# Steak Options in Baltimore/DC/ Alexandria Area



## Snow Hill Pond (Aug 10, 2011)

I'm traveling down to the Baltimore/DC area this Thursday and was wondering if anyone had a steakhouse suggestion? I will be visiting Eddie Jacobs in Baltimore in the afternoon with my final destination being Alexandria. So any steakhouse in between is fair game. My only request is that it be a local place and not a chain like Mortons, RuthC, or Cap Grill...not that I've anything against those wonderful places, but they are chains.

I usually try to get a steak at Bill Martin's in Georgetown, but I think the hassle of taking the Metro into Foggy Bottom and hiking all the way to Wisconsin Ave. would be too much this week.


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## Balfour (Mar 23, 2012)

As cliched as it may sound, I enjoyed the Old Ebbitt Grill (on 15th, almost directly opposite the Treasury). It was close to my hotel and reasonably priced by contrast to the 'best' steakhouses in DC. Definitely not a chain!


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## blue suede shoes (Mar 22, 2010)

In the same small shopping center as Eddie Jacobs, there is a French restaurant that is probably the best in the states, at least outside of NYC. The food, service, and atmosphere will make you feel as though you are in Paris, without the rude waiters. I hope it hasn't changed since I last ate there a few years ago. Check it out at www.petitlouis.com. Bon appetit!!

I hope you know that Eddie Jacobs has moved from downtown Baltimore, a few miles north to Roland Park. I don't think they have a website, but you can find more information here: https://www.baltimoredress.com/records/page/2760/eddie-jacobs-ltd.html


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## Snow Hill Pond (Aug 10, 2011)

blue suede shoes said:


> In the same small shopping center as Eddie Jacobs, there is a French restaurant that is probably the best in the states, at least outside of NYC. The food, service, and atmosphere will make you feel as though you are in Paris, without the rude waiters. I hope it hasn't changed since I last ate there a few years ago. Check it out at www.petitlouis.com. Bon appetit!!
> 
> I hope you know that Eddie Jacobs has moved from downtown Baltimore, a few miles north to Roland Park. I don't think they have a website, but you can find more information here: https://www.baltimoredress.com/records/page/2760/eddie-jacobs-ltd.html


Yes, I was in the Roland location last year...beautiful neighborhood. You're right, the shopping center is very small...in fact, I passed it four times before I saw it. I remember the realty office next door, but I missed the French restaurant. Thanks for the recommendation.


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## Snow Hill Pond (Aug 10, 2011)

Balfour said:


> As cliched as it may sound, I enjoyed the Old Ebbitt Grill (on 15th, almost directly opposite the Treasury). It was close to my hotel and reasonably priced by contrast to the 'best' steakhouses in DC. Definitely not a chain!


Thank you sir. If it's accessible by car, I'll check it out.


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## 12345Michael54321 (Mar 6, 2008)

Snow Hill Pond said:


> I'm traveling down to the Baltimore/DC area this Thursday and was wondering if anyone had a steakhouse suggestion?


The obvious recommendation for a steakhouse in Baltimore would be Ruth's Chris. But you've already ruled that out.

An even better recommendation would be Fogo de Chao. https://www.fogodechao.com/home/ It's part of a chain, albeit not a huge chain with hundreds of locations or anything like that. At least consider it, if you haven't dined at a Fogo de Chao before.

While it's not a steakhouse, I second the suggestion that you simply go next door to Eddie Jacobs, and dine at the Petit Louis Bistro. https://www.petitlouis.com/ I've been there a number of times, most recently for lunch one afternoon a couple of weeks ago, and I've never been disappointed.

Baltimore has lots of good restaurants, but it's not particularly a steakhouse town. I could recommend good, local, non-chain seafood restaurants, Italian restaurants, even an Indian restaurant or two. But if you want a steakhouse...
-- 
Michael


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## Snow Hill Pond (Aug 10, 2011)

12345Michael54321 said:


> The obvious recommendation for a steakhouse in Baltimore would be Ruth's Chris. But you've already ruled that out.
> 
> An even better recommendation would be Fogo de Chao. https://www.fogodechao.com/home/ It's part of a chain, albeit not a huge chain with hundreds of locations or anything like that. At least consider it, if you haven't dined at a Fogo de Chao before.
> 
> ...


Petit Louis is sounding very interesting. Thank you sir.


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## challer (Sep 4, 2008)

For steak its Old Ebbitt Grill.


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## WouldaShoulda (Aug 5, 2009)

challer said:


> For steak its Old Ebbitt Grill.


It is part of the Clydes group but at least it is a local chain and not a bad choice!!


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## WouldaShoulda (Aug 5, 2009)

Oh, and if you are near Potomac, MD., and Prime Rib counts as steak, Normandie Farm is a fun meal as well.

https://www.popovers.com/

Snails, popovers, pate, real Old School French Chef stuff, no small plates, no nouveau at all!!


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## Snow Hill Pond (Aug 10, 2011)

Thank you all. Very nice suggestions.


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## Snow Hill Pond (Aug 10, 2011)

*Food Debrief from my Trip to Alexandria*

I spent a day in Alexandria (VA) last week. Along the way there and back, I had the pleasure of dining out in a couple of different places. Here are my dining notes from my trip:

*Yardley Inn *(Yardley, PA): On my drive down, I stopped at the Yardley Inn for lunch. It was terrific. The server immediately brought me corn muffins to enjoy. I had a cup of chicken corn chowder to start. For the main course, I had the daily special of pan-seared trout with a mustard sauce and mashed potatoes mixed with carmelized onions. The lunch came with a choice of dessert, and I had a huge chocolate mousse. The dining room was well-appointed. The dining staff was very professional and personable. A very nice experience. Yardley is a little out-of-the-way, but the Inn is well worth a visit if you're in the area. The biggest plus is that the service and food are first rate, but the prices are reasonable.

I was wearing flannel trousers, white OCBD, a rep tie, a doeskin navy 3/2 blazer, and black wingtips. Others were casually dressed. One other table had diners wearing ties, but all others were comfortably dressed.

*Petit Louis (*Baltimore, MD): During my visit to Eddie Jacobs, Eddie said that Petit Louis was a very nice restaurant, but that he couldn't handle the rich sauces in French cuisine. He did mention that the owners of Petit Louis have also opened another restaurant in the back, which served "simpler" dishes that appealed more to him. Sadly, I was not able to stay to enjoy either restaurant and had to make my way to Alexandria.

*Ruth Chris Steakhouse *(Alexandria, VA): The restaurant is on the 11th floor and has a number of rooms with views of the DC area. My room had a view of a air traffic control tower and the train station at Reagan International Airport. Another room had a nice view of the Capitol building in the distance. I had a bourbon to start and ordered a strip steak with asparagus (no hollandaise sauce) for dinner, with a half-bottle of Etude cabernet sauvignon. Dinner was excellent, as usual. Initially, the wine had an off-taste, but after a while it really opened up with some nice tannins. My only complaint is that the service was a little off. For example, my dinner came before I could finish my drink, but that is a minor complaint.

I was wearing my blazer and tie. My room was filled with folks in suits and blazer-and-ties, but there were a few folks in short sleeve shirts and jeans, which I thought was a little strange, but it's all good.

*Golden Plate Diner *(Middletown near Harrisburg, PA): Ruth Chris the night before, and the Golden Plate Diner the next. After having spent 90 minutes in traffic in DC, driving 4 hours in heavy traffic, and with a couple of more hours til I got home, I was hungry for dinner. So I stopped here. You know how with some restaurants you walk in and know that you'll get a nice home-cooked meal? This place wasn't one of them. I asked the nice waitress what was good, and she recommended the hot turkey sandwich with mashed potatoes. It was mediocre. If by good, she meant that I wouldn't get sick, then she was right. But otherwise, I don't think I'll be stopping at the Golden Plate Diner again.


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## WouldaShoulda (Aug 5, 2009)

Thanks for the update.

You have an envious expense account!!


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## Bartleby. the Scrivener (Oct 19, 2012)

If you want local in DC, then go to Ray's the Steaks in Arlington, VA (between Courthouse and Rosslyn metros). It's reasonably priced and very good. He also makes a great burger (Ray's Hell-burger) down the street, which unfortunately, has become way too popular after the President visited it.

Here's Tom Sietsema's most recent review:

Editorial Review 
(Good)

_By Tom Sietsema_
Sunday, May 20, 2012
*Then:* The poor man's Morton's _(2009)_
*Again:* Morton's, move over

One of the hardest details for a restaurant to nail is consistency. Ray's The Steaks offers reliable sizzle. Even though we haven't had a date in a while, the Arlington steakhouse I remember for its wide variety of cuts, family-style side dishes, carefully chosen wines and easygoing service sticks admirably close to the original recipe written by owner Michael Landrum.
Ray's short list of appetizers includes tasty blackened scampi, sherry-laced crab bisque and "devilishly good" deviled eggs stuffed with steak tartare that aren't nearly as generous as on my last visit. This time, the eggs tasted mostly of capers and yolk.
Next visit, I'm cutting right to the meat of the matter. I'm partial to the restaurant's "butcher" (proprietary) selections, cuts overlooked in a lot of meat markets. They include the ropy-but-succulent onglet and the crown of rib-eye known as calette, the latter enriched with a coin of shallot butter. As ever, you can upgrade to dry-aged, bone-in steaks.
New since my last gorge: Grass-fed beef from a Virginia farm, which I experienced as a fist-size, lean-tasting, 10-ounce sirloin of satisfaction at the suggestion of my server. "I'd rather eat meat from happy cows," she said, explaining why she steered me away from the Midwestern competition.
Friends and I washed back the entrees with the aptly named Racy, a peppery, cherry-bright blend of cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc and zinfandel from Naughty Cellars in Napa Valley.
The creamed spinach doesn't stint on garlic, and the mashed potatoes aren't shy on butter. Included in the cost of an entree, they make perfect sidekicks.
Cheesecake from Carnegie Deli in New York is a suitably Sybaritic way to end a beefy, buttery dinner, but I actually prefer the Key lime pie baked in-house. There's (dense) chocolate mousse, too, in three shades of chocolate: white, milk and dark.
Dishes are occasionally auctioned off ("Who gets the rib-eye?"), and the decor is consciously neutral. But if you've come for a soup-to-nuts steak experience that won't force you to choose between meat and the rent, the always-busy Ray's The Steaks is what you want to squeeze into for dinner.


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## Snow Hill Pond (Aug 10, 2011)

WouldaShoulda said:


> Thanks for the update.
> 
> You have an envious expense account!!


Thanks. However, all meals were on my own dime. Don't believe in sticking it to the man. The only big expense was RC, but living in the stix of NEPA, I've been saving my pennies to eat out.


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