Delmonico's vs Craft - need advice/opinions

[The Riz]

Craft. Craft. Craft. Best dinner I have ever had. Twice. And I frequent Chicago steakhouses.

[slamdunkpro]

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Maybe not a complete surprise given the name since a Delmonico refers to a specific kind of steak - in many parts of the country a Delmonico is a ribeye

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Actually Delmonico originally referred to the meat that the first real “modern” restaurant in America, the original Delmonico’s in NYC served. In the 1800’s and early 1900’s “Delmonico” was pretty much a synonym for “Steak like they serve in NY”. A ’Delmonico” can be any cut of meat: Rib steak, sirloin, strip, round, flank, hanger, or tri-tip. If you only see the word “Delmonico” on the menu, ask questions, cause you just might be paying loin prices for chuck!

[MrFizzbin]

I know I'm going to get flamed for this, but I always liked the Range in Harrahs..... More food than a normal human can eat.... tasted good to me... Flame away....

[Howard Beale]

This is a timely thread for me. I'd planned on going to one of these 2 myself next Wednesday (I've never been to either). I was leaning towards Craft Steak because on Tuesday afternoon I'm taking my mom to Canalleto's at the Venetian. It looks like I'm going to have to flip a coin. Will I need reservations on a Wednesday night?

[Entity]

Personal opinion, Delmonico > Craft for overall dining experience. Craft > Delmonico for the steak itself, though. But overall, Delmonico's won me over, and I don't think it was a particularly close decision.

Rob

[2+2 wannabe]

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I haven't been to craft, but I went to Delmonico's last week and it was very good.

For appitizers, the pretzel fondue was amazing.

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quoted for truth

also, service was phenomenal

edit: my asparagus was perfectly cooked as well - but to be honest, my steak wasn't near the best I've had

[mike4]

Delmonico's has many different cuts of steak. My friend had the filet mignon, another had strip steak, and two of us had the bone in rib eye.

[Chimp]

Delmonico serves a few steaks

Here's a pic of the interior, which I didn't like: link

Craft's menu is has more choices, and like I said, the execution was better.

Really, you'd have a great time at either place. I just prefer Craftsteak for the reasons I stated before...

[esch]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Maybe not a complete surprise given the name since a Delmonico refers to a specific kind of steak - in many parts of the country a Delmonico is a ribeye

[/ QUOTE ]
Actually Delmonico originally referred to the meat that the first real “modern” restaurant in America, the original Delmonico’s in NYC served. In the 1800’s and early 1900’s “Delmonico” was pretty much a synonym for “Steak like they serve in NY”. A ’Delmonico” can be any cut of meat: Rib steak, sirloin, strip, round, flank, hanger, or tri-tip. If you only see the word “Delmonico” on the menu, ask questions, cause you just might be paying loin prices for chuck!

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I'll agree on the reference to the original Delmonico in NY, but the way I heard it the steak at Delmonico's was a specific type that most (or at least more than any other) folks agree was a ribeye.

As the term Delmonico spread accross the country, it ended up being used "differently" and that why now you have to make sure that a Delmonico is actually a rib-eye.

It's kind of weird, but I can pretty much agree with sentence you said. But because I also believe that a Delmonico should refer only to a ribeye because they originally probably served a ribeye, we end up disagreeing.

[fishyak]

I've been too both restaurants, most recently to Craftsteak, see my LV trip report and restaurant review from May for details.

From my perspective, for "romantic atmosphere" I would give the edge to Delmonico's. It also has a wider range of appetizers. However, in the real world (with my wife) dessert is FAR more important than appetizers so if you pig out early, you may fade at the finish.

Delmonico "light" appetizer, home made potato chips with white truffle oil. OMG! But I ate at Delimonico's with a group that brought their own wine and I have no recollection of dessert!

My Craftsteak experience was easier to recall. My wife had the hanger steak which for her was good value. Not too big. My ribeye was prepared EXACTLY the way I asked for it, Medium rare tending to rare. In fairness, it was big enough to split.

We shared french fries, sugar snap peas and roasted hen of the woods mushrooms as side orders - all very good.

Tell your wife - no fillet! - IMO fillet is the classic overpriced chick food. It will be tender and FLAVORLESS unless aggressively seasoned. (Bobby Flay/s Fillet at Mesa Grille is aggressively seasoned and is very good.) Bone-in ribeye is, IMO, the best cut of beef to use for a classic steakhouse experience.

I had trouble deciding between two desserts at Craftsteak, the bread pudding (a personal favorite) and cinnamon monkey bread. The waitress brought both at no extra charge. Go with the monkey bread. It pulled apart easily without being sticky and had a great dripping sauce that was not too heavy after the steak dinner.

Also, if you just want one drink - Craftsteak has a very impressive list of single malt scotches which offer much better value than even a good wine by the glass that might come from a bottle that has been open for days.

I know about GERD so dine early in either restaurant. This is NOT light dining. Get reservations before you leave for LV. Both restaurants offer really good food, although the results of other shows that as with investing "individual results may vary."

I would try to take these comments and tailor them to my wife's preferences. Anniversarys are good things. I am coming up on my 25th and my parents had their 70th anniversary last year, so in this area, I have some experience. My wife would pick Craftsteak because we could "craft" a really nice experience without going over the top. If I wanted to go more "over the top" or "atmosphere" I would tend to slide more to Delmonico's. What type of experience do you and your wife prefer? That is how I suggest that you decide.

The good news is you can't be wrong.