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| - I am a regular here despite having a ritual of trying a different restaurant every week. For starters, places like Hyde Park, Flemings, XO and Johnny's are great places to go; and all share in common prime steaks that are tender and heavily marbled. I visit these places.
That said, Red is my favorite steakhouse in Northeast Ohio. Here are my reasons why it stands apart:
(1) they never, never, ever, get the done-ness wrong. very accurate. never over-done. never under-done. just right and always right.
(2) as with other steakhouses, they char the meat in an 1800deg burner. I've had other places over-char and burn the meat leaving a bitter tasting "crust". This will never happen here.
(3) prime cuts already taste buttery and marbled. The staple of most places is to butter the steak or season in salt and pepper. At Red, they apply an "aglio" brushing, that I guess is made from olive oil and italian herbs, which does the job of cutting through or counterbalancing that rich beefy-buttery taste of prime meat.
(4) the decor and ambiance is a refreshing departure from the mahogany panel and old-school design of most steakhouses. This place is hip. Background music is electronica instead of jazz. I love jazz, but I love the change-up for this situation. This is not your father's steakhouse.
What else wins here? The truffled mashed potatoes - very different and somewhat earthy and smoky in flavor. It's an absolute favorite. The risotto -- they will have a different kind featured every week but you can have them customize it for you. The potatoes au gratin are good too. The doughnut holes for dessert -- they remind me of the New Orleans beignets from Cafe du Monde.
I've read other comments about snooty staff, but I did not sense that at all. Our server was down to earth and absolutely friendly.
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