Rare Chop House

Mixed review on this place. It looks pretty. And yet when you really think about it, it is pretty in a sterile kind of way. The place is big and open. It was hard to have a conversation because it is noisy. Our waitress was cute and when she took our drink order she announced that it was the first time anyone had ordered one of the drinks off the special drink menu from her. The drinks were made well with the special popper margarita getting top marks.
We ordered the pork spring roll appetizer. The filling and sauces were really good, but the wrapper was doughy and rubbery which meant the oil wasn’t hot enough when they were fried. We split the shrimp and grits and were pleasantly surprised to see that the kitchen split the plate in the kitchen for no extra charge. This was a nice dish with the chorizo adding some great flavor. The side we ordered was the fried corn which tasted like it came straight from a can. We took one bite and left a full portion which our waitress should have noticed. She did not.
Would we return to Rave? Probably not. There use to be a lovely little restaurant about a block over from Rave. They served home made bread with herb pressed butter in a quiet atmosphere complete with linen table cloths and great service. The place was a gem. We are sad to see that this is its replacement.

Visited for lunch on 7÷10÷14 with a couple colleagues.
Two of us arrived early enough to chat with the hostess and server while reviewing the menu and talking about the restaurant’s growing pains and successes. Very friendly and professional greeting and conversation. When I suggested that we would probably try to polish off a bottle of wine before the rest of the group arrived, the hostess wasn’t even judgmental, seemingly in support of business lunch shenanigans. I support that.
A couple appetizers for the group to share included fried pickles (sliced lengthwise) and Rare’s take on bruschetta. The pickles had a perfectly light and crunchy exterior, which when paired with the southwest style dip, was pretty darn good. Zingy! The bruschetta had potential to be awesome, but had too much cheese. Less is more on these delicate dishes, I think. Great presentation, homemade balsamic, and a tasty pesto on a more-​than-​fair amount of bread probably makes this a winner most of the time. Just go easy on the cheese, fella.
A couple of guys at the table had a beef tenderloin dish, and commented that they really enjoyed it. Tender medallions and traditional sides looked good to me. I had the tuna steak. Sesame encrusted and cooked to the correct thoroughly pink temperature, this was a really good meal. I decided to skip the bun, which is perhaps how this thing should be served anyway. My only nit to pick with this was that there should have been a big ‘ol pile of slaw where there was just a rather modest amount. It was crunch and fresh and packed a sharp little kick. I was digging it and wanted more, that’s all.
The sweet potato fries I had as a side were a nice complement to the meal. I recommend the combination highly. It is a good portion, and I love it when things are served in conical containers that mimic ice cream cones. Bonus points there.
To cap off the meal, I couldn’t resist a salted caramel cheesecake with chocolate ganache. It was as good as it sounds. They make this stuff from scratch, and that’s impressive! Some cheesecakes have a bad cake to crust ratio, but this one was right on. The graham-​crackery crust actually came into play and the whole thing came together beautifully, right down to the salt. Little pieces of sea salt were like nuggets of gold waiting to be mined.
I think their commitment to being around a long time is evident in their staff. Our server accepted my feedback graciously, and was open to sharing ideas. That was such a welcome conversation. She knew what she was doing.
Lastly, I peeked around the bar on my way out to see a lineup of beverages on tap that spoke to me. Angry Orchard and the Leinenkeugel’s Shandy top my list of Summertime favorites. Would have loved to stay for a pint! Maybe next time.

Driving through on our way to Missouri found this place on Unilocal and were pleasantly surprised at the atmosphere, friendly hostess and great menu. Had the pork medallions and the pork chop. Kudos to the chef. Price was just right.

Saturday August 31^st, we had reservations made for 6:30. We arrived at 6:20 and were told that it would be a little wait. We went to the bar and ordered drinks. I got one of the worst martinis that I have ever had and the bartender never came back to see how the drinks were or if we needed anything else.
We were finally seated and ordered our food at 8:00. We ordered our meals and we waited again. I ordered a drink which the waitress informed me after about ten minutes that they did not have the ingredients to make (it was one of their drinks) Then came the food. my husbands rib eye steak that was ordered med. rare was burned and looked like a steak that would have been thrown on a sandwich in a tavern. My salmon was good but not great and very small. The broccoli that was $ 4.00 was about ¹⁄₃ cup, I don’t mind ala carte but the portions were pathetic! We had ordered a salad and it never came. There was a male manager standing around but he never stopped by to see how things were going even tough we made eye contact several times, finally a female manager stopped by and we told her about the meals. She apologized and gave us a free dessert which we got to go and it was awful! The scones tasted like they were fried in bacon grease-​yuck! When the bill came, we had to tell them to take the salad off and the drink that we never got.
I was really hoping that Mt Vernon had finally got a nice place for dinner but it hasn’t happened yet. Maybe it was just real bad luck and things will be better if we go back again.