Flemings

I've eaten at Flemings twice now. Very consistent food with a kick *** wine list.

With that said, eating at Flemings got me thinking....

Is it me or are all of the "upscale" steakhouses in Austin the same? You've got Ruth's Chris, Sullivan's, Flemings, Ray's and Austin Land & Cattle. All 4 essentially have the same menu. Austin Land & Cattle is really only the exception. No matter where you eat, you order a quality piece of meat, a la carte humongo sides, wedge salads and pricey drinks. I could honestly be blindfolded and brought to any of these places and wouldn't know the difference. I order the same thing at all of them....rare filet with mashed potatoes, mushrooms and a salad. The only difference is the name on the marquis.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy all of these places. I'm a sucker for a great filet, but I feel like someone's put together a formula and is mass producing it. Even Truluck's (which is good in Austin, not in Houston) has the same steak and sides menu. They of course also serve seafood.

In the end who really gives a ****. Just wanted to point something out.
 
I hear you unpainted. I guess they go by the saying "If it ain't broke..."

I'm wondering what you would suggest to break up the stagnation in those places? I don't know how many ways there are to cook great steaks.

You are right about all of them being excellent though. I'd take Flemings due largely to their incredible wine list.

Hook 'Em
 
I dunno. I've eaten at all those places except for Flemings, and I've always thought Ruth Chris steak was a notch above the others. I always order the same steak also, a med rare Ribeye.

I go Rays or Austin Land & Cattle when I don't want to spend as much money.

The sides at a steakhouse have never been that great except for the corn pudding at Ray's. I love that stuff.
 
I went to Felmmings about 3 weeks after it opened and was blown away by the wines and service, but my filet was not as great as I would have hoped. As a matter of fact, I thought the filet at Sullivans was much better. And for today's believe it or not fact, Cool River has really good steaks. I thought they were on par with flemmings in terms of flavor. That being said, eating a filet while playing pool and drinking a gray goose, rocks, lime is not the same as a nice resturant like flemmings, but I was still very impressed. However, I heard flemmings has improved so I might try it again.
-as for wines, I am very impressed with trulucks
 
All said and done, Ruth's Chris is my overall favorite. I have never had a bad meal there.

When saying they are all the same, it's based on multiple visits to all of them. One may have a bad experience on any given visit (bad waiter, overcooked etc), but all averaged out there ain't much difference really.
 
Love Fleming's, but RC can't be beat.

Austin needs more up-scale chinese/asian food restaurants. PF is great, but variety is nice.
 
What is it with the wedge anyway? The spinach salad at Sullivan's is much better.

Fleming's is pretty good. I think Sullivan's steaks are a little bit better.
 
I think the wedge is a creation of high end steakhouses to find the salad with the highest profit margin. I mean it's a 1/4 of head of iceberg lettuce with blue cheese dressing on top. It's almost a labor free recipe. And how much is a head of iceberg lettuce? 99 cents retail.
 
lemon grass - is that some sort of asian fusion like Kaya Blue ? Or traditional ? Is it nice enough to take a date... that likes nice places..
 
Peony kills Ped's


All high-scale steak restaurants do pretty much do the same thing. No way around it. In Houston only Lynn's and Brenner's make different but suttle changes.
 
in Dallas, you should go to Bob's.. not as flashy as three forks or del frisco's, but overall, the best steak house in Dallas.
 
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