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| - The Good: Nice looking and upscale little steakhouse with a full bar and good cocktail skills.
The Bad: 3 quality levels of steaks are offered; confusing and completely unnecessary (see below).
The Ugly: Your dinner bill; thank God this was an expense account meal.
If you're looking for a nice lively bar scene in suburbia, this is a good spot. For my needs, a good steakhouse was what I sought. The ambiance is semi-elegant, no issues. I decided to sit at the bar (there are also a few tables in the bar area) because I was solo and they had a couple wide screens. I tried the CAB Prime Ribeye ($52.00 as I recall), and it was completely underwhelming. Oddly, their variety of steak cuts are offered up in 3 choices: CAB (Certified Angus Beef), CAB Prime, and USDA Prime. I was persuaded to try the top of the line, Prime CAB. I've grilled better tasting and more tender regular USDA Choice Ribeye from Costco on my outdoor Weber. There was little flavor and it wasn't the most tender steak I've ever had, by a long shot. If that really was CAB Prime, I'd call it much ado about nothing.
OK, so the rest of the meal was also average: a $10.00 baked potato loaded was indeed very very large, but not all that great. I looked at their other sides but they were also pricey, in the $10.00-12.00 range, and I knew I'd not be able to eat more than a bite or two.
My dessert: AMAZING, the best thing I had and I rarely have desserts. It was also unique, to the extent that I'll probably never see it again unless and until I return to Red: a caramel cake in a bowl topped with vanilla ice cream and hot espresso poured over the top. WOW.
I'll go again with the wife so that we can share the meal and get a few sides. I'm fortunate to live in a town (Cincy) loaded up with amazing and nationally acclaimed steakhouses, so I concede I'm hard to impress. However, Red fell far short of the mark. My verdict: good, but not great by any means.
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