Pappas Bros. Steakhouse

As I mentioned on my last post, once a year the month of August turns into Restaurant Weeks. One of the best ways to try new restaurants is dining out during this month! For a set price of $35 for dinner you get regular size portions at a very discounted rate and restaurants donate $5 per dinner sold to the Houston Food Bank. It’s a win win for everyone! You have to be sure you ask for the restaurant week menu when you sit down, because they don’t just hand them out when you can pay full price on the regular menu.

Pappas Bros. Steakhouse is another place we haven’t been in years. The one thing we remembered most was not their steaks, but their scallop appetizer. It was this huge scallop on a mushroom cap and tasted like heaven. One thing not to miss is their meat display right as you walk in. My pictures are going to be a little dark, because the lighting was really low.

We where seated hear the entrance in a row of booths that looked over the kitchen. Personally I love this view, maybe because I’m a foodie and watching the kitchen is like watching an artist paint.

As we looked over the menu we munched on their freshly baked bread. I must say out of all the places we’ve ever been I think they have my absolute favorite bread. There’s a nice thin outer crust to the bread and then the inside is pure fluffy cloud, this is what true bread should taste and look like.

Sadly they didn’t have our scallop on the menu, but we decided to try another one they had. Bacon-Wrapped Scallops $16.95, was hardly worth the cost. I don’t recommend this appetizer. The bacon was thick so it seemed by the time they cooked the bacon through it overcooked the small scallops. The only thing that saved this dish was the garlic butter soaked French bread that the topped.

Now onto our choices from the Restaurant Week Menu. We started out with the Caesar Salad (regular menu price $9.95) and The Soup of the Day (regular menu price is priced daily). Today’s soup was Tomato Basil. Usually you can’t go wrong with Caesar, this salad looked and smelled like one, but didn’t taste like anything, it’s the strangest thing ever. The soup was really good and piping hot.

For the second course we ordered the 8 ounce Filet with Smoked Mushroom Ragout & Jumbo Grilled Shrimp (regular menu price is $37.95 for the steak only) and the 12 ounce Dry Aged Prime New York Strip (regular price starts on the 14 ounce $41.95 and up). I loved the mushroom ragout, but the shrimp was overcooked. D really enjoyed the Strip as well. One good thing is this is one of those steakhouses that can really cook a good steak. Both of our dishes came with mashed potatoes & haricot verts (basically a fancy word for French green beans).

We did order an extra side not listed on the menu which was a Crab Macaroni for $16.95. While you might say that’s high for mac and cheese, this one was filled with lump crab meat and just melted in your mouth.

For dessert we chose New York Style Cheesecake (regular menu price $8.95) and Chocolate Silk Pie (regular menu price $8.95). Both desserts where excellent. The cheesecake had the best crust I’ve ever had which was perfect on thickness for the cake. There was also a really good sour cream sauce drizzled onto too, which really balanced out the dessert. The chocolate silk pie I thought was nothing special, until I tasted the coffee crust. It’s really been updated from a simple chocolate pie to something I would order again.

Would I come back again, of course. Overall you get what you pay for here (except that scallop appetizer). We saved around $45 with the Restaurant Week menu which covered a bottle of wine. Oh, if you’re looking for an extensive wine menu, this is your place with over 600 bottles to chose from. The wine guy walks around and offers you help if you have any questions as well. Service is amazing here (we liked our waitress Kelly she did a fantastic job) and everyone was really friendly. The only complaint is that they advise you to dress nice, yet we still saw people in t-shirts and shorts, which makes you feel a little awkward when you go out to a nice dinner and feel like your over dressed.