Food Review for Top Steak House Columbus Ohio

The Top Steak House
2891 East Main Street
Columbus, OH 43209
Phone: 614.231.8238
Fax: 614.231.5742


I have to start this post by saying I am originally from Kansas so my standards of what is an excellent steak are very very high. Having lived and traveled in numerous states I have to say there is nothing that can compare to a Kansas City steakhouse. Or at least not that I have found yet.

I notice on their home page it states that Rachael Ray Magazine rated it one of the top 32 Steak houses in the United States. Hmmm I have to think that Rachael Ray has not visited the famous Kansas City Steak houses if this establishment can rate that high. I have to wonder if Rachael Ray actually ate their or maybe one of her staff did?

Originally I started looking for the top steak house in Central Ohio as I had family coming to visit from Kansas. Honestly I should have known better then to take anyone from Kansas to a non Kansas steak house. Looking online I found reviews for the Top Steak House in Columbus Ohio. The reviews were glowing so I made the reservations and waited for family to arrive. I was very intrigued by the supposed atmosphere described by various interviewers as being a step back in time to the hip 60's.

Since we had a very large group we were sat in a almost private little room. I did not find the atmosphere nearly as hip as reviews as indicated. Honestly I found it just old and musty. While maintaining a retro look is great you still have to maintain it and freshen it.

Glancing at the menu I was not surprised by the high prices as I had been pre-warned by checking it out online. I am never one to haggle over price as long as the food warrants the high price. Unfortunately I did not find that the price was warranted in this establishment.

We started with drinks and appetizers and I have to say it took a very long time to get either. Especially cocktails. Having spent years as a bartender and waitress one thing I will say is never take long to refill cocktails. We finally gave up after the second round as it was just impossible to get refills so we all switched to water.

We started out by ordering the shrimp appetizer that serves 4 for 36.95. I am not a shrimp eater but this did get a forks up from my family that did eat it. Im not so sure though that "serves four" is accurate though.

In between a couple of us had to use the ladies room (must have been all the two cocktails) and this was like running an obstacle course to get to. We seriously had major problems trying to get through to the ladies room.

I ordered the bone in Kansas City Strip Steak for $44.95. I should have known I was setting myself up for failure but yes that is what I ordered. Mine was ordered rare and arrived medium rare. That is a huge deal for a steak eater. We kinda like them cooked the way we requested. And since rare is in my humble opinion one of the easiest steaks to cook, I was very disappointed that it was a little over cooked. The cut was good and tender but I found the steak lacking flavor or seasoning. Im a big believer that a great steak does not need a lot of seasoning but some coarse salt and pepper before it was cooked would have been nice.

I also ordered the sauteed mushrooms because whats a great steak without sauteed mushrooms?? Again I was very disappointed as they just were not anything special. Quite frankly I have had way better mushrooms for chain restaurants that were actually marinated and then sauteed.

All and all I give this a major forks down review. My family were good sports and even picked up the very large bill, but frankly I was embarrassed that I took them to this restaurant. Upon arriving home we all agreed that the service was poor to average and the food was okay/average but certainly not good enough to warrant the prices charged.