kirby's prime steakhouse

my my husband and i really enjoyed this place. it is expensive but is classy and well put together & is nice for a special occasion.. we had a great waiter and the food was delicious starting from the soup, appetizers, all the way to the main course. excited to go back to try the wine bar--

take off your sunglasses frankie. this is one of those places that when you step inside and have adjusted your vision to the darkness, you might expect to see a floor show with the rat pack and a rendition of new york, new york from old blue eyes. and where the bar serves bourbon or scotch neat, or manhattans and martinis knowing nothing of cosmopolitans or sex on the beach. i think it must be the use of hard surfaces and glass that gives the place an old vegas night club feel.

the bar looked interesting as we walked past it to be seated but noticed that most of the folks there seemed to be "blue hairs" well into their "best is yet to come" years. nothing wrong with that, just speaks to level of income of the clientele. steak houses are not inexpensive!!

being not so young ourselves, we had to perform a few gymnastics in our seats to be able to get the menu to just that certain angle to capture enough light to be able to read it. this place is d-a-r-k. take a pen light.

the beef was choice, tender, juicy, and perfectly medium, and the sides were excellent as well. nothing wrong with this place when you are in the mood for "a good hunk of bull neck" as my uncle used to say.

love the bar @ happy hour. great place for a nice appetizer and a miixed adult beverage with your special someone.


-----03 mar, 2010-----

appetizers and drinks. stopped in the other night and some drinks with very nice calamari. the bar atmosphere was very classy. we were surprised of all the smoking that was going on. they must be one of the few places that allow it.

we went for restaurant week and it was ok. the smoked pepper corn tenderloin appetizer was small but flavorful, the second course was filet oscar with crab cake but i think they forgot to put the crab cake because i sure didn't see it or taste it on my thumb size filet. to get full i ate bread then came the dessert a lava chocolate cake, it was a small, no a sample size cake that was super rich! talk about got milk! i would have liked for them to have offered us coffee with the dessert but instead they were more interested in clearing out our table. would i go back in a regular night? not worth their price.

what a great experience. huge lamb rack-8 and smoked ribeye are to die for. a great first introduction to kirby's very tasty and excellent service

all of the food we ordered was fantastic (house salads, peppercorn steak, filet mignon, sauteed mushrooms, mac & cheese)! steaks were cooked perfectly. mushrooms were great, but the mac & cheese topped with fried onion strings stole the show! the wine list is very extensive from full bottles, to half bottles, to by the glass. our waiter recommended a wine to us after we told him that we do not enjoy dry wines. he let us both sample the wine (without us asking to) to make sure we liked it and we were pleasantly surprised that we both liked it. service was very good. candlelight and live music playing added a fancy touch to the evening. although the food was great, the entrees were still quite pricey. we will keep kirby's in mind for "special" occasions in the future.

will not go back again. if i'm going to pay $21 for a crab cake appetizer, i expect it to more than two mini crab cakes and to taste freshly prepared. the crab cakes tasted frozen. my wife had the blue ribbon filet mignon, which looked very unappealing when it arrived. it appeared overcooked, but was medium rare as ordered in the center. however, the very outer portion of the meat could have been cooked more evenly. i ordered the pan roasted sea bass, which had an odd sauce that didn't complement the capers accompanying the meal. overall, i was not impressed. the steak could have been prepared better and my sea bass could have been cooked better.

over priced food at its finest.. my wife and i have been to a few of the kirby's locations in the past. we ate at this location this past wednesday and the restaurant is extremely dimly lit, so much that some patrons have to use flashlights to read the menu. we had pretty good service, however the quality of food is not that great for what you pay. the apple crisp dessert is very underwhelming due to the lack of texture (no crunch) and too many sliced apples. also, the food is much too heavy and rich for my liking. the bearnaise on the steak medallions was so filling each bite felt like an entire meal. we both felt like we ate too much "fried chicken" when we left instead of steak and fish.

i have been to bohanans, ounce, chama, texas de brasil, fogo, and a handful of other steakhouses in sa. kirby has by far been the worst experience i've had. at every steakhouse in this price range, they have always remembered it's our anniversay or special event when they seat us. kirby did not. besides that point, they brought out the wrong sides for my entree and the wrong cut of meat for my boyfriends. when they did return with the right cut, it was undercooked and we sent it back. the mac & cheese sides were the most diluted, non-cheesy dish i've ever had. my boyfriend did not even get to eat dinner with me because we kept having problems with the wrong food and sending food back. at ounce & chama, we always received a complimentary dessert for our special occasion. there was not even an apology from the waitress or to comp even a side dish for our troubles. we will never return to kirby's.

so disappointing!! so not ruth's chris!!

over cooked steak twice , manager argues , not pleasant at all

this place was so great. the mac & cheese was the best i've ever had. i tried the seared ahi tuna which was delish. i tried a bite of the filet mignon which was amazing as well.

thank you, mr. leonard. being originally from dallas, i've been going to a kirby's since i was a kid. this location is an awesome addition to the series. to call kirby's a chain is just not accurate. although they do have signature dishes at their 5 separate locations each has a different chef driven menu, so your experience will differ at each location. (i'm actually not a huge fan of the woodfire grill location in dallas now. just too casual for me.)
but i'm a huge fan of chef javier davalos and the san antonio kirby's. all my favorites are here, and then some. 3 things stand out for me. fried asparagus (how good is that!), the maryland crab cake, and the tournedos bearnaise. a rich, decadent meal, accompanied by one of the fullest by-the-glass wine menus in san antonio.
the atmosphere is dark & intimate (hence my poor photos - i refuse to use flash in a restaurant - sorry 'bout that), with rich steakhouse genre textures throughout, but no more so than ruth's chris or fleming's.
service is indulgent, with your waiter wanting to give you the benefit of his training, management always makes a visit, and yes - prices are high across the board. you can get a cheaper steak in san antonio, but rarely at this level of quality and execution. for most of us, a night at kirby's is a treat that should be experienced on those special occasions when only a truly well-executed steak dinner will do. it would really surprise me if you or your date came away truly disappointed.
special note: kirby's went completely smoke-free on august 1st. (nice move, mr. leonard!)

nothing to write home about. a dark experience with good entrees but mediocre sides, weak mixed drinks and something that they tried to pass off as new york cheese cake (not). the place is too dark and you can hear conversations several tables away. the bar is so smoke filled that it is a turn off. for my money i will stick with the palm.

nice experience. nicely romantic atmosphere, reminding me of some vegas steakhouses. slight cigar odor (which i kind of liked). very good but rather slow service (also okay). had roquefort filet, melts in your mouth; cheese soup - not too salty and loaded with veggies. kind of small martinis, but perfect ly made. companion had peppercorn filet ,also excellent. both steaks perfectly cooked plus free birthday dessert & card. the only complaint: mushroom side dish rather salty. thank god for groupon, otherwise $$$$.