Service was excellent. Sarah was exceptional, friendly and helpful. Food exquisite. Sea Bass, scallops and filet mignon. Cooked to perfection Met the chef and general manager Kirin. He was very personable and knowledgeable read more

Was expecting more, considering this place appears on all the top rated Seattle steakhouse lists. First, note, this is different than the Aqua El Gaucho restaurant that's nearby; which they own, but is more seafood-oriented. Decent atmosphere inside; dark, and I suppose could be romantic were it not for all the foot traffic and hustle and bustle of harried waitstaff. Nice booths, but open, so I suppose if it were for two, that would be great, but there were three of us, basically seated side by side at a distance so could not have a decent conversation without raising our voices. Found the waitstaff to be obtrusive and not terribly polite; for instance, interrupting conversations or talking loudly to each other at tableside. Prawn and Crab Cocktail was just ok; neither seemed impressively fresh and a bit too heavy on the dressing, Caprese salad was quite decent, duck fat fries dry/overcooked with not much flavor. The chateaubriand was an enormous disappointment. Quite tasteless, and, when prepared tableside, one could positiviely smell what seemed like powdered ingredients, which was rather stomach turning. Mashed potato side was meh, asparagus quite good, cheesy tomatoes, too. Cherries jubilee...well, just wouldn't recommend! Neither the ice ream nor the cherries nor the sauce were appetizing. Wasn't particularly impressed with drinks or wine, either. Prices definitely not in line with quality of food, in my opinion. Note: 20% tip automatically included, and restaurant says on their website that they get to keep it and their severs are appropriately paid, whatever that means; hopefully the serves are well compensated and get their fair share of it. Personally, would not return, although I see from the reviews here that other people are raving about their experiences. read more

"Firstly, the place looks spectacular resembling a speakeasy from the past but a bit more upscale. Hostess was very pleasant and polite. Seating comfortable and clean tables. Ambient lighting makes the place a little dark but they provide a pen flashlight to assist. A la carte style restaurant. The food was ok and definitely not a value or worth the price. $89 fillet without sides should be a better cut. Pasta was excessively creamy even though it was ordered with light cream. Oysters best ..." read more

An evening spent in this restaurant is an experience. A great one! The service, the food and drink, atmosphere. We felt pampered and special. It was so fun, and we made a great memory. We will definitely go back! read more

good food but The service was mediocre. I waited a long time for a waitress at the end I couldn't find anyone to check bill read more

I changed my drink 3 times and my waiter was so gracious about it. He's worked there for 17 years! The chef came to our table to welcome us and asked about our meal. Wow! We aren't even celebrities! My sea bass was perfectly seasoned and melted in my mouth. My son's steak was perfectly cooked and he even discreetly ate off the bone! We had a wonderful evening. Thanks El Gaucho! read more

Absolutely unforgettable experience. The food was incredible, not a single bite was disappointing. First time in Seattle and our server gave us a quick summary of where to go and where not to go - truly hospitable. Also I have no idea who the piano player was but he played beautifully and brought so much joy to customers that night. read more

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Food is really pricey, i think people cone in this restaurant mostly for bragging rights. They automatically included the $60 tip for 2 people then when they handed our bill if i didn't looked carefully we would have given another tip again . read more

Woke up this morning thinking about how good dinner was last night at El Gaucho. This is what I save my 5-star reviews for. They start with delivery the most delicious toasty garlic bread to the table. Appetizers: shrimp cocktail and crab cakes. Both were delicious. We also shared bowls of mushroom soup and French onion soup. Glad we shared because they were so rich. Mushroom w/ truffle oil was really good. I had the gnocchi for my entree. It was prepared with a black garlic and miso sauce. The sauce was bold and complex. I absolutely loved it. The gnocchi was perfect, soft, not chewy. Great cocktail menu. Yummy creations! Espresso martini was especially great. Service was of course, top notch. read more

We're big fans of the food from Fire and Vine Hospitality restaurants. Mainly, Aqua, Gaucho, and Aerlume have never disappointed us with respect to the food quality and offerings. Our most recent visit was no exception. Steak tartare prepared tableside, scallops, and Steak El Gaucho (filet mignon, lobster, the most perfectly cooked asparagus, and bearnaise sauce) were all amazing. Unfortunately the experience wasn't. We noted on our reservation the time of our show. We figured 1.5 hours for dinner would be sufficient based on prior experiences at Aqua/Gaucho. Unfortunately, the server was minimally present. With COVID and possible staffing issues, I won't blame the server himself because on our prior experiences a manager circled the restaurant to make sure that everything was going smoothly. This didn't happen once. Rather, we had to seek out staff more than once in order to place orders and to urgently request our check. It made our dining experience stressful and we luckily made it to the Nutcracker as it started. To be fair, I provided this feedback, as requested, directly to Fire and Vine and heard nothing in response. read more

We came for a special occasion and this place really made it nice! We had rose petals on the table and a card signed by the staff. We were able to go to the back and pick out our steak, which was such a fun experience. The lemon drop martini was dangerous it was so good! Brussel sprouts were so nice and crispy and the steak was cooked to perfection! The piano player crushed it all night long as well, loved this atmosphere. Be ready for an expensive evening though, $500+ bill and they include a 20% gratuity for you. read more

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This is a dimly-lit, lush, intimate, traditional steakhouse environment where the booths and tables are clearly designed to showcase tableside preparations available for multiple courses, many of which involve open flames. In so many ways everyone we encountered made my husband's birthday special. We were so tickled to see his name and birthday printed on our menus. I had the very best mocktail of my life that night. The delicious tableside caesar was prepared expertly by our friendly and professional server Oka. Our Seattle Restaurant Week items were mostly excellent: scallops perfect, squash soup delicious and intriguing, baseball sirloin definitely the kind of item you cannot NOT order here served on a pile of delectable horseradish mash. The room temperature, overly al dente shrimp ravioli fell flat. Our server brought us full sized desserts rather than SRW sized ones in honor of the birthday, which was a delightful and welcome gesture. I have to thank the sommelier Mark for an excellent red wine recommendation and for sending us tastes of several options. His flavorful Tuscan suggestion was the clear winner. We had an outstanding meal that was also an entertaining and memorable experience we will treasure. Thank you to the entire impressive team for exemplary service. There are plenty of sides a lacto-ovo vegetarian would enjoy but most of the vegetarians I know would run screaming from the flaming sword loaded with filets that could be presented to any number of tables. For those of us who enjoy a show with our dinner, it's brilliant. read more

Impressed. My husband and I came all the way from florida and WOW, best restaurant experience we've had in a long time. From food, to service, to vibe, everything was perfect. read more

Where do we start? The total experience was amazing from the valet to the valet and everything In between! We were celebrating our 45th wedding anniversary and first time visitors to El Gaucho. The staff and the food made this one of the most memorable anniversaries to date - we expect many more! From the staff signed anniversary card on table to the red rose petals to the amazing service by Sarah to the arm in arm escort to the ladies room (!) to the amazing table side service to multiple visits by other staff who were not "assigned" to our table, to the beautiful romantic atmosphere and so much more!!! It was truly a dream date and one we will always, always treasure. read more

Our server Todd was exceptional! Attentive, funny, and kind. He deserved a larger tip

As always like their sister restaurant Aqua, the food and service are always top notch along with the great live piano serenading you. Sarah and the Somm who helped us were wonderful, friendly and educational. The A5 Wagyu was a welcome new item and extremely well worth it. read more

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My friend recommended Elgaucho and informed that this is a must go in Seattle. However, I had really high expectations and I guess my expectations were not met. The food was ok and service as well. For the bill I paid I actually expected a higher standard of service. Entrees I ordered the Elgaucho steak and I expected better quality steak since this is a high end restaurant. I guess the steak was just not special and not worth the hype. Desert The best thing I tried was the banana foster I would recommend giving it a try this is what made our night. The desert was good and they accommodated it with a nice show. read more

El Gaucho - Steak El Gaucho - Steakhouses Near Me - Seattle, Washington

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This place screams "fancy" to your face. Upon entering, you'll hear the sound of classical music played by the pianist reverberated around the room. It's dimly lit and intimate, making it a perfect choice for a romantic dinner. Fancy alert: You'll be given a menu with a pen flashlight. *Truffle Soup (SRW) I was instantly blown away! The soup was very fragrant and flavorful, enough said. A must try! *Fillet Mignon Medalllion (SRW) I requested medium rare but it came out as more of a medium. Still very tender and juicy. They also offered to crack some black pepper directly onto your plate. The sauce complemented the dish well. Unfortunately, some of the fingerling potatoes were overcooked and became hard to chew. *Chocolate Ganache Tart (SRW) Being in a high end restaurant, I would expect better dessert but the ganache tart was horrendous. It was obviously pre-made and chilled. The filling and shell were hard. The flavor? Two thumbs down. Ganache tart from any bakery would taste ten times better than this one. The same can be said about the fruit tart that my friend got. This isn't listed on the regular menu so we suspected that they had decided to come up with this for SRW in order to be cost efficient. Still, not an excuse to serve lousy products to customers. Service was impeccable from start to finish, very attentive. I would definitely give this place another try for the non-SRW menu. Was more leaning towards 3.5 stars but bumped it up to 4 for the service! read more

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Loved this place, kinda of dark and swanky... old school. Service was spot on, drinks were great, and the food was delicious. I know I should have had the beef, but I had to do the crab prawns. So good! We also tried the banana foster. read more

El Gaucho - Crab prawns - Steakhouses Near Me - Seattle, Washington

Fabulous food, drinks, atmosphere and people. Just a staple in Seattle for decades. Love this place!! read more

Spent the evening with colleagues from work and we talked about El Gaucho's exceptional customer service. We thoroughly enjoyed our dinner and highly recommend this location. read more

Steak sandwich last night was a horrible experience. During happy hour there's an 8 oz steak sandwich, super chewy the toughest meat I have ever eaten. I couldn't even swallowed it. The dressing on the steak was extremely sour. My waiters ignore my concern. For a $21 food and drinks tap a 20% service charge of $4... added on to equal $27. I felt ripped off. Huge disappointment. I won't come back. In my opinion the 20% service charge should be up front. El Gaucho over charging for their foods it is one of the most expensive restaurants in town. I hope their robot won't reply we are looking into it. How many people have you screwed over with this? We need to go to city council and make sure restaurants cannot charge automatic gratuity without making it visible. read more

El Gaucho - I won't order another steak sandwich from here. Toughest meat ever and to pay $16 it was an upset. Fries was decent, the toppings are No no. - Steakhouses Near Me - Seattle, Washington

Going to El Gaucho used to be an upscale culinary experience. Not now. The food is still good but don't expect any extras. There is the bare minimum to get by. The waitstaff are friendly but I felt bad for them. Those who have been there for some time also reminisce about how great it used to be before they moved into their new Restoration Hardware designed restaurant. (that's not a compliment.) Again the bare minimum to pass itself off as a fine restaurant. Surrounded by a sea of hoodies, athetic attire, and tourist gear we felt overdressed in a nice dress and blazer. I know that Seattle can be casual but when you are paying on average $150-200 per person, you would expect something better than this. You can't have the ambiance of a Cheesecake factory and charge these kinds of prices. Service was slow between courses and their piano player was playing a song from the Top Gun soundtrack. Need I say more. I saw that others have posted 5 star reviews and I'm completely puzzled by this. Have they ever eaten in true fine restaurants? I think not. If you are from another area of the US that has fine dining do not come here and expect French Laundry or even Le Benardin. They are riding on the coattails of what they used to be and tricking poor tourists into what "was" a fine restaurant. Really sad to say this as a long time patron of them but I wont be going back. read more

This review is for the 2019 restaurant week menu only! The restaurant has a traditional, fancy ambiance, with live music and singing. We all got the same stuff - the truffle soup, the filet medallions, and the chocolate ganache tart. Honestly, my favorite bites of the night were the complimentary garlic bread. The truffle soup was pretty tasty, but had a weird bitter after taste. The filet medallions were very dry and chewy, even though they were cooked to my medium rare order. Definitely did not taste like a good cut or very fresh meat. The ganache tart had an incredibly hard, but not crispy crust. The $6/glass wines were clutch though. Automatic 20% tips, which I would have given, but service felt rushed and unfriendly at times. Overall, I do not recommend the 2019 RW menu items we got. Spend your $ elsewhere. read more

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My husband and I went here few months ago for my birthday _woohoo_ and they gave me a handwritten note to congratulate my birthday lol. And all the servers that I engaged with said happy birthday. Too nice! I forgot what we ordered, but all the steaks came out perfectly cooked however I wanted. And they helped me choose a wine that goes well with the meal. Lastly, I really liked their fries. I would go here just for the fries lol. I can't wait to go back for my next celebration. read more

On a spontaneous whim, a couple of my friends and I decided to go to El Gaucho for dinner during restaurant week. The beginning service was amazing, and the waitress raved about how a very good jazz singer was going to come next. We all got the tenderloin meal as the main entree. I felt it was a little on the tough side but the sauce was flavorful. The sides were great. We were wrapping up the dessert when the jazz singer finally came. Our waitress rudely gestured that we needed to pay our check and leave for the other guests. We felt that we were treated very unfairly and this is not the customer service that should be given at the end of a dining experience. read more

Miss the old location but the new spot is decent. Steaks & service are always good. Definitely a Seattle staple! read more

El Gaucho - Tomahawk ribeye - Steakhouses Near Me - Seattle, Washington

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I love this joint. It looks like the scene in the beginning of "Temple of Doom" in the restaurant. It smells of grill smoke, waitstaff is very accommodating and it boasts the best burger in Seattle (with duck fat fries oh lawd). I'm not joking about this. Totally under the radar brilliance. It is not cheap. Get over it. read more

El Gaucho - El Gaucho. - Steakhouses Near Me - Seattle, Washington

Had an incredible evening, and the food was beyond excellent! Our bartenders Stacy and Jackie were wonderful!! Loved the ambience of the bar! Highly recommended!! read more

El Gaucho - Filet mignon with lobster medallion. - Steakhouses Near Me - Seattle, Washington

10/10 service and food! Had the crab cakes and scallops as appetizer both great. But the crab cakes were the best I've had - no filler just meat! Flavor was 10/10. Got the filet mignon. Asked for medium rare + steak was too rare upon arrival, sent it back and was cooked better, overall 8/10. Baked potato tableside 9/10 - nice side to share good flavor wasn't expecting a regular potato to impress me as much as it did. To close out your meal; GET the bananas foster - the tableside presentation is what makes this dessert worthy. It's light and refreshing after a filling meal. Would definitely recommend El Gaucho to anyone visiting seattle! Great place. read more

El Gaucho - Steakhouses Near Me - Seattle, Washington

This restaurant was so surprisingly awesome! We weren't sure where the entrance was, it upon opening the large doors in the foyer, we were greeted by a huge, classy restaurant! We sat at the bar and had the seafood salad and then the hamburger. Both were delicious. For dessert we got the chocolate ganache, so good! Several dishes/drinks are prepared with flaming- which was so cool to watch. I highly recommend! *the health code rating here is: Good (Incase you care about these things as much as I do!) read more

I have no complaints about the food or the service but just an odd side note I wanted to include: Our waiter learned it was our 8th anniversary and exclaimed that we must have lined up to get married the second same-sex marriage was legal in Washington. That forced us to awkwardly offer up that my spouse was not this gender when we married. Our waiter then asked a handful of questions about my spouse's identity, transitioning, and our marriage. It was all sincere and not meant to be invasive so we were not offended. When my spouse got up to use the restroom however, I overheard our waiter telling that story - our entire story - to the table of ladies next to us. Down to my spouse identifying as male when we married and identifying as female now and us celebrating 8 years. So, while I do think he genuinely came from a sweet and sincere place, it felt awkward and inappropriate to share that with the table next to us. Particularly because I could hear every word. We usually go to a steakhouse in Vancouver, BC for our anniversary but can't with the border still closed. We stayed local and came for our 8th wedding anniversary and the food was so good. We had an anniversary card and rose petals on our table which was so sweet and unexpected. I was surprised to not receive anything complimentary like we do in Vancouver (we usually get an amuse bouche or dessert) but I haven't been here before so I can't speak to El Gaucho's norm. It was truly a beautiful dinner and it was a fun experience to have spent our anniversary there. read more

Thank you to our waiter, Mock, and the entire staff for helping make our anniversary a memorable one. The service from when we entered the restaurant was top notch. The names on the menus, to the rose peddles and the kind card were incredibly thoughtful. While we miss the old location, with the deep booths, we still thoroughly enjoyed the new one and the history about it that Mock shared with us was cool. This is our favorite restaurant hands down. read more

We ordered take out about 3 weeks ago to celebrate our anniversary. When the host found out it was our anniversary she included a nice card and some rose petals. It was a nice touch. The order was ready on time, food tasted great, and great temperature despite being boxed up to-go. The not so good: I was very surprised to find a bottle cap in the mac and cheese. It really grossed me out. But after spending over $100 on a meal, I felt like I needed to eat it anyway. I really wish we were dining in so I could have sent it back. I emailed management the same day to let them know and have yet to receive a response. Unfortunate they don't seem to care about our experience. read more

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We had the best evening out at El Gaucho. The restaurant was recommended to us by our son's friend and we are extremely grateful to him. From the lovely hostess working that evening who came over to us and offered to take our coats to the coat check, to our magnificent waiter, Todd and finally the person who prepared our son's sword tenderloins table side....we could not say enough how wonderful our experience was at El Gaucho.We definitely look forward to returning in the future when we visit our son in Seattle again. We have already begun telling friends and family about this gem. Not only were our meals outstanding, but so were the cocktails we ordered and wine we had with dinner. To top off the evening, the espresso martini and desserts we ordered were the perfect compliment to a marvelous evening.Thank you to all the staff for such a memorable meal and evening! read more

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This is a 5 star steakhouse - from the moment we walked in until the moment we left, everything was spot on .. the food was DELICIOUS and the service is top tier. read more

Literally best dining experience of my life. Everyone was extremely friendly, knowledgeable, competent and seemed to genuinely care about us as well as our experience. They truly regard how sacred it is for people to choose them to celebrate their special occasions and honor them through superb quality of food and experience. They had printed our names on our menus with "Cheers to 20 Years" and greeted us with champagne in El Goucho flutes with the same message etched into them and a card hand signed by the entire team. They washed the flutes and packaged them for us to take home after we were finished. Their table-side service was engaging, food quality was exceptional and the overall atmosphere from valet to bus was absolutely top tier. If you have never dined at El Gaucho Seattle be sure to book your next special occasion with them! Ahi Tartare was fresh and delicious, A5/Iberico Dumplings were complex and amazing, Oscar style Ribeye was phenomenal, New York with truffle butter was mouth watering, truffle soup was bold and flavorful, and their baked potato with accouterments rivals any I've had before. All in all I'm not wavering... best dining experience of my life. Sarah was great too, perfect balance of attentive and helpful without being an interruption. We left feeling as if we had known her for a long time. We will be back! read more

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5 stars all the way around: experience, food, ambiance, hospitality. As soon as we walked in the door for an early dinner, we were warmly greeted by 2 ladies in the front. They chatted us up while they took our coats, asked about our day, and were genuinely interested in how we were. We also brought our 5 year old with us since we are traveling and they engaged with him so well! We got seated in a spacious booth on the upper level that overlooked the whole restaurant and faced the beautifully lit bar. Our waitress came up right away to ask if we needed drink recommendations and introduce herself. (I can't remember her name but she had short hair, glasses and had worked there for a year and a half). We ordered some Oregon Pinot noir, and a tequila old fashioned which my husband said was so good he even asked the bartender for the recipe! Next came appetizers, we got a bowl of clam chowder. It was creamy, smooth and delicious. For dinner we split the steak trio, blood orange balsamic Brussels sprouts, chipotle honey corn, and tableside baked potato. OMG everything we ate was phenomenal. I have pretty high expectations coming in especially when going to a higher end steakhouse (and our friends recommended as well) and my expectations were completely met. The trio gave us a great variety of cuts and each was complimented with a different topping. I think my favorite was the New York. The mashed potato melted in my mouth. The corn had the perfect balance of sweet and smoke. The Brussels sprouts...just wow. Blood orange balsamic had a nice light citrus taste to it. Lastly, our little guy got the kids Mac and cheese which he seemed quite content with. Once dinner was cleared off they brought a silver platter of fruit, nuts and blue cheese. It is a beautiful presentation and I found humor in serving my 5 year old grapes from it. We decided on the Bananas Foster to end the night. A guy different from our server came to prepare the dish tableside as he gave us the history of the dessert. It was a great show and the actual dessert was so simple and delicious. I would recommend anyone going to Seattle to try out this restaurant (yes even if you have a 5 year old in tow) because it is SO worth it. read more

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Wooow, was this place amazing! I was in town for the weekend with my boyfriend. Obviously didn't think ahead to get a reservation but fortunately we found a cozy table in the bar. Our server Jackie was amazing! Funny, engaging, great service. She went out of her way to make sure we had a good evening. Other staff were also integral to ensuring our meal was gluten free, as my boyfriend has celiac disease. On the evening we dined there was a pianist who was quite simply wonderful! My boyfriend and I found ourselves distracted from conversation trying to identify the piano cover that was being performed.....was that "black hole sun?!" Very enjoyable! To top it all off I was very happy to notice on the menu that a 20% gratuity is included in the check so that they can provide their staff a living wage with health insurance and 401k. Well done El Gaucho! Oh, and did I mention the food was amazing?! Very sorry I didn't take any pics but you'll have to go check it out for yourself! read more

I'm not huge fan of steak usually, but if it's from El Gaucho that's a different story. My NY steak and Canadian lobster tail were tender, juicy, buttery goodness. We ordered asparagus, sautéed mushrooms, and the El Gaucho salad for the table and it was a big hit as well. The greatest part for me though was the service--the servers are incredibly sweet and our chef even sent us a little caviar treat. We also made our reservation 10 minutes before our arrival (basically a walk-in) during the peak of dinner hours. It's amazing that they were able to make time for us last minute. Thank you! read more

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