restaurant steaks. Don't expect a mastros, Boa, 71 above or Beverly hills, DTLA, New port, Costa mesa steak house, even though the price can be close, lol. Oh, don't get thier stein steak, it's literally just ground beef grilled. Your ordering a hamburger. Also read the menu, I read reviews of people really bashing this place. But it's thier fault for not reading. The information is out there. Know what your getting into....

Just to start with, I'm a huge foodie and steak is my passion. I haven't been here since I was young so I thought I would give it a try.

I ordered the steak and lobster. I asked a lot of questions first so that the server could understand exactly what I was looking for. I upgraded to a ribeye as it's the only cut I really enjoy. I learned through my series of questions that they marinate the ribeye steaks in a solution that has various ingredients and spices such as pepper. This was my first red flag. I understand some people like this and don't mind their meat spiced up. My take: there are two types of chefs in this world. One type will put extra spices and flavors on a steak and the second type would never mask the flavor of a good quality steak with anything but salt. (I prefer a Hawaiian black lava sea salt). If the customer likes pepper, it's at the table. When I heard it was marinated then additional pepper was added at cook time, my first impression is they are covering the quality of the meat. Some chefs just like to do this to meat, most don't. It's a thing. The server informed me that if I ordered the bone-in ribeye it would not come marinated. I specifically said that I don't want a super thick cut and I wanted a rare, well marbled steak (we're not talking A5 wagyu). She assured me my steak would be excellent. I was hopeful. I also asked her what size the lobster tail was specifically and she stated it was a pound to a pound and a half so I was very happy going into this meal.

When we received our meal, I was surprised to see a ribeye that was solid meat with no marbling and tough around the edges and not tender. It was very dense. (Maybe this is why they need to marinate). I took two bites and that was it. I decided I'd just take it home for my daughter. Secondly, the lobster was a shriveled up small piece of meat (not even close to what the server said) that was tough and overcooked. I ate it (I was hungry) but would never order it there again. The potato was amazing as was the salad and dressings. The service was ok.

My friend had the Clearman’s Sampler and her chicken and it was dry and the medallions were way overcooked.

I did not send anything back as I try not to do that, I understand they have costs too and I'm a steak connoisseur so I'm pickier than most. It was extremely disappointing as I really had high expectations given...

Didn't realize it had been years since I have enjoyed Steak and Stein and haven't posted a review and there are a few things to report as changed. First Kudis for surviving a pandemic. Many icons in the neighborhood didn’t survive. The first obvious change is curb appeal. Some modest improvements with flower beds, lighting, and walkway paths from the parking. One primary entry towards the front - I will get back to that in a bit. The old bar has been remodeled. There used to be a little side dining area, a bar in the middle, and a lounge area by the vintage fireplace. Well no more- now you walk a small waiting hall to the hostess desk. Be careful it will be dark so if you have sunglasses on or it's bright outside give yourself some time to adjust. Otherwise, you may bump into a guest. To the left is a larger dinning area with a music stage - so consider that the lounge area for date nights. The bar is in the middle with a counter and a few high stools. By the fireplace, it's now all the dining area. I would guess that the new config optimizes the number of available tables for full-on dining. Service is still warm classsy and friendly. Ashley was a great host. Now the food. No downgrades in the quality of the ribe eye. Our absolute favorite here. Cheesebread is classic. Now the salad. Iceberg lettuce, crisp and fresh, with crunchy croutons. But the best is the dressings. Blue cheese, Ranch, and Fench. Here is my suggestion, mix in some of the purple cabbage salad and then smother with blue cheese dressing. Yum yum. Don’t go over medium on your steak. Trust the chef. I just love that you can make reservations online which helps with wait times. So not only did they survive Pandemic they improved and bumped up my rating to 5...