Harris' Restaurant

I've eaten at a few high-end steak houses, and I've always found the experience to be too business old-skool, i.e., appealing more to the "Bill Brasky" set than the Ultimate Frisbee crowd. Business Steak Houses have always pushed overpriced steaks, overpriced side dishes, and scotch, scotch, scotchity, scotch. I'm convinced there is no reason to eat at one unless your meal is being expensed to a company credit card.

In other words, I would never spend my own money on a high-end steak dinner, but if a sales guy is trying to schmooze me, let's get some t-bones!

Harris' is the exception, however. It's a steak house where I do spend my own money.

The prices aren't crazy high; we're talking $30-$40 steaks vs. $75 dollar slabs of cow. And the steaks includes vegetables and a baked or mashed potato! So, you actually get a balanced meal with your steak, instead of ordering all of your sides separately.

I had a rib-eye, rare, and it was cooked perfectly and had the perfect "al dente" texture I like. The vegetables included were snap peas and shredded carrots. I could tell the peas were picked very recently and they were very fresh. You could taste the earth they were grown in. I love this about good peas. I believe the vegetable selection changes seasonally, so you might not get peas with your dinner. The baked potato was awesome as well, with butter, sour cream, and fresh chives. Fresh chives rock compared to dry ones!

Now, don't get me wrong, Harris' is still old skool. You do have to dress nice and the lighting is low, but the food is excellent and it feels like I get an excellent value for the price.