15233 N Kierland Blvd
Scottsdale, AZ 85254
Years ago, this was known as Morton's of Chicago. A number of years ago it was bought out by Landry's, and the quality is just not the same. For the record, I have eaten at Morton's around the world including what was their flagship in Hong Kong, so I know whereof I speak.
Four of us went for companions birthday dinner and arrived at 5:30. We were seated immediately in an empty restaurant. Our waitress was quite nice, and brought us customized menu's which had companions name and "happy birthday" printed on top. A staff member came by and took a picture of the table which was presented to companion at no charge.
We were offered drinks and appetizers to start. The bartender really does know how to make a martini!
One of my companions had onion soup and another had lobster bisque, while I had the jumbo shrimp cocktail. The companion who had the lobster bisque was not happy with it because it had spicy cajun seasoning in it. Personally I have never seen lobster bisque with anything other than sherry added to it. My shrimp cocktail was 5 enormous shrimp with a bland cocktail sauce, but with horseradish on the side to spice it up. I was quite pleased with it. The companion with the onion soup declared it adequate, but nothing special.
For main courses, one companion ordered the pork chop which was so overcooked as to be dry and hard to chew. Unfortunately, we were not asked about the quality of the food until after the meal had been mostly consumed. Another companion had the hamburger, which again, was nothing special. The third companion had the cajun rib eye steak minus the cajun seasoning. Cajun seasoning does not belong on the main menu of a steakhouse like Morton's and if available, should be an option and not a main menu item. The steak was properly cooked, but was not the tender piece of meat the Morton's used to be known for.
For my main dish, I ordered the bone in rib steak which is known to be the most flavorful piece of beef.
I was given a huge, ugly, heavy serrated steak knife which did a poor job of cutting the meat and only succeeded in tearing it instead of cutting it. If a restaurant is going to serve prime beef, it should provide a reasonable sharp knife to cut it with. The steak was nothing special and was lacking seasoning. I ordered a cruet of bearnaise sauce, which arrived thick and gluey without much tarragon flavor. Instead of pouring onto my steak, I had to scoop it out and spread it on my steak.
Side dishes ordered were lobster mac and cheese, sauteed mushrooms, and creamed spinach. The lobster mac and cheese did have plenty of lobster in it as a plus. The wild mushrooms that used to be served are no longer available and are now substituted with ordinary button mushrooms, which again, could use some seasoning. The creamed spinach was properly creamy, but the seasoning could take a lesson from Lawry's on seasoning.
On to dessert. Creme brulee was ordered, and the raspberries were the best part. Once again, the creme was lacking flavor though the burnt sugar was o.k. I got the distinct impression that the desserts were not fresh and were made much earlier in the day.
The restaurant did have a few more patrons as our meal ended. As would be expected in a restaurant of this caliber, it was nice and clean, though the valet car service was no where to be seen, though it is advertised as being there.
I used to evaluate Morton's as 5 stars, but I feel it is no longer in that category. The meat may be marked prime, but at best it might be a cutting grade 1 instead of a 4 or 5. At a cost of $500 for this meal, I expected a lot more quality and flavor as it used to be.
4 stars for adequate food but excellent service and cleanliness.
