After a brisket sandwich the day before, the next night I continued my quest for a beefy Alberta visit and my Internet research brought me to an old school Calgary steakhouse: Caesar's Steakhouse & Lounge.
The restaurant certainly looks the part, and seems a big place in modern downtown Calgary as a largely windowless block on a city street. Inside it continues that old school steakhouse vibe with a red carpet, red upholstered chairs and booths, and white linen tablecloths.
There's also a flame grill inside the restaurant where a chef will come out and grill steaks, imbuing the dining room with a beefy, smokey smell. That may not be some people's vibe but if you're at a steakhouse I assume it's yours, and I enjoyed it.
Speaking of, they also had a tableside Caesar salad service where they make it in front of you. I would totally have gone for that but, sadly, it's a two-person minimum and I was a solo dinner. Still, I got to see it prepared at nearby tables and it's a cool show. And I did enjoy a kitchen-prepared Caesar salad for one as m starter. Garlicky and tasty.
On the disappointing side was the garlic cheese bread. While it was a nice portion kept warm in a foil-lined basket, the cheese was apparently parmesan which was not what I was expecting in this context and was not particularly cheesy. Not worth the $1 upcharge over the garlic toast. And not the best use of a carb cheat for me.
But that was the one minor note of disappointment with this meal. For my main I ordered the 10.5oz New York Strip, medium-rare. Avoiding carbs as mentioned, I opted for tomatoes and cucumbers as the accompaniment and added an order of button mushrooms sauteed with butter as, on my opinion, mushrooms are a mandatory side with steak.
