Background:
Oak Steakhouse is a small chain that started in Charleston and now has locations in Atlanta, Nashville, and, as of earlier this year, Charlotte! Charlotte has plenty of chain steakhouses already, from Sullivan's and the Capitol Grille to BLT in the Ritz Carlton. However, we heard from many trusted sources that Oak stuck out among the masses for being unusually delicious and unusually modern for a steakhouse. We checked it out with some friends last month, and we were enamored with the perfectly cooked steaks and delicious side items. Check out what we tried below!
Eat This:
Salmon Tartare Lettuce Wraps
Rogue farms butter lettuce, preserved lime, sweet sour soy glaze
Grilled Octopus
Sea island red pea salsa, local greens, red pepper caramel
Grilled Salmon
Roasted garlic mashed potatoes, haricot vert, toasted pumpkin seeds, lemon butter
Debragga Of NYC 20oz.
Dry Aged Certified Angus Beef Bone-in Ribeye
Truffle Frites
We also had a most incredible filet mignon, but, alas the photo was too blurry due to #shakymeathands
Dessert:
Everyone else at the table just picked at this dessert, so I obviously had to do the hard work of finishing this on my own, plus being the only heifer at the table still able to put food away after all that meat. Oh, the humanity!
Apple Crisp
Almond streusel & vanilla ice cream
Drink:
There is a super healthy cocktail menu, plus plenty of great red wines to stand up to all of that red meat. Jason had the lovely libation pictured below!
Atmosphere:
One of the things we noticed right away was how far apart the tables in the dining room were, and we liked that. It provided a small amount of privacy and seemed to keep the restaurant from getting too loud. We were also sat in a small side room off of the kitchen, which felt very intimate and lovely.
Image courtesy of Open Table
Carnivorous Hospitality:
Oak Steakhouse is part of the same restaurant group that owns the O-Ku chain (Charlotte location in South End), and, on the whole, they offer the same level of fabulous customer service at both restaurants. However, on this particular evening, we felt that our service was a bit rushed--our waiter encouraged us to order everything at once after we told him we were only ready to order an appetizer, and someone took Jason's cocktail away when it was still at least a quarter full!
Frankie's Notes:
Our meat shakes often verge on the uncontrollable; How many times do we have to tell you, if you try to take a beverage before it's gone you're gonna be dead to us for one million years; Sorry, not sorry; Sharing dessert is my most difficult first world problem to bear; Jason likes to dress like Fred Flintstone when he eats bone-in meat, and orange is a great color on him.