by Tony S. on Remember when the Prius first came out? The concept sounded cool, then you saw the fugly thing and you went back for the BMW/Jag/Merc/Mustang/rent-a-car? That's how I felt about STK. Ok, first the negatives. If I'm going to a proper steak house, I expect it to be about a dining experience that is centered around the food, and not around the crowd. If this wasn't a steakhouse, it would get flying colors for a yuppie pick-up spot or after-work joint. Very trendy looking, decent atmosphere, etc. But as a steakhouse, it was a bit overwhelmingly noisy, tight-packing, such that I couldn't even have a decent conversation with my friend because of all the concurrent conversations by the goombas on my left, and the anal-retentive bride-to-be and her parents on my right with barely any elbow room. It sort of reminds me of Mercer Kitchen, but nowhere near as fun. The food got mixed reviews. I had the foie gras crackers and my buddy had the hearts of romaine salad. My dish came out ok, but they shi-shi'ed it up too much with what looked like miniature french toasts, overwhelmingly sweet honey-like sauce, such that this tiny tasty piece of foie gras felt like I had just swallowed a piece of hardened molassis dipped in melted crisco. The salad was over-done with parmesan that looked like Andre the Giant had a bad case of dandruff and flaked all over the dish. The steak? I had the 8-ounce strip loin, which was actually pretty damn good. That was the highlight of my meal. My buddy had a boned ... something... filet? He said it was very good. The creamed spinach was decent (c'mon, if u fuck that up you're complete cannon fodder). However, the recommended truffle fries I got were disgusting. They were layered miniature potato bricks that I think were the lost cousins of the liver-flavored molassis I had for appetizer. I was by no means full at the end of the meal, but was so unhappy we skipped dessert and just left. I'll never come back here for a "steak" experience, but I could see myself coming back for a drink at the bar, or maybe a snack with a group of friends that don't really care about food. The atmosphere, sans steak focus, is not bad for a drink and hors d'ouvres. I did enjoy the music though. Great DJ playing all my favorite songs. 2.5 stars for the food, 4 stars for the atmosphere (if you don't consider it a steakhouse).
by Freddie Desso on All I know is...I had a great time here. Sure the place is stuffed to the gills, but it's really spacious and there's an down & upstairs. I really liked it upstairs because you were out in the open yet still half inside since it was covered. The drinks were good, the music was good, and the people are pretty nice. I mean I didn't see anyone getting huffy or giving anyone the stink eye just for bumping into them. I do want to comment on those crazy stairs though. You go up one story but the stairs are broken down in two parts. So while we were going walking up, some people were coming down and one of them needed a lot of assistance. Yeah, they look pretty dangerous. I can't imagine trying to get by after being a few sheets to the wind. All in all, I had a great time though, and when it got hot on the dance floor we just migrated further out to the open space upstairs were the air would blow on us every now and then.
