Cuerno Bravo Steakhouse — Restaurant in Tacoma

01Jan2023 Second visit to Cuerno Bravo in “TheComa” AKA Tacoma WA.

This was a Journey; How a 5-of-5, Turned to a 0.69, then rescued it’s self into a 4.65; THIS IS THE War and Peace Version.

Back on 01JAN2022, We were “Taken Care Of” at Cuerno Bravo; therefore, logically one would go back and Ring in 01Jan2023.

Made reservation 28 days out; a must.

We had a 2000Hrs Called for Transport; a driver was 2min away and dropped us off ~30 min early.

When we arrived; unlike 2022; Cuerno Bravo was PACKED; as in, all tables full, Bar Full, Entrance full, packed.

The Front desk Host along with Maitre d' asked if we had reservations, they noted that we were ~1/2 hour early and our table was still occupied. Maitre d' noted a spot had just opened at the corner of the Bar, "Have a drink We'll Let You Know When The Table's Ready”.

Lively crowd, good atmosphere; bartender showed us the specialty(s) Drinks. Ordered a fantastic Mojito Blanko and Gin Rocks w/Olives. “First Timers”, No and we’re pretty certain what were ordering, The Wagyu Flight (Japan/Australia/USA), that is if you have it tonight. EMPHATIC YES; You’ll be satisfied again this year. Evening is a 5.0, don’t even need to consider option two, the Porterhouse.

2000Hrs, Place, still packed… ~5-7 groups have departed. OK, waiting on a table still as peeps just left, entry not packed; 2008Hrs my phone rings… It’s Cuerno Bravo “asking if we still want our table” or if we should cancel it as there are walk-ins that would take it??? I wave, reply, we’ve been at the Bar the whole time waiting for you to let us know when you can accommodate us… REPLY. I sent a text to your phone requesting if you still wanted to keep the reservation; A TEXT; Really? You along with the Maitre d' told us to have a drink and that you’d let us know when the table was ready, Reply… We sent a text… Inconceivable; you pointed to the corner section of the bar, you saw us sit down and then said you’d let us know when the table was ready; obviously my fault since I wasn’t GLUED TO MY mobile phone like every Gen-Z and Mill-oosial.

Low and behold, escorted to a seat at a “Bar Table” as the others are now occupied. OK, we get about Nine% more real estate, a more Face/Face setting, and while technically, it’s a Table, but at least it wasn’t one of their Booth tables; the 5 is now a 3.

Greeted by a fine young man (E), somewhat friendly approach but just not that hey welcome. We'd like a minute to decide what wine to have with the Wagyu Flight; promptly notified that the Flight is not available, HUGE Disappointment as when we were at the bar 40min earlier, it was, well now it aint.

Ok, mull over the menu, Porterhouse… surprise, it’s not available either!!! Now the evening has deteriorated, to like I stated a solid 0.69.

“E” askes would we like an appetizer while we decide, its now a complete WhiskeyTangoFoxtrot. In the interim we order the Tueatano and Stags Leap. “E” walks by “is the Delmonico still available” or is that one gone as well. He lets us know that it is available, He places a reserve on it.

“E” returns and spends a good solid time chatting with us. Good conversation, Evening on an upward slope.

The Tueatano arrives, ITs AWESOME w/Shrinkflation, 3 Crostinis it’s just the vessel for the goodness, but there needed to be 3 more.

“E” comes back asking how is everything and to let him know when we want to put in the order for the Delmonico

Table side Delmonico sizzling on the Wood and Cast Iron serving plate and the Papa Loca arrive; just looking at it along with the aroma, the evening is picking up.

Delmonico was errored on the Rare side, my preference, Bride prefers Rare, being served on a cast iron slab/woodboard we got the best of both. Cut some slices, my portion was BLUE, Bride passed me some of the Papa Loca, I’m not a Potato Dude but that was also an awesome compliment.

Delmonico Perfectly Seared W/“Potato COMA”… Yep, “E” along with Kitchen and attention to detail(s) saved the day for...

Ok, the bad. Relatively. The front area for dining is obscenely loud and it appears geared towards the cool kid bar scene. I literally could not hear the greeter at the front entrance when i checked in for our reservation. Music blaring that makes folks shout at each other, which makes it even louder and more shouting. It’s almost humorous, so loud and unfit for deep conversation.

Thankfully we were led into the back dining room. Sure, not as flashy in its decor. But I was able to talk and hear my wife. The lighting was pretty dim, but not El Goucho dim. I was able to read the menu and see my silverware. The tables were a challenging size, given that they bring everything on different serving dishes. But they work very hard to move the empty, used, or not necessary items out of your way. Sure the tables could be bigger, but it worked out fine.

Service was impeccable. It appears that one waiter is assigned as the primary service provider, but all the other wait staff members will jump in and assist, bringing food, water, etc. Literally it seemed there was 12-16 two person tables in the back room and at least six to eight waiters taking care of folks.

Food was brought out quickly. Cocktails were great according to my wife.

We got the potato with extra stuff added. Clearly could feed 2-3 folks, and I’m a big eater. It was good, but not great. I’d suspect they are made way in advance and then quickly assembled with condiments. It could have been hotter, more butter. That being said, i did not complain and if i did I’m confident they would have cheerfully fixed the problem. We also had the guacamole which was very good, and nicely presented with a rosemary sprig and a piece of radish. Flavor was very good, but i make a great guacamole so perhaps the bar was set pretty high. We also had the pablano peppers in a cheese/corn sauce. It was OK at best. Other might disagree, but too lacking in bite and too much like an appetizer than a side dish.

The condiments for the steaks were presented in tiny stone bowls. Excellent pico de gallo and chimichurri.

Which leaves me to our main entree, the steak. My wife had the Australian Waygu Ribeye. She likes steak but i was skeptical she would be able to eat a 16 ounce ribeye. She devoured almost all of it, giving me a piece to sample. It was amazing. Unlike most rib eye, i did not see huge portions of marbled fat that one has to decide whether they will eat (and perhaps feel gluttonous, gross after eating) or whether they will leave a chunk of expensive meat (fat) sitting on their plate to be discarded. This rib eye was juicy, cooked perfectly and presented on a hot stone. My wife likes her meat less rare than i do and she enjoyed cutting off a piece on the side board and letting it braise/sizzle a bit until just right. I have to say it was the most impressive ribeye I’ve ever seen or had a small piece to sample.

I had the Australian Waygu New York strip. I like NY Steaks i get from the grocery store, but enjoy ribeye more. But ribeye is typically more expensive, and more fatty. This NY steak was easily as buttery, flavorful and tasty as her ribeye. It may have had a bit less fat on the outside (but probably not less marbling) than her ribeye, but i could not discern that. It was amazing.

The sides were a let down compared to the steaks. Tough act to go up against. Simply the best ever. I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to prepare a steak at home and not be disappointed. I’ve eaten at least 2-3 times at El Goucho, Ruth’s Chris Steak House and the Metropolitan in Seattle. Ten times in other steak joints. But I’ll never go back. This place is the BEST!! I’m confident that the we’ll be back. This is the best steak you will ever eat.

It was expensive, but the sides and drinks were reasonable. If we had chosen the USDA prime steaks, or even maybe the US Waygu I’d say the place would be reasonably priced, but on the expensive side. But given the quality of the meat we ate, it was well worth the cost....

My wife and I googled, yelped and otherwise searched online for "fine dining Tacoma" and "best steak Tacoma" and found Cuerno Bravo at or we near the top of the lists. After reading reviews forewarning a possible sidewalk wait during busy hours, we decided to make a 5pm weekday reservation online. So on a recent Monday we found free street parking close by, discretely surveyed the layout inside, and asked to be seated at a booth near the hostess station. And we were so seated. I'd recommend the cozy booths over the tall tables, and the closer you are to the entrance, the less the house's music (EDM) will challenge your conversation. The back room may be your hostess' offering, but it seemed louder, darker, and too busy for us. I had a nice bay-facing view, and my wife had a view of the decor, diners and lively staff. The booth afforded ample table space to spread out our delicious dinner. We started off with an appetizer of tuetano (bone marrow canoe @$12), We were pleasantly surprised that we got two juicy bones and a generous amount of crostini along with a tasty selection of house sauces, which ranged in heat from mild avocado to spicy jalapeno. I ordered a tea-spiced old fashioned, ($14 ) and enjoyed the bar's recipe, which included an anise star and cinnamon stick along with the orange slice. Chris, our very attentive and charming waiter, scorched the tip of the stick tableside, which added a waft of cinnamon to the table atmosphere. My wife was satisfied with the decanter of water provided at the setup and subsequently refilled unprompted. The price of wagyu beef has heretofore been out of my league, but we had decided to splurge this day, and we both agree that we made a wise investment. After we shared that we prefer quality over quantity, Chris helped us with selections by suggesting two unlisted menu options - a smaller (12oz @ $60) New York wagyu steak for my wife, and a filet mignon flight of three 4oz wagyu filets (@ $130). Thank you, Chris! The Japanese A5 was the best piece of meat I've ever eaten in my 67 years. The Australian MS9 and the Snake River (near Boise) grass-fed beef were also excellent. I ordered medium rare and the flight was presented on a simply garnished hot iron skillet. My wife's medium rare New York cut was served on a hot rock set on a plank, and she heated hers on the stone as needed. Additional sauces were placed on the table and our waiter described their taste profiles well, but we barely used them - the beef cuts were that flavorful. Normally, 6-8 ozs. of red meat apiece is all we can handle, but we each joyfully finished off our 12 and 3x4 ounces of these bad boys! As for sides, we ordered the arroz de la abuela (the rice dish was nicely crispy at the edges) and the (more flavorful) rajitas poblanas. We enjoyed both, and mixed the two towards the end. They "married well", as she put it. We finished our meal with a delightful flan trio ($14). I think a romantic couple would find this makes a nice shared addition to their drinks at the well-stocked bar. Service was prompt throughout, and we were surprised that we were done and cashed out in just over an hour. We lingered a bit to chat at table with Chris, who certainly earned our...