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In the crowded world of high-end steakhouses, it's sometimes difficult to differentiate between good, better and best.
Not so for online readers of the Sun Sentinel, who overwhelmingly voted Chops Lobster Bar in Boca Raton the best steakhouse in South Florida.
"I believe it's because we're not only about prime steaks," says Mimi Cogan, the restaurant's general manager since its March, 2007 opening. "We also have a lot of seafood choices. Our customers enjoy that. They don't always want to come in for a big steak dinner. They can go to the lighter side or they can have steak. It keeps us interesting."
While the average price of a meal is $70 per person, guests at Chops don't necessarily have to spend big bucks. Year-round, there's a three-course menu for just $49. Two courses can be had for $42. During high season, it's available Sunday through Thursday.
The restaurant also has an accomplished executive chef in European-trained Holger Strütt, who opened Chops after stints in New York City and Tokyo steakhouses and as leader of the culinary team at the Westin Governor Morris in Morristown, N.J.
Strütt's menu includes an ever-changing selection of European specialties with such dishes as Wiener schnitzel, sauerbraten or white asparagus every springtime.
But as you'd expect, the real backbone of the menu are the USDA prime steaks. Cogan won't say where the restaurant's beef is sourced because, while other restaurants may purchase from the same supplier, Chops uses much stricter criterion.
The two most-popular cuts are the 8-ounce filet mignon ($32) and the 20-ounce bone-in rib-eye ($42). Chops serves very good standard steakhouse sides like creamed spinach and hash browns. But you haven't dined at Chops unless you've tried the truffle parmesan fries or fresh corn mash. Corn is first roasted, and then pureed with a little bit of butter, salt and pepper. Corn has never tasted so good.
Boca's Chops is tops
MiamiZine Cuisine " Boca's Chops "