In this era of flash-and-dash steak restaurants, there is something oddly comforting about dining at Morton’s. Maybe it’s the ’80s-era camel-colored booths or the celebratory sparklers on the special occasion desserts. Maybe it’s the “Steak 101” lessons, a Morton’s tradition, where servers roll up a cart and describe each menu item including a whole potato, a beefsteak tomato, and several cuts of beef wrapped in plastic, and educate you on how to choose a steak. After a recent “class,” the steak know-it-all in our group took the lectern. “To judge a great steakhouse,” he said with great authority, “is to ask to have your steak cooked medium. It’s the hardest challenge.” He ordered the aged prime 24-ounce porterhouse and pronounced it perfect. Dining in the subterranean, mahogany-accented dining room is a trip back in time. And it’s a trip we’d like to take more often. If only to enjoy hovering servers, celebrate a nonessential event with great fanfare, and eat iceberg lettuce topped with the best Thousand Island salad dressing in Dallas. You know, get a taste of when dining out used to be a show for the customer.
Get contact information for Morton’s, The Steakhouse.
