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Doin' it right "Crescent City Steakhouse"

Crescent City Steakhouse is located at 1001 N. Broad, 821-3271.

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	Perfect Performers 4 out of 4 on the belt scale
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Ooooh wee! Boy have I got another one. You know how when you eat at a great place, it just makes the rest of night and maybe even carries over to the next day? You just keep remembering each dish as it came out: the first bite, the last bite, and every tasty morsel in between. Well this week my running partner and I had a humdinger of a meal that had us singing this joint's praises up and down Broad Street. The cause of such jubilation? Crescent City Steakhouse. Now I know it's been around for a bit, but sometimes you need to rediscover the classics, cause you never know, they could get even better.

Atmosphere:
Passing through the doors of Crescent City is like steppin' back in time. The tiled floors, the curtained booths (I'll get back to these), and the big back bar make you feel as if you're living classically cool, New Orleans style. The main dining room is spacious with high ceilings, but the place is also insulated from the outside world by heavily curtained windows, creating the vibe that this is the only place to be. The best way to sum it up is this: Crescent City has the regal feel of old New Orleans, but at the same time it's more laid back than Rip Van Winkle. Restaurants would kill to recreate what this place does without even trying.

(Oh yeah, about those booths. I probably shouldn't let this out, but this has got to be one of the cooler spots to take a date. Crescent City has three or four booths tucked along the wall that have individual curtains to separate you and your date from the rest of the restaurant. Trust me, it doesn't get much better.)

Service:
The service at Crescent City was great. Our waitress answered all of our questions and was eager to tell us all we needed to know. The pacing on our dishes was good as well. Now granted, my podna and I rolled in there on a weeknight, so heavier weekend crowds could slow things down a bit. However, it is a steakhouse so waiting a little bit for your food should be expected. The best part of the service was that our waitress had the one quality that all good servers have: they seem to really seem to care whether or not you're enjoying the meal. That sentiment really goes a long way in making diners feel special.

Entrees:
Now to the really good part. Obviously, there's no real question as to what my running partner and I were going to order. Being the magnanimous friend that I am, I decided to let my podna order the filet, while I got the rib eye. (Shoot, you know I'm playin'. I called dibs on the filet as soon as we entered Crescent City.) I ordered the prime cut medium-rare with a bordelaise sauce and a side of the lyonaisse potatoes. The steak was awesome. When it came out it was sitting in a pool of butter and wrapped in a thin slice of bacon. To say it was buttery soft would be a tragic understatement. It melted in my mouth. Plus to top it all off, the hickory flavoring of the bacon permeated the entire cut. (Truthfully, if there were a way to improve on a great steak, wouldn't you have added bacon as well?) As far as the potatoes go, they were lightly seasoned, somewhat tart, hash browns. The subtleness of the side went well with the rich, bold flavor of the steak.

Now for those of you who think my running partner got the short end of the stick by ordering the rib eye, you're sorely mistaken. Even after basking in the culinary glory of my filet, I was still very impressed by the juicy full flavor of the rib eye. With the filet, you get a virtually fat-free piece of meat, while the rib eye has a good bit on the tips. However, the fat is where the flavor is and boy was there plenty of it. My podna went with the potatoes au gratin for his side. These ultra smooth, ultra cheesy taters went hand in hand with the rib eye to make a great team.

Desserts:
When we got to dessert I just had my fingers crossed. Crescent City had been outstanding so far, and I didn't want things to take a plunge at the finish line. I wasn't disappointed. My running partner decided to go with the bread pudding and I got something called the "Z" pie.

One of the funniest moments of the meal was when my podna's dessert hit the table. The waitress sets before him a steaming cup of bread pudding with a big white scoop on the top that looked a little like ice cream. My podna turned to me and said, "Man, I just want to say thanks." The look of pure expectant joy for the pudding and satiation from the steak made him look like he was gonna cry, and I'm telling you I almost wet my pants. But I digress. As it turns out, the scoop was a slowly-melting icing concoction that wound its way throughout the bread pudding, leaving a sweet trail wherever it went. Just beware this stuff comes out hot. So no matter how tempted you are to dig right in, give it a minute.

As for my dessert, it took it to the other end of the temperature spectrum. The freshly made Oreo crust was topped with an ice-cream layer, more cookie crumbs and hot-fudge. Definitely a solid dessert, but truthfully, I wish I had gone with the bread pudding.

Price:
Now when you're headed to a steakhouse, you know you're gonna drop some change. The question is, "How much?" and "Will it be worth it?" Now as you can tell from the above, I'm a BIG fan of their food. You know what, their prices ain't that bad either. The steaks range for the $16-$20 for the filet. (Actually the porterhouse for four is around $75, but other than my podna and I on a really bold day, I don't think you could count this a single-serving steak.) The a la carte sides aren't too bad either, with most running around $3-$4. And as far as the portions go: Forgetta about it. No way you're leaving this place hungry.

Overall:
I love this place. It's got charm, good service, reasonable prices, and above all great food. Crescent City Steakhouse is the kind of restaurant you can slide into on the most romantic of evenings (just make sure you get one of the curtained booths), or the type of joint you roll into with a whole crew of podnas looking for a meal to supercharge you before a night on the town. I know that steakhouses may not be an every week occasion, but if you ever need somewhere special to go, this is the spot.

Crescent City Steakhouse gets a 4 out of 4 on the belt scale.

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