Ruth's Chris Steak House — Restaurant in Washington

Oh how the mighty have fallen. I remember stating the name "Ruth Chris" brought gasping and awing".

I made a reservation on Saturday for two, my anniversary (I didn't mention it). Was able to reserve dinner for two at 8pm (same day).

I was a bit surprised this location told me "jeans and a t-shirt are okay, just no hats or sportswear." I've Never been to a Ruth Chris in anything less than business casual and it was strange to see tshirts and jeans when arriving.

We were seated promptly, our server was Bryan.

I don't really like cocktails and I'm not a huge wine buff, so I decided to go with a scotch/whisky. Not seeing a menu, I asked Bryan for a list. He replied "what do you drink? Maybe I can help". I said top-shelf, Chivas, Macallan, hibiki, etc. Sorry, drawing a blank on the rest (what I said). He responds back with "we don't have either of those.. I'll get you the list". What did I see on the list? Macallan and Chivas.

I figured he didn't know any better (should've taken this as foreshadowing). I went with the talisker 10 year. A robust, smokey scotch with a smooth lasting finish. Unfortunately, the 1 oz was $21, the bottle itself ranges from $34-43. Ouch.

Next, we placed our food order, a petite filet (8oz), medium rare, for my gf, Sharing the mushrooms as a side (you have to pay for the sides.. and they're expensive for incredibly small portions). I got the petitie ribeye (12oz), medium rare, with an added lobster tail for $17.

Food came out about 20 minutes later, along with a side of bread and butter... What? Did I really just get our bread.. with our entrees? The fuq? Also.. where did Bryan go? We didn't see him again until we asked for a dessert menu much later..

Rashad was the other waiter I flagged down. First, because my lady's steak came out rare! Where was Bryan? He never came over to check on us? Oh.. right, a table of 8 or so was behind us.. apparently they knew him. Yup, he never came back due to this. He was also trying to converse with other tables that got their check.. specifically a table I saw Rashad working with.. he started trying to speak French to.

Rashad was great, took care of the steak by reheating it on the "1800° broiler". He also informed me that "Bryan and I are working as a team Tonight". More like, Rashad was doing ALL of the work, and Bryan gets part of the tips. When I asked if Rashad could get the tip, he said "we split it".

My steak was alright, but I paid about $60 for a subpar ribeye that was overly peppered and salted. I ate most of it, just wasn't too impressed. Can't forget that $17 lobster tail.. they de-shelled it for me.. but it was a little bigger than my pinky.. I have small and danty girly looking hands for reference.

Hell, if I went to Morton's, I would pay a few dollars cheaper for a full meal (steak and sides), PLUS THE SERVICE IS GREAT THERE!. Never a dirty table.. those awesome scoopers and constant table service. Not the case here. This location just shows poor value.

Alright.. dessert.. yup, the trend again, "hey Rashad! Can we get a dessert menu? No boxes, done." Waited a few moments... Oh man, guess who finally shows up? Bryan.. I was gonna say something like "thought we lost you there." Or "can we get a manager?" But waiters and service are hard to come by, and I feel bad for Rashad doing all the work.

We got the bread pudding, frangelico sauce. Tasted great. Not worth the price. Who stopped by to ask about the dessert? Not Bryan. Rashad asked after I asked for the check.

I really really regret not slipping a cash tip to Rashad. I actually did something I never do to the check. I wrote "arrow tip goes to Rashad!! Thank you Rashad, for...

Oh Ruth, oh Ruth, oh Ruth. Your steakhouse empire is truly magnificent and any person would be jealous to build what you created out of your sweat and hard work. But I think this Arlington location may need some of your hard working touch again. The people hired to provide the service have wonderful personalities and were a delight to chat with; but personalities do not equate nor substitute for high-end steakhouse service. About the only thing that was thoroughly enjoyed was the view of Reagan airport.

What went wrong? To start for our group event, the champagne poured or sitting on tray was flat (yup, zero carbonation). Not sure what the bar options are (for group events away from the main bar) but the base spirit were very low shelf which made for dissappointing cocktails. We are not sure if hors d’oeuvres were part of our planned/procured group dinner but we were pretty much drinking on empty stomachs. The tuna sashimi appetizer tasted like it was just defrosted and not actually prepped well as there was just bland fish juice that gushed out in the mouth. The appetizer salad tasted flat, over-bruised, and weirdly warm - so it seems like a brilliant setup for the best prime dry-aged steak ever, right? Well, the signature steak service comes with on a Ruth-signature-blazing-hot plate which I guess should have taught every customer to order their steak one grade rarer than preferred ...... OR would it be part of the process to serve a prime dry-aged steak one grade rarer than what customers requested knowing that the steak will keep cooking on the Ruth-signature-blazing-hot plate. Well, the 1-inch dry-aged ribeye was ordered medium but ended up medium-well to well-done after 3-5 minutes on the plate. I ended up taking half the ribeye home to salvage for a stirfry. The asparagus sides were fairly woody. And the lobster mac and cheese seem to be star of the dinner but it's just pieces of lobster on top of regular mac and cheese which had negligible seafood lobster flavor. Cheesecase dessert tasted out-sourced and was underwhelming as I waited to request for coffee or expresso to pair with dessert. But THE absolute most annoying thing was that I didn't get to order the coffee until after service staff started collecting/cleaning the dessert plates from all the other tables in our group. Another words, I was waiting to order coffee for 10-20 minutes before I took a bite of dessert. Needless to say, I took the cheesecake home to enjoy with my own home-made coffee.

I want to find something to love about prime dry-aged steaks, I want to find something to celebrate Ruth's successes, and I want to find something that is prime & dry-aged special to enjoy; but the only thing I could find was a view. For now, I think I'll stick with cooking my own steaks from Costco before I find muster the courage (and matching disposable income) to sample Ruth Chris at...

I’ll start by saying that I NEVER thought I’d write a negative review about Ruth’s Chris in Arlington … but here I am after a very disappointing dinner last night . We have lived in this area over 20 yrs and have been regulars over the years when we had something to celebrate 🎉 knowing that this place could always deliver the magic combo for a great evening .. We have not been since Covid and last night my daughter wanted to celebrate her birthday there .. I’ll start by my call to make the reservation .. very cold answer and put immediately on hold no answer and” can I put you in hold “just to the hold music .. then a cold receptionist with zero personality sounding like she couldn’t get off the phone fast enough. Then she precedes to remind mine me of the “strict dress code” . Which I stated I understood since my family welcomes the opportunity to “get dressed up” for this “special restaurant “ . On arrival we are created by the entrance corridor the restaurant infiltrated with the smell of weed ! then as we approach the hostess stand 3 young ladies all looking at their phones NEVER looking up as I stood there patiently until I finally had to say excuse me I have a reservation for them to finally look up and address me . As we are seated to our table I was shocked at everyone I saw with baseball caps , hoodies , women in ripped jeans everywhere ! I guess their is no ENFORCEMENT for the policy more than mentioning it at time you call for reservation.. smh .. The whole environment has taken a nose dive , no longer exist the nice ambiance of class and special evening . Replaced by smell of weed everywhere and NOONE by any dress code . Portions are so much smaller and to be honest of the 4 steaks we ordered only 2 Skype be considered “quality “ cuts . The other 2 were average at most .. we have eaten at many high end steak places and always considered this a go to .. but sadly no more .. We had to remind the waiter to fill our waters several times and no longer exist the times of having 1-2 staff checking in your table . I remember days when even the manager made rounds to each table to make sure you knew he was there to make your evening special . Last night I couldn’t even tell you if a manager was in duty 🤷🏻‍♀️. I am sad to say that I will never return to this location . Sad to say but for the money you spend here you should fell like it’s an Amazing evening not a night that was st most average but with a very...