Peterson's Restaurant

Quick and dirty:  Upscale atmosphere with a good wine and food selection.  Very good food and excellent service with a noise level that permits reasonable conversation even in the bar.  We often stop here midweek after work for wine and munchies from the appetizer menu.  Over the last few months, the appetizer menu has been shrinking, but good selections still remain.  The have a very good wine list both by the bottle and by the glass.  Very good for both steaks and seafood.  They have one of the top two lobster bisques in town (they are tied with the Columbia Club in this regard).  Excellent steak toppers.  Be prepared - entrees and sides are al la carte.  Highly recommended.

On this trip, we went there at around 5:30 PM on February 13th (I'm a bit behind on my reviews) on one of our after work drop-ins.

We had their signature stuffed shrimp and the meatballs.

Shrimp:  "3 Shrimp Stuffed with Our House Made Crab Cake Mix, and Wrapped
in Applewood Smoked Bacon from The Smoking Goose."  Large, meaty shrimp stuffed with a crab mixture, wrapped in bacon, and baked.  The order normally comes with three shrimp, but they will add a fourth (so the order can be evenly divided by two) for a slight additional charge.  The saltiness of the bacon nicely sets off the tastes of the shrimp and stuffing.  The crab mixture has a good flavor and stands up well to the other taste combinations.  Recommended.

Meatballs: "A Family Tradition with 9 Meatballs, Brown Sugar Barbeque Sauce, Black Pepper Croustinis."  Very flavorful in a sweet barbeque sauce.  The meatballs are about an inch in diameter - nice single bites.  Recommended.

Overall good selection of liquor including makers, Johnnie Walker Blue, Black and others..

The food was good, but limited as we had a select menu in our room for the event.   The ceasar salad was good with just the right amount of dressing.  I had a chicken something or another for my main meal and they brought out some sides to share.  The mashed potatoes were very good and had good flavor.  The green beans were fresh and cooked well.  

Service was good.. they kept our drinks filled and took good care of us overall.

Why does Peterson's deserve 5 stars?  Because I can't find a reason *not* to give it 5 stars.  Not even close to finding a reason.

It's on the pricey side, but you're paying for excellent service and great food, so it's worth it.  I recently had dinner at Peterson's and chose the dry-aged NY Strip that was one of the specials that evening.  Not sure that I've ever had a better steak.  Perfectly prepared and even better than I expected it to be.

The building is small, but doesn't feel crowded.  Same with the bar - it's small, but I've never felt crowded there.  

Definitely check Peterson's out the next time you are in the mood for a steak.  They have some excellent sounding seafood option, Gunthorp Farms chicken and at least one pork entree but I've always gotten a steak the times I've been here.