Ippys

What a fun find this place is. We ate in the bar. I was a little worried about the smoking, but it was just fine. Really. We got the royal treatment by the delightful Jodie. She is one of the owners and the cook. I felt like I had known her for years. All of the customers were just as delightful. All were quite helpful in our food selection.
We started with Oyster Rockefeller. Perfectly done. Not over cooked at all. Jodie also sent out some delicious shrimp and onion rings. Then on to a fillet and a sirloin strip. They were perfect to our specifications and were so much better than we assumed they would be. They make all of their own sauces and dressings.
I am so happy to find this place. We have slim Pickens for good dinning in this area.
Try it. You will like it. We met some great people (all so friendly). We will be there regularly now and hope to see you there also.

Ippy's isn't bad. But it's not great either.

With a lot of my extended family living in the Rocky Mount area, I've been to Ippy's several times and each time thought it was pretty mediocre.

While it definitely markets itself as a high quality steakhouse, their steaks are decent, but far from knock-your-socks-off.

I've been pleased with several of my salad, steak and potato meals that I've ordered at Ippy's. I've walked away from the dining experience not hungry anymore, but with no real lasting incentive to go out of my way to have those Ippy's flavors visit my palette again.

In an area generally devoid of any sort of fine dining experiences, I can see how Ippy's is seen as a cut above the rest. But when compared to other high quality steak experiences, it falls pretty short.

Come on, fellas! This is the nicest sit down DRESSY dining establishment in Rocky Mount. Don't wear your work boots, NASCAR hat, and Wrangler jeans here on a date with your wife. And especially not on New Years Eve! GEESH.

My parents wanted to take me here for dinner on New Years Eve since they've been talking up the homemade food prior to my trip home, and I was anxious to try it.

So that morning, I called and made reservations for that evening at 8:00 (I know, right? Same day NYE reservations?)

We arrived on time, dressed nicely. In fact, we were the nicest dressed group there. There was no wait, and we were seated immediately. When our waiter came over to take our drink orders, my step dad offered to be the "DD" and let mom and I throw back a few cocktails. I asked for a "Ciroc and tonic" and the waiter proceeded to do a little "dance" that he apparently does when nervous. He kind of hemmed and hawed and shifted his weight around and cracked his neck while the 3 of us just sat and stared at him -- I finally said, "Do you have Ciroc?"...

More dancing and fidgeting. I said, "It's a vodka?"

He goes over to the bar and checks. No Ciroc. So mom and I decide on 2 champagne cocktails.

AGAIN.... with the dancing and twitting around......(I've never seen anything quite like it). It turns out he doesn't know what that is, and tried to offer us a bottle of champagne. I explained to him what it was. He went back to the bar to check on it for us. Unfortunately they couldn't make individual champagne cocktails because they don't sell enough of the bubbly to warrant it. If we had wanted to, we could have bought an entire bottle and had the bartender make them for us that way, but it would have been too much for just 2 people. In the end I ordered a whiskey sour (no dancing occurred), and mom ordered a gin and tonic.

The drinks came. And oh my God were they strong and delicious! I think my whiskey sour and mom's gin and tonic were both in the area of $6.00 each.

Our waiter was really a nice guy. He was fast, personable, and efficient. He's just got to brush up on his cocktails and liquor!

For an appetizer we all shared the stuffed mushrooms, which are filled with crab and shrimp meat and served with a butter-garlic reduction. I wasn't sure about ordering them at first since so many restaurants can mess up mushrooms so easily, but these were huge, tender and overflowing with delicious buttery seafood.

For entrees, we all ordered the petite filet mignon, which comes with a house salad (homemade croutons), choice of potato (I chose mashed, my parents chose baked), and the table is served a basket of their fresh, still warm, made from scratch bread. All three steaks were absolutely perfect and cooked to medium rare. They were juicy and overflowing with flavor. Honestly, it's a struggle to find steaks that good in Los Angeles, (and you won't find them anywhere near the price that Ippy's has them for). The food was incredibly fresh, notably fresh - even. I didn't get the sense that had been sitting around in the pantry or freezer for a while.

Out of service, food, and ambiance - the ambiance is what needs the most work. They have this great building, with multiple rooms, one of which has an enormous fireplace. However, the tables and chairs look like what you would find in an old Church banquet room, and the artwork and light fixtures leave a lot to be desired. Although everything is clean, it's just all really dated looking.

My parents love Ippy's and I'm sure I'll be going back with them again this Christmas. :)