Andria’s, the long-time East Side steakhouse stalwart has come to Chesterfield, taking over an existing building on the south side of the mall’s parking lot. Several large dining rooms mean there’s plenty of room for hungry carnivores, and there’s not a hint of dress-code stuffiness about the place. Moreover, it’s a restaurant, as in the Mother House in O’Fallon, Ill., where the entree price includes a salad and potato (or zucchini, but you know we won’t praise that), unlike some that ring up another sawbuck or more for a spud and a simple salad. That’s a policy to endear it to most of us these days. And the cheery, pleasant service makes it a trifecta.
We’ve been happy in the past with the Andria’s grilled portabella mushroom cap for a starter, but this time split a plate of what the menu terms antipasta, two kinds of Volpi meats, a salami and some delicious, spicy coppa ham, marinated mushrooms, peppers and tomatoes, a few olives and some tiny mozzarella balls. The entire plate was perfect for encouraging the appetite with a bright collection of flavors. Alas, the small rounds of dried bread that ringed the plate left a lot to be desired.
The house salad on a recent visit also fell short. Joe has muttered about brown lettuce in salads for years, and there was some of that in the mixture of greens. The mushrooms were rather beat up, but the little grape tomatoes were excellent, ripe and sweet as summer. Also in the debit side, bacon in a salad needs to be crisp, not in chewy clumps and smelling of maple flavoring. The house dressing is a sweet-and-sour oil and vinegar, and while we’re not fond of sweet salad dressings, this one is better than average. The Thousand Island dressing was standard.
It’s difficult for us not to order a pork chop at Andria’s; over the years, we’ve had some superb ones. But the urge for beef was driving us both, and we chose a pair from among a wide selection of cow. The ribeye was 14 ounces, boneless, and very well trimmed, with almost no fat or gristle, a little thinner than we’d expected but still dead-on with the house definition of medium rare, which is a center that’s still red but warm. The done-ness criteria, by the way, are clearly stated on the menu, always a good idea. The flavor was wonderful, the chew just barely a little less tender than our strip steak. The thicker strip, equally well trimmed and properly cooked, and also 14 ounces, seemed even richer. This is really excellent meat with all the red meat lightly brushed with the house sauce that can be bought at local retail outlets. It certainly does enhance things without being obtrusive.
Baked potatoes come wrapped in a twist of brown butcher paper, but happily, that doesn’t mean they taste steamed. The skin is even a little chewy, a sign that the fat russet potatoes haven’t been forced into aluminum foil before cooking. No potato worth its butter wants to die in Reynolds Wrap, of course. In addition to the baked potato, the diner’s vegetable selection is limited to the green thing that dare not speak its name, with an extra charge for asparagus and mushrooms. A generous serving of buttery-tasting mushrooms did well, their juices commingling with the steak juices creating a rich, hearty combination of tastes.
The wine list offers a large selection by the glass, and bottles that get toward the outer edge with, for example, a Rombauer. We found an Australian Shiraz that was just right with the steak, and a hearty Zinfandel was equally successful.
Desserts are very snazzy-looking. We saw a chocolate pyramid go by, and a creme brulee set in a chocolate shell. Our choice was key lime mousse, a cylinder with layers of the mousse and tender cake, nicely tart, creamy but sitting lightly on the tongue.
Not perfect, but still some fine cow.
Andria's Steakhouse
12165 Chesterfield Parkway W., Chesterfield
636-530-9800
http://www.andriaschesterfield.com
Wheelchair access: Good
Smoking: Yes
Entrees (includes salad and vegetable): $18-$35
Lunch Wed.-Sun, Dinner nightly
Credit cards: Yes
Comments
2 responses
Interesting. The reviews of this place I read in the rft and post didn’t really have anything good to say about this place, or at least nothing that made we want to give it a go. As a matter of fact, reading between the lines, my interpretation was that the reviews would have been less kind, but they held back so as not to offend the polite temperment of the typical st. louisan, or perhaps the desire not to alienate potential advertisers. On a more objective note, 3 couples I know who love the andrias in IL had such a bad experience at the chesterfield branch that they are unlikely to return. There were issues with service and the steaks not cooked to the desired temp. One had to be returned twice, finaling arriving overcooked, at which point the diner gave up. This visit was within the first two weeks of the open, so perhaps they’ve gotten their act together. On the other hand, in the restaurant world the kit. of a steakhouse has to be one of the easiest to run. I think I’ll stick with the killer pork chop at tuckers and cook my steaks at home.
Andria’s should be ashamed of the way they run their restaurant. I can’t ever remember a time where I was so completely disappointed in a restaurant and let me start by saying, I am very easygoing and it takes a lot to make me complain! My husband and I had reservations at 8pm on a Saturday night. We were shown to our table and ordered a glass of wine and the French onion soup as an appetizer. Within minutes of being seated, I found myself constantly swatting the fruit flies away! This was starting to get very annoying, so I mentioned it to my waitress and she said she would talk to her manager (Not quite sure what that was going to accomplish?) but she never came back to discuss the issue or offer to move us to a different table. Our soup came and it was more like a paste than soup. Nonetheless, we were still optimistic. I ordered the filet and lobster and my husband ordered a Ribeye. After receiving our salads we waited 45 minutes for our food to arrive, with no acknowledgement from our server on the delay. When our food finally arrived, my lobster was brown around the edges and and the texture was such that I could not even cut it with a knife (the steaks were good and cooked properly). At this point I asked to speak to the manager in regards to our service and the condition of my lobster tail. Alan came and sat down to speak with us. I proceeded to tell him of our experience thus far and asked him what he thought about the tail that lie on my plate. He told me he doesn’t eat lobster but he knows it should be white and fluff with a fork. Then he proceeded to ask me, the customer, what I think should be done about it!! I told him that it was not my place to decide what should be “done” about it, as he was the manager. He offered to give us a gift card to come back and try them again. He left our table and we waited another 10 minutes for our waitress to return, only to be served an $80 bill and a $30 gift card. As a manager, I think he was completely inexperienced and unprofessional in handling this situation. We might have felt differently and given Andria’s a second chance (as we understand that mistakes happen) if he would have handled the situation appropriately. A friend recommended Andria’s and we were eager to discover a new dining spot, but I would send my friend to Outback before I would recommend Andria’s!!!