Cork'n Cleaver

Loved the atmosphere, but can't figure out why the salad bar is considered "awesome". It's a regular salad bar. Having said that, the food was great. Steak was delicious and sides were great.

Crab cake app was ok with more filler than I am used to. Service was good and prices were moderate for a steak and seafood menu. Loved the actual menu (it's a clever with the menu on it). Point being, bad spot to bring a boyfriend or girlfriend to break up!!!!!

This place was a trip. It offered completed dated food and decor but offered it so unapologetically and confidently and without a trace of irony that it simply has to be admired.

You order off a heavy Japanese cleaver that the menu is etched into. The lighting is dim and what light there is reflects off the metal making it almost impossible to read. Etching your menu into heavy (expensive) steel is, in itself, an act of confidence. It's also a sign that the menu isn't changed that often. This one was last changed, I'd guess, sometime around the time of my first date, say 1986. Lots of Southwest and Teriyaki. Are you jonzing for a Teriyaki Filet Mignon? They offer it. Really. They do. Also, if you've not had Hawaiian chicken in a while, they have it.

My wife and oldest daughter had the New York Center Cut which was cooked perfectly. Their sauces very nice. Youngest daughter had the ribs which she said was a bit spicy for ribs described as sweet but otherwise AOK. I ordered the pork chops which were a bit dry but otherwise AOK. Our potatoes were cooked perfectly. If you go here, you go for the steak. For apps, we had blackened shrimp which were blackened...and spiced too much. Then little Beef Wellingtons. Skip these. They were less than bit sized bits of beef wrapped in an undercooked dough.

The decor was first designed (or last designed) in the 1970s, I'm sure the place rocked the haute culture when first opened. It has nice leather club chairs and heavy dark paneling and exposed dark brick in the multiple fire places. It was the type of places you see men take their wives on their anniversary in 1970s sit-coms. I'm sure Bob took Emily there at least once a season. Yet, someone flinched. In the 1980s, when the southwest craze hit restaurants, the management bought some Mexican kitsch and tossed it around the place. But it was done in such an awkward way that it borders on disdain.

The staff was young and professional. Service was excellent. These folks are well-trained. We were there with a party of 11 and it was handled wonderfully. Everyone was served within a few minutes.

I'd normally give this place 3 or 4 stars but it's not in a time-warp by mistake. Management and staff care about what's going on here. It's stuck in the 70s ways has to be deliberate. It's a big middle finger to modernity and whimsically changing restaurant fashion. It's saying "you people go ahead and change, we're good the way we are." And, to be honest, they are.

Stopped by for drinks with my fraternity brother and his wife.  I was staying at the Marriott so they suggested this place right next door.  It was a Tuesday night and I was amazed at how packed the place was.

Since the parking lot was full, I ended up walking over from the hotel.  Nice bar area with dark wood finish.  It was pretty loud but we caught up on our lives.

I'm going to be heading to the fort often and will need to come back for some steak.