STK

Information

At a Glance

What is it?

A contemporary steakhouse serving up mostly traditional steakhouse fare.

Where is it?

At The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas on the Center Strip.

What kind of food is served?

Lots of beef and seafood with a few other non-beef dishes thrown in to keep the picky happy.

What is the atmosphere like?

Very modern and lounge-like – definitely not the place for a quiet conversation

How is the service?

Good.

What are the prices like?

Very expensive especially since the main courses are served ala carte.

What else do I need to know?

They have a popular lounge area for later in the evening.

What’s the bottom line?

There are better steakhouses in Las Vegas

Full Review

This is a tale of three steaks and similar to the Goldilocks fable there was one that was too hard, one that was too soft, and one that was just right.

STK is the upscale steakhouse at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, with branches in New York, Los Angeles, and Miami. It likes to define itself as being unlike the typical steakhouse – “not your daddy’s steakhouse” is their motto so no clubby, dark wood tradition here. It’s all light and bright and modern, with lots of white and light woods creating a decidedly contemporary feeling. With a big bar and a lots of casual seating its more of a lounge atmosphere than a steakhouse.

But the menu is decidedly steakhouse – a few appetizers and salads, some seafood, lots of meat, and a few other non-beef entrees like chicken and duck.

The meal started out well with a yummy blue cheese bread served warm in its own baking skillet. The drizzly blue-cheese butter that you pour over it was tangy and delicious – I could have eaten that all night.

Me and my dining companions all went for steaks – no matter what their marketing says it is, after all, a steakhouse – with two filets and a bone-in rib eye making up our choices. This is where we get to Goldilocks.

One of the filets was prepared perfectly as we ordered it – medium, done with a nice grilling on the outside and not too much pink inside. The other filet was undercooked; I’d definitely classify it as rare. But it was still good for what it was.

The problem came with my rib eye. It was rock hard charcoal on the outside and essentially raw on the inside. My belief is that they were trying to cook it too fast so it would be ready at the same time as the smaller filets, but regardless of the reason it was inedible. In all my years of reviewing restaurants I have had some meals that weren’t great but this was the first time that I have actually sent something back.

Even if you are able to chalk this up to a one-time mistake in the kitchen and assume that your meal will come well prepared, I still didn’t see a lot that made me want to recommend STK other than that bread. The steak that did come to the table as requested was good, but not mind-blowing and $40 ala carte, too expensive for something that didn’t make a lasting impression.

There are lots of steakhouses in Las Vegas – some are too expensive, some are too boring, and some are just right. STK isn’t one of the latter.