Anyone been......? How is it? Where is it located?

TIA

http://www.texags.com/main/forum.reply.asp?topic_id=1090680&forum_id=35

http://www.texags.com/main/forum.reply.asp?forum_id=35&topic_id=1088102

It's next to Pei Wei. We thought it was great!

Thanks!

go to the republic...

on their website, it says half price for happy hour, but it also says 1 dollar off drinks during happy hour. Which is it?

I think it is 1/2 price appetizers and $1.00 off drinks during those hours.

Looks a lot like a Ruth's Chris menu. It must be very good. We will have to check it out on our next special occasion.

Nine dollars for a house salad? You have got to be kidding me!

It's a huge salad. And very tasty!

My husband and I went on Friday, and I have to say...worth every penny and every calorie!
I had the snapper and he had the veal. They were absolutely delicious! Their mac and cheese side was to die for, and I am NOT a big mac and cheese fan! Their Godiva chocolate dessert takes 20 minutes to make since it's a suffle (sp), and well worth the wait!!!!

They were ok. For the money I prefer The Republic.

my wife and I went there last night. we both thought it was the best meal we have had in college station. steaks were perfect, calamari was good, garlic whipped potatoes were great, cream corn was unique but still very good (one of those things you will get a random craving for), and the godiva chocolate cake (with a side of vanilla ice cream) was really good also.
price wise, it seemed like we paid a little more than we would have at christophers, but we got alot more food.
the menu is similar to ruths chris, but there are differences.
I ordered the "sophie", which is their 10oz filet with fried shrimp and bernaize sause. It was very very good. my wife ordered the strip steak. both cooked exactly the way we wanted it.
I think this will be our new nice place to eat in town.

we've been open for a week. things will be polished and perfected soon, we assure you all.

I went there with a semi-large group recently. It was NOT a good experience. Now I will say the food was decent, but nothing special. I ordered a bottle of wine and the server allowed me to taste it, but as she poured around the table to those who wanted wine, she poured too much for each person and there wasn't enough for me (the person who ordered and paid for the bottle)!!! She then proceeded to tell me that she could get another bottle and did so without me really ever saying yes. If she would've poured correctly in the first place, we would've never needed another bottle. Highly unprofessional for a restaurant of the caliber that they are trying to achieve.

For 9 people the bill ended up being $730.00 (wine not included) without tip. So that's essentially almost $900 with tip. We even shared ONE dessert for the table. That meal was nowhere near worth $100 per person. And the service was sub-par.

While it's a decent restaurant, it's nowhere close to The Republic's food or value. Just my $.02.

[This message has been edited by GreyAggie (edited 2/26/2008 2:53p).]

what did you order?
my wife and I ordered an appetizer, 2 steaks (one $30+), 2 sides, dessert+ ice cream, and 2 drinks. tip included was only $125 for both of us.

Republic!

[This message has been edited by SarcasmAg08 (edited 2/26/2008 5:27p).]

The table had a 2-4 appetizers, we each had a salad (overpriced) and most of us had steaks along with sides. Of course we each had an additional glass of wine or two at the most.

I thought that their salads were huge!! We had to
split them. They seem to be priced comparably with their size/quality.

We had a great experience.

The Mrs. and I went there last week for drinks and a $13.50 appetizer. It's a nice place, but I prefer The Republic.

I would have to say that while I enjoyed the experience and the food, the service had little things left to be desired that I assume and hope will be ironed out soon.

I can recommend the restaurant based on that assumption, but if it doesn't turn out to be the case I would change my opinion.

For example, at one point our server was cleaning up sugar packets from the iced tea and said, "Excuse my reach" and reached over me to get the packet to my right. Sorry, dude - walk around. Saying excuse me does not make me more comfortable to be 3" from your armpit.

Who are all these people who write, "go to the republic" without any explanation? I haven't heard any reason why ones better than the other. I've been to both restuarants and I like both restaurants. I will say this though, Republic charges $35 for MaCallan 18, and their steaks do not compare to eccel's in quality and cooking method. I guess value is all in the eye of the beholder.

As for GreyAggie, I hardly think it's fair to attack your server for not pouring 9 glasses of wine out of one bottle. Did you assume all your guests just wanted 4 oz of wine? A standard pour is 6-8 oz which gives you 4.5 glasses per bottle. I've never waited fine dining, but I would have assumed you wanted 2 bottles.

I agree with Spike, I'll try eccell steakhouse at least one more time, if only for their steaks. They've only been open for a week or twoso I'll assume the servers will do a better job of removing sugar packets in the future, lol.

My husband and I atended a large dinner meeting in the private room last night. While the wait staff needs to improve on their attentiveness and efficiency, every morsel was delicious and the nice atmosphere only added to the quality of the meal. We like Republic too (except for their non-prime steaks) and are thrilled to have more upscale options available in BCS. We will definately return.

went last night and it was fantastic

We went about a week or so ago and I have to agree with 2aggiemonkeys that the mac and cheese was to die for! I make some pretty awesome gruyere mac and cheese and this topped that with the smoked gouda. Our steaks were fantastic as well -- I had a great ribeye and the SO's filet was cooked just like he likes it (he is picky).

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Who are all these people who write, "go to the republic" without any explanation? I haven't heard any reason why ones better than the other. I've been to both restuarants and I like both restaurants. I will say this though, Republic charges $35 for MaCallan 18, and their steaks do not compare to eccel's in quality and cooking method. I guess value is all in the eye of the beholder.

As for GreyAggie, I hardly think it's fair to attack your server for not pouring 9 glasses of wine out of one bottle. Did you assume all your guests just wanted 4 oz of wine? A standard pour is 6-8 oz which gives you 4.5 glasses per bottle. I've never waited fine dining, but I would have assumed you wanted 2 bottles.

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First off, I have never been to Eccel Steakhouse. I am very, very familiar with The Republic having dined there a few times and being on a first name basis with some of the staff and the owner. I probably am slanted in my opinion because of this.

As far as the MaCallan 18, I don't know what you were expecting when you ordered high-end single malt scotch at a fine dining steakhouse, especially one with a huge copper bar and a large whiskey wall like The Republic. Don't order Johnnie Walker Blue there, either.

The cooking method: The Republic uses the sous vide method. Do a wikipedia search on it. Basically this something that only really high-end chefs use. The steaks cooked in this method are the juiciest I've ever tasted. The Republic doesn't publicize this just because so many people (especially in College Station) have never heard of sous vide. It's why most of the steaks are so good, though.

If you've had a bad experience with a steak, give it another chance. I doubt you'll be disappointed.

As far as the wine pour, that's a tough situation with a new restaurant (looks like a new waiter, too). But as a fine dining server, that is one of the big rules you really don't want to break. The standard pour is 4.5 - 5 ounces. 6-8 is pretty generous. As a server you always want to have it seem like the bottle goes further than it should.

Basically, you don't EVER assume they want two bottles. If they order one for the whole table, you suggest to order 2. As a server, if you overpour you're usually responsible for buying them the next bottle and the original from my experience.

Sous Vide is a unique way of preparing meats. However, not the preferred way for Primal Cuts. Primal Cuts ( centercut filet, ribeye, strip), if they are quality meats, should have the marbling to stand on their own. Although sous vide might be desirable for sub-primal cuts or different kinds of meat other than beef, dry heat is defintely the preferred method for primal cuts. Sous vide would probably make them too soft and mushy and they would lose some desired texture. Sous vide could be used to make a lower quality primal cut taste more like a higher quality primal cut, however. In the end, different Chefs have different approaches to obtain their end goal.

All of this fruity cuts of meat and wine pouring talk just makes me want to go to Cody's and get a real steak and a beer.


[This message has been edited by rcj0618 (edited 2/27/2008 9:17p).]

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Republic charges $35 for MaCallan 18,

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That is insane; I hope you are exaggerating some.

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Don't order Johnnie Walker Blue there, either.

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Blue is a 35 year old so you can not compare the two

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I have never been to Eccel Steakhouse

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Then don't post on this thread go post on a thread about the Republic

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The cooking method: The Republic uses the sous vide method. Do a wikipedia search on it. Basically this something that only really high-end chefs use. The steaks cooked in this method are the juiciest I've ever tasted. The Republic doesn't publicize this just because so many people (especially in College Station) have never heard of sous vide. It's why most of the steaks are so good, though.

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I could not disagree with you any more. It is a high dollar piece of equipment is why only "high-end chefs" use it but it is a short cut to cooking steaks. It cooks at a super high temp. and then they use a small grill to put grill marks on it like it was grilled. That is not the best way to cook a beef, with beef the longer the better.




To everyone complaining about the servers, please keep in mind 99.9% of all server in this town are TAMU students not career servers like you get in larger cities. These are kids trying to get though school, like most of you did. So cut them some slack.




[This message has been edited by Taz 27 (edited 2/28/2008 6:05a).]

not to mention they are still on a soft opening, so you shouldnt expect perfect service or food. it was still great nonetheless. another vote for the mac and cheese, plus one for the corn and au gratin. their old fashioned could use some work though. my only bad review on it.

Macallan figures to cost them about $6 per shot. $35 is a huuuuuuge markup.

5 glasses of wine per bottle is the general rule. One bottle isn't enough for 9 people. Yes, the server should've told you this, but you also should've known since you seem to present yourself as such an expert. They didn't overpour, they poured the same amount as they always do.

They just opened, and the food is delicious. How can someone talk about how it is ok to have a 600% markup on scotch and then be surprised when salads are expensive at a similar restaurant...

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I could not disagree with you any more. It is a high dollar piece of equipment is why only "high-end chefs" use it but it is a short cut to cooking steaks. It cooks at a super high temp. and then they use a small grill to put grill marks on it like it was grilled. That is not the best way to cook a beef, with beef the longer the better.

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wrong. wrong. wrong. wrong.

do you even know what sous vide is? it is NOT a "super expensive piece of equipment" and it does NOT "cook at a very high temperature." sous vide is not even a piece of equipment at all it is a METHOD of cooking. but i guess if you consider a pot full of water expensive...hey thats your deal.

sous vide is simply a french method of a "boil in bag" type of cooking. the reason it is prefered with many meats is b/c it allows the meat to retain all of its natural juices without leaching natural liquids or absorbing water. you can adjust the temperature of cooking by adjusting the temperature of water you are using. most meats are cooked for very long periods of time when using the sous vide method. large cuts are often cooked over night in large scale operations when incorporating the use of cook/chill tanks.

don't preach about things you don't know about. classic texags.



and yes the republic is better.

The Republic is outstanding.
Food, service, atmosphere, the whole package.