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| - I've been anxious to try Eddie Merlot's, the new steakhouse that's recently opened at Scottsdale Road and Pinnacle Peak in Scottsdale. The décor and layout are very nice, but on the basis of one experience Saturday night, they're still trying to find their legs and have some work to do in terms of the quality of both the food and the service.
We were seated for fifteen minutes before a server appeared to ask what kind of water we'd like and to take a drink order. It was a full thirty minutes from the time we sat down until the drinks we ordered actually appeared--surely not the way you want to begin an evening out.
The restaurant's advertised appeal is that they serve only U.S. Prime hand-carved steaks and so I was expecting an excellent meal. I ordered a ribeye ($47.95) and asked that it be cooked medium-rare. The steak was served on a cold plate; the meat was only lukewarm, and it was cooked well past the point that most steakhouses would describe as medium rare. The potatoes, the dessert and the wine we ordered were fine, but the steak should obviously have been the highlight of the meal and, frankly, I could have done a better job at home.
I really want to like this restaurant, especially since it's only a stone's throw from my house, and so I'll probably try them again in a month or so to see if they're doing any better. But the fact is that there are any number of excellent steakhouses in North Scottsdale where the food is very good and the service is prompt and attentive. If Eddie Merlot's hopes to compete in this environment, they're going to have to step up their game in a big way and in a big hurry.
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