Our first experience at Ruth’s Chris Steak House was to celebrate the announcement of my son expecting his first child and my wife’s son becoming engaged.

We received a nice friendly greeting on arrival and quick seating. Very nice ambiance. White tablecloths. beautiful unique fireplace on one wall. Great service from start to finish.

Excellent selection of wines (a little on the pricey side). À la carte menu (also a little on the pricey side).

We started with the Calamari which was not very good at all. It was drenched with some kind of sauce which made the battered coating very soggy rather than crispy and calamari itself was very rubbery. I know….it’s squid and it’s supposed to be rubbery…but this was VERY rubbery. Between 6 of us we ate only about 1/2 of the dish. I complained and they did not charge us which was decent of them.

The entree’s were brought to the table on plates that had been heated to 500° F. Seemed a little excessive and more than a little dangerous. Like most people, I usually touch my plate at some point in time while dining.

Their claim to fame is serving USDA corn fed beef. They do have Alberta beef on the menu, but most of the choices are US cuts.

My wife’s son and I had the USDA Rib-Eyes. What should have been a very tender piece of meat was more than a little tough. It was tasty and medium rare as requested. One of our future daughter in laws had the chicken and the other the Portabello Mushrooms. They both were happy with their selection. My wife had the Alberta Tenderloin. It came topped with butter which history has taught us is not a good sign. It was medium rare as requested but also on the tough side for tenderloin. My son had the tenderloin and scallops. He thought the scallops were better than the steak.

The side of Broccoli was overcooked and had a burnt or grilled taste. The potatoes Au Gratin were ok but nothing special. The snow peas with garlic was our best side order pick.

All that said, it would look like our group of 6 unanimously agree that for a Steak House, they could use some improvement.

Dinner for 6 (including 2 bottles of wine) was just under $500.

We rate Ruth’s Chris Steak House (Edmonton, Alberta) as a 3, thanks to the ambiance and the excellent service. Not worth the $$$$ price tag. Outback’s would have been a much better choice.