I don’t know many people who don’t like steakhouses. Well, actually my brother and my brother-in-law (who are vegetarian and vegan, respectively) are two people who don’t, but for anyone who does not shun beef, what’s not to love? In general (especially in this town), you’ll find pretty decent cuts of meat (often sourced from high-end farms that rival Canyon Ranch, aside from the obvious no exit situation), cooked well, matched up with crowd-pleasing (albeit calorie-loaded) sides. Classic starters like raw bar, crab cakes, wedge salads, are just as easy to enjoy. Even if these meals are not as memorable as those served at more ambitious and unique culinary haunts, you’ll still have a good time.

Perhaps owing to its universal appeal, the steak house model has flourished lately. From Primehouse to Porterhouse, to BLT Steak, Prime, and T-Bar Steak, even in this time of economic trauma that we’ve been experiencing, the desire for a good steak (or its cheaper cousin, the burger) has seemed to remain strong.

Adding to the mix most recently is Parlor Steakhouse, a handsome new corner restaurant on the Upper East Side that opened this June. The space is rather upscale for the neighborhood, with tall white French doors wrapping the restaurant, and formal upholstered seating set up with glossy dark wood tables in the main dining room. While it caters to a more mature set in the main dining room, it also knows its neighborhood has its fair share of youngsters. You’ll find a nice big bar and lounge area equipped with an icy raw bar, and a couple of oversized flat-screen TVs showing the games. Parlor is owned by a husband and wife team who have some experience with the neighborhood: Michael Glick (A Voce, Gaia) and Susy Salvo Glick (Gaia) also own the nearby BB&R on Second Avenue. To bring their steakhouse to life, they installed Executive Chef Lucas Billheimer, a veteran of Lure Fishbar, in the kitchen. He’s offering a nice selection of five cuts of steak (hanger, bone-in strip, filet mignon, rib-eye, and porterhouse for two), and an extensive menu stocked with alternative proteins—chicken, pork, branzino, salmon, scallops, cod and even a lobster roll ($24).  

When Craig and I had dinner there last week with my Dad, we were seated in the restaurant’s side room, behind the bar room. It’s a room they call the café. I call it cramped. While the seats are wildly comfortable (I’ve rarely been seated in such a soft cushioned chair before; I’d like my therapist to get these, please), the room is quite narrow—it’s essentially a wide hallway—and it gives the distinct feeling of being in the cheap seats.

While we weren’t that thrilled with our table, we really wouldn’t have minded eating in the coat check closet as long as the bus boys kept on lobbing the contents of the Parlor breadbasket our way. It is stocked with soft warm and fluffy onion rolls from Tom Cat that are the each the size of a Rubik’s cube, and come adorned with a tangle of sweet and sticky caramelized onions, along with slices of housemade olive oil and herb foccacia, and accompanied by a dollop of homemade chickpea puree, a rather nice peppery take on hummus.

The breadbasket set the night off right, and so did my butternut squash and Gala apple bisque ($12), a rich and velvety smooth soup that tastes as though a butternut squash and an apple were mated and then touched by some magical wand and turned from solid to a silken liquid. The flavor and texture of this soup were exquisite, and I loved the addition of plump and sweet rock shrimp to the bisque itself, and fat battered shrimp and tarragon fritters, which are served on the side, that can and should be dipped into the soup with regularity.

The “grilled romaine salad” in truffled Caesar dressing ($11) is slightly gimmicky, and I would’ve preferred if it had been allowed to be what it essentially is: a Caesar salad. Instead, it’s manipulated and pushed and prodded into something that’s over-thought and not as good. First of all, romaine does not, in my estimation, need to be grilled. Why bother? It’s not tough or in need of softening, especially in the salad context. Second, the long ribs of romaine are not tossed in the dressing. They’re just soaking in a puddle of it, which makes for uneven delivery of flavor. Sometimes it’s best to let a Caesar salad just be a Caesar salad, especially when the dressing is that good. (Yes, the dressing was terrific.)

While I was confused by the romaine salad, I liked my dad’s appetizer portion of potato gnocchi—dense circular dumplings served with wild mushrooms that are anchored in brown butter. While the gnocchi could have been lighter, the dish was simple and hearty, and a nice reflection of the season.

I suppose the true test of any steakhouse is what they can do with their beef, and theirs is good. The bone-in 16-ounce prime strip loin ($34) is salty and juicy, with a smoky charred crust from the grill, though we ordered it medium rare and it was served rare. Steaks come with a choice of sauce (Bearnaise, horseradish, red win, herbs and fresh lime) and sides are served a la carte. The sautéed spinach was fine enough, but the twice-baked potato ($8) didn’t meet my expectations. When I think of twice-baked potatoes, I imagine the inside being whipped up to creamy, but these tasted baked once, if at all. The potatoes were lumpy and not especially good. What a bummer.

A cheeseburger ($15) gives a beautiful visual, served inside a big brioche bun that’s marked on the grill, with a bowl of French fries (topped with fried onions that seemed to be fried a few hours ago). Again, I was disappointed. The burger is served sliced in half, with toothpicks in each half, sort of like a deli sandwich, which does not make sense to me. This lets the juices and the heat escape through the center of the burger and means that by the time you are through with the first half (which is not especially flavorful), the second half is ice cold, and a bit dry.

The burger also recalled the “where’s the beef” commercial in some ways. When I lifted the bun to apply a layer of mustard and ketchup, what was revealed was a burger far too small for its bun. There was about an inch margin of beef-free bun there. Either use a smaller bun, or make a bigger burger.

But there were high points. Not surprisingly considering the chef has been cooking at Lure Fishbar for a while, my whole grilled branzino was excellent—crispy skin wrapped around quite moist and luscious flesh, brilliantly seasoned with herbs, chiles, and lemon and dressed with lime segments. My dad’s pan-roasted chicken ($23) was also good—a juicy breast and the thigh deboned and pan-fried and served over sinfully rich ricotta whipped potatoes and a ragout of patty pan squash and maitake mushrooms.

Despite the misses on the menu, there’s certainly enough to like at Parlor, what with the friendly staff and attentive service and fine steaks (and soups). This is a place that’s clearly cultivating a neighborhood clientele, as the bar was filled with friends watching games and sharing icy platters of raw bar, steaks, burgers and fries, while the dining room had a nice mix of couples and larger groups enjoying a mid-week meal (discussing the bailout) together. It’s like I said. Even when it’s not perfect, everyone likes a steakhouse.

Parlor Steakhouse is located at 1600 Third Avenue, corner of 90th Street, 212-423-5888.

Andrea Strong