Bacall's Family Steakhouse

One of our traditions that will be coming back soon is eating out on Fridays after work. We’ve been exploring the heart of midtown area and trying to walk into restaurants without reservations. We tried to go to one of the Cuban restaurants, but unfortunately they required a 40 minute wait. This restaurant wasn’t too far away, but they did have prime rib on the menu. When we arrived, it seems there was some show going on, but we were able to sit at a small table in the bar area.

Ambiance

When we walked in around 6 PM, there seemed to be a live jazz singer with a small crowd of people. The singer, Dani Luv, was actually pretty decent though he was performing in the upper level of the restaurant. There was a basement that was roped off that supposedly had a night club (Blue Midtown Nightclub) after 11 PM. In this middle floor, it seemed to be the bar area with some TVs above the bar.

Not knowing much about this restaurant, we notice a lot of old New York pictures of a woman, Lauren Bacall, on the walls. The decor had an old school NYC night club and jazz feel to it.

The service was very quick. Since we were sitting near the bar area, the bartenders took our orders and were pretty attentive to providing service.

Food

The Dotty cocktail ($18) came with hibiscus infused vodka, pineapple, agave syrup, and lemon. This was very smooth.

The stuffed cabbage ($11) came in a bowl with ground beef. This was not quite what I was expecting, but it was pretty good. It tasted more like a soup with cabbage and ground beef than it being stuffed. I suspect maybe it was served from a bigger premade pot.

The braised short rib ($29) came with creamy polenta. The polenta and the braised short rib seemed to be seasoned on the blander side for me. The short rib was tender and good though.

The 22oz prime rib ($38) came with au jus, horseradish cream, popover, fried thin onions, and chimichurri. The au jus was more of a gravy than usual drippings. It definitely had some butter in it. The popover reminded me of a yorkshire pudding, but was a little on the greasy side and did not have much taste to it. The steak itself was ordered medium rare, and surprisingly was tender and pretty good especially at this price point. The chimichurri was not necessary as I went for the horseradish cream more. This plate seemed large, but I was able to finish it by myself without much help. I am not sure if the 22oz included the bone or not, but it definitely had a lot of value.

The challah bread pudding ($12) came hot with chocolate chip and drizzle. This took about about 10 minutes to prepare, so if you’d like it timely, make sure to order it earlier in your meal. There definitely was some rum in the mix of all of this. The balance of the hot bread, warm chocolate, and cold ice cream was a symphony of flavors. I would definitely recommend this on a cold night or for sharing with a party.

Final Verdict

Bacall’s Family Steak restaurant was a surprisingly decent bar and restaurant. Despite targeting the live music or night crowd, the food was acceptable, and the portion sizes were generous for this price point. If you ever crave steak near Times Square, this is a great place to check out.

Yelp Jabs

The restaurant looks beautiful inside but the food is absolutely awful. Everything was bland from the steak to the fried chicken to the appetizers. My last straw was the awful 16 layered cake which had the texture of raw pie dough.

The food definitely won’t be on many food bloggers’ headlines, but you definitely get what you pay for.

Overall, nothing to write home about and not surprised that there are extremely long lines for nearby steakhouses while this one was empty on a Friday night. The steak wasn’t awful but also not great.. the portion was large, though I’d prefer quality over quantity

I wonder if this Yelper preferred quality after coming to this restaurant.