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Larry's Steakhouse

By Peter O'Brien

Last night the wife and I chose Larry's  as our destination to celebrate our one month-iversery.   We arrived at about 5:30.  We were greeted right away and led to table.  Service was terrific all night.

We both ordered the everyday special; a fourteen ounce New York strip steak with choice of side, soup, and a salad for $17.99. She chose the twice baked potato and I selected the regular baked potato.  I chose chili and she chose the cheddar broccoli soup.  For our salads I got the grape seed vinegarette and Chelsea chose ranch.

The soups came first.  The three bean chili came in a ceramic crock and was covered in shredded cheddar.  It was very hearty and delicious.  My only complaint was that it was not very spicy.   Chelsea's cheddar broccoli was a bit of a let down.  It didn't have quite enough flavor for me and Chelsea said it was lacking something.

The salads soon arrived after that and were terrific.  They were very fresh with several different types of lettuce.  Larry's is the only place I know of to get a grape flavored vinegarette.  It was tremendous.  Chelsea's ranch was also good, though to me ranch is kinda plain.

Next the steaks came.  I also ordered mushrooms for mine.  They arrived hot and juicy.  They cooked exactly to the temperature we ordered.  The top of my steak was covered in quartered mushroom caps as well.  The steaks were as tasty as you would expect from Steakhouse.

We really enjoyed our experience at Larry's and we are looking forward to going again.

Peter O'Brien

Oh and I plan on writing these for every local restaurant we visit from now on. I won't be limiting it to the local business, it could be any local restaurant from Applebees to Alex's Place

Aug 19, 2010, 8:23am Permalink
Ron C Welker

Peter,
Have you tried the South Beach? I find the food and service to be top shelf. I would like to recoment the Cubano sandwich, really good with sweet potato french frys on the side.
Good luck on your new endevor :>)

Aug 19, 2010, 12:44pm Permalink
Peter O'Brien

We did, and neither of us were very impressed with the food. The service was good though. I am going to try it again before I write a full review. This was actually our fourth trip to Larry's. I don't like to judge a place on one visit unless there is something obviously wrong like cleanliness and arguing amongst the staff in front of the customers.

Aug 19, 2010, 1:31pm Permalink
Gabor Deutsch

I was wondering at what temperature do you order your steaks to be ? I never have heard of that before. Do you use a food thermometer to check it ? Maybe you were talking about how they were done, just curious.

Aug 19, 2010, 1:36pm Permalink
Bea McManis

I wasn't impressed with South Beach.
The service was so/so.
One dish served, caused a diner to become ill about two hours later.
One understands that this is an "upscale" restaurant, but does upscale mean that an open faced steak sandwich (with no sides) should cost almost $10?
I like Larry's and have always had a good meal there.
I doubt if I'll be back to South Beach for a long time.

Aug 19, 2010, 1:52pm Permalink
Ron C Welker

I enjoyed South Beach with a party of four last week, all four were impressed with food and service,two patrons were from Las Vegas visiting and were pleased with everything.By the way the place was packed, they must be doing something right!

Aug 19, 2010, 2:09pm Permalink
Peter O'Brien

Gabor,
When you choose rare or medium or well or whatever you are choosing a temperature for the steak to reach before it is removed from the grill. Sorry but when I worked in a steak house that was the terminology and it stuck with me.

Aug 19, 2010, 9:21pm Permalink
Ken Mistler

JUNE 27TH 2010 @ 8:51pm
A quote by BEA McMANIS
"Ken has already earmarked me as someone he would not want in his establishments I'll make sure that I stay away"......... Did you forget?

Aug 20, 2010, 12:34pm Permalink
Peter O'Brien

Ken,
Like I said I want to give it another try before I give up on it. I didn't mean for you to get bad press and hope that you are doing ok there.

Aug 20, 2010, 12:58pm Permalink
Gabor Deutsch

Peter, I get it now. What doneness did you order your steaks ? (rare/medium/well). Since you were reviewing a steakhouse I thought a little more about the steak. I look forward to your next review.

Aug 20, 2010, 1:50pm Permalink
Bea McManis

Posted by Ken Mistler on August 20, 2010 - 12:34pm
JUNE 27TH 2010 @ 8:51pm
A quote by BEA McMANIS
"Ken has already earmarked me as someone he would not want in his establishments I'll make sure that I stay away"......... Did you forget?

Actually, I didn't forget. I invited a friend to lunch and gave my friend the task of chosing a restaurant. South Beach was the choice.
I walked in with an open mind. I loved the new booths, it was the first comment I made as we arrived. I rarely order a drink with lunch, but on this occasion I did and it was made to perfection. The waitress had no problem with my drink order, but was stumped on the selection of beers. I thought that rather odd, but not a deal breaker.
I was surprised that the sandwich did not come with a side dish. Maybe it is just me, but a lonely sandwich on a plate seemed overpriced at almost $10.
My friend enjoyed the meal, but became ill a short while after.
So, the decor is wonderful; perhaps the server was new; and the restaurant was a great oasis out of the hot and hazy day. The dining experience was not what I expected.

Aug 20, 2010, 1:56pm Permalink
Gabor Deutsch

Howard, I think you have a certain type of VIP or minor celebrity status when you dine or shop at certain businesses that know you. They are going to make sure you get top notch service for a good review. And of course you would not be wise to give any business that advertises on this website a bad review either.

Aug 20, 2010, 2:16pm Permalink
Howard B. Owens

Gabor, on the other hand, if I didn't post my experience with SB, then it could be perceived as tacit agreement with the critics.

And it's not so much celebrity status when I do go out, I'm often dealing with people I know because I'm out and about ... but I've also had my share of bad service with businesses I deal with regularly. It happens. It's part of doing business. People make mistakes even in outstanding businesses.

Aug 20, 2010, 2:28pm Permalink
susan dimartino

I believe that everyone needs to make their own determination on what they think of an individual business, and not listen to what another person's opinion is. What they do or do not like might be what you happen to hate or love. As far as South Beach, the experiences thatwe have had thus far, which has been at least 1/2 dozen, have all been terrific. This is relative to the food, service, atmosphere, price, etc. Again, what one person might find to be "pricey or expensive", another might find to be average or fair. Our family tends to dine out quite often, locally as well as in Rochester and/or Buffalo. The pricing at South Beach, for the type/quality of food you get, is very fairly priced - you are not eating at McDonald's or Burger King. The food has been great thus far, however, for those who have been there once and believe they have had a "so - so" meal, keep an open mind. Have you had a perfect meal everytime you have gone to your favorite restaurant?? I know that I occasionally get a "so - so" meal at the restaurants that I love to go to regularly, it happens, life goes on !!! Also, being that this is a NEW restaurant, with NEW staff, and New beginnings, be patient and kind. Once the staff is acclimated and used to working with each other and it has the comfort level of an long-time established business, I am sure everything will mesh and go smooth. I know that I have experienced the "learning period" in many new establishments in town, and they all seem to work the kinks thru quickly. Batavia needs business, and cudo's to the ones who continue to bring that to Batavia (thank you Ken Mistler). We should be thanking these type of people, rather than berating them. We want Batavia to continue to thrive, and without these business people, it will not. My hats off to South Beach, may it live long and prosper !!

Aug 20, 2010, 2:34pm Permalink
Bea McManis

Susan,
Your points are well taken.
It is wrong to assume that because one did not have a pleasant experience at South Beach, or any restaurant, that they have not experienced upscale restaurants.
I'll admit that I do have a MAC attack on occasion, or that I miss In and Out, in California, I've had my share of dining at well known and pricey restaurants (thanks to a boss who would come across the pond once every six weeks and expect to be wined and dined like royalty.
He would make a list of places he "had" to try in NYC; Philadelphia; Baltimore; and DC.
The lunches and dinners may have been pricey but you felt your meal was worth it.
I didn't get that feeling at my most recent experience at South Beach.

Aug 20, 2010, 3:21pm Permalink
susan dimartino

Bea - none of my comments were meant to make an assumption that a person's unpleasant experience has anything to do with upscale dining. My reference to upscale/average/fast food dining was about price point. (which was not from your post, but another one). Again, my point there was that some people's thoughts of expensive may be another person's thoughts of "reasonable".

My point to your post, however, was that One single dining experience, at a NEW restaurant, is an unfair assumption of the business as a whole. It has been our experience that you should at least give a new place, especially a restaurant, at least 3 or more tries. If after that, you still feel that you are not satisfied, then so be it - you are welcome to your opinion, as we all are.

We have had some of our best meals in diners. As a matter of fact, with a family member currently in the hospital, we have had some great meals in the hospital cafeteria. So, as you see, it is not a matter of trying to be a snob in discussing "fine dining". The point that I was making in regards to your post is that a one-time visit does not necessarily constitute a good or bad review.

Batavia is a tough place to live. Business after business continue to close their doors. In a time when our economy needs more business to come here, and to employ persons and bring more revenues in, we should be applauding every time a new door opens and offers these opportunities.

We are very blessed to have a business man such as Ken that has made Batavia his home and continues to help this town thrive.
Fine dining, casual dining, upscale dining, whatever kind of dining - that is not the issue. Businesses that thrive - that is. Let's support these.

Aug 20, 2010, 3:57pm Permalink
Bea McManis

Susan,
I'd be more than happy to give SB another try. As you can see by Ken's reaction, if I announced who I was when I entered his establishment, I most likely would be escorted out.

Aug 20, 2010, 4:27pm Permalink
Peter O'Brien

Gabor,
We both ordered them medium. I usually do that because I am not very picky about how I want it cooked but these steaks came back at medium. There was no deviation from the order.

Aug 20, 2010, 11:29pm Permalink

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