Red, The Steakhouse Cleveland

Doesn't Recommend

Pete Bodonyi

Joined 2 years ago

When does a comp’d dessert make up for poor management / ser. Red has been one of our favorite NE OH dining spots for a long time; right up there with Chez (Vermillion), Lola, Chianto, and Valario’s just to name a few. But after our experience this past Saturday evening it will be quite a while before or if we will go back.

We arrived tad early for our 8pm reservation. I was neither surprised nor upset that they were running behind; so we opted for a trip to the bar. After trying to attract the attention of one of the 5 bartenders for no less than 20 minutes, we finally received our round of drinks after 35 minutes (10 min to make after order). Bravo on their keen ability to avoid eye contact.

After sitting at 840p, the waiter finally arrived to check on us after 10 minutes of patiently waiting and staring at our empty glasses. We promptly ordered another round. I am sure you all know where this is going……yep, 20 more minutes for the drinks to come; with our waiter nowhere in sight. It was clearly obvious that the waiter was setup to fail as the bar staff was clearly not up to the challenge of being able to service the order volume which to me didn’t look like anything out of the ordinary. Upon receipt of the drinks, our up Martinis were warm. Not acceptable for call liquor at $ 16-18 a pop. At this point – I finally complained and received the customary table visit from the manager.

We ordered, and the kitchen performed well as expected; food was timely and delicious except for the dried out au-gratin potatoes which at the waiters own initiative took it off our check (without our complaint), which was nice of him.

I found it odd for a restaurant of this caliber not to have matching glassware on the table. All the water glasses were different. A few were high balls, a few were goblets, and a few were tall bar glasses. How at this price point does that happen? Answer: management. I can only assume that Red sent their A-Team talent and glassware to South Beach and much like the Cavs we were left with the scrubs. I guess when replenishing their stock they could only find mix and match glassware at Dean’s Supply or the Tuesday Mornings’ sale bin or perhaps even TJ Max; Either way –ridiculous at this price point.

I apologize to the readers for the length of this rant; but I am sorry when your bill is north of $ 250.00 for two; I expect just a little better experience than I would receive at TGIF.

It is no secret that Red caters to its regulars, and doesn’t hide its screw everybody else mentality, but last I checked my money was as green as theirs and I vote with my wallet and like a hanging chad, I have removed Red from my dance card.

Thank you for the comp’d dessert, but I would have gladly paid for dessert and ordered another round of drinks rather than write this diatribe. Be wary of Red on a busy Saturday night (unless you are a regular and alleged power broker). I can only surmise the problem is…South Beach and subpar management. It wasn’t always like this……

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Clayfrog212

Joined 4 years ago

Excellent Steaks!. The second we walked into Red, we were treated to world-class service. The waitress was a doll. The food was incredible. My wife enjoyed it also; she got porterhouse. The athmosphere leaves something to be desired. Its simply incredible. Do reccomend

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afoodsnob

Joined 5 years ago

Wonderful Rib Steak. We had a really wonderful dinner at Red on a recent Sunday night, sitting in the bar. Our server Lisa, could not have been nicer and very efficient. I loved my steak, the sides were huge, enough for two people and the steak was cooked just the way I wanted it. The Molten Chocolate Cake was the finishing touch, we will definitely go back.