So my wife scheduled a reservation on my Birthday ...

So my wife scheduled a reservation on my Birthday which happen to land on a Saturday this year. I was so excited to visit Eddie V's for the first time. I had heard so much about the excellent food. But I will be honest I am having trouble with this review. Its now the middle of the night and I cant sleep. I want to give the place the benefit of the doubt and give them a high rating , but I keep thinking about how disappointed i am. Should I give only 2 stars or should I give 4. Definitely not 5. Sorry Eddie! So here's the review.

We arrive exactly on time at 6:45, practically race across town to do so, only to be told that 6:45 was the check in, not the actual time of the reservation. At 7:30 we were finally seated. On our way to our table I spotted two booths for couples, and said i would prefer a booth. We were told that you have to request them in advance. Since this is my first time here, how exactly would we know that? So we sat at our loud table for two, more longish, so intimate conversation was impossible, across from another couple, sharing in their conversation, and they sharing in ours. Not cool....

GOOD:
So I order a wonderful bottle of Caymus Conundrum. Chilled Perfectly, and 2 half dozen oysters, 6 Thatch, and 6 Blue. Both were excellent, and the Shallot sauce was a great surprise.

GOOD:
Then the Crab Cake arrives, Its huge! Very tasty. So things are going well and I am forgetting about the booth situation. And I do like the couple next to us, and enjoy eavesdropping on their plans for the night, but really a private dinner is not what either of us is getting.

GOOD:
Then the Walnut salad arrives and it is split for my wife and I, very very delicious.

GOOD:
And finally the entree's arrive. My wife has the scallops, which were also excellent. And we got a huge side of Mac and Cheese, and a huge side of Brussel Sprouts. The Mac was great, i personally am not a fan of Brussel's, that's an order for my wife! She like them!

Horrible:
At the suggestion of Alex I order the off menu TOMAHAWK RIB EYE. I order Medium rare, but Alex tells me they recommend Medium, and the medium will have all pink inside because it is a big cut. So i go with Medium. When the steak comes it is well done, with no pink anywhere. So literally for the first time in my life! No seriously, first time ever I sent it back. I mean $100 freaking dollars. It needs to be perfect, right? So they bring back a new steak and its is braised on the outside and rare on the inside. I should have kept the well done Steak. So I was expecting a 45 day dry aged gorgeous piece of meat. Melt in your mouth falls off the bone. What I got was a fatty, rare steak that was almost impossible to chew. with tendons running throughout the meat. The worst steak I have ever had. Of course i am not going to send this steak back, no way, I was already embarrassed the first time.

I mean here it is at 3 in the morning and I am so pissed. I was totally ripped off . Everything else was perfect, but this steak ruined my birthday dinner. $100 bucks brought home to my dog! I am sure tomorrow afternoon it will warn up nicely for her.

Oh, and after the first couple finished their meal a new couple arrived, and this time they had someone close the window dividers. So the new couple could have some privacy. If only I had known! Chalk that up to another first time rookie experience.

So you can see my dilemma. Do i give Eddie a 4 star and just forget about the worst steak of my life, because everything else was wonderful, or do i give Eddies a 2 star because i got ripped off on a $100 piece of really bad meat. So I settled for 3 stars on the review. And I think that's the moral to this story. I settled! With the dozens of "5" star restaurants in Austin, why do i have to settle for mediocrity! At $383 plus $10 for valet. Really? Been there done that. I wont be back.