James L.
Yelp
Good upscale atmosphere. They would be within their rights to have a dress-code, but this being C-Stat, they try to cater to people who tied up their pinto to the hitching post as well as those of us who like to look sharp on date-nights. C'mon, people. Knock it up a notch and show your lady you care with a blazer atop your torso.
Short version: really good bar, signature cocktails are terrific, a quite passable wine-cellar. The food is extremely good.
Servers are selected on a strict program of eugenics, favoring tall, slender, with perfect hair, but they also are skilled. With one exception, ours betrayed none of that ironic detachment that makes you feel like you're at a party to which you were not invited.
Friday and Saturday nights will need a reservation. The night we were there, we had reservations, but the waitstaff was backed up. One of the hostesses seemed appropriately apologetic, and we sat at the bar and had a few of the house cocktails, which were quite good. Unlike a lot of places of Republic's calibre, they actually have staffed the bar like it's a priority. It still takes a few minutes to mix and shake, and if you just want somebody to hand you an Ultra, you can do that cheaper elsewhere. But the bar-staff take their work seriously, it would seem. At least they did when we were there.
Cocktails were clever twists on the usual favorites: the Mule, the Old Fashioned, and the Blood and Sand, for instance. But they were distinctive and favored top-shelf liquor. (We watch carefully: they really did use the good stuff.)
A half-hour later, I went to check on our table; another hostess (looking impeccably Hot Mean Girl) eye-rolled and found us a spot, not precisely snarling, but distinctly trying to look as though This Was Not Her Fault.
The menu is a sort of fusion of Texas barbecue with a few higher-end American strategies: lots of things like avocado relish and creole beurre blanc alongside your steak.
The chargrilled oysters are a mild variation on the New Orleans favorite popularized by Drago's, and a pretty passable variation.
As you'd expect, the steak and short ribs are Republic's hill to die on, a sort of Texas barbecue in a tuxedo, and they wear their cummerbund well. Those are always safe bets. Borrowed or imported items like the Creole shrimp and grits are very good, but not genius-level: authentic, but a little more off-the-shelf.
Items that fuse the Texas and the Louisiana are my favorites: the grilled Texas redfish (with Cajun crawfish risotto and andouille) is an absolute masterpiece for which the executive chef should get some kind of reward. Presented by a Hot Mean Girl in a fetching cocktail dress.