Alexander’s is a lovely restaurant where I have come to expect first-class food and service; unfortunately, last night’s experience was dreadful. The waiter was obtuse and pompous; the food uneven.

Beginning with a tedious explanation of what a tasting menu is until we received our truffle fries when the three of us were nearly finished with our meals, the service was truly awful, notwithstanding the fact that my short ribs were greasy, the veggies cold. Fortunately, my colleagues were generally pleased with their fillet and prime rib.

Perhaps it was a mistake to interrupt the waiter’s pedantic definition by mentioning we had recently done Robuchon’s in Paris and a tasting menu was more food than we wanted, for instead of being able to order, he continued with a list of the “world famous” tasting menus he had eaten and he then firmly informed us it was not about the quantity of the food but about the experience…followed by several more tedious minutes informing us of how small the portions are, and again, what a dining “experience” is…blah, blah, blah.

I’m perfectly sanguine with occasionally uneven food and the sides were excellent, as always; however, I have a serious problem with snotty servers. Interestingly, our waiter’s assistant (I believe, named Steve) was charming and gracious. Perhaps instead of Steve assisting, our waiter could shadow Steve, for this might show him the people skills absolutely necessary for a positive dining experience.

If you’ve been avoiding red meat for a while, but suddenly craving a really good steak…Alexander’s the place! They offer a wide variety of cuts, aged, bone-in (who would guess filet mignon can be served w/a bone!). Of course the king of all steaks—kobe…uncommon to most steak houses, they actually serve kobe in several cuts and styles (you just need the benjamins!). Staff are very patient, friendly and informative. The plating is very pretty and love the signature complimentary cotton candy at the end. There are some very appealing non-steak options for love ones that you drag along who don’t eat steak. Definitely save your pennies for this place and make it a special treat…it’s worth it.

The dry-aged T-Bone was excellent, but it was the amenities that put it over the top. First we got a free sample dish that the chef was working on. Then we got mango colada chasers to cleanse our palette. It was my dad’s bday, so they gave him a raspberry gelatin dessert. And they topped it off by handing out cotton candies. All this for free! So great steaks and lots of freebies… what more could you want?

I must say this place is overrated. The steak wasn’t very good when compared with my other experiences in other restaurants. The service was very good and I must say this is a fun place to eat that is why I still give it a four.

I went here once with a small party (2), and I must say it was the best dining experience I’ve ever had, on par with El Gaucho in Seattle. Everything was flawless.

Then I came here with a larger party (6) and it was a very…mediocre dining experience, to put it nicely. With automatic gratuity the waiter just didn’t care. As soon as he counted how many people were in our group he went from “treat them well” mode to “try to get them to buy as much as possible so I can get 18% of a larger amount” mode. I hate that sort of behavior at restaurants, it ruins the experience. The food was still good though.

So in summary, good for dates, bad for groups.