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No one can accuse Ted Turner of backing down from a challenge.
That's why he's opened the first Philadelphia location of his Ted's Montana Grill steakhouse (Broad and
Spruce streets), in a completely redesigned version of the huge corner space that posed too big a challenge
for Avenue B.
Challenge No. 2 comes from Ted's beefy competitors. The restaurant is within walking distance of
steakhouse legends Ruth's Chris, Morton's, Capital Grille and Smith & Wollensky.
So what does Ted's bring to the table?
Price.
Ted's is the most family-friendly of the steak spots and the most affordable, as all the meat dishes come
with side dishes.
As befits a steakhouse, the room has lots of wood (or faux wood), a few wise sayings painted on the
walls and a mounted buffalo head that you may want to wave to while you're eating your bison steak. There
are lots of small booths for business lunches (it's not really a date place unless you're going to the Kimmel
Center next door) and there's a bar that faces onto Spruce Street which should be a good meeting spot for a
quick libation before the orchestra.
Piped-in music the night the Gang blew in was swinging stuff from the '30s and '40s, played not too
loudly, except in the rest-rooms, where you might feel the urge to do a fox trot while doing your business.
The Gang cautions against it.
The Gang started out with Shrimp Cocktail ($7.99) and Onion Rings with Dipping Sauce ($4.99). The
shrimp were jumbo and clean and tasty either with or without the cocktail sauce or squeezed lemon.
The onion rings hit the mark, with a crispy breading surrounding a real onion slice, and the portion was a
good size for sharing. One Gang member liked the dipping sauce, but why ruin a good onion ring?
We also had a wedge of lettuce allegedly topped with chopped bacon and tomato. When we got the
wedge, the bacon and tomato had all fallen to the plate, but that's what the fork is for. The lettuce was crisp
and it doesn't take much else to make the dish work. Normally the wedge costs $3.99, but Ted's allowed
Gang members to sub it for the salad that came with our steaks.
For a main course, one Gang member had the 11-ounce Bison Kansas City Strip Steak with asparagus
and mashed potatoes ($23.99) while the other chomped away on 12 ounces of rare Beef Prime Rib with
green beans and a sweet potato ($19.99).
For their price, the steaks were a hit. You can get more flavorful, buttery cuts for more money, but the
slabs of meat at Ted's were a good size, cooked to the correct ordering instructions, tender and tasty. The
bison, especially, had a strong flavor without having too much fat. It was maybe a little gamier than a beef
steak but if you didn't know you were eating buffalo, you wouldn't know you were eating buffalo. The
Gang members were all new to bison steak and it was not intimidating at all - as long as you didn't look at
the big head on the wall.
There are also limited fish and chicken offerings if you're trying to avoid red meat. If you're a vegetarian
or vegan, avoid Ted's.
The sides were all adequate if not spectacular, the string beans being the limpest and the asparagus the
best. There's no side here to match Smith & Wollensky's creamed spinach, but you're not paying extra for
the sides either.
For a steakhouse, the desserts are weak. No cheesecake? No chocolate cake? Come on, Ted.
Ted's makes a big deal about its Fresh-Baked "Scratch" Cookies (in four varieties, $1 each), but neither
mom, Hope nor Mrs. Fields' have much to worry about. The cookies are good - and they do travel well as
they were still good a few hours after dinner - but they're just cookies (available in snickerdoodle, oatmeal
raisin, chocolate chip and peanut butter).
Since Ted's is still relatively new, we'll give them a break on the service, which was fair, but not
efficient. Water took awhile, dinner arrived before the ordered wine and there seemed to be a lot of fussing
without much being accomplished.
Our booth also seemed to be on a busy street during rush hour: Twice, large groups of Ted's staff walked
by us then back the other way. Perhaps it was shift change but it was as if we were attending a
busboys/waiters parade.
Since the Gang gets around, we have heard some grumblings about Ted's from some of the fancy
shmancy lawyers on Broad Street. Maybe they're Morton's loyalists or merely enjoy spending $50 on lunch
because they're billing it to you, anyway.
What do lawyers know? Ted's is definitely worth a shot. And like a good steak, it should get better with
age.
E-mail: sflanagan@sprintmail.com |
