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What problems with Veritas do you mean? (I ask merely out of concern, because I love the place.)

Regarding Porter's competing with Republic, I disagree with what you said. Porter's steaks are better. That alone makes them competition for a steakhouse. Their wine list is varied and has some nice choices at all price points. They seem very open to feedback.

Republic is good, but its steaks don't hang with steaks from the big name steakhouses in big cities; Porter's steaks do.

I actually think the town can support both, and besides, a little competition might help Wade up his game. His first step should be to buy a hotter oven/grill for getting that nice sear on the outside of steaks as it should be.

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If you've been going to Veritas since they opened, you'll see the issues, trust me.

I don't think Porter's steaks are better, but as good based on what I've had...which is fine. I like them both
Unless something has changed, the wine list is a mess; very pedestrian selection, and the bottle list had no vintages listed...one of the top classic signs of a very bad wine list. It may not be an issue for a place like Downtown Uncorked or cafe Eccell, but sorry, a high end restaurant better have a damn good wine list (see Pappas as a prime example).

ALL that said, I like Porter's and will continue to drop cash there! And the market can totally support the two places.

FlyRod said:

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If you've been going to Veritas since they opened, you'll see the issues, trust me.

I don't think Porter's steaks are better, but as good based on what I've had...which is fine. I like them both
Unless something has changed, the wine list is a mess; very pedestrian selection, and the bottle list had no vintages listed...one of the top classic signs of a very bad wine list. It may not be an issue for a place like Downtown Uncorked or cafe Eccell, but sorry, a high end restaurant better have a damn good wine list (see Pappas as a prime example).

ALL that said, I like Porter's and will continue to drop cash there! And the market can totally support the two places.

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About Veritas -- I am aware of some irritations there, but I don't know if my list is the same as yours. From my point of view, the issues are due to the owners being spread thin with other ventures (multiple restaurants, catering business). This leads to a restaurant that needs a bit of refurbishment here and there, and a menu which isn't being updated. Quarterly freshness to the menu would be nice, along with specials that truly vary over time.

I frankly have the same complaint about the Republic menu. I'm also not a fan of Republic's wine list.

I completely agree with you that for their wine list to be in any way taken seriously, Porter's needs to have the vintages listed, and they need to broaden their offerings. I said as much to them when I first dined there, and they at least acted like they took the opinion to heart.

Then again, I have had the following experience at Republic -- "Oh hey look, a vintage of Dominus that Wine Advocate rated 100. I'll take a bottle of that." "Here is your wine sir." "Wait a second -- that's a different vintage than what the menu said, and this one isn't rated anywhere nearly as high, and the price should be different accordingly." I'm just lucky I happened to double-check the vintage. Most people just trust the place.


I haven't been in the kitchen, but my impression of at least some of the steaks Republic serves is that they have used sous-vide to get a consistent internal temperature, and then done a quick sear on the outside, without doing that sear at a sufficiently high temperature. They then fail to get a truly tasty Maillard reaction, although they do have a tender steak cooked to the proper temperature evenly throughout.

nought said:

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FlyRod said:

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If you've been going to Veritas since they opened, you'll see the issues, trust me.

I don't think Porter's steaks are better, but as good based on what I've had...which is fine. I like them both
Unless something has changed, the wine list is a mess; very pedestrian selection, and the bottle list had no vintages listed...one of the top classic signs of a very bad wine list. It may not be an issue for a place like Downtown Uncorked or cafe Eccell, but sorry, a high end restaurant better have a damn good wine list (see Pappas as a prime example).

ALL that said, I like Porter's and will continue to drop cash there! And the market can totally support the two places.

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About Veritas -- I am aware of some irritations there, but I don't know if my list is the same as yours. From my point of view, the issues are due to the owners being spread thin with other ventures (multiple restaurants, catering business). This leads to a restaurant that needs a bit of refurbishment here and there, and a menu which isn't being updated. Quarterly freshness to the menu would be nice, along with specials that truly vary over time.

I frankly have the same complaint about the Republic menu. I'm also not a fan of Republic's wine list.

I completely agree with you that for their wine list to be in any way taken seriously, Porter's needs to have the vintages listed, and they need to broaden their offerings. I said as much to them when I first dined there, and they at least acted like they took the opinion to heart.

Then again, I have had the following experience at Republic -- "Oh hey look, a vintage of Dominus that Wine Advocate rated 100. I'll take a bottle of that." "Here is your wine sir." "Wait a second -- that's a different vintage than what the menu said, and this one isn't rated anywhere nearly as high, and the price should be different accordingly." I'm just lucky I happened to double-check the vintage. Most people just trust the place.


I haven't been in the kitchen, but my impression of at least some of the steaks Republic serves is that they have used sous-vide to get a consistent internal temperature, and then done a quick sear on the outside, without doing that sear at a sufficiently high temperature. They then fail to get a truly tasty Maillard reaction, although they do have a tender steak cooked to the proper temperature evenly throughout.

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Very insightful comments. So nice to hear instead of the usual sycophancy regarding certain establishments by the usual food critics on here.

LOVE The Republic. Think it stands up very well to big city high end steak houses. Atmosphere, service, and food and drink all superb. Bartenders make excellent drinks and something even as mundane as "chicken fried" knocks it out of the park here. Also just a great hangout for cocktails without dinner.

gopitt said:

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LOVE The Republic. Think it stands up very well to big city high end steak houses. Atmosphere, service, and food and drink all superb. Bartenders make excellent drinks and something even as mundane as "chicken fried" knocks it out of the park here. Also just a great hangout for cocktails without dinner.

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One thing I forgot to add -- dry aging. No one in town that I'm aware of offers dry-aged beef, and it makes a huge difference. Get a dry-aged steak at a Capital Grille or Del Frisco's, and it is hard to go back to the stuff we have here in town.

I agree with you that the atmosphere at Republic is very traditional steakhouse, and their cocktails are nice.

It is going to be difficult for a restaurant in college station to hold that type of inventory.

Yeah I hear the Pappas steakhouse has $1,000,000 wine inventory. Most restaurants here don't sell that much in a year, after the markup

Exactly. These restaurants are not going to have the business or higher end customers to justify that type of cash tied up in inventory. Most people going to Porter's or Republic are after a decent/good steak, nice cocktail program and noticeable wines (regardless of vintage).

I would venture to say the turn on vintages or less well known wine labels is extremely small. You're going to go from Caymus to Silver Oak and people will buy it on a splurge. No one is guying to be buying a left bank vintage or Scarecrow etc. all in college station.

Is parking still free?