Ruth's Chris Steak House — Restaurant in Weehawken

First time at THIS Ruth Chris. We normally go to Flemings, The Chophouse, or Molos in this area, but decided to change up. Not a good idea. First: we had reservations and arrived about 10 minutes early and were seated promptly, but it was at the end of the row almost in a corner, and by a full table of people (Black) celebrating birthdays. The hostess took us by several empty tables, but there were a couple of couples (Caucasian) near the front of the restaurant.

I noticed a difference in them (being Caucasian) and us (being Black)

Our waitress Natalik was very attentive and asked if we wanted to be reseated elsewhere, but I declined because I wanted to see if things were as they appeared to be, or if it was just a coincidence with the seating.

The food was hot, freshly prepared, but flavor was off with the Strawberry lemonade, the lobster bisque, and the creamed spinach. They substituted and/or removed the items from the bill.

We had to: pour our own water more than twice, clear the used plates by placing them on the neighboring tables, use the same utensils as the used ones didn't get replaced, and clean crumbs ourselves from the tablecloth. All of this was going on with a man who later was confirmed to be a manager; this man would occasionally walk through but never engaged with ANY of the diners. Despite my unsuccessful attempts to make eye contact.

We wrapped our leftovers (we requested to do so), paid for the food, and asked to speak with the manager at the front. Another gentleman came to us who we had never seen. We really wanted to address the man who was making the rounds in the dining room, but this man was his superior so we shared our issues with him. He apologized and assured us that we were seated appropriately. I informed him that we observed another group (Caucasian) who arrived after us and were seated away from us and the birthday party, so that is in conflict. He seemed concerned about this incident, particularly of the manager not speaking with anyone. That is something that I'm not accustomed to at all, and could have been a more pleasant experience for us, and maybe the...

MOST DISAPPOINTING EXPERIENCE

On August 4th, I was meeting some friends from college at Ruth Chris which was highly recommended to us. Being that we are all culinary professionals. We were very excited and then that turned into a complete disappointment. There wasn’t many people in the restaurant so thinking that our food would come out quick and we would have great service, but that was a joke too. Their specialty cocktails were nothing but salt and tequila and by the time the entrées came out once our server asked if our attempts were OK she disappeared and didn’t return for a while out of four steaks only one was cooked properly and with two of them being upgraded steaks and one looking like a hockey puck we were told it was because the plates were 500°. We were never asked if we wanted our steaks re-cooked. The mashed potatoes were ok, Brussel sprouts were covered in bacon grease. After waiting patiently long for a server to come back finally she told us the manager would come by and they never did so once we finally were able to track them down for the bill we saw that they only took off the lobster mac & cheese, wondering and maybe one potato Even though four steaks came out and three were terrible when the manager finally did come out all he did was rush, a 25% discount off the rest of the check and thought that that would be good enough. The poor attentiveness and poor quality to the food and care of their guests was none of their business or concern And it just felt like all they wanted to do is get us out of the building as fast as possible so they can close and go home. My favorite part was as we were leaving, no staff to be seen in the building as if they were hiding from us in the kitchen.

For such a high-end steakhouse, we had such high hopes sadly, we will not be returning to this location or probably any other one.

If you do plan to eat here, I suggest making an earlier reservation so that way you’re treated with courtesy...

Arrived at restaurant around 3:45pm on 4/24/2022 no hostess or sign stating to wait for hostess was at the door. We were walking to the bar to ask for the hostess but bartender paid us no attention. 1 table had guests at it. As I walked around the restaurant to look for someone to help us the bartender shouted loudly across the restaurant to tell us we had to see the hostess and couldn't just help ourselves. So we go and wait at the hostess desk and she eventually arrives. She asks if we had a reservation and I stayed no we do not, do we need one? She stated no that they could accommodate us. We step to the side to wait to be seated. A couple comes in and she seats them immediately. Another couple comes in and she seats them immediately. Finally a young man comes up and asks if we have been helped and I said I think so, I believe she is helping us. He asks her if she is seating us and she said she has no tables available. Keep in mind only 3 tables in the whole restaurant have people sitting at them. He told her it did not matter what the computer said and for her to seat us. She continually argued with him and never once told us that she had no tables available. I thanked the young man and told him we decided to leave. I gave one star only because the Hostess can make or break the whole experience and she broke it. I can not speak for servers, food, or cooks but as far as the bartender and the hostess they are completely rude. Unfortunately I did not get anyone's names. I would actually like to thank the young man who did try to help. You were the only bright spot there. Thank you for being kind to my son and I on our first trip to New Jersey...