Dallas Chop House (TAYLOR HENRY/The Daily Campus)

Dallas Chop House

• Average Price: $$$
• Service: Friendly
• Decor: Contemporary
• Noise Level: Low
• Dress: Smart Casual
• Location: 1717 Main St., Dallas, TX

Downtown’s Comerica building is a popular place to be at the end of the workday. Across the street people are walking their dogs at Main Street Garden Park, while people are sipping cocktails at the popular happy hour of Dallas Chop House.

The bartender has a cocktail menu with ever evolving specials but people come to this downtown spot for more than alcohol. As the restaurant’s name implies, this is a destination for high-quality cuts of beef and hearty, family-style side dishes.

Outside of the Chop House’s happy hour, drinks are not a bargain with all cocktail specials hovering around $14 and most glasses of wine surpassing $10. However, take the bartender’s recommendation of his latest cocktail and the new concoction may be worth the $15 price tag. (The mojito’s $12 price tag, however, is better spent elsewhere).

Modern art separates the kitchen from the dining room with canvases of cowboys riding horses and herding cattle — images probably loved by the cowboy hat-wearing chef.

Waiters typically fit the modern cowboy character: friendly, helpful and talkative—very talkative.

Popovers are brought to the table, providing a fluffy but disappointing replacement of typical bread. This sweet, almost pastry-like bread is served with a rosemary butter, making for an odd pairing of dessert and herbs.

A steak house wouldn’t be complete without Caesar salad (and cheesecake) on the menu list. However, this lightly dressed bed of lettuce has little more than the Parmesan crisp in its favor.

The Big Blue is a better choice, although the size is better for sharing. Iceberg lettuce is topped with marinated tomatoes, apple wood-smoked bacon, pecans and a blue cheese dressing that’s creamy and light for those who don’t love the pungent cheese.

The dinner menu places the restaurant’s steaks at the top and center, surrounded by appetizers, sides and other chops for those not seeking beef. Three filets are offered, two eight-ounce, one of which is prime angus beef, and one 12-ounce all-natural angus beef.

The $12 difference between the all-natural and prime angus eight-ounce steaks is legitimate if eating the steak alone. However, top either one with a small mound of truffle butter and the extra marbling in the prime doesn’t seem to make a difference.

The rib-eye steak is a good choice here, as it is with most steak houses, whether or not you go for the bone-in, cowboy cut.

All steaks can be complemented with a topping of hollandaise sauce, béarnaise sauce, Maytag blue butter or truffle butter. Other options have supplements ready, such as the lamb chops served with bordelaise and blue cheese.

Side dishes arrive family-style, ready to share. The bowl of mashed potatoes comes out steaming with a spoon placed in it, ready to help serve you an abundant and indulgent serving. If ordered, getting an abundant amount isn’t worth the carbs.

The few green onions and touch of chive oil doesn’t do much for these potatoes. If you don’t mind “doctoring” a meal with copious amounts of salt and pepper, then these might be passable for you.

The steak fries may be the best option on the menu: each fry has an ultra-crisp outside, encompassing a soft, steaming, and seemingly delicate piece of potato. These perfect carbohydrates are tossed in roasted garlic, prosciutto and Parmesan before they are arranged like a game of Jenga on a plate.

However, the creamed spinach, a steak house standard, could be a disappointment. It is delicious and enjoyable—if you’re not expecting creamed spinach. If you’re expecting sautéed spinach with a pinch of nutmeg and an accent of cream, it’s fine.

Dallas Chop House has been serving downtown residents and visitors for over a year and is owned by Mike Hoque, who also owns Dallas Fish Market down the street. His next endeavor is a Mexican restaurant, which is currently in construction in the location directly across Main Street from the Chop House.