"I got the Japanese pumpkin salad, the skirt steak, and a trio of sorbets."
(in 5 reviews)
"For the dessert, I got the Chocolate "Kit Kat."
(in 10 reviews)
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Nick & Stef's Steakhouse
Rating Details »
Category: Steakhouses [Edit]
Neighborhood: Downtown330 S Hope St
Ste 12
Los Angeles, CA 90071
(213) 680-0330
- Hours:
Mon-Thu. 11:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.
Mon-Thu. 5:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.
Fri. 11:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.
Fri. 5:30 p.m. - 10:30 p.m.
Sat. 5:00 p.m. - 10:30 p.m.
Sun. 4:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Price Range:
-
$$$
- Parking:
- Garage
- Attire:
- Dressy
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- No
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- No
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- Yes
- Good for:
- Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
157 reviews for Nick & Stef's Steakhouse
Review Highlights
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When you think of steakhouses in l.a. you think of Ruth Chris, Morton's, Flemings, Cut, perhaps BOA, maybe BLT Steak....
rarely does Nick and Stef's enter the conversation...
Let me tell you Nick and Stef's deserves to be talked about because they served me one of the best medium rare rib-eye steaks I've ever eaten... the steak was perfectly cooked- medium rare warm pink throughout the entire piece of meat... every piece I cut into was perfect and consistent and melted in my mouth. the seasoning was dead on and needed no additional steak sauce or rub... This was a perfect meduim rare ribeye for $40...
my lady friend had a filet which was also cooked to perfection...
tried the caesar salad to start which was good but a bit overdressed...
for sides we had sauteed spinach and mac n cheese...
dessert- bread pudding with vanilla ice cream...
service is professional, pricing is fair, cocktails are strong...
yeah the location is downtown l.a., the restaurant is in between office buildings, but next time your thinking about steak in l.a., don't forget about nick and his twin brother stef...they cook some damn good steak!
Prime Rib! Prime Rib! Prime Rib!
Did I mention the prime rib? The last time I came here was probably 5 years ago. I returned recently and the prime rib was still one of the best I have had. Spectacular.
I have several issues with this place which includes the parking and actually getting into the restaurant. The other issue I have is the cost.
But! I would do just about anything for their prime rib. The sides are separate so you can pretty much design your own plate. The service is stellar.
Bonus!!! The name. What a perfect name for a restaurant. Nick H and Stef's. This is a perfect place to bring a loved one.
Out of my October 2009 DineLA Restaurant week adventures, Nick & Stef's was the best. Maybe it's not a fair comparison since I went to the other places for dinner but I have to say, I was really impressed by what $22 can get you.
The Japanese pumpkin salad was great for a salad, I'm just not a fan of salads. Others in my party had the Caesar salad, which was drenched in dressing - not recommended.
I have food phases - tacos, udon, burgers, sushi, etc. The worst phase was when I was "addicted" to KBBQ. Recently, I've noticed that I've been having a steak phase. When I saw skirt steak on the menu, I went straight for it. Obviously, skirt steak is no fancy cut of meat, but it was cooked well and the chimichurri sauce was delicious.
When it came time for dessert, I couldn't pass up the chance to try the Chocolate "Kit Kat" since Kit Kat bars are my favorite candy. It was rich and decadent and I was glad that the "bars" were very skinny. Good interpretation, but I still like regular Kit Kats more.
The only "problem" with the meal was the expensive parking. Even after validation, you have to pay $7 - hey, that's 30% of the cost of my meal.
This restaurant is absolutely scrumptious. Their signature technique is dry aging. I ordered the rib eye but also had the privilege of sampling the New York, both of which were very tender and extemely flavorful. A friend of mine considers Nick Stef's to be the best steakhouse in the country.
We also ordered the Caesar salad and BBQ shrimp cocktail. That salad is made tableside just to further prove its freshness and the shrimp were guaranteed the largest most succulent shrimp I have ever seen.
The service was also really great. Our server was professional and attentive but he also showed a lot of personality which is rare to find at some of these higher end restaurants. Overall the experince was great.
Second lunch here.
Underwhelming. The snoot factor and price does not make sense given the lack of service and quality of the food.
My sandwich again crappy. I should have sent it back and said bring me a real 12 dollar turkey sandwich with actual roasted turkey, not some "roasted turkey" of the cold cut variety on a crappy albertsons croissant.
Everything that was asked for or substituted came out wrong. I wanted sweet potato fries, I got regular, as did anyone else, who asked for anything other than the menu explanation.
Perhaps this place does steaks well. But if they cannot make my turkey sandwich work let alone get me the right fries, or my co-worker his steak at the correct temperature, or bring my other co-worker's burger out with the rest of the meals served... I am never coming back to find out.
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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2/27/2009
So you're co-worker gets into UCLA Law school and you're gonna go celebrate. But you get sat out on… Read more »
I came here for dineLA excited, but I left a little disappointed and unsatisfied.
The steak was undercooked and way too salty. (Same with my friend's.)
For dessert, I asked for the sorbet trio, but they told me they only had one flavor, which I said was fine, but when we were waiting for the dessert, they came out and said they actually didn't have any at all. I opted for the ice cream, since my friend got the kit kat, and it was simply ice cream. Nothing special.
The pumpkin salad was pretty good though - that was probably my favorite part of the meal, surprisingly.
Their chocolate "kit kat" dessert was good too, but it's verrrry rich, so you should split it among friends!
Service was excellent though. (5!) I kept drinking water because of my salty steak, but my glass was never more than half empty because they kept refilling it, and I never had to ask for it! Also, the waiter was all smiles and just very polite in general. :) I like.
Oh and parking was $7. Actually, we freaked out because the structure says $4 for every 10 minutes, but then the man working the garage turned over a sign that said N&S validates (I don't know why they didn't just have it showing in the first place!). A little expensive, but I guess most parking is expensive in LA.
Part of Patina group
330 S. Hope (Wells Fargo Bldg)
Seasonal three course lunch for $22.
Delicious pumpkin, goat cheese, and currant salad.
Nice salmon salad over spinach
Great ice cream desserts
Best steak salad I have ever tasted
Nice wine cellar and meat selection display.
Came here b/c some friends wanted to check out the dineLA offerings. But after looking at the set menu, i (luckily) decided to forego the dineLA's mid-level steak offering and went with the full aged steak (NY).
The steak itself was fantastic! medium-rare (although it came out a little rarer than expected, i wouldn't complain) The sides were good but nothing popped out as amazing. Service was excellent - on a wednesday night with 8 people. It wasn't terribly packed so we got plenty of attention.
Overall very good first experience here. relaxed atmosphere (although I think they could use some more songs on the overhead rotation. heard a few sinatra repeats), and great food. Just go with what they're known for, not some cheap cut.
over-priced steak house...
rib-eye steak..14 oz for $40 just way too small in size....
table side cesear salad was ok... but what is the point?
I guess that's why they charge $11... bullshit!!
Mostly people who dine here are stupid business-looking in suit dumbass, who use their company account to pay their bills!!
And for those who come here for just a burger meal.. you're fucking stupid dumbass!!
Two words: TOMATO SALAD. If you even remotely enjoy tomatoes, avocado and all things sweet, this is a must try. I must dissent the opinion of another reviewer who mentioned it having too much oil; I thought the amount of oil (with a sweet balsamic vinegar?) was just right. The burrata and clover was a nice touch and brought together everything perfectly. I'm unfamiliar with my cheeses so I had to do a little research a la Wiki: Burrata is a fresh Italian cheese, made from mozzarella and cream. The outer shell is solid mozzarella while the inside contains both mozzarella and cream, giving it an unusual, soft texture. [Salivating yet?] It is usually served fresh, at room temperature. The name "burrata" means "buttered" in Italian. I won't get into all the history of it because frankly, I just don't care.
That said, moving onward...
GETTING THERE
My friend made reservations using Open Table for 21:30 on a Saturday for my birthday. We were running late because of traffic and my friend not being able to find where to park (true, it makes no real sense that the address is 350 and parking structure is at 355 (Wells Fargo parking lot) but I digress. The maitre 'd was a good sport who was civil with me even after I called a second time to tell him we were lost and couldn't find parking, all the while with my friend's expletives in the background out of frustration. I heard him softly chortle to himself after I had repeated his question to her as to whether we were north or south on Hope Street. I am sure he heard her response to the question. As we walked through the door and before we even said anything to him he smiled and said, "You finally made it." A man with that kind of cheery disposition deserves a pat on the back - and a drink of his choice.
THE FOOD
a) Main course: 10 Year Anniversary Surf & Turf Special - Lobster and Petite Filet
What I did care about was the steak, as this IS after all a steakhouse. I read some stellar reviews about the ribeye but decided to order their 10 year anniversary surf and turf special for $39. Unfortunately, the filet did not live up to my expectations. It was good, yes, but I've had better versions, including my own. I ordered it medium rare and expected it to be a bit more tender. Lobster was good - but since I don't often have lobster and am by no means a lobster connoisseur, I can only say that I was happy with it.
b) Side Dishes
i. Szechwan long beans - Good, but nothing special. I was expecting it to have some kind of light Szechwan sauce, but it really was rather bland and something that I could've simply made myself.
ii. Butternut squash, oven dried tomato, fresh mozzarella - The butternut squash was good, but perhaps as a personal preference, I wouldn't have paired it with tomato. Either that or my taste buds had been spoiled by the freshness of the tomato salad. I still enjoyed it with my petite filet, especially the squash. I would've been happier with just plain squash or sweet potatoes though.
THE SERVICE
Because we were late, there was only 30 minutes eating time tops, which put a damper on my "quality time" with the food. The waiter was helpful, courteous and provided us with decent service. Our water and iced tea was refilled promptly and I can find no qualms here.
All in all I would only complain of one minor (and random) thing: steak knives. The steak knives were simply not sharp enough. I had trouble cutting through my steak and it got a little annoying (but I quickly got over it because the food was so good). They ought to consider getting new steak knives. Other than that I would totally come back to try the ribeye, sweet potato fries and relive the state of euphoria I was in with their tomato salad.
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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11/19/2007
Went here 2 summers ago after work with some co-workers for happy hour and dessert (complimentary… Read more »
We had a great dinner. Everything went perfect that night. The steaks were delicious and we enjoyed the atmosphere. We will return to try the happy hour. it is a must "take-a-date" restaurant.
Mojitos - yummy
Rib eye
10oz Filet
Mashed potato
Hazelnut Kit Kat
Food - 5 stars
Service - 5 stars
Parking - i don't remember where we parked
Restroom - never went
Wait - no wait had reservation
This is an expensive, upscale and modern steak restaurant downtown at the base of the Wells Fargo Tower.
While some steak restaurants focus on the steaks, this one pays attention to other menu items and the sides which are more interesting and creative than the steaks could be.
French Fry Review:
This restaurant has both regular and sweet potato fries served french style in a cone. They can provide barbecue sauce or other sauces for dipping. The fries are pretty good quality overall but expensive; to be expected in this high end restaurant.
This is one of my favorite steak houses. I always have a good meal here.
First, I know my meat. I cook steaks often and well. :) I love to find places like this that focus on quality. They have a New York steak here aged an extra 5 days that works out quite well.
Everything I've had here is great. I like the gourmet sauces that they have here. They do not detract from the quality of the steak. Sauces like this with steak are OK.
I've had the Kit Kat bar desert and it's a cool little treat to have after dinner. The cheese platter is good. The wine selection is good.
The only thing keeping this from being a 5 star location is ambience and location. It's not a bad location by any means but it's buried in the middle of Downtown LA highrises and doesn't sport a nice view. Food so far I would give it 5 stars!!! Very good place to have a steak!!!
I heard rumors they had discontinued happy hour. No, what they did was make it ALL night weekdays. Woah!!
Unfortunately, the $6 cocktails were crap. What the hell is this "blood orange martini?" No blood orange flavor. No booze. Yuck. I tasted someone's sangria that was awful as well.
It's much better to go with the $10 beer flight. For my second drink, I ended up with a glass of pinot noir for $6 that was pretty good.
I had a burger and it was decent. The sweet potato fries were pretty good. Derek Z suggested I dip them with mustard but I prefer them plain. Delicious, crispy sweet potato-y goodness!
Service on the patio was okay. The waitress forgot my water and eventually I had a food runner bring me a glass, then she showed up with several glasses. She had this look of "ooops, huh?" on her face. Ah well, it was fine. I appreciated the fact they let us take over the patio with 11 folks and let us snag all the available heat lamps.
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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11/8/2007
My downtown lunch buddy and I met up at Nick & Stef's today. I had previously visited this place… Read more »
GREAT appetizers! ordered a half dozen of oysters - very fresh!, and the seared scallops which comes with braised artichoke and pork belly - VERY tasty! i think those are the best of the night though - as well as the $9/glass the patina group merlot, very smooth and not expensive!
the steak... so-so... had their famous sweet potato fries and mac & cheese as the sides (towards the end of the meal i wonder why i ordered so much carbs? they are both just OK also...) their kit-kat bar with peanut butter ice cream really isn't that good as everyone else here has said... though what they say about the servers are true - they are not so professional..
i'd say that it's a great place for hang out after work for people who work in downtown... not for people who have to make the drive out there, plus being stuck in the LA traffic!
SALT!
The two stars are attributed to their aged beef and great wine program but neither of which I could taste do to the utter over salting.
Yum. Yum yum yum! This is in my top 3 of Steakhouses and they never fail to come through when I need a healthy dose of cholesterol (damn, forgot to take my lipitor).
Usually I'm a Porterhouse kinda guy, but I'm trying to shed a few pounds before Hawaii so I had the rib-eye. Best downsizing I've made in a long time! The steak came out perfectly medium rare, and the aging process adds a lot to the flavor and the tenderness.
Sides of creamed spinach, asparagus, mashed 'taters, and sweet potato fries were excellent. One of the guys had lamb for dinner, which I'm not a big fan of but his was delicious.
Service was great and our waitress Heather was funny, friendly, and easy on the eyes. And they had Leffe Blond on tap which brought it to the coveted 5 star experience. Parking in the Wells Fargo building is quick and easy, and validated! Just a quick hop from there to the Staples Center to the company suite (desert cart is awesome, oh well, fat guy on the beach coming up) to see my beloved Clippers beat the Knicks in overtime. All in all, a perfect evening.
The more and more I go to steak houses the less and less I am impressed. It kind of makes me sad. I kind of feel like the steak house really has to bring something special to the table, literally. Sorry that was a bad joke but I am sticking with it. I don't know what to say. I could easily give Nick and Stefs a 4. It probably deserves a 4, there's nothing wrong with the place. Fine waiters, wonderful looking restaurant and great food. I just didn't leave there particularly in love with my piece of meat. Interestingly enough when I went there I hadn't eaten a steak in about 6 months. I would go back again sure, in fact I suggest everyone to try it out. Maybe you can correct my judgment.
I came here for lunch today with 6 other friends. The place was a little hard to find because it's inside the Wells Fargo Center and after you leave your car with the valet guys, you have to go up an elevator.
As soon as we opened the door, our table was all set up and ready for us in the lounge area near the bar. We were seated immediately.
Right before we were about to order our food, a man with a huge camera came up to our table and asked, "Are one of you girls a yelper?" And my friend, Katie pointed to me and said, "She's a yelper!" And he excitedly turned to me and asked, "Are you THE yelper?" I was taken aback and said, "Um.. THE yelper? I'm A yelper...." Turns out that he was looking for a particular person who I guess is "THE yelper" and came here for lunch with a group of friends who also happen to be Asian. HAHA! That would have been funny if I posed as her and got interviewed and everything. HAAHHA Anyways, on to the food.
All of us ordered from the dineLA lunch menu. For appetizer, I got the Japanese Pumpkin Salad which was light and delicious, one of the best salads I've had at a restaurant. For entree, I got the Prime Hanger Steak. On the website, it says it's a skirt steak but at the restaurant, it said it was a hanger steak. I ordered it medium. It came with some warm, soft potato puree. The steak was really good and very flavorful. For the dessert, I got the Chocolate "Kit Kat." It's not REALLY a Kit Kat bar but they made it similar to one. It was very rich and delicious. All that for $22! Such a great deal! Overall, the food was great and the service was pretty good. I'd like to come back sometime to try the other stuff on their menu. :)
As my firm's office is nearby, I've eaten here a number of times. I'd really only eat here on the company's dollar. I think the place is way overpriced for what you get. It's great that they display the meats being aged - but at the end of the day it's the finished product that counts.
We had a table of 6 the other night and some started with the "tableside" Caesar salads and some with the soup of the day - Beef Barley. Now, the salad was prepared tableside, but I'm not sure anyone but me noticed. The server did not bother to say anything or try any type of presentation, but quietly prepared the salads in the background and then gave us our salads. I can't attest to the salad, but the soup was not bad.
However, we're all here for the steaks. A number of us got the porterhouse, there were a couple of filets, and one person got the elk chops (they were out of reindeer). I've had the bone-in rib-eye and new yorks before, so decided to try the porterhouse. I've always been rather disappointed with the steak, and this was no exception. It was cooked well, but rather bland. Nothing special. I honestly think an adept cook could make an equal steak on his/her stovetop.
The sides were okay. Mashed potatoes and sweet potato fries were plain and unoriginal. The green beans and mac and cheese are pretty good.
The server was kind to bring out some desserts on the house, for no apparent reason. Although, it might have been because the service was a little slow and she admitted up-front that they were short-staffed. She brought out 2 desserts (Lemon Meringue and Bread Pudding) for the 6 of us, which was a nice touch. They were both okay.
In all, I can't call this one of the top 10 steakhouses in LA, even if i disregard the prices. I think both Ruth's Chris and Morton's are better, and while you're at it, you might as well go to Wolfgang's or CUT.
Super yummy cocktail! No complaints. Staff seemed great.
I didn't quite understand why it wasn't more bumpin' seeing as the Laker's game was on.
How does downtown work? what's a good time to catch the after work crowd? early right? how early? and then, by the way, where do they go? Traffic indicates that there are trillions of people downtown. Where are all the good looking/interesting ones hiding? What's a good day for downtown? Fridays good or bad?
I liked this place though. Probably try it again sometime.
If you're feeling like some dry aged steaks, this is the place to go. I must go here about once every two onths. I can't get enough... If you love steaks , not bad to go try once. Get the pairing with the jumbo shrimp++
My bullet point list of why they're 5 star worthy:
*MAC and CHEESE....AAaahh, it must be sent from heaven, straight onto my plate! Orrrr....maybe the chef sold his soul to the devil (is it holy or evil? neither--just good).
*GREAT happy hour! During summer, wander on out to the patio where you might catch some live music. Once, there was a group traveling through from Britain (or was it Ireland?) who knew the regular music act, so they just jammed along w/them...awesome!
*MEAT. red meat, brown meat, pink meat...how you like? Gaze at raw meat....their big glass meat locker is on the way to the restroom.
*Located in downtown, at the wells fargo plaza, walking distance to museums, galleries & the library.
Nice for business dining. The steak is nice and tender. My friend loves loves loves their gnochhi. He even said it's better than what we had in Italy. Not sure if i concur, but whatever. I'd go again if I have to be in downtown LA and I want to drive some where safe to eat. Restaurant is far from "drive by" distance.
Came here for dinner and what could have been an ugly experience actually turned out quite pleasant. We came on a Saturday night at the peak of their busy dinner rush around 7:30-8:00. I made the reservations on-line a day in advanced via "Open Table" which confirmed via email. When we got to the restaurant, they insisted that I did NOT have a reservation. Of course, irony would prevail when my Blackberry battery died so I couldn't show proof with my email confirmation from Open Table. They were kind enough to make an accommodation and take us (FYI: most of these types of restaurants usually keep at least 10% of the tables available for those "just in case" scenarios). They more than compensated for this hiccup in the service... which was excellent! They would not let a single glass go empty, not a spot on a utensil, in depth explanations on menu selections, etc. The food was more than adequate. I had the surf-n-turf special with 1 1/2 pounds of the Spiny Lobster and Petite Filet. The Spiny Lobster was okay. It was cooked perfectly, but I can't recall the last time I was actually blown away by a locally caught Spiny Lobster. The Filet was cooked and prepared nearly perfect. The wife got the Rib eye which is supposed to be unbelievable since they age it 28 days. Unfortunately, it came over-cooked (medium-well vs medium-rare). However, they sent it back to rush back a perfectly cooked medium rare steak. Unfortunately, I was already more than half-way done with my meal... (what??? You can't let steak and lobster just go cold!). Desserts were so-so, nothing to really write home about. BTW, when I finally got to check my email AFTER dinner from the car, I had soon discovered several emails/missed calls from Nick & Stef's IN NY CITY!!!! Turns out, I made the [rare] bonehead move and made reservations with THE WRONG NICK & STEF'S. So, I would give 4 1/2 stars if I could. Would've been 5 stars if they didn't over-cook the rib eye. Things like that can totally screw up your evening, ya know.
Happy Hour Review
Food is tasty and well priced
Braised Rib skewers is off the hook
Lacking beer selection
I've been to Nick and Stef's on a few occasions. The steaks are delicious and the restaurant is nothing less than what you'd expect from a Patina Group flagship restaurant.
I've had the Argentinean skirt steak and the fillet. Both were spectacular. They specialize in aged beef and have the glass aging room in the back where you can see where your steak will come from. It's quite a spectacle. The sides were delicious and they even offered me a black napkin for my black slacks.
The only reason I didn't give this five stars is because, as a restaurant mere feet away from many professional services firms, it is a pricey place that attracts expense accounts. As a young professional, the environment can be a bit pretentious.
Love Nick & Stef's. The blue cheese sauce to go with their petite filet and the gratin potatos makes for an excellent meal.
I was on business in LA for a month pretty much alone. Celebrated my per diem with a meal at nick & stef's on average once a week. It's sad when the staff at a steakhouse starts to recogonize you ... that being said, they were always ultra friendy (i think they thought to themselves, look at that sorry person here again, alone) but always made a great reccomendation for a glass of wine to accompany my meal.
I used to envy my friend's fiancée who travels and eats on the Robb Report's dime, but after taking advantage of 7 dineLA-featured restaurants during the two weeks before they extended the offer till the end of the month, I want to stay in and cook some easy home food. I went to:
1. Gordon Ramsey - Jan 28, Dinner, $44: i enjoyed it
2. Patina - Jan 29, Lunch, $28: i loved it
3. Flemings - Jan 31, Dinner, $34: so-so
4. Nine Thirty - Feb 2, Dinner, $44: i enjoyed it
5. STK - Feb 3, Dinner, $44: so-so
6. Water Grill - Feb 6, Lunch, $28: i loved it
7. Nick+Stef's, Feb 6, Dinner, $34: i loved it
Compared to Flemings, I enjoyed the food at Nick+Stef's more even though Flemings gave more quantity at the same price. There seemed to be more thought put into each course at N+S's and it was cheaper than STK's.
I've had N+S's too many times for happy hour (braised ribs skewers I love!), a few times for lunch (I can do a full New York steak for lunch but boy is it heavy!), dined in the private room but never yet for dinner. After treating me to an extra-extended birthday week, I returned the favor a little by treating Jason to a nice steak dinner. We started out with the sommelier (aka Jason)'s choice - a bottle of Primus 2005 red blend from Chile. I was fine with it but I can agree with Jason that a lighter wine might have been even better.
My prix-fixe:
1) Salt Roasted Heirloom Beets - Oranges, Field Greens and Fromage Blanc Croutons. Definitely prettier and tastier than the Petit Iceberg Salad - Baby Tomatoes, Roasted Green Onion, Cucumber and Maytag Blue Cheese that Jason got. I hate iceberg lettuce so I didn't touch any of Jason's. He hates beets but liked the heirloom orange ones. Be smart. Get the Beets. Check out my pictures.
2) 10 oz Black Angus Sirloin Steak - side of JBS Potato Puree. Thick and juicy, this steak is almost worth the whole $34 itself. The potato puree (fancy for mashed) comes in a cute little pot that keeps it warm.
3) Honey Poached Seckel Pears - Cajeta Ice Cream and Hazelnut Shortbread Cookie. Definitely eat the pears first and then the ice cream that tastes like dolce de leche. A nice finish to a lovely meal
Kirk, the salt-and-pepper waiter is alright. He doesn't know much about the wine except memorizing where it's from and stuff.
Be sure to check out the dry age room in the back.
See pictures! http://www.yelp.com/bi...
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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10/10/2008
i've eaten here at least a dozen times for lunch and happy hour. i have no pics because i needed to… Read more »
The best steak I've had in downtown LA came from Nick & Stef's. When I lived in CA, I'd go there almost every time I headed downtown for work. Even now, when I visit LA, I try to get back.
It's a great atmosphere: killer bar, and good seating. Depending on the day and time, it can get busy; but I've never had to wait long to sit.
Oh, and great margaritas!
I had the oysters and giant scallops with cavier as appetizers. The scallops were very good - served over a small bed of sauteed veggies. The oysters were just regular raw oysters with cocktail sauce and lemon (pretty fresh though).
For the entree I got the grilled white fish over pumpkin risotto (one of the specials on that night). This was delcious - and the piece of fish was huge. I also tried the rib eye steak which was also good. As sides, we ordered the creamed spinach, garlic and bacon roasted potatos, and asparagus. All were decent - but nothing fantastic. The service was attentive, and they have an extensive selection of wines. The ice cream with assorted berries for dessert was the perfect end to a satisfying dinner. Dinner for two, with drinks, tax and tip will probably run around $240.
I know it's unrealistic but I think I fell in love with the restaurant before I even tasted the food. From some of the unique items of the menu to their self-aged steaks displayed through the glass windows, I was quite impressed. Out waitress was SUPERB and genuinely sweet, and was super awesome about taking our picture in front of the Aging raw steaks.
A few girlfriends and I went for dineLA and I must say the steak was IMPRESSIVE. I normally don't eat steak unless I know it's good. and man oh man was it tasty, juicy, and cooked perfectly. Their dessert Honey Poached Seckel Pears was DIVINE....
We tried the Mac and Cheese as well - which was good, but I typically prefer my mac 'n cheese more well done ;) but making that mac and cheese with Aged cheese was just brilliant.
I can't wait to go back and try everything else on the menu!!!
Another DTLA Happy Hour. Another Bust.
I don't even know how to rate this place 'cause I feel like I wasn't even there. Snoozefest '09. I had heard from a very reliable yelper this place was a "man mine", I think she called it. She promised me cute dudes in suits during happy hour.
Were we there on on off night? It was a Thursday and the Lakers were on!! There were no cute suits there. What gives? Is it me? Or is it all of you?
My wings and I decide to call it a night. Some ladies actually heckled me on my way out! One yelled, "see ya later, Fairy Girl!" and busted into a cackle of laughter. Hahahaha! Yes, Fairy Girl. I was wearing a white, flowing maxi dress. I realize I don't quite fit in downtown, but I feel like I can rock the fairy look anywhere. It's how I roll. Now, I'm not gonna hold it against Nick and Steph's (though I did dock them a star). But I would like to address this issue seriously. The table of women heckling me were, well, I'm not sure...rather invisable. Older, unattractive, approaching menopause. I'm out with my wings. My wingmen. We're here to support one another and help each other snag boyfriends. We are not joking. We are certainly not looking for fights. This is hard work. We are gathering intel, coordinating happy hours, ditching work and cruising suits. We don't have time to play mean girls. OK, Ladies? You won't find me and my wings sippin' on the haterade. We're wings. We're bringing the love and good vibes.
*side note: there is a huge walk in freezer/morgue filled with what looks like hundreds of rump roasts. I quess you can pick out your slab of meat?? Maybe I'll come back and loiter around here on a better night. Hahahaah....it's like a man trap!
Next stop Chaya happy hour. Heard it's "suits galore!" Wish us luck!
Went here last night with 6 friends for my birthday. Overall, it was a great meal. Most of us had the aged NY strip. AWESOME. Lauren B. must be on crack...I didn't even want to try any of their sauces because the meat was so flavorful. The desserts were great as well. I had the bread pudding, which was very good (but not as good as The Lobster's). Other friends got the Kit Kat dessert. Orgasmic. I love bread pudding, but I wished the waiter had brought out the Kit Kat dessert for me instead!
My only complaint about the restaurant is the Appetizer menu could be a little more diverse (it's pretty much all sea-food) and could be a little cheaper (ie $17 for TWO seared scallops).
Overall, a great meal and a great restaurant, but of course the best thing about Nick and Stef's (and ALL Patina restaurants) is NO CORKAGE!
Also, we learned too late that if you call ahead of time, you can have them set aside some of the Filet mignon unprepped and have it cooked as a Chateau Briand...
The meat was average.
The sides were average.
The service was average.
The experience wasn't worth the price.
Overall, not one of the top steakhouses.
I'm just glad that I've never had to pay for this place because its near our LA office and is a popular place for people to take staff out to lunch.
That being sad, I think this place is pretty freaking good. Outside of Kobe, Japan, this is the only other place I've had Kobe Steak (kobe-style because of US law), and had a very enjoyable experience.
Nick & Stef's is modeled similar to Morton's or Maestro's in LA. That is, order a steak, start off with a salad, receive your steak with a few select side dishes (i recommend the cheese mac and the sweet potato fries), select a sauce (if applicable, most of the time they just give you a little dish with all of the sauces you can choose from), a glass of red wine, and enjoy.
One of the true joys of any meat lover is walking to the restroom. Why? Because you pass right by the glass partition into the meat aging locker, which is a sight to be seen.
Overall, this is a great place for a well aged steak, and in some rare cases, a pretty tender, moist, and served literally falling apart 7-oz kobe style steak. The side dishes blow you away, and in the end, its still more affordable than other upscale steak places that might cost you an arm and a leg.
Went to Nick & Stef's for Thanksgiving dinner. I realize their thing probably isn't turkey (being that they're a steakhouse) but we were a bit disappointed overall. It was good, but not worth what they charged.
There was a group of about 12 people with us. We all planned on getting the Thanksgiving dinner special menu; that was offered as either turkey or prime rib - but they were all out of prime rib and weren't offering a substitution for it! After making a few requests, a manager came in and told us that b/c we were a big group they could make an exception and offer us the petite steak.
Beyond this, service was suuuper slow (though our server was very pleasant and found herself quite funny - she even snorted when she laughed!). When the turkey dinners finally came, everything was pretty much lukewarm and the turkey was actually cold. Ugh.
The stand-outs of the meal were the Caesar Salad and (I heard from a friend) the Japanese Pumpkin Bisque. Otherwise the main course was just so-so - although if the mashed potatoes had been a bit warmer I'd have died for a full plate of them.
Overall, not very impressed with a $32 turkey dinner that was mostly cold.
Went to Nick & Stef's Steakhouse last night with my best friend as part of the dineLA Restaurant Week. It was good, and the service was GREAT (although a bit slow, everyone was EXTREMELY nice) but we both agreed we wouldn't be headed back anytime soon.
Here's what we ate:
Salt Roasted Heirloom Beets - Oranges, Field Greens and Fromage Blanc Croutons:
This was really good. the greens were lightly tossed with sea salt. which i've never had before and I loved it! overall the salad was lovely
Grilled Chateau Sirloin Steak - Side of JBS Potato Puree:
Being a new steak eater, I discussed with the waitress how to have it cooked. we decided on medium - medium well, leaning towards the medium (hey, she suggested!) and it came out well done. it took me a few bites and my friend suggesting that i send it back because it was tooooo cooked. they apologized and agreed it was well done and sent out another one, which, was sooooo much better. the flavoring on the steak was really tasty and overall i was pleased with the entree.
Honey Poached Seckel Pears - Cajeta Ice Cream and Hazelnut Shortbread Cookie:
I have to be honest. we weren't too impressed with our dessert options, in comparison to other places and their tasty options. and when they brought this out, it looked just as mediocre. BUT OH MY was my judgement rash and way off! this dessert was divine. SIMPLY DIVINE.
overall, it was a great price for the restaurant week deal but both of us agreed we won't be chomping at the bit to return. but, i do have to say, our waitress was amazing and everyone there was just really nice.
My prime rib for lunch was tepid at best. Usually plates come out hot, this one came out cold. The meat itself was probably room temperature. The menu said it came with potatoes. It didn't. The wait time for the horseradish was about 3 waiters and a couple glasses of water. When it came, it was so creamy that it had more of a resemblance to mayonaise than horseradish. The only thing that saved this restaurant was the bread pudding. If you go, try the bread pudding. Don't hold you breath for the prime rib during lunch.
Go to Mastros Beverly Hills.
I had the best steak ever last Saturday at Nick & Stef's. According to their website, they only use "100% prime, specially selected, corn-fed, Midwestern beef, naturally dry-aged for 28 days to help tenderize beef while intensifying the flavor." And their steaks definitely live up to it!
We had a wedding rehearsal dinner in the back room and patio, with choices for each of the 3 courses. For the first course, I got the "organic baby mixed greens, baby tomatoes, blue cheese, fried ciabatta". Nice, light salad. For the second course, I ordered the "Petit Filet Mignon (8 oz.)", medium done -- which for me, was perfect. Check out my photos and you can see how delicious that cut looks. I'm telling you, it melted in my mouth!
Each table also got several sides: grilled asparagus with honey sherry glaze (asparagus was a little overcooked), butternut squash (tasted almost like candied yams!), JBS potato puree (fancy name for mashed potatoes), and French fries with garlic salt & parsley. OMG - the fries! I discovered that garlic salt for me is like a love potion for fries - I would've never eaten as much fries as I did except for the smell of those fries ... I fell in love .... the smell of frying garlic ... mmmmmm ...
For dessert, I chose the "dark chocolate & caramel mousse cake w/ Frangelico whipped cream & hazelnut cookies". Beautiful presentation, light, and absolutely delicious!
Kudos to the bride & groom for picking a fabulous place for their rehearsal dinner. Service was great, too. And valet parking is free up to 3 hrs.
