Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse is a national restaurant chain unlike any other. Here you will have an elevated dining experience, and not simply a meal. I’ve had quite a few friends tell me that they considered it to be the perfect choice for a special occasion.

Chattanooga recently welcomed Ruth’s Chris Steak House to the community, and I had the opportunity to enjoy a beautiful meal with just my husband at the restaurant. I’d love to share my experience with you. Even if you don’t live in the area and won’t be visiting this particular restaurant in the forseeable future, I think this will give you a good sense for what the Ruth’s Chris dining experience is like!

Why A “Ruth’s Chris Night” Was Needed

First I want to explain to you why such a special date night was in order for Tim and me. We weren’t celebrating an anniversary or a birthday, but we WERE celebrating surviving Layah doing what she does best: make some serious mischief. The day of our date, she broke my favorite pair of glasses, and learned how to open a nail polish bottle by herself, ruining the bathroom rug and her very best dress, which she had on for the first time that day, before mommy realized what was happening. And might I also mention that the day before she took her diaper off and flung it across the room…and it was a DIRTY diaper. Poo in my hair. I don’t think I need to say more…

So yeah, as we were pulling away from the house, this is how I was feeling:

When we arrived we were greeted with complimentary valet parking (which is something you will find for dinner service at every Ruth’s Chris restaurant). We were then ushered in to a gorgeous dining room and presented with our menus. Which looked like this!

How fancy! The menu was presented on an iPad! Additionally, we were given traditional menus. I actually found myself using both. I wanted to unplug from technology on my date, so I reached for the traditional menu first. But then I realized that the iPad version offered beautiful photos of the food and drinks, as well as wine pairing suggestions with the entrees. I couldn’t resist, so I started using the iPad, as well. What I loved the most about the iPad menu was the fact that you could mark anything you wanted to consider and then look at your narrowed down selections more closely. You could even email your selections to yourself if you wanted (and I did!). What a fun way to keep a memory of your special date and all that awesome food and drink you enjoyed!

And just in case you were wondering, you DON’T use the iPad to actually order your food. You are still receiving absolutely outstanding customer service from your wait staff. Between the regular menu, the iPad, and our server offering her thoughts on the selections, I felt that we made some very well-informed choices.

I also appreciated the fact that we were encouraged to take our time, and order anything we wanted as we were ready. So we ordered our cocktails and then just enjoyed a few minutes of relaxed conversation (yes, we actually got to talk without being interrupted by our children! It was glorious!) before even thinking about dinner.

We had a delightful time enjoying our cocktails, some delicious bread and an appetizer that was simply a joy to eat! I try to keep an eye out for dishes that I can’t easily replicate at home, and veal ravioli is definitely in that category!

We had a fair amount of time in between the appetizer and the entrée portion of the meal, which meant we got to go around the restaurant and explore. It really was a beautiful building; I loved all the decorating they did using wine bottles. Very clever!

Before too long, though, our entrees were headed our way. I got the mixed grill option (our server called it “a tour of Ruth’s Chris”) and Tim got the New York Strip. They were simply stunning, and still sizzling from the 1,000 degree oven (!).

We also each selected a side (side dishes come separate from the main course at Ruth’s Chris). I went for the asparagus with hollandaise and Tim went for the au gratin potatoes. The portions are very generous and meant to be shared, which is really nice!

Finally, it was time for dessert. We went with the warm apple crumb tart and only go through about 1/3 of it because we were so full!

Thankfully, all of our leftovers were able to come home with us, beautifully packaged in sleek black boxes (I felt fancy just eating the leftovers!). What an experience it was to dine at Ruth’s Chris Steak House! I definitely would call it a special occasion restaurant, but I would also say that sometimes “we survived the week” is reason enough to treat yourself to something this wonderful.

Have you ever dined at Ruth’s Chris? What did you order? 

If you live in the Chattanooga area, don’t forget to follow the new restaurant on Twitter (@RuthsChrisCHA).