Review: Caesar's Steak House, Willow Park
Caesars Steakhouse, Willow Park
10816 MACLEOD TRAIL SE
(403) 278-3930
Ambiance: 4/5
Service: 5/5
Food: 4/5
Value: 4/5
Overall: 4.5/5**
Summary: Having overlooked Caeser's dozens of times, a chance encounter and spontaneous decision allowed us to finally experience this lovely restaurant. Full of classical charm, early-90's style (that's a good thing), and classical roman decor, Caesar's is an exceptional experience.
Introduction:
Caesar's is located in the same plaza as Sushi Ginza, the Broken Plate, and the Ginger Beef Peking house, so I suppose one couldn't blame me for having overlooked Caesar's so many times. While I had always wondered about what the restaurant was like, I had never had the time or opportunity to venture inside.
I was at the intersection directly to the north of Caesar's when I asked my date if she'd rather go to Caesar's (as opposed to Earls). She replied with a casual "doesn't matter to me", so after a very illegal three lane right turn we were parked and good to go. I was surprised that there was no wait for a table given that it was 7:20 on a Friday night. Regardless, we were sent straight in and sat at a nice table right beside the glass-wall encased grill. How charming.
Service:
Our server was a middle aged Greek-looking gentleman, whom neither one of us could really understand. His speech seemed dulled, but he carried a certain aura of confidence and poise that seemed to make it all work well for him. Following his recommendations, we started with the escargot, followed by French onion soup, a house salad, and our steaks.
Our server knew exactly when to bring each course, when to accompany the course with our drinks, and was always on the ball. At no point in the evening did we go without drinks, water, or garlic toast (served in lieu of regular bread). He had a warm smile, chatted with us just long enough, and was always "right there" when we needed him.
It was the kind of service that an exceptional restaurant should have, and the kind of service that would take a truly average restaurant to much higher levels. That server could make Joey's look like a 5 star dining room.
Honestly, I could shower down praise for another 500 words before I had run out of good things to say, and so I'll simply conclude with the confident assertion that the service I experienced at Caesar's was perhaps some of the best service I had ever experienced anywhere.
Atmosphere:
Classical styling, including roman pillars, carvings, and statues, dominate the dining room. The centre piece is, of course, the glass-walled grill where you could see the chef preparing each piece of meat that was being served. Watching half a dozen New York striploin steaks being prepared is enough atmosphere for me, as the Chef is simply masterful at his craft.
Red is a very dominant color, with just about everything having a little bit on it. The lighting is dim, but in that "early-90s dim" kind of way. It reminds me of going to a place like Hy's or, dare I say it, Ruth's Steakhouse in Toronto (home of the best $100 steaks you can buy). The decor, combined with the way that all of the staff are uniformly dressed (they even had a Niles Crane lookalike working that evening), give the restaurant a truly polished feel.
Now, that's not to say that the old-school charm isn't without it's drawbacks. I, for one, appreciate contemporary plateware and cutlery which, obviously, Caesar's doesn't have. However, I felt that some of the plates looked quite worn. As well, the cutlery wasn't as heavy as I'm used to. Not really a huge gripe, I know, but something worth mentioning.
Food:
Everything, aside from the rather ordinary house salad, was fantastic. I wasn't expecting garlic bread to come to the table as their house bread, and since I love garlic bread, I was like a fat kid in front of a chocolate cake. How does my little brother put it- Nom, nom, nom, nom, nom. Yes, I think that's the way he says it.
The escargot was delicious, with just enough sauce to dip our garlic bread into when we were finished. The French onion soup, served with a piece of garlic bread swimming in it, was rather standard- a good thing, as I love French onion soup but not necessarily it's spin-offs. The salad, as previously mentioned, was very ordinary.
The steaks, however, deserve their own paragraph. Perfectly grilled, exactly as I'd ordered it, and seasoned enough that I was able to enjoy the meat without tripping on a salt overload. I had the 20oz T-Bone ($50-ish), and my date had the 8oz Rib Eye ($40-ish). Both were supurb with the Rib Eye having a particularly unique flavor that really set it off.
The sides of our steaks came on separate plates, partly because my steak was the size of someone's head, and partly because our server, thanks to maintaining our table quite well, had plenty of room to spare. A glass of a hearty Australian Shiraz, a beautiful steak, and an even more enchanting date had made my evening one of this year's best.
Conclusion:
After leaving Caesar's we were caught by our server, and after giving us the forgotten take out container containing the other half of my gargantuan T-Bone (which I left at my date's apartment this morning- d'oh!), we were off to other things. A stop at the Met, a drink or five at Melrose (by the way, if any of the Melrose staff read this, we had a fantastic time with Cristi, Demara (pardon my spelling), and Erin), and then a nice, safe ride home thanks to Todd at Clubbers Choice.
A perfect evening? In many ways, yes, and it all started with a fantastic dinner. Recommended? Very much so.
** While I rated the restaurant a 4.5 out of 5 for a couple of small little things, the service alone could have made any restaurant a 5 out of 5.
*** Appetizers typically run around $15, steaks in the $35-$50 range, and drinks around $6/cocktail, and up to $10 for a glass of wine. An exceptional wine menu is offered.
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