When it comes to food, I'm always on the lookout for interesting new things to try -- all the more so if the location in question is well-known as a foodie destination! This is what led me to check out Echo and Rig -- I'd heard plenty of good things about this place, though because it was located in Tivoli Village, it was quite prohibitive for me to drive over there just to try it out. When I thus heard they were opening a second location in Henderson in the former Elephant Bar space, I just had to check it out.
This review covers two separate visits to Echo and Rig: one with my mother, and the second one by myself.
When you enter the restaurant, you really get a sense of how modern it is -- even though I'd been here many times before when it was Elephant Bar, the makeover rendered the restaurant almost unrecognizable. The waiting area of the old restaurant has since been replaced with a butcher shop that offers quite a few different meat selections, on top of having a dry-aging cooler for their steaks. It's a great place to check out and browse.
Now, I will be the first to admit, my mother and I had high expectations for our visit -- and some of these went unfulfilled during the first visit. Some of the items we enjoyed -- the portobello fries and the caramel turtle sundae were standouts to us! However, other items like the roasted cabbage, lollipop kale salad, and even the Spencer steak left us wanting; in particular, my mother was unhappy with her steak being much rarer than she'd like it to be. That said, our server, Julie, was on the ball -- not only did she fix the steak issue that my mother had, but she was also very polite and apologetic about our experience and helped make it as comfortable as possible.
For the second visit, I went by myself to get a better grasp of the menu, have a more personalized recommendation of what to get -- and more importantly, see if Echo and Rig was worth the hype. I was almost tempted to post after the initial review, but decided to hold off until after the second visit to make sure my experience was "unbiased" compared to the issues that came up with my mother's order. This time around, my servers were Austin and Juan.
For my second visit, I got a cut of steak that I like, but often have trouble finding on steakhouse menus: the hangar steak, which is often difficult to cook right because of how lean it is. Not only was it cooked to perfection, it MELTED in my mouth. That's the sign of a steakhouse that does things right! Of course, while the steak was good, I really enjoyed the other dishes -- this time I was far more satisfied with the dishes I ordered, which included the seafood options (the octopus in particular was PHENOMENAL), the burrata cheese appetizer, and their sorbets, the last of which were very light and definitely much needed after having such a ridiculously indulgent meal. All of the pictures of the food we ate during these two visits are attached to this review!
Overall, what's my verdict? I will admit, during both visits there were still menu items that I particularly didn't care for, and that some of the food I ordered was not to my liking. But in both cases, the service I got from Julie, Austin, and Juan more than made up for it. I am of the belief that food and service go hand in hand -- I would be more than happy to go to a restaurant that was simply "good" or "mediocre" if it was staffed with people who loved it and had a passion for their work, than to go to a restaurant with the best food in the world but had middling service at best. I think part of it, too, was the fact that I've had very few experiences with steakhouse restaurants otherwise; most of the places I go to that serve steak are usually other kinds of restaurants that specialize in other cuisines. ( The only two exceptions to this being Lawry's and Fleming's. ) So for me, I had no idea what to expect, and didn't really have many other steakhouse experiences to compare this to.
That said, would I come back? YES. They have so many other items that I wouldn't find on a steakhouse menu, like their large selection of small plates and appetizers, and though not all of them may be up to my taste, there's enough that I could easily mix and match to create a personalized meal that I would like. Again, another thing to consider is the service, as well: they do their best to make sure you're happy, well-fed, and satisfied with what you ordered, which more than made up for the food. The sum of these two experiences here is why I give this place five out of five, and why I think Echo and Rig is certainly worth the hype that I've heard so much about. If you haven't checked this place out, please do! You won't regret it. read more