Tripps: Eat Steak, Drink Wine, Skip the Salad

Last week, I had enough of Top’s Chinese takeout. I wanted a real meal. I wanted to go somewhere I had not been before. I also wanted wine with my meal. Quite a while ago Trip from Clio – My Musings had commented about the chain Tripps (on Broad) and how the wine list was very reasonable. So, I finally took up the challenge and headed there. My husband and I were a little concerned when we entered because cigarette smoke wafted our way from the bar, but Tripps had decent ventilation and we breathed easy at our booth. And Trip was right about the wine prices. Ravenswood California Zinfandel set us back only $17.95. If I felt like I had some money to spend, I would have indulged in the Estancia Meritage for $42.50. Josh, our waiter, brought us a mini loaf of bread with a pesto dipping oil. Very tasty. Both of our dinners came with salads, my husband ordered the house variety and I had the Caesar. The lettuce in both salads was limp and dull. And my Caesar dressing had no taste at all. The only decent thing about the Caesar salad was that it had two large shavings of Romano cheese. I ate the cheese and only half of the salad. The steaks made up for it. I had the Filet Mignon. It was slightly charred on the outside and medium rare on the inside. The meat had been lightly salted and peppered. A good piece of meat cooked in a plain, straightforward manner. It reminded me of something I would have prepared myself, but since I have no stove right now, Tripps fulfilled my steak craving. My husband ordered the NY Strip and found a similar experience. A simple, yet tasteful meal.

We both agreed that Tripps is a place we would not necessarily frequent, but we would return on occasion. I hope they continue to maintain a decent-priced wine list.