The Chop House Restaurant (Ann Arbor)

In my couple of decades spent in and around Ann Arbor, I've ventured into quite a few of its' eateries. I truly enjoy different cuisine and I seek out a variety of dining experiences. I've paid for many expensive meals and as long as the overall experience is enjoyable, I suck it up and drop the plastic on the table.

Now onward to the point of this piece which is a review of The Chop House restaurant in Ann Arbor. First of all, I was there a few years ago and found it a fine dining experience with some stand out items on the menu. So a birthday rolled around again and I thought it was time to head back to this fondly remembered place.

Entering the restaurant off Main Street, you initially look at the bar...which looks back at you with the eyes of several well-heeled patrons. The bar holds people that gravitate towards expensive German cars and Italian suits. Lots of smugness in their faces and expensive booze in their palms. They are Ann Arbor's young, pretentious nouveau riche.

Then it's over to the hostess station (which also doubles as a coat check station). Friendly greetings and smiles abound and then we march off towards our table. As we pass through the long and narrow dining room, large oil canvases adorn the walls and white table linen is everywhere. Good wood is used throughout on floors and tables. Chippy patterned fabric covers the cushions along the side area while most the place in filled with many small rectangular tables. A Chicago steakhouse influence is felt throughout. We are given a decent seating in the back of the main room (along the cushioned side) looking out towards the rest of the patrons.

Now to the menus. First the wine list is long and expensive. The word "expensive" will now begin to appear frequently throughout the rest of the review. There wasn't a glass of wine under $9.95 while most half bottles were as expensive as many other average restaurants' bottle prices. So I ordered a Cosmopolitan instead. It was priced much less than a glass of wine ($5.95) and probably tasted better than most of the wine-by-the-glass choices. My dinner companion balked at the choices and stuck with water.

Time to look at the dinner menu. Now I recall from years past that The Chop House wasn't by any definition cheap but it fell short of the "expensive" category but that's no longer the case. This IS an expensive place to eat. There exists only 5 entrees barely under $30 while all of the beef choices are near or over $40. The waitress gave us some verbal choices from the specials which even included the rare delicacy of Kobe beef (we believe it went for around $80).

We both settled on a Filet Mignon special which included garlic mashes and asparagus. We thought this a good deal because all the entrees are ala cart so adding full side dishes would just push the price way up. Besides, I wanted a bowl of Lobster Bisque ($5.95) which I recalled from my last visit was excellent.

After making our entree choices, some bread arrived and so did my soup and my companion's Caesar salad ($6.95). Well the Lobster Bisque wasn't quite what I remembered as the once tablespoon of Lobster shrank to the now teaspoon of Lobster before the base was poured over it. Though it was good, it wasn't as meaty as before. The Caesar salad was acceptable if not just a wee bland.

Let's move on to the main entree. Our Filet Mignon specials ($50 each) arrived and they were not what we expected. A small but tall piece of filet was sitting in a shallow pool of garlic mashed potatoes right in the middle of the plate. On either side was a half of a piece of asparagus. Yes, that's one piece of asparagus, sliced in half and placed on either side of the centered filet. Wow. I mean asparagus isn't endangered or the most expensive vegetable on the planet but it seemed to be in this place.

We eat slowly trying to enjoy our little 12 ounces of meat. Each of our filets were done exactly as we had requested and exhibited a fine flavor. But by itself, the filet costs $39.95 and I'm sorry but it just ain't worth it.

We finished our meals and of course, there's no desert offered here as they want to send you to their expensive and uncomfortable desert cafe (La Dolce Vita). So instead of leaving my perfectly comfortable table, I thought I'd have a cappuccino to finish my meal but following my request, I was told by my waitress that their machine didn't froth well. I settled for a coffee and digested.

Finally, even after their generous birthday discount (50% off a 2 person ticket), we barely got out of there under $90. And though the service was very professional, it was almost too professional and overly formal. I prefer my service less formal and with more warmth. The surroundings aren't that special and possibly even a little bland and somewhat claustrophobic with almost no windows and so many tables. We won't ever go there again because if I want a nice steak, I can always go to either Weber's Inn or Knights which are not nearly as expensive and give you far more food for your money. And happily, they are places in which the asparagus is not an endangered vegetable.

(Originally posted 3/16/06)