steakhouse 85

the best upscale steak in central jersey. when a fellow steak-belly recommended that the 4 of us go to new brunswick forsteaksto celebrate my wife's 40th birthday i laughed. 'arthur's is a good steak, but it's not really the atmosphere i'm looking for... and by the way that's north brunswick not new brunswick'...

'not arthur's, steakhouse 85, a ny style steakhouse', he replied. i laughed again... ny style steakhouse in new brunswick? ha! riiiight! but we decided to give it a go.

and i am very pleased that we did.

the atmosphere is what you would expect from a classic beef house. well dressed and mannered staff, nice cozy dark corners, quiet live jazz music, candle lit tables and a more than adequate bar display worthy of a grunt-n-growl as you pass by and see your favorite bourbons, and scotches surrounded by intriguing labels not as familiar but equally as tempting.

the menu has all the ny staples, as well as some interesting additions. the tableside beef presentation is ala morton's with the waiter pointing to the different cuts of beef and the supplier where they get them from.

we started with a round of bourbons for the boys, and cocktails for the ladies.
(4) appetizers:
fried calamari - tasty, cooked perfect and the red sauce while simple, was surprisingly good.
warm mozzarella with prosciutto and tomatoes - very good.
roasted oysters - very tasty and fresh.
jumbo lump crab cake - excellent - all crab, all flavor and all gone really fast.

a $25 bottle of hahns estate meirtage from the short list. 2 glasses of house chianti and dinner is served.

(2) 24oz tomahawk chops - 28day dry aged prime rib served on the bone encrusted in blue cheese and garlic with a nice redwine reduction. both cooked to perfection and extremely tasty and filling.
a petite fillet and a cowboy ribeye for the ladies both cooked to perfect temperature and taste.

(4) sides - mac and cheese was the rave in the star ledger review... it's good, maybe even real good but the broccoli au gratin trumped the table's side dishes which also included creamed spinach and potatoes au gratin - both good but no match for the cheesy lightly brown-crusted broccoli au gratin.

full bellies all the way around so dessert was liquid.
3 espresso and one double. a wild turkey and a frangelica both on the rocks. while the owner stopped by twice and wished a happy birthday, there was not an offer to buy a drink or a dessert. not a disappointment but overhearing him buy appetizers for the table next to us begged the question - "are they special?"

steakhouse 85 offers outside dining below street level as well as a much lighter menu including burgers, salads and fish options. all of which would have reduced the overall expense.

the pace was perfect without a rush and the food all around was above everyone's expectations. a bargain at just over a hundred per person w/gratuity?? not exactly... but a good value overall when considering the food experience and atmosphere.

add it to your list of places to try... it's on mine to go back.

badsteakswith an attitude. i travel a lot for business and am always looking for a great steakhouse. i had heard that there were a number of good reviews for steakhouse 85, so i went in with high expectations. accompanying me on the trip was a co-worker who has gone through culinary school and has a highly trained palate, and another friend who lives locally. we were excited about having some good steaks, but were in for a bad experience.

highlights of the evening: i ordered a bottle of cabernet, and was very clear in my order. the waiter came up and spent several minutes trying to talk me into a different, more expensively priced cabernet, and apparently was going to go through his spiel on the other wine regardless of which wine i picked. we asked him if he had even tried the bottle we ordered and he had not. so, strike one.

second, my co-worker got a dry aged delmonico and the waiter tried to talk her out of ordering it. he asked in a condescending way if she had ever had a dry aged steak. which of course she had, and explained this. i told her she should tell him of her culinary school experience, but i believe she thought that was a waste of time given the preceding wine episode. when the steak came out it had a rancid flavor, and when i tried it, i had to agree. we both have a lot of steak experience, and we both felt we got a bad cut of meat. strike two.

finally, another man came up to us (apparently a manager or some other higher function -- but he never identified himself or his title). guess we were supposed to be impressed by the fact that he had a nice white shirt on, or that he probably was only a few years past drinking age. he took an attitude right from the start and said that's how dry aged beef tastes at this time of year, or some other lame excuse. he then said "i'm not trying to get in an argument," which was the first time anyone had mentioned an argument. in fact, my co-worker was extremely polite (much more so than i would have been if it had been my steak). she told him she'd like a rib eye, and then he just kept talking right over her. he then asked if he could get a different steak, and named off several including a rib eye. bottom line: he was more interested in being pedantic and condescending and less interested in listening to the customer. strike three.

i should add that there should have been a comping of the whole steak. that's what good restaurants do. i've seen similar types of things happen at morton's, donovan's, ringside in portland, etc. and the attitude is that the customer is right. at steakhouse 85, it seemed like they were more interested in making money, and it would be easier if they could just figure out how to stop having to satisfy "the pesky customers."

i can safely say that i won't be going back, and i'd suggest the same for discerning diners. if you want to go to a place where they insult you, i'd suggest ed debevic's in chicago, since the insults are part of the fun and dining experience rather than just bad service.

the password is pretentious. 11/12/12....i have frequented this restaurant since matty opened it some
time ago, and i am disappointed to have to report that its quickly losing its once deserved allure. note that thesteaksare still very good here, not excellent, not nyc quality, but prime. on a scale of 1-5 stars, the beef here is a solid 4. problem at this establishment is the service, (or complete lack of),
and the pretense. on a semi crowded sunday night, with plenty of empty tables, our reserved table was not available. got the "5 or 10 miinutes" line, i suppose that's their way of getiing you to spend additional $$$ beforehand in the bar, at this already pricey "$200.00 per couple meal" establishment. upon sitting down, our waiter anthony was unattentive as it took over 10 minutes to get cocktails from the bar, which was just steps away. i was tempted to just walk over and do things myself, but finally anthony showed up. pretense?
don't order the "colossal" shrimp cocktail, they are jumbo but you
are given 3 shrimp for $18.00!!!! down the shore, even at those pricey
tourist traps, ( shipwreck/riverhouse/709), a "colossal" shrimp cocktail=
6 shrimp for the same $18.00. when i am forced to pay such ridiculous prices,
sorry, but i feel like my intelligence is being insulted.
matty, this is church street in new brunswick, nj, not sparks, the strip,lugars @ nyc no need for the pretense. you guys are good enough, why try and appear to be something you are not?
back to the service- our sides of onion rings/fries and some bernaise
sauce for our beef was presented along side our appetizers when they were served. of course i sent it all back, and when i asked the manager if this is how they did business at this "$200.00" per couple establishment, he simply shrugged his shoulders and said, "it's a mistake", (at this $200.00 per couple
establishment). to his credit, the mgr did make the first round of 2 $11
vodka cocktails on the house, but that was not enough to quell my disappointment over the entire experience at this once surperb restaurant, which is now simply "very good". if you are really interested in a superior
steak dinner i suggest you stick with the establishments in nyc or lugars,
and while in nj, go to a good diner instead. on a scale or 1-5 stars,
overall this restaurant rates a "not so solid" 4. i won't be returning any time soon.

well worth it.. it is not cheap, but if you are looking for a first class steak house in central jersey, look no further.

i will not bore you with the unimportant:

it is a beautiful restaurant.

the service was impeccable.

thesteakswere truly excellent.

i went their with my wife and daughter. i had the delmonico, my wife the rib eye and my daughter the porterhouse. all three were outstanding.

they say that in life you get what you pay for. my dinner was worth every penny it cost.

it was a truly memorable experience.

slow service. the service was so slow. it took forever to get served. thesteakswere no better than average. the prices were nyc prices without nyc quality.

steakhouse 85, new bruns, nj. steakhouse 85, new brunswick, nj: we were expecting much more after seeing the s/l review of 3-1/2 stars. the ambiance and service were good but the steak - not so much. when you have "steak" in the name of the restaurant and they charge high prices the least to expect is a good steak. i brought it to the attention of the owner, matthew, that my steak was full of grizzle and he said "oh i've had three restaurants and never had any trouble" and proceeds to gave us his card and said he'll take care of us the next time we come in. well mathew, there will be no next time. in my estimation a good businessman would not have discounted what we said about the bad steak and would have given us ½ or full price off the bill. oh well, if we want goodsteakswe'll to stick to peter lugar or ruth chris.

a bona fide steakhouse. period.. steakhouse85 performed wonderfully for my wife's surprise birthday dinner this past saturday. i requested impeccable service & food in a private dining room and we were provided just that. as promised, mike piagitini and matt's entire team delivered a quality adult dining experience that others need to be aware of. frankly, there was an extreme desire to satisfy our group of 30 and they went out of their way to even help with the 'surprise' aspect of our birthday party - what a nice bunch of folks they are.

i admit that i'm not big on 'hoopla' when it comes to restaurants (and also admit this is the first time reviewing a restaurant) but, this dining experience deserves my 2 minutes to write a review and in a moment i will seek a similar site to do the same.

to me, food is not fuel, it's pleasure. i prefersteaksand have eaten at steakhouses in omaha, sydney, london, europe, smith&wollensky's, lugers, ruth's chris,sparks and many more nationally, and i am happy to declare that downtown new brunswick nj now has a bona fide steakhouse: steakhouse85

i'm not sure what the formal rating scales are for steakhouses, but my very satisfied family rates steakhouse85 with "5 mooos".

thanks again, steakhouse85...we'll be back soon.
brian

beautiful place. steakhouse 85 has been open for probably about 10 months now and i've been frequenting since the doors opened. every time i go there, the staff remembers me greets me with a big smile and usually a hug if they're not too busy. the servers are great, they're knowledgable about the menu as well as the wines and the beers (which aren't your every day tired out beers that i can get at the bowling alley) they have personalities and actually care about the restaurant. i would recommend making a reservation for the weekends because i gave it a shot on saturday night and i had to wait a little while. so unless you're ready to hang at the bar for 30 minutes, call ahead.
i'm going to have to be honest and say they have the best quality steak and seafood. sometimes the other entrees get lost in the sauce after the presentation of thesteaksbut there are plenty of other great items besides the beef. cocktails are awesome, portions are big and family style sides. also, if you're on a budget (which most of us are) go on friday night for date night! they have a $99 prix fixe menu for a couple oh, and live music. 2 apps, 2 entrees, a side dish and 2 desserts including a bottle of wine. how they make money off this i don't know.. but it's awesome!

poor experience.steakswere average, service was bad. oysters tasted great though 3 from our party had upset stomachs later. side of potatos au gratin were undercooked.

not so great.steakswere good though not amazing, (7.2); came out luke warm. a better ambiance, experience and quality steak can actually be found locally at chain ruths chris steakhouse about 15 minutes away in princeton on rt. 1. if you want to spend this kind of money on a great steak and take a ride, go to peter lugers, sparks or the palm in nyc. sides were substandard and service was unrefined and very slow to say the least. tables were plastic and had holes in the middle for umbrellas, not a joke. our table was also placed about 2 feet from another couple which is not exactly romantic when there was ample room available. this is not what i expect for a $100+ pp. meal. owner "matty" terranova seemed more interested in shaking hands than taking care of his customers when these issues were brought directly to his attention.