Chops Lobster Bar Chops Lobster Bar

Chops Lobster Bar Awards

A split-level seafood/steakhouse with ingredients impeccable enough that elaborate preparations are unnecessary --- but surprisingly good.
Openings: Dinner nightly

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Chops Lobster Bar, Boca Raton, FL


Chops Lobster Bar Restaurant Review:


Despite the name, this first branch of Atlanta's celebrated original Chops Lobster Bar is as serious about steaks as seafood. Two separate but equally evocative dining areas confirm it: a posh mahogany-clad men's clubby steakhouse room, and a cavernous mosaic-tiled room reminiscent of Grand Central Terminal’s Oyster Bar & Restaurant. Bucking today's trends, most seafood comes from colder waters (Maine lobster and diver scallops, Dover sole, etc.). But it's flown in daily, and, frankly, tastes fresher than most South Florida restaurants' local fish. As for steaks, they're dry-aged in-house, as only the finest bastions of beef do, for maximum flavor and tenderization. Go for a bone-in cut (rib-eye or porterhouse), high-temperature broiled for a crusty exterior and juicy interior, and you won't find any bolder beef south of Bern's in Tampa. One surprise: While such pristine ingredients dictate sticking to the simplest preparations, many more complex dishes here work well, even the one that'll sound most suspect to steamed Maine lobster purists: Chops' signature fried South African lobster tail. The ultra-thinly battered morsels are actually addictively sweet and tender. As one would expect, the wine list is both extensive and expensive, and there's an equally classy complement of single malts and similar liquors.