Ruth's Chris Steak House — Restaurant in Salt Lake City

We decided to celebrate my wife's birthday early and have enjoyed eating at Ruth's Chris restaurants in Park City, Vegas, Cancún, Cabo, and several times at the Salt Lake City location. It was a Thursday evening so luckily it was not very busy. We were seated quickly but at a table right next to the bathrooms. Nothing quiet or private as we requested but just wanted to enjoy the evening so took what was offered. They did at least put out a birthday card and decorated the table. We have dined here so often we already knew what we wanted. We love their lobster bisque and enjoy the spicy shrimp appetizer. This location did not have the spicy shrimp but did have spicy lobster. We love shrimp so we ordered the BBQ shrimp instead. The taste is not even close to the spicy shrimp so I would not order it again. The lobster bisque was cold and lacked any pieces of lobster meat like we've had in the past. Fortunately it still tasted good but not up to their previous standards. We love the mashed potatoes and they were delicious. For our entree we both ordered the petite filet and the meat was cooked perfectly. One thing I love about Ruth's Chris and most high end steakhouses is they serve their meat on extremely hot plates. It really finishes the cooking process and soaks up the melted butter. The negative part is the plate broke in half after only a few bites and had to send it back. All of the servers and head maitre'd apologized and did their best to make it right. Unfortunately the replacement filet was not very good. It was supposed to be cooked medium rare but was tough to cut and tasted different than the first steak. I tried to enjoy it but after waiting for it to be prepared and sitting for awhile I'd had enough. I was disappointed but did not complain or ask for it to be removed from the bill. That was my mistake! I was finished but my wife was still eating when one of the servers tried to take her plate. My wife was shocked and asked what the server was doing. She apologized and said it was a misunderstanding. A big problem I have is the wait staff trying to take your plate without asking if you're finished and wanting to box up your food. Honestly in this covid environment, I prefer to do it myself. I know this is supposed to be a courtesy but I don't want another random person handling my food. When my wife was finished I finally got someone's attention. They looked like they were starting to get busy so we asked for boxes and the check. For dessert we ordered the cheesecake to go. We sat patiently for about 10 minutes and I finally asked how much longer. They said it was almost ready but still waited 10 more minutes for dessert and the check. Once we got home and sat down for dessert, it tasted smoky like it was sitting next to the grill. This just topped off our night with our favorite dessert going in the garbage. I feel like her birthday dinner was a waste and it might be a while before we go back to Ruth's Chris. Last thing to say is figure out the valet parking. We spent $200+ dollars to eat at your restaurant but you still charge another $11 bucks for parking? No validation for your restaurant customers? Little things like this are so easy to fix and make people want to come back...

My wife and I came here for our 10 year anniversary and we were very disappointed.

We arrived and the atmosphere was nice. It was pretty loud inside, but I suppose that’s to be expected in a crowded restaurant on a Friday evening.

The valet were nice and made it easy to get in. We had a reservation, arrived maybe 10 minutes early, and were seated pretty quickly. The table had some rose petals and was cute.

Our waiter came and smelled like he just got back from a smoke break. He seemed to be in a big hurry when he was talking to us. Kind of rushing through any questions we had. He seemed pretty impatient with us. While we were ordering he even started walking away saying that he’d get our appetizers in, even though we were ready to order more.

The smoke smell faded a little throughout the night, but then he disappeared for a while and when he came back the smell was back with a vengeance. My wife got a migraine and I got a headache and sore throat from it by the time we left.

The spicy lobster was delicious. It was a small amount for an ok price, but worth it. Next was lobster bisque and that was the highlight of the meal. One of the best we’ve had.

I ordered a medium done bone in New York strip and 2/3 of it was delicious. 1/3 was tasted a little off, but still edible.

My wife ordered a medium done New York strip and it was practically well done. There were burn marks on it. It was gritty and dry. We told the waiter this and he said “the edges can sometimes be that way. Cut in the middle.” My wife was embarrassed and cried after he left. It was pretty insulting. I cut into the center and tasted it and it was very dry and almost no pink at all. You could see how dry and gritty it was in the center. (Also, if you’re paying that much for a steak then the whole thing better be delicious!)

When he came back I showed him it and he seemed happy to have them make a new one. A while later a new one came and it was more like medium well rather than medium. My wife said she’s had better steaks at other restaurants for 1/3 the price. I tasted it and I agree.

We also got the lobster mac and cheese, which was good, and a delicious baked potato.

Because it was our anniversary we got a free dessert, the chocolate duo. Which was a chocolate lava cake and chocolate mousse. It came out and had “happy anniversary” written in chocolate on the plate. My wife couldn’t eat much of it because her migraine from the cigarette smell, but it was pretty good.

We saw other waiters interacting with guests and they seemed much more attentive and nice. There was a guy that was constantly refilling our waters and he boxed up our leftovers. He was super friendly and our favorite person we interacted with there.

Overall we paid WAY too much for some decent food and an impatient waiter. We both felt so sick from the constant smell of cigarettes that we came home, took headache medicine, called a rain check on celebrating our anniversary more, and went to bed.

Based on this visit, we both said we’d likely...

Update, I called Ruth's Chris and told a Manager what had happened previously, and he did right by me. We will be back, and are hoping our next meal is 5 stars.

The first bite of my 16 ounce ribeye was burnt, and unfortunately this happened to me 5 more times, plus there was gristle in the steak! I expect better quality when I'm paying $100 dollars for a meal. And I told my waiter however he told me that he worked at Ruth's Chris 5-6 days per week and that is just how they make their steaks. Later on a Manager asked how everything was, and I told him about the issue with my steak too. And he also tried to tell me it's the "char" but you see it wasn't. Char is for flavor, whoever cooked this ribeye ruined it by burning it.

The Manager mentioned how they broil their steaks at 1,000 degrees, and the plate is 500 degrees.

Google AI agrees with me and says this: "While both charring and burning involve heat, charring is a controlled, intentional process that enhances flavor by creating a slightly blackened crust, while burning goes beyond that, resulting in a bitter, undesirable taste and texture."

That undesirable bitter taste, is what I was left with instead of being able to taste the garlic butter, or enjoy my mashed potatoes.

And we still tipped $60 cash, because it wasn't the fault of the waitstaff. But this left a poor taste in my mouth, literally.

I told the Manager that Ruth's Chris is supposed to be high end and that they're not known for burnt steaks, if they were no one would tell their friends and family about this place.

That was when he should have taken it off the bill, but he didn't offer and I didn't ask.

Look, I broil my own ribeye at home. And it tastes 100% better than what I forced myself to eat tonight.

Our waiter did offer to remake it, and he did tell me that they wanted me to be happy. But he also told me that's just how they make their steaks, which means to me, "how do I know it wouldn't just have happened a second time?"

Char is for flavor, this was burnt. I had to spit out gristle twice. And at the end of my meal one of our servers asked me if I wanted my burnt steak and gristle in a to-go box. "No thank you." I said.

My wife enjoyed the lobster bisque, she said it...