Benson Y.
Yelp
Note: Albert W.'s review from 10/30/22 and mine are for the same meal, so you can think of this as a Part 2 to his review.
I recently visited Wolfgang's Steakhouse for a friend's birthday celebration. In terms of tiers, I have pretty high expectations if you're going to drop a about $75+ a person at a restaurant. I've been to enough steakhouses to expect certain things, and unfortunately Wolfgang's did not live up to my expectations.
I arrived before all my friends, so I had a drink at the bar. The space is very nice, with a wide, comfortable layout. The wood used in the construction of the space gives it a classic feel but some of the other touches like exposed brick and dark colors give it a more "restored classic" touch. The space itself is really nice and gets no complaints from me. I hung out at the bar and ordered an Old Fashioned. The drink itself was definitely loaded up with alcohol. I could taste and feel it (granted, I drank it on an empty stomach). However, it came with...chip ice. I mean...just no. I would expect this if this were some mid-tier gastropub. But no, this is supposed to be a higher end Steakhouse. They should have the "Big Cubes" and the drink quickly became diluted as the chip ice melted fast. Very sad.
Eventually we sat down for our meal. Service was good at the start and I give credit where it's due. The staff did the whole singing "Happy Birthday" thing for her and they really tried to be nice, but unfortunately once all our food arrived they kind of forgot about us for a bit. No checking on drink refills, no making sure everything was okay. It was odd to say the least. I did notice unlike other restaurants of this type they did not clean the table between serving apps and the main course. This isn't a "must have". It just surprised me a steakhouse of this tier did not do that.
As for the food, it again disappointed. We were given a bread basket of cold bread and rock hard, tear your bread apart as you try to spread it, butter. Again, if this were a gastropub or diner, sure, I get it. But this is supposed to be a premium experience. The steak I had was...okay. Like a solid B+ but I was really hoping for an A-. It was cooked *slightly* over Medium Rare and the seasonings could have been better. The creamed spinach was AWFUL. I rarely use that word in my reviews, but it was SO salty I had a couple bites and couldn't take anymore. The Brussel Sprouts were good and the Crab Cake was nice (but nothing special).
One final note (that I confess may totally just be me): I was surprised by the bathrooms. They were clean and everything was functional. However, two sinks shared one soap dispenser, which seems odd to me. Also, their hand towels were not those disposable cloth-ish type ones that most steakhouses and fine restaurants have. Instead they were just plain paper like you'd get at a less expensive eatery. Again, nothing is "wrong" with this per se, but given the cost of the meal and the pedigree of the restaurant these were surprising details.
I'm glad I tried Wolfgang's but I really feel no strong compunction to return. Caveat Emptor, folks.