One of Saint John's finest......
The Church Street Steak House is certainly one of the better restaurants in the city and sure to make the top 10 of the city's finest at any time. Cozy best describes this truly authentic steak house. The building is a beautifully restored historic property originally built in 1877 and in 1998 plans were submitted to revive this old “printing shop” to the Historic Building Preservation Program. The Knodell Building as it's historically known is now home to this charming 3 story restaurant and features great food, great service and reasonable prices. The restaurant is a part of the Grannon Group of restaurants in the city and has a good reputation for quality food. Seafood and Steak are a safe bet and you can order anything else from nachos to a cheeseburger if you want a great, cheap dinner in a wonderful atmosphere. The beers are great……Try a Riccard’s Red or Oland’s Red!....ice cold, rich flavour and smoooooth!....the Martini menu is wide but I maintain that any restaurant offering martini’s on the menu is obligating itself to satisfy the demanding pallet of the true Martini drinker…,to this end, you must also offer the requisite, premium spirits with which to make a good martini….be it Vodka or Gin (for you purists) unfortunately, my last few visits haven’t uncovered anything other than the usual assortment of Absolute or SKYY…..a small criticism to be sure, but the city needs at least one place with an eye on offering premium spirits from the bar and this or D’micos would get my vote for that task……. The scallops are amazing, I recommend ordering the filet with a side of scallops. The appetizers are wonderful and every table gets a loaf of piping hot bread and baked garlic cloves while you study the menu. The service is always friendly and I’ve seen the staff pull off some small miracles to try and satisfy the needs of their guests. The deserts are also wonderful and you’ll need a few visits to really enjoy all this place has to offer. Highly recommended!    [16 Feb 2005 11:14:18]

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     ­B.   

While there was a time not all that long ago that I would have agreed with the initial review on this page, alas this is no longer the case. Two recent visits to this establishment have soured my palatte to the point that I will not return.

The first of these two visits was in mid November, and granted the food was everything I've come to expect from Church Street, but the server was not. Several times we had to chase him for the things that should have been automatic, like refills for water and coffee. His interests seemed to be with a larger table where he obvioulsy assumed the tip would be more rewarding.

Last evening's visit however was without a doubt one of the worst experiences I've had in a restaurant in my 50+ years. It definitely tied with my first and last visit to a 'Waffle House' location in Georgia.

The girl that waited on us (I can't really refer to her as a waitress) would have been better suited at bussing tables or washing dishes. She definitley should not be a allowed to serve the public in any form or fashion.

As for performing small miracles to try and satisfy the needs of her guests, it would have been a miracle of epic proportion for this girl to even acknowledge her guests.

As for the food, for a table of 7, the meals took over an hour to arrive, and some of them had obvioulsy been sitting while this excuse for a server decided to go to the kitchen to pick them up. A glass of wine that was ordered when the food was delivered didn't show up for another 35 minutes, while the glass of water I asked for never did materialize.

The dishes ranged from under to over cooked, in some cases on the same plate. My well done steak (so sue me) was bordering on blue. Unfortuneatley so was the chicken, while the bacon wrapped scallops had the flavor dried out of them.

In the past, I've recommended Church Street numerous times and touted it as not just one of the best, but "the best" the city has to offer in dining.

In a city with so few good restaurants it shouldn't be hard to make the top ten, but under current cirmcumstances they rank far down the list, maybe one or two positions up from MacDonalds.    [28 Dec 2007 08:32:57]

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     ­Alman