Arnie Morton's of Chicago
Categories: Seafood, Steakhouses, American (Traditional) [Edit]
Neighborhood: Burbank3400 W Olive Ave
Burbank, CA 91505 (818) 238-0424
- Hours:
Mon-Fri 11:30 a.m.-11:00 p.m.
Sat 5:30 p.m.-11:00 p.m.
Sun 5:00 p.m.-10:00 p.m. - Price Range: $$$$
- Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
- Parking: Valet
- Attire: Dressy
- Good for Groups: Yes
- Good for Kids: No
- Takes Reservations: Yes
- Delivers: No
- Take-out: Yes
- Waiter Service: Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
- Outdoor Seating: No
- Good for: Dinner
- Alcohol: Full Bar
49 reviews
Los Angeles, CA
"Really excellent summer seafood meal! I highly recommend this restaurant for all to try. I had tried this restaurant many years,…" read more »
25 Reviews for Arnie Morton's of Chicago
Came here for a dinner party a couple years ago.
Man oh man, the steaks, prime ribs, all really bad.
The service was on point - attentive.
But really, I'm not sure if this was because we had such a large group or what. But the food really was so VERY VERY disappointing.
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I came here for dinner and was impressed with the decor and service. The staff is helpful and the service was phenomenal. You can also check out Jay Leno and Dr. Dre's bottle collection. The steak is very delicious. I highly recommend the ribeye steak with crab meat. Try it with lobster bisque too. It is very delicious. Unfortunately, we didn't have any room for dessert. If I had room for it, I would try the souffle or the creme brulee.
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i went here last night for a lecture, in place of my boss... she couldnt go and asked if i wanted to take her place.
boss: can you go?
me: what do i have to do?
boss: just show up and listen
me: where is it?
boss: mortons in burbank
me: IM THERE!!!!
ive been to the mortons on la cienega a couple of years ago, when i went with my bf at the time. we were, i guess you could say young and the atmosphere was definately "mature". it was a nice change.
last night was laker game night. i was suprised to see that people were in the bar watching the game AT mortons. our lecture was inside a private room, which they closed the doors and most of the people in the lecture were laker fans, so we'd get periodic updates by some guy on his crackberry. but lets not talk about that game....
anyway, we had a menu to select from... ribeye, salmon or chicken. of course i had the rib eye, medium rare please. YUM. also had a tossed salad with a light blue cheese dressing, which i didnt quite enjoy because the lettuce was really soft and wilty. the garlic mashed potatoes were DELICIOUS. the sauted spinach and mushrooms were okay. new york cheesecake was DELICIOUS. i was a little disappointed though that the coffee was luke warm =(
after i started eating, i stopped listening to the lecture. i couldnt help it. i was savoring my ribeye ;)
there were just a few things that were disappointing of mortons but it might just have been because we were party of about 40 =P i still like mortons, but maybe i'd go to the one in LA instead...
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Ugh. Sure can't recommend Arnie Morton's in Burbank. Maybe the one in Chicago, but Burbank? No.
Friends took me here to celebrate a birthday, with a reservation confirmed at 7:30 p.m. We arrived early, Miss Oh-So-Precious at the entrance verified our 7:30 reservation, and we decided to have a celebratory drink in what turned out to be the restaurant's tiny, claustrophobic, LOUD bar. It's a good thing we weren't itching to get plastered because the drink waiter managed to ignore all tables in the bar. I finally had to go up to the bar and order the round and carry them back to our table.
When 8:05 p.m. arrived, we checked back on our 7:30 reservation and Missy I-Hate-Your-Guts receptionist shrugged, "Oh yeah - it's ready." Taken aback, I asked, "Did we miss you paging us for our table?" and she growled, "No."
Then Mr. I-Hate-You-Even-More waiter came by, displaying a tray laden with the various meat cuts and side dishes that are wrapped in cellophane and kinda look unnervingly like those glazed, plastic "Sushi Platter No. 7" selections displayed in all the Asian restaurants in downtown L.A. The food was decent -- everything is a la carte, so prepare to rack up a hefty tab -- but nothing you can't find elsewhere, in a much more amicable, courteous atmosphere.
The Dining Room is also shockingly loud -- with a decibel level rivaling a jam-packed Rose Bowl on a day when UCLA is playing USC. Maybe it's acoustically designed that way, in order to drown out the screams of shock when the bill arrives for what turns out to be a very medicore dining experience.
A very disappointing evening.
So I guess what I'm reviewing here is a specific event, rather than the restaurant.
I did their Imperia Vodka/Caviar tasting.
Well. There was vodka. There was virtually NO caviar, and what was there was cheap and poorly served. Little spoons fulla sour cream with so few eggs on top you could actually count 'em all out. Three eggs in a heaping spoon of cream might look nice, but is entirely pointless.
So NOT a caviar tasting. Not by a long shot.
There were a bunch of tall bar tables around the room, and some chairs against the wall, but no tables and chair, like, together. So you could stand and eat at a table. Or sit and eat on your lap.
Imperia brought some lovely drink suggestions. A peppery cucumber beverage. A very sweet but yummy muddled raspberry confection. And my favorite: a limoncello/thyme 'tini that, although too sweet for my diabetic ass, was really lovely and I plan on making my own less-sugary version with lemon juice and thyme and maybe just a wee bit of simple syrup.
But did the drinks go with the food? Eh. The desserty raspberry one served with over-dressed smoked salmon was an odd pairing. The cuke with the caviar made sense...if there had actually been caviar. The lemon/thyme with the steak was a good idea.
The steak was pretty good. Figures, since it's a steakhouse. But, truly, only "pretty good." The smoked fish was downright chewy and gummy. We've already discussed the abomination that was the caviar.
Service was spotty. Since it was buffet-style everyone got little plate after little plate. The folks at each station gave mean little servings forcing everyone to go back again and again to fill up. Eventually our table was piled high with bread plates before they finally sent in reinforcements to clear away the teetering stacks of dishes. one plate and three stations would've been a lot more logical. But whatev.
It was weak. The lemon/thyme/vodka combo was interesting. My cuke drink was nice, if WAY too salty on the rim. But everything else just smacked of crap.
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Hands down, this has to be my favorite steak house. I have been here several times, and I have never been disappointed. The service, food, quality and entire experience are all wonderful. If you like steak, great salads, fresh vegetables and good wine, you should definitely check this place out. Yum!
They also have a great lunch menu!
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AWFUL! The Morton's Police should hand out felony convictions for bad steak, poor veggies and obnoxious service.
I've been to every Morton's betwixt here and Chicago and this is plainly THE WORST.
I'm arraigning the culprits on the following charges:
1) Willfully serving a poorly trimmed Ribeye
2) Excessive use of Fat
3) Misreprenting an asparagus
4) Noise in the First Degree
Plus, because I was alone, then kept asking me if I "wanted a magazine" or something....what the hell? They asked me three frickin times over the course of my dinner. Do I look like some chucklehead who needs a magazine to enjoy my steak? Not - or, perhaps to wrap it in before I FEED IT TO MY DOG.
Morton's Police - book 'em.
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I came here to eat for NYE dinner, and let me say, I was very meh. First of all, we came to our reservation on time and the hostess said to us, "It'll just be a few minutes, we're cleaning up a table for you guys". lies. We waited. We waited. Ms. Love-Hewitt came in and of course was seated immediately. Wtf? Jay Leno? Yes. Nicole Kidman? Ok. But, J. Love-hewitt? I could do Party of five...or whatever. I can sing barenaked better than SHE can. haha, i kid. A little. Her dress had ruffles and ridges, just like the chips.
We got seated at 8:45 (our reservation was at 8). That really pissed me off. I got places to be! They didn't even come up to us and apologize or let us know what was going on, we had to talk to them. And when we did, they didn't say sorry, they were just like "oh its because blah, we'll seat you as soon as you can". Am I at Sizzlers or Mortons? Not that I expect a free meal or anything, but if I'm expected to honor my reservation, you should honor yours. Same story with the party behind us, so something really was fucked up the way they did their reservations. And i really love how at like 8:35, parties came in for their 8:30 reservation, and the hostess told them the same exact thing she told us. SUCKAS.
Ha. Anyways the food. I got the single cut filet. I really wanted to try the Tuna Steak, but I only have steak like once a year, so I went for the steak. The steak was really good, and soft and juicy. Almost perfect! We got the Tuna tartar appetizer, which was reallllyyy good, but in NO way worth 16 dollars. I've had a better one for 11 dollars at Bistro Ka. The sides were meh and overpriced. Good potatoes, but I've had better at CALIFORNIA CHICKEN CAFE. We paid 10 bucks for a steamed broccoli. And my mom could top their green beans ANY day. For dessert, I had hot apple pie with ice cream. It was really good. Supposedly their famous molten choc cake was supposed to be the best thing, but my table said my apple pie was bettuh. So there.
Service was okay. Busy. Loud. And that host service? Ugh. If I come back to Morton's, it just aint gunna be here. Mothafuckas.
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CAUTION: THE SERVICE IS TERRIBLE HERE!!!
Alright I am not going to write a lot because Patrick H. and Guy S. already said it all.
All I have to say is I am NEVER COMING BACK HERE AGAIN!!!
WHY???
- We waited 40 mins to be seated when our reservation was at 8pm!!! Ridiculous! This is unacceptable, even if its NYE, they need to be prepared for all of this.
- They nerdy host did not even apologize to us, how rude!!
-Our steaks were not sizzling like at Ruths Chris,Flemings and Mastros. It was just hot so the steak was not that great!
-everything else was just OK. Honestly Ruths Chris is the best and I am going to just stick with that.
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The steaks are standard affair. Out of Ruth's Chris, Mastro's, Turner New Zealand, Houston's, Lawry's - Arnie Morton's would be the last place I would go to. Everything is excellent, but nothing spectacular or out of ordinary.
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Overrated.
Yes, the steak is amazing.
BUT not the best I've had.
People like to come here because it's known for being host to various celebrities. Saw Jack Black, that anorexic chick from Gilmore Girls, and the guy from the El Pollo Loco commercials. Basically, I didn't care.
Service was so-so.
They know they're pulling a huge tip out of your pocket because of how pricy everything is, so they don't really care.
If you live near the Burbank area, and you're a meat lover, try it. They cook the steak to your taste and like I said, the food is really good. Oh, and it's a la carte, for those who were wondering.
We had a wonderful waitress, and I guess if you plan on having dinner there during a regular evening rather than the BUSIEST time of the year, they will seat you on time. Seriously people, you need to grow up--if you honestly think that they will have your table ready on time in a packed room, you have another thing coming. What, are you going to stand around everyone's table glaring at them so they will order, eat, and leave faster? Not likely. So don't complain.
Yes, the food is insanely expensive. I would say the price is comperable to Ruth's Chris, but the room has more of that "exclusive club" feeling, which I like. Everything is al la carte, so be prepared. My girlfriend had the Pearl Pomegranate Martini, which actually proved to be quite delicious. I didn't like their wine-by-the-glass selection, however, it wasn't vast enough for me. Most of their wines are designed to be purchased by the bottle, and seeing as I would like to avoid a DUI at all costs, I opted for a simple Merlot.
The bone in ribeye is incredibly juicy and cooked until there is that nice crispness to the top layer. The scallop appetizer was superb, and the petite filet really was quite tender. (Not mushy like the petite fillet at Ruth's Chris, which made me realize it's worth the extra 20 minute drive to satisfy my steak needs at a better establishment.) I liked the fact that I could see the chefs preparing all the food in the back, so it gave me the impression that we had our own personal cooking staff. The onion bread was so crisp and warm AND soft on the inside. Excellent. I could not complain.
I love it when my work decides to bring us here for AMAZING PHAT STEAKS AND WINE!!!
I probably couldn't afford to eat here unless work comped it. Sheesh, the petit filet I usually get is like $38, and then I can't resist the perfectly-cooked broccoli and HUGE asparagus spears served w/ a side of hollandaise sauce, and let's not forget their delicious caesar salad. Oh, sidenote? Their fries are perfection too!
The wine list is amazing in terms of selection. I hear that Jay Leno stores his own wine in the cellar here (okay, not sure what that adds to this review). Maybe just some star F***er points ;-) They serve Johnny Walker Blue too, for an after dinner drink - but I personally prefer a nice 12 year old tawny port.
Yep, chocolate souffle is beyond belief. (another sidenote, don't bother w/ the other souffles, they're boring!)
Service is absolutely impeccable from the host to the sommelier to the busboys.
Most def a 5 star place.
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Arnie Mortons is Wonderful and more of a classic type (old school) steak house . The service is impeccable and food is top notch. The drinks are very creative and yummy. For their dirty martinis they have blue cheese stuffed olives and many of their fruity martinis are topped with a grand marnier whipped cream! Their oysters on a half shell are excellent. Their Chicago bone in rib eye and Porter House steaks cooked medium-rare are prepared perfectly and of very good quality. They have 5 available varieties of Potatoes (mashed, baked, scalloped, hash browns and skins) asparagus and broccoli (steamed or grilled) and many other sides available. For desert go for their hot chocolate molton cake served w ice cream or one of their Souffles ( chocolate, Grand Marnier, and one other type available) to top off a great meal...and make it soooo you have to be carried out the door.
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My favorite steakhouse by far!!! They bring out all the meats in the beginning so you can choose your favorite cut. Bone in Rib eye of course...medium rare. The outer crust is perfectly charred and the middle is warm and buttery. I just wet myself thinking about it. The sides are so so...but you MUST order the BEST souffle ever here. Splurge a little on a good bottle of wine as well...anything less will detract from the great meat.
Spend the money...you'll be talking about it for awhile. I know it...
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I really can't believe it took this long to get a steakhouse of such quality into Burbank. Yum yum YUM!!!
My husband & I dined here 2 nights ago... we were lucky enough to get an offer from my credit card company that gave us 2 full meals (no drinks) for the awesome price of $99! This saved us mucho bucks, let me tell you (yes folks, what I'm saying here is that this place is $$$ but WELL worth it!)
Let us start with that incredible onion bread. Oh lordy did I have to hold back so I just didn't fill up on that alone! No really, want to know how good it is? I asked for the rest of the loaf to go!! Yum... eating it right now and it's just as good 2 days later ;)
Next up was the Caesar salad. Very good but not the best ever.
We each got the petit filet (medium) and it was cooked to absolute perfection, just as everyone else has said. A gorgeous crust on the outside and so juicy & tender inside you could nearly cut into it with a fork! On the side of that I had a delicious crab cake & we shared the baked potato (easily shareable with it's huge size!) & asparagus. Yes, these asparagus are like tree trunks but I still think they could do better on the flavor... just me though.
For dessert my husband had this warm chocolate cake & I had a fabulous slice of key lime pie. When it was all over, we were stuffed beyond BELIEF!
Almost forgot... we both had wines by the glass & this is the only area I was disappointed in. First, I expected there to be a sommelier here (do they have one?) Maybe only when you buy a bottle... I wish we had done that as their wine selection is phenomenal by the bottle yet pretty sad for glasses. I wound up with the J. Lohr sauv blanc as the best choice on the list (in my opinion) and even that was nothing to write home about.
On that note, as others have said yes Jay Leno has a wine case right up front. But even better? So does Dr. Dre!! ;)~
My mom, sister-in-law, and I ate here before going to a taping of the Ellen show (which was disappointing by the way). We valet parked the car, and they kept it for the entirety of the Ellen taping, which was a plus, as parking is HORRIBLE out there! The steaks were awesome. Right up there with Fleming's and the greats. The baked potato was huge (and good!). Cool atmosphere too...at the front, they have vaults full of wine for various celebrities. Jay Leno is a regular there. They also have private rooms that you can have your meal in, which I'm sure a lot of celebs use if they are filming nearby. Good service too!
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First off, Happy New Year!
This was our choice for dinner on the eve of 2008. Patrick H., Sandy S., her sister and her boyfriend, and myself had made reservations here two weeks in advance for 8pm. We were all so excited. We arrived at Morton's right at 8 and checked in, we were told they were just clearing off some tables and it shouldn't be long. Perfect!...or so we thought. 8:20 rolls around and we still hadn't been seated. So I went to the hostess and asked her what the status was on our reservation. Her response was, "Were still working on getting your table, well seat you as soon as we can." So, I said OK, since I'm an understanding Host myself. So we waited some more, and 8:35 rolls around. I said to myself, if it reaches 8:40 and I'm not at my table something is going down. And to no surprise, we were seated right at 8:40. I'm sorry but waiting 40 minutes WITH a reservation is unacceptable. The head host there didn't even apologize or offer us anything as we waited or any kind of comp on our food. For this reason I am giving the restaurant 1 less star.
Now on to the food. Our waitress was really cute and really nice. We could tell she was really busy which made the service a little slow. The restaurant was packed. Hopefully they are a little faster when its not so busy. The waitress did a cute little presentation of their different cuts of meat, their lobster which was alive when she showed it to us, their different fish, and their vegetables as if we didn't know what a tomato and broccoli were.
I ordered the tuna tartare as an appetizer, and it was absolutely delicious! Maybe a little over priced but still very tasty. For my entree I had the single cut fillet. It was cooked perfectly just the way I wanted it and tasted great! As sides we all shared potatoes, green beans, and broccoli. And for desert we ordered their famous hot chocolate cake, which honestly isn't any different then any other restaurants hot chocolate cake, and an upside down apple pie which was delicious!
The bill for the 5 of us came out to $344. Not to bad. The food was great! The Service was slow. I would go back, but never on a busy night. From the time we got to the restaurant to the time left was a total of 2 hours and 35 minutes. That's a long dinner if you ask me. 40 minutes of which were spent just waiting for a table when we had reservations! Oh well! Thanks Morton's for a delicious New Years Eve dinner!
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About once a year I like to go nuts on a steak (usually father's day.) Last year it was Ruth's Chris, the year before that it was Taylor's, the year before Pacific Dining Car. This year I finally hit Morton's.
It definitely met my expectations. Service was prompt and professional but our gal wasn't the slightest bit stiff. The iceberg wedge was fantastic and big enough to split 4 ways. My double filet was crusty-yum charred on the outside, perfectly medium inside. The chicken entree was large enough to split amongst the other three (ladies with smaller appetites.) The sides didn't exceed expectations but were very good. The hot chocolate cake was heaven for my chocoholic ass.
$30-$50 per person. I'm quite interested in sharing the double porterhouse at some point. 5 stars.
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How do I love thee? Let me count the ways....
1.) Your onion bread so so warm, tasty, and delicious. Even though I know I shouldn't, I tell the waiter to keep them coming, because I could eat it all day long.
2.) I love how your waiters show you each type of steak you can order
3.) I love how the outside is crispy and the inside is deliciously, perfectly medium rare and tender.
4.) I love your awesome, amazing souffles, they are to die for.
I could probably write a ton more about the little things here and there, but let's not waste both of our time. It's amazing and you must go!
*update- they have a happy hour where select items on their bar menu are only $5! The spinach/artichoke/lobster dip was gross... I think the artichoke taste was too over powering and it triggered my gag reflex... bleh. The blue cheese fries were good, but just good not great. The prime rib sandwiches were good but I think I would have enjoyed it more if it came with au jus... but hey these were all only $5!!! I definitely don't recommend spending the full price amount for this, but for $5 it's WORTH IT! Our souffle came a little late and when we mentioned it to the waitress she apologized and took it off the bill for us. I thought that was really nice and she didn't even have to do that, because we really didn't even mind that much, but that just goes to show how willing they are to accommodate us.
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What?! How has someone NOT reviewed this location yet. Talk about wheeler dealer, shaker money maker studio power player central.
Bad, bad Valley-ites!!
First of all there's the MEAT. As a true meat lover, this place is one of those places where the right side of the menu seems to blur in my mind, because if I want a steak that's worth auctioning off grandma for, I'm willing to pay! That said Morton's delivers. A few weeks back I had a porterhouse steak that was absolutely insane. Perfectly cooked, melt in your MOUF perfecto!
Then there's the steak salad. When I'm not feeling like a total meat whore, I will opt for this as the dressing is divine and it's big enough to either satisfy a starving girl on her lunch break or share with a co-worker. Although, who are we kidding....get your own!! Grrrr :)
Now those are all fine and dandy, but now let's get to the reason that people's eyes literally roll back in their heads at the mere mention of it. We're talking about none other than the Chocolate Velvet Cake. I am not a religious person, but after breaking into this cake with a fork and seeing the divine streams of chocolate love pour out of it as it dances with the vanilla ice cream, you may just get me to agree to anything as I chant "Oh, my GOD" til the plate is licked clean.
If you haven't tried it, go for the cake, go for the steak and really anything on the menu. If you want the religious/orgasmic experience of the Velvet cake, you'll need to order it at the beginning of your meal, but don't worry, those dessert savvy servers won't let you forget about that one....and GOD do I love them for that!!
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Another entry on my ever-growing list of "I just don't get it" places. Way overpriced (look at the price for the iceberg lettuce wedge as proof), uptight service and good (not great) food combine for a dining experience that teeters somewhere between antiseptic and dreaded business lunch. In fact, it is the latter that gives this place its lifeblood. There really is nowhere else in the area for all of the Warner Bros. and Disney muckety-mucks to do their ass kissing. This is a place you have to go. Not a place you want to go.
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A very tasty lunch! No Peter Luger, but the tenderloin medallions were cooked exactly as I wanted and almost tender enough to cut with a fork. I went with 6 people on a weekday, and we were seated promptly. Everyone had a good time. Great for a once-in-a-while fancy work lunch.
THE Most Expensive Restaurant I've ever been to.
Had the Company Christmas Dinner there. The steak and lobster was $81.00! $81.00!! And that does not include a salad or any sides! A little bowl of mashed potatoes is $8.00. The portions are generous, so if you want to save money, split them or take half home.
No entry under $30.00 and no entrees include salad or sides.
Food was pretty good. Steak very tender. Service acceptable. But really, really, noisy. They need to kill the canned Musak.
Very slow service. The food was average and overpriced. Nice decor. The side dishes were tasteless when compared to other upscale steakhouses.
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