The Chophouse at Vintage Year

When my husband and I get to go out to a nice dinner we never go anywhere else! The Chophouse has a wonderful atmosphere, the food is always outstanding, drinks are perfect and our waiters have always been awesome. My favorite is the steak, asparagus and mac and cheese. And the dessert is to die for!

I am not a steak guy. In fact, I think there's more skill required to make an excellent hamburger than a steak, and I was all but prepared to put Chophouse's burger through the ringer until I ended up opting for the special, a Gulf sesame-crusted yellowfin tuna.

I stuck with my originally-intended appetizer, though - the veal bone marrow. The amount of marrow wasn't very substantial for one person, let alone two, but the lemon-caper parsley salad complimented it well, even if the capers pushed a little too much salt when eaten with the crostini.

As with most entrees, I chose two sides, and being ever the lover of all vegetables Brassicaceae, I opted for the roasted brussel sprouts and the broccoli with lemon. They take the latter very literally, as the broccoli was served whole. Like, an entire stalk of broccoli whose comic proportions dwarfed the rest of the plate. Now, points for creativity, I guess, but there's a fundamental problem when roasting entire stalks of broccoli, and it comes down to varying amounts of surface area; the florets cook quicker than the stalk. As a result, the florets were tender and quite delicious. The stalk was still on the raw side. Don't get me wrong, I ate it all, but unless the chef was trying to make some muddled statement about contrasting textures, any reason to not prep the broccoli was misguided.

The brussel sprouts, while not as physically intimidating as the broccoli, were also a fairly large portion. And while they were roasted to a crispiness as listed on the menu, they were also covered with a sweet fruit-based dressing that removed any of that crispiness by the time it reached my plate.

Compared to the vegetables, the fish was almost an inconsequential part of the plate, but it was cooked a solid rare, crusted with sesame seeds and heavily seasoned. Paired with the pool of soy sauce provided would have been too much salt, but the included squiggle of Sriracha was nice.

Chophouse, like many of the select few fine dining restaurants in Montgomery, push the entree prices towards heights to which I am not accustomed. This plate of perhaps six ounces of fish, a stalk of broccoli, and a half pound of brussel sprouts was $32, beating everything on their menu minus the Delmonico ribeye ($34) and Kansas City Strip ($45). I'm sure local yellowfin tuna carries a premium, but we're reaching the upper echelons of prices I'm comfortable paying.

And then there's that giant stalk of broccoli. As a lover of cruciferous vegetables, I'm glad I got a crapload of them to fill out my meal, but as an objective diner, the large portions of broccoli and sprouts seemed like filler to distract from the small portion of protein. If anything, this was a meal about vegetables, with the meat on the side, and that was a misguided creative decision in the kitchen.

Aside from some heavy salting issues, I was pretty happy with all of the cooking for my meal. What ultimately hurts Chophouse, however, is if the quality of cooking is worth the pricetag, and I don't think it is.

We are fairly new in town and this was our first visit to the Chop House. I reviewed the online menu prior to going only to learn that the website was not updated whatsoever. I ordered the Surf & Turf which included a "filet" which was overcooked, very dry, and resembled a sirloin. My wife ordered the grouper which was cold, and very chewy. The rest of the meal, risotto and sauce with shrimp, was even colder. The decor was nice, but the carpet was very dirty. The only redeeming quality was our excellent waiter! Had planned on dessert, but we couldn't leave fast enough based on our dinner experience. Such a shame because this was to celebrate our anniversary. Would not recommend!

Every time I have been to the Chophouse--three times in the past year--I have had an excellent experience. The food is phenomenal and the service is top-notch. Expect to spend at least a hundred dollars on a date, but it's well worth it if you want a quality fine-dining experience. I will definitely be revisiting this restaurant soon.

These guys know how to serve great food. The chef has major skills and its the ONLY place in Montgomery you can get escargot. The wine list is primo as well. Patrick Skelton is the owner and he will make sure you get what ever you need. Excellent Restaurant!