Happy Hour at Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse

 

 

 

 

 

New Year’s Eve eve found a few friends and I gathered at Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse for a holiday celebration.  Although they do not publicize it on their website, Ruth’s Chris has a nice little Happy Hour with specials on food, wine, cocktails and beer, at least for those of you who are okay calling Bud Light beer. 

 

Ruth’s Chris is located in the Grand Hyatt Hotel near the convention center downtown.  When the hotel first opened the space was occupied by the 727, a restaurant that had good food but such bad service that I never returned after my first visit.  And that is saying something as I’m nearly always open to giving a place a second chance.  So I personally was not surprised when 727 didn’t make it.  I imagine that Ruth’s Chris is doing better with it’s national name recognition and we had really great service while there. 

 

The Happy Hour food menu is short but has seafood, meat and vegetarian options.  We tried everything on the menu and enjoyed all of it.  The ahi tuna was especially good, as were the prime rib sliders.  I was very happy with with my bargain-priced Manhattan.  Reviews of the other speciality cocktails on the Happy Hour menu were a bit mixed.  The red wine was also given a thumbs-up. 

 

The space is welcoming with the dim lights and wood surfaces providing a warmth to the large room.  The long tables in the bar are set up a bit oddly with chairs only on one side – as if you are actually at the bar.  But we found there was plenty of room to move some of the chairs so that we could gather around the table instead of being strung out along it. 

 

If you work in the area or happen to be out shopping and need a break, it’s a great spot to relax for a bit.  And the Happy Hour is a good value.