Happy Hour Again at Ruth’s Chris Steak House

Ruth’s Chris Steak House, Bonita Springs, Florida

Ruth’s Chris Steak House is a luxury steakhouse chain with about 150 locations. I had first visited this location in 2013 and loved their Happy Hour. I thought the food and value were excellent. I decided to go back, inviting two dining companions with me to hopefully have a similar experience as I did on my initial visit.

The ambience of the restaurant was essentially the same, with happy hour in the bar daily from 4-630 PM. 

Bar area, Ruth’s Chris Steak House

The happy hour, at least for the food offerings, differed dramatically from my previous visit. Not only had the prices for each happy hour offering increased by about 25%, but the Menu had changed markedly from my initial visit.

Undeterred, my dining companions and I sampled a number of happy hour menu items. Initially, we split an order of crab beignets for the table.

Crab Beignets

These were OK, but as with most restaurant-ordered seafood fritters, they were long in the fritter and short in the seafood. Although nicely flavored, I thought they were just ok. Breaded and fried crab, jalapenos and cream cheese beignets (fritters) are served atop a spicy cucumber salad. Time to try a few more of the happy hour items.

One of my dining companions ordered the prime burger, presumably made with USDA prime meat. This was topped with Swiss cheese and  served with the usual condiments (lettuce, tomato and onion) in addition to fries. 

Prime burger

It was ok but nothing here would differentiate it from other burgers elsewhere.My other dining companion ordered the steak sandwich.

Steak sandwich

It was good, and served with hollandaise sauce, onion and lettuce and fries. Although good, the meat serving was anemic compared to my initial visit four years earlier and 25% more expensive.

For a more well-rounded evaluation, I ordered the roasted artisan chicken sandwich. 

Artisan roasted chicken sandwich

This was a sandwich on pumpernickel bread, with cilantro-marinated chicken breast, brie cheese and a curry/peach compote. It was, as the other menu selections were, ok.

Having not been here for happy hour in quite some time, I was somewhat disappointed in the food offerings in addition to the price increases. This unfortunately is not an isolated incident. I have observed this trend in other national restaurant chains locally.

Although the service at Ruth Chris was good, the food offerings left much to be desired at their price points. With many other great happy others locally, I think it may be a bit before I return.

It’s a wrap for another post on Forks.

Ruth’s Chris Steak House

23151 Village Shops Way STE 101Bonita Springs, FL 33928

(239)948-8888

Ruth’s Chris Happy Hour

Happy hour 4-630 PM daily, Waiting list available, No valet parking, All major credit cards accepted