Review

Email this article

Why didn't the sauce come with my steak?

By Larry Knowles

February 6, 2006

San Diego, CA--Imagine you’ve just closed on a new house in La Jolla and the realtor says, “You want the back yard with that?”

“Well, I suppose….Erm, doesn’t the back yard come with it?”

“Not in this case, no,” the realtor answers as he’s folding the paperwork. “You asked for a house. That is what you wanted, isn’t it?”

“Yes. Yes! But when we bought our place in Darien, it included the yard, the garage, and the driveway. I just assumed--”

“The yard, the garage,” he says convivially. “We can get you guys set up with all of that. I have the price list right here.”

There are just certain things in life you assume you’re going to get with your purchase. So, when I ordered a steak at LG’s Prime Steakhouse downtown last week, I assumed that it would come with a side, or at the very least, a sauce.

Even a little sauce for your steak sets you back $2.50. The LG’s menu introduces the sauces as thus: “Your steak may be enhanced with one or more of the following selections for $2.50 each.”

I mean, sauce for a steak is like the back yard for a house. Ordering it a la carte for an extra $2.50—get the $%*@ out of here! What’s the problem, is there a world peppercorn shortage? Are the mushrooms sautéed in Iraqi oil?

Days later, I had reconciled the side dish shill. But I needed to know about the sauce. That was just too much.

So I called Gail Greenberg, owner of LG’s Prime Steakhouse. Her secretary said that she’d stepped out of the office, and asked if I wanted to leave a message. “Yes,” I replied. I identified myself as a writer (though that’s up for debate) and added, “Let her know that I’d like to know why your side dishes and sauces are all a la carte.” I let her know that I had a deadline and also had some general questions about the menu.

Later that day, I called to follow up, but the secretary said that Ms. Greenberg had left for the day. Wishing very much to know why everything at LG’s came a la carte, I walked down to LG’s on Sixth to talk with the rank and file.

I sauntered up to the hostess and said something like, “Hi there. I ate here last week and was just wondering why all your side dishes are a la carte.”

It should be added that this section of downtown, though developed, gets a fair amount of delinquents, derelicts, and native San Diegans. I couldn’t quite fault the hostess, then, for giving me a frozen expression and wondering which methadone clinic I’d just graduated from.

But she snapped out of it and said gamely, “Well, we’re a family restaurant. We have everything on the side so that a family can come in and order a lot of different items, then share.”

I thanked her, put in my ear buds, and walked back home. So, LG’s is doing us a favor. Everything on the side so that everyone can share. How about putting everything on the side so everyone can share—and not charging us for it? That would be a bigger favor.

I wondered whether the whole family would really pack up the mini van and take a trip to a high-end steakhouse. (“Jimmy will have the filet mignon with a Cedar Mountain cabernet—in a spill cup, please. And Lindsey will have the thirty ounce porterhouse cut into very small pieces.”)

Despite being piqued about the a la carte pricing, I actually had an enjoyable dining experience at LG’s. I’d enjoy telling you about the attentiveness of the wait staff and how succulent the steak was, but that’s extra. Send $2.50 to Vyuz.com and I’ll send you the rest of the review.

LG's Prime Steakhouse

789 Sixth Ave.

San Diego, CA 92101

619.239.7799