Monday, August 07, 2006

Joe D's Chops

Recently paid a visit to Joe DiMaggio's Italian Chophouse, located on the corner of Washington Square where the old Fior d'Italia was. Somebody poured an enormous amount of money into remodeling this place.

Not only is the inside a huge space that's completely remodeled with quite a bit of detail, but the place is packed with memorabilia and keepsakes from the DiMaggio family. One would tend to think that would give the place a Buca di Beppo feel, but it's actually very nicely done. Apparently it's been open for about 3 weeks, and currently the tourist-to-local ratio appears to be about 60-40.

My recommendation for this place is to go there for drinks for the next few months, before that ratio turns to 90-10 towards the fanny packs. They make an excellent cocktail and do both classic and contemporary options. The bar area is nice, spacious, and has enough going on to keep you interested.

I did end up eating dinner there, and figuring that I was giving the whole restaurant its day in court, I decided to go with the piece de resistance - the filet. The result was pleasing but predictable - the filet was on par with what you'd find from Ruth's Chris or Harris in terms of both meat quality and preparation. But considering the price is also equal, I'll probably go back for dinner to Joe D's about as often as I go back to Ruth's Chris (once every couple years).

In its defense, though, Joe D's proved itself a worthwhile competitor and a place that I'd send people from out of town who have had their fill of Morton's-style steakhouses. Also considering the dearth of good food in North Beach (a topic for another day) I'm mostly positive on DiMaggio's.

3 comments:

SP said...

One thing I forgot to mention. This is a new highlight in the history of restaurant marketing, from their self-written description on OpenTable:

We offer more than exceptional cuisine and service. By using the powers of design and entertainment, we stir emotion in the heart of each customer.

Anonymous said...

You leave your own comment in the same way that D's writes its own description on OpenTable. Hummm.

SP said...

Yes, that second paragraph should've been in quotes.