First Look: STEAK, Opening in Tremont First Week of August

“This isn’t your parents’ steakhouse,” says Jason Beudert, grabbing the meat-cleaver door handles and leading the way into Tremont’s newest restaurant.

It’s been a year since Beudert and partner Terry Francona announced their plans to open a steakhouse in the former Parallax property. In that time, crews worked hard to transform both the interior and exterior of the building, giving both a fresh new look that leans bold, sexy and slightly irreverent.

STEAK (2179 W. 11th St.) is the latest creation to join the Hangry Brands family, a local hospitality group that includes Geraci’s Slice Shop and Lionheart Coffee downtown and The Yard on 3rd in Willoughby. The goal from the start, says Beudert, is to disrupt the steakhouse category – to fill a niche between budget brands like Outback or Texas Roadhouse and prohibitively expensive white-tablecloth steakhouses.

“There are some really elegant steakhouses in Cleveland, but we don’t have a trendy steakhouse,” he explains. “We need a trendy steakhouse, something that’s affordable but cool.”

STEAK, promises management, will be suited equally well for a casual weeknight dinner or a celebratory blowout. Its biggest differentiator is the all-inclusive format that combines steak, salad, unlimited waffle-cut fries and unlimited popcorn for just $35. Also unique is the house cut, a USDA Prime coulotte steak, also referred to as the top sirloin cap or picanha.

“It’s affordable, popular and eats like a filet,” says chef Jason Simon.

Diners can opt to upgrade (for a price) to the Baller Cut, a meaty ribeye, or the Wahoo Cut, a 32-ounce tomahawk chop ideal for sharing. There are plenty of sides, toppings and sauces to customize the main event.

STEAK also offers a vegetable option for the main course, a smash burger, and kid-friendly menu.

Other Instagrammable features include weighty meat cleavers for knives, a shareable cocktail served in a shimmering disco-ball goblet, a gold-leaf option for steaks, an order of “Francona fries” served in a batting helmet, and the ice cream sundae service that includes a tabletop Ferris wheel loaded with toppings.

The façade got tricked out with sleek black trim, scorched-wood paneling, red neon piping and a new blade sign. The barroom features a sleek quartz-topped bar, swanky booths and some high-top seating. Bull-themed stained-glass panels cast a psychedelic glow over the main dining room, where a neon sign reads: Meat Your Maker.

Throughout the space are butcher shop-style elements like scales, cow heads, meat-hook chandeliers and a 60-cleaver art installation behind the bar.

The former two-season patio has been enclosed, conditioned and converted to year-round dining space.

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