Inside the Cowford Chophouse

[ProjectMaximus]

On a side note, love how many rooftop bars have popped up or are popping up downtown and in the surrounding areas. Black Sheep. Hoptinger. Burrito Gallery. River & Post. Cowford. Intuition. And another planned for the Trio.

Very very true. I remember when Black Sheep opened up and it was THE ONLY ONE IN TOWN.

San Marco could use one. I've been on that rooftop at Indochine and it's nice. Too bad...maybe something on Atlantic Blvd once East San Marco opens. ha. ha. ha

[thelakelander]

East San Marco? Ha ha, maybe Fuddruckers will have one too!

[acme54321]

They appeared to be open in some capacity (soft opening probably) yesterday when I went by, looked pretty busy too.

[Jagsdrew]

I'll be there tonight, will give updates Fri morning.

[Jim]

With a heavy heart, I canceled our primo reservation time for Saturday night as I had forgotten it was Georgia/Florida week. We had once ate at Ruth's in a similar situation and vowed never again.

Out of curiosity, what was wrong with it?  I've eaten there on the southbank several times and have never been even close to disappointed.

[remc86007]

I have reservations for this Sunday. Anybody know what the acoustics are like? The atrium style has me worried that it might be loud. Hopefully not.

[02roadking]

Saturday night at 7ish. We'll see. 

[Dapperdan]

Where does one park or is it all Valet?

[jaxjaguar]

Annex garage across the street, I assume.

[Jim]

With a heavy heart, I canceled our primo reservation time for Saturday night as I had forgotten it was Georgia/Florida week. We had once ate at Ruth's in a similar situation and vowed never again.

Out of curiosity, what was wrong with it?  I've eaten there on the southbank several times and have never been even close to disappointed.

Sorry,   I wasn't clear. We are regulars at that Ruth's and always have an outstanding experience from the restaurant and have a great relationship with management/staff.

However, when we ate there around a Florida/Georgia game we were surrounded by drunk/hungover yahoos. We are probably considered snobs, but when paying north of $300 for a meal, no thanks to taking that chance again. And not that there's anything wrong with drunk/hungover yahoos. We just don't want to be with them in that environment

Ah, don't blame you on that but I'm not sure a change in venue will prevent the FL/GA drunken yahoo count.  If you are eating downtown during the game weekend, you will be surrounded by them.

[ProjectMaximus]

With a heavy heart, I canceled our primo reservation time for Saturday night as I had forgotten it was Georgia/Florida week. We had once ate at Ruth's in a similar situation and vowed never again.

Out of curiosity, what was wrong with it?  I've eaten there on the southbank several times and have never been even close to disappointed.

Sorry,   I wasn't clear. We are regulars at that Ruth's and always have an outstanding experience from the restaurant and have a great relationship with management/staff.

However, when we ate there around a Florida/Georgia game we were surrounded by drunk/hungover yahoos. We are probably considered snobs, but when paying north of $300 for a meal, no thanks to taking that chance again. And not that there's anything wrong with drunk/hungover yahoos. We just don't want to be with them in that environment

Ah, don't blame you on that but I'm not sure a change in venue will prevent the FL/GA drunken yahoo count.  If you are eating downtown during the game weekend, you will be surrounded by them.

LOL Jim!! I think you misread SMM's original post and it's thrown you in a tailspin. He was stating that they decided against dining there entirely on FL/GA weekend, so now his first chance to taste the Cowford golden nectar will be in a few weeks.

I'm happy to be your official translator, SMM. This first one is complimentary.

[Jim]

With a heavy heart, I canceled our primo reservation time for Saturday night as I had forgotten it was Georgia/Florida week. We had once ate at Ruth's in a similar situation and vowed never again.

Out of curiosity, what was wrong with it?  I've eaten there on the southbank several times and have never been even close to disappointed.

Sorry,   I wasn't clear. We are regulars at that Ruth's and always have an outstanding experience from the restaurant and have a great relationship with management/staff.

However, when we ate there around a Florida/Georgia game we were surrounded by drunk/hungover yahoos. We are probably considered snobs, but when paying north of $300 for a meal, no thanks to taking that chance again. And not that there's anything wrong with drunk/hungover yahoos. We just don't want to be with them in that environment

Ah, don't blame you on that but I'm not sure a change in venue will prevent the FL/GA drunken yahoo count.  If you are eating downtown during the game weekend, you will be surrounded by them.

LOL Jim!! I think you misread SMM's original post and it's thrown you in a tailspin. He was stating that they decided against dining there entirely on FL/GA weekend, so now his first chance to taste the Cowford golden nectar will be in a few weeks.

I'm happy to be your official translator, SMM. This first one is complimentary.

This is what happens when just 2 hours of sleep catches up to you.

[Jagsdrew]

Had dinner last night at Cowford Chophouse, overall the dining experience was very good.

We arrived at our scheduled reservation but our table wasn't ready (not many patrons were there which was a little puzzling). They said we can go up to the rooftop and grab a drink until our table was ready so we did and they would come grab us when our table was ready.  The views up there are great of downtown.  30mins later, I received a phone call saying our table is ready and we have 10 mins to come down or we will lose our table. Different than what was told initially. Luckily, we had our drinks already so we headed down and got seated.

I was hoping to be seated on the 2nd floor but we got seated on the 1st floor. From what I was told a jacket is required to be seated on the second floor but can't confirm. I was wearing just a nice button down and dress pants.   

The first floor is really nice, but you can tell its more casual down there. It was very noisy as there were some loud groups of people near us.  Next time, I'll request 2nd floor.

Outside of a few hiccups (food took awhile to come out), the food was very delicious and the service staff was very good.  I had a nice salad and ordered a steak with a few sides that my fiance and I shared.

We were full and didn't have dessert but there is a cinnamon roll creme brulee I heard that is delightful.

Few things I picked up:
Main entrance is on Ocean Street side
You can valet, we found a parallel parking spot one block away
Must make a reservation to be seated but it looks like the rooftop is first come first serve with bar menu and drinks.

We will return sometime next year for a special occasion. Very happy to see this place open finally in downtown. It has that something special and can really be the cornerstone for downtown dining.

[pears045]

Had a great experience last night.  I took the pleasure of ordering the 38oz Tomahawk because I figured if I didn't do it opening night, I never would ($130 just for the cut). It was honestly the best steak I have ever had.  My wife got the 8oz filet and it was very good as well($40 price tag).  The sides are big enough to share and we went with the potatoes au gratin and sautéed mushrooms; both were good.  My wife also ordered a side of sautéed spinach and kale that was awful.  It was terribly under cooked and about 90% kale; not a hard side to make but will pass this off as an opening night hiccup.  We arrived about 5:30 and it was gorgeous on the rooftop where we enjoyed a pre-dinner cocktail.  The building looks great, the service was great and the atmosphere was great.  It really is a wonderful addition to downtown and I will definitely go back for dinner and occasionally to just enjoy the rooftop for a drink.

Side Note - One thing I really liked, was how it felt like you were in a real downtown, in a big city.  When the wife and I came off the Main Street Bridge, we pulled up to the curbside where the valet had the lane blocked for their service.  You get out and you're in the core, right next to our skyscrapers (all 4 of them!) with traffic buzzing by and a doorman opening the door for you into the most elegant space in DT. 

The view of the Laura St Trio from the rooftop is also very cool and I couldn't help but get excited envisioning that being completed in a few years.  All very positive additions to DT, definitely give it a try.               

[jaxnyc79]

Thanks for this review. 

Had a great experience last night.  I took the pleasure of ordering the 38oz Tomahawk because I figured if I didn't do it opening night, I never would ($130 just for the cut). It was honestly the best steak I have ever had.  My wife got the 8oz filet and it was very good as well($40 price tag).  The sides are big enough to share and we went with the potatoes au gratin and sautéed mushrooms; both were good.  My wife also ordered a side of sautéed spinach and kale that was awful.  It was terribly under cooked and about 90% kale; not a hard side to make but will pass this off as an opening night hiccup.  We arrived about 5:30 and it was gorgeous on the rooftop where we enjoyed a pre-dinner cocktail.  The building looks great, the service was great and the atmosphere was great.  It really is a wonderful addition to downtown and I will definitely go back for dinner and occasionally to just enjoy the rooftop for a drink.

Side Note - One thing I really liked, was how it felt like you were in a real downtown, in a big city.  When the wife and I came off the Main Street Bridge, we pulled up to the curbside where the valet had the lane blocked for their service.  You get out and you're in the core, right next to our skyscrapers (all 4 of them!) with traffic buzzing by and a doorman opening the door for you into the most elegant space in DT. 

The view of the Laura St Trio from the rooftop is also very cool and I couldn't help but get excited envisioning that being completed in a few years.  All very positive additions to DT, definitely give it a try.