High level summary - steak was delicious but poor service makes the trip to any other steakhouse worth it.
Red flag #1 - no website. Clearly they are not interested in being contacted directly regarding feedback prior to such information being posted to the world. So here goes.
My husband and I had a reservation for 6:30PM on a Saturday. We were celebrating a special occasion and came dressed business casual. No hostess or reservation book open at the front desk. Just a handful of pretentious waiters slouching at the station and sizing you up as you walk in. We mentioned that we had reservations but it fell to deaf ears. We were offered the 2 worst tables in the house. One 2-top closest to the crowded entrance and another very small 2-top awkwardly placed in the middle of the serving traffic. We took the awkward one over keeping our jackets on throughout dinner. However, we noticed that almost all the other 4-tops were seated with 2 people. When our waiter arrived, we inquired if we could move to one of two open 4-tops around us. We were told that those were reservations to which we reminded him we had. He stepped away momentarily and came back with a halfhearted apology that it was not possible. We watched as future couples that arrived were seated at 4-tops. Still no hostess or reservation book in sight. I highly doubt anyone was double checking if they specifically reserved a 4-top for their dining occasion nor do I believe that multiple couples all made such a specific request. Needless to say that given the opportunity to seat a couple at a 4-top was obviously available, we were never offered the option to move over to one.
Even though it is BYOB (which is fantastic), we chose not to drink that night but had to ask a waiter to pull the wine glasses to give us some more room on the already tiny table. This should have been a no brainer to them given they were obviously not being used (oh and it's a fancy steakhouse) but don't expect to be asked either. Not their style for the service to match the cost or the service you can receive at every other steakhouse out there. We also had to stop another waiter halfway through dinner to refill our water. Unacceptable.
Meals come with bread, complimentary salad, side of fried onions and homemade schlag (whipped cream) and strawberries. The only reason this review is getting any stars is the food. The bread, though not very visually appealing, was light and soft with just enough chew. But the butter was straight from the fridge and tore through it as soon as you tried to spread it. The salad was nice, simple yet effective. We ordered the porterhouse for 2 and were not disappointed. Great flavor and presentation. We split a baked potato that was a little too simple for our taste (just came plain with a side of sour cream) but the addition of the fried onions on the side helped.
Then the nonsense really picked up. We were only around 45 minutes into our reservation and the hustling out the door began. When asked if we were done, I kindly said, "No but almost" with a smile and was returned with a disgusted look from the waiter. I was looking forward to the schlag as I love homemade whipped cream but sadly it never came. I watched a couple near us receive it but we were offered only a dessert menu. When we declined ordering a specific dessert, the check was promptly dropped on our table. I stopped a waiter to ask if the strawberries and cream were complimentary, but quickly realized that he was probably a bus boy (he looked to be very young and seemingly horrified to be asked a question) and said he didn't know but could bring me a dessert menu. I said thank you and no worries.
Towards the end, a woman in a plaid shirt showed up at the front (she is mentioned in other reviews) but was seemingly only concerned with certain guests. I can only imagine that she was probably the owner, part owner or manager of sorts but clearly not interested in everyone's experience.
Finally and I hate that I even have to say this out loud but it was mentioned in other reviews so I feel that our experience is not isolated. We're an interracial couple and one of us is significantly browner than the other, which in today's world should be a moot point. But in certain places, you can't help but feel it's not. When looking around, it was painfully obvious that both employee and clientele diversity is not a goal of the establishment but the treatment we received only furthered the horrible possibility that it might have been a factor. That's all I can say on the matter but looking for suggestions on other steakhouses to try. And I don't know this Peter Luger fella, but this place is bringing him down. read more