Prime 44 West

We had an absolutely great classic steak meal here. I look for several aspects of a steak house menu, this place checked all the boxes: good selection of steaks, bone-​in and boneless, lots of sides, starches and sauces. Well thought out wine list.
The steak was perfectly cooked, oscar treatment was sublime, sides were all very good, lobster mashed potatoes great (they alone were $ 22, place is pricey). One of my top steak house experiences.

A wonderful meal to be had better than any expectation I had. A wonderful steak dinner with my wife for her birthday! The steaks were expertly prepared and to the correct temperature with impeccable timing. Caesar salad with fresh dressing prepared table side. Large portions of sides and everyone has to have the Lobster mashed potatoes!
OK. I admit I wanted to try them every since they were featured on ‘The Best Thing I Ever Ate’. But I was not disappointed. The Lobster was perfectly cooked and served with buttery mashed potatoes made with a little of the Lobster pot liquor I think. This in itself was a meal.
But we didn’t over eat since we spied the next table having the table side preparation of Bananas Foster. The aroma of cinnamon and fresh nutmeg with the Bananas warming on a flame was too enticing. We were hooked. The combination was served over ice cream for Drapers and the sweet shop toffee both shops in the hotel.
The trick is not to over eat as the portions are large. This was a memorable treat I will always remember with my wife.

One of the best meals ever !! Prime 44 was outstanding last night — food, service, wine! Don’t sidestep it while at Greenbrier. Medallions were incredible. Can’t wait till next month

The hotel is old and strange, but the food is delicious. Try the lobster mashed potatoes.

The food was awesome. We were a large group and the service was poor. May have been understaffed. Took over an hour and a half to get the food and they didn’t think to serve the kids first. Thankful for the private room.

Had dinner here on Friday night while staying at the Greenbrier.
I absolutely enjoyed the restaurant from the moment i walked in. This place is owned by former NBA player Jerry West. Most of the décor is dedicated to Mr. West, but it is not overdone or tacky. The restaurant is rather large with plenty of seating.
I am going to start with my favorite thing to talk about, the drink menu. In particular the wine menu. The have a rather extensive wine list segregated by Old World and New Work style and by color (white vs red). The wine list is easy to navigate and offers a pretty wide range of styles, varietals, blends and prices. Having an idea of what the better half and I were going to eat, I elected to go with the 2006 E. Guigal Condrieu (this is Viognier from the Northern Rhone region of France). This wine was the perfect pairing for our food.
Speaking of food/​wine pairing, lets get down to it. First, our server brought us freshly baked and piping hot bacon bread. Um, ok, I ‘guess’ I will eat this. The bread was awesome and after a ‘dirty look from my wife’, I stopped after just two piece. Next, we ordered the Lobster Mashed Potatoes. Let me repeat that, Lobster Mashed Potatoes. These were absolutely delicious. The mashed potatoes are rich, fluffy, buttery with a ton of lobster. I was absolutely amazed by the amount of lobster. My wife and I split these and quite honestly, I was getting pretty full. Despite filling up on the mashed potatoes, bacon rolls and wine, I decided to push on. I had a table-​side made Caesar salad (made to order… to easy on the anchovies and heavy on the garlic and cheese). The salad was extremely flavorful with just the right amount of anchovy flavors. Next, the main course. I had the scallops (I know, blasphemy at a steak restaurant, but look at what I ate already) and my wife had the soft crab special. The scallops were great. My wife liked the soft crab though it was not her favorite.
We finished up with table-​side made Bananas Foster. We split this four ways and it was pretty damn good.
The food and service here were fantastic. I would have no problem going back again… no arm twisting necessary.

Service is less than acceptable for the prices charged. We ended up leaving –after being told we would have a 15 – 20 min wait. Very disappointing — especially since we saw many open tables. I wish I would have paid more attention to the previous reviews.

This place = perfect.
First of all they serve you warm, crumbly cornbread to start. It’s so buttery and salty sweet and melts in your mouth.
We got the lobster popcorn as an app. So good. It reminded me of calamari (the texture and idea behind it, just battered and fried lobster) except they served it with an aoili.
I got the tuna, super rare and it was served alongside hard boiled quail eggs, green beans, fingerling potatoes an some dijon mustard sauce. Perfectly seared tuna, also melts in your mouth. really interesting combo with the sides it was served with but absolutely amazing.
Bf got a steak (I don’t eat red meat so I’m not sure what cut or kind he even got) but he said it was great. We also shared a side of Brussel sprouts and onion rings. The Brussel sprouts were a little undercooked but the onion rings were so good it made up for it
They were huge and crispy and served with some sort of smokey ketchup.
For dessert we shared a chocolate PEANUT BUTTER pie with banana ice cream and had some french press coffee. Pie was absolutely incredible, although I was not a huge fan of the banana ice cream, but that is just my personal preference. The coffee was great too.
We both had a glass of wine and the bill was around $ 200 including a 20% tip. Wasn’t bad and thought it would be more. The price and banana ice cream were the only things I was huge on, but it’s the Greenbrier so it was expected.

Perfection. Just perfection. Lump crab sauce Louis, cream of lobster, Wagu beef, the world’s most perfect salad. This is Greenbriar cookery as it once was. Service is friendly and attentive. You must not miss Prime 44 West.

We had a great experience at 44 West! Yes the food is pricey, but the Greenbrier environment is excellent and quite a relaxing experience!
I had an 8oz filet, cooked to perfection. I’m also willing to bet the steak weighed at least 10oz. The creamed spinach was great, as was the cornbread. We ordered Boursin potatoes and they could have been more flavorful.
I had the best glass of Malbec I’ve ever had. The sommelier was well informed and the wine was appropriately priced.
We left to walk around the hotel and came back for desert. The group shared bananas foster. It was good. It was paired with a coconut pound cake, and I would recommend they serve it with ice cream instead.
I know that some people 1 starred the restaurant, but I’m willing to bet they let their better than thou attitude affect their ability to make a fair appraisal.
Give 44 West a try when you visit the Greenbrier!

I rarely give a one-​star rating, but my experience here on New Year’s Eve certainly warrants one.
My partner and I and two other couples went to Prime 44 West for New Year’s Eve dinner because we were staying at a private residence at the Greenbrier. The service was perfunctory at first — not bad but not good. We were seated at around 8:50 for our 8:30 reservation, but we still weren’t in a rush because midnight was far off. Some of us ordered an appetizer, and they were forgettable. Apparently they are very proud of their cornbread, and even gave out ribbons with the recipe on it… but our table kind of laughed at that because the cornbread was average and the kind of stuff you get at a Golden Corral.
The only good service I got was from the back staff like the bread and water servers. When the entrées came out is when the real issues began to arise. As Prime 44 West is a steakhouse, most of us got steaks. We all ordered them medium-​rare, yet they all came out in various stage stages of being overcooked. My one friend’s steak was so overcooked and burned that it was inedible and could barely be cut with a knife. We were actually shocked that they would overcook all of the steaks at our table — when you’re paying $ 70 for steak, you expect a certain level of service and cooking of the food, especially because the Greenbrier markets itself as such an exclusive resort-​oriented property.
What’s more, my friend has serious diet restrictions, and ordered some plain shrimp and plain asparagus with no oil or butter. Our server assured her over and over that this was possible, but when the food came (and it was auctioned off like we were at the Ponderosa or Longhorn Steakhouse), the asparagus came lathered in butter and oil. This was inedible to her. And while the server apologized and said he would bring her plain asparagus, half an hour later my friend didn’t have any food. She asked again, but by this point she’s visibly upset and everyone else is pissed off because our food is overcooked. Finally we had to call over the general manager, who looked at the steaks — especially my friend’s burnt-​to-​a-​crisp steak — and offered to get us new steaks. Well, by this point, it’s already 11:15, and we just don’t trust this restaurant to serve us quality food in a timely manner before midnight, and so we declined. This was a fail of a restaurant from a food quality perspective and a customer service perspective.
When the bill arrived, our rather clueless server overcharged us roughly $ 80 in various dishes that we did not order. I pointed out that there was an error with the bill, and as I have the receipt in my hand going through it to see if there are any other errors, he literally snatches it out of my hands and takes it away. I told him to let me have it back to see if there are further errors, but he walked away. He comes back with the with an updated bill, but lo’ and behold there’s another error, and he has to take the check back. Honestly, he’s wasting time I do not have, as it is close to 11:30 right now. When he comes back around again to collect payment, I asked for the manager again because this was becoming a farce. Some random server snatching a bill out of my hands is egregious and not something that I can really stomach.
What does that say about a supposedly high-​class restaurant when the general manager of an expensive steakhouse has to be called to a table twice? I’ve had good and experiences at restaurants, but when we complained to the manager about the whole meal in general (my review is limited by characters), my partner and I realize that such lack of customer service and attention to detail starts at the top. This general manager was just as clueless as the server. And though he apologized about the poorly-​cooked food his restaurant served, what he did in the end was sell out the server and tell us that he would remove the automatic 20% gratuity from the bill. That’s what that general manager does? Sell out his own servers? That only hurts the server and the back waitstaff who ultimately don’t get the tips, not his restaurant. Even in chain restaurants or a good steakhouse, they invite you back or do something to make up for their flagrant errors, but I think this guy doesn’t know first thing about customer service. I’m sure whatever we said went in one ear and out the other — he retained nothing.
That is my personal opinion and perhaps other people have had good or memorable experiences here, but I think this restaurant is just lazy and is used to serving rich people who don’t really care about getting quality for the inflated prices that the Greenbrier charges all of its guests. I see other five-​star reviews beneath this one, but at the end of the day, my experience at this restaurant was a one-​star experience. Actually, it was zero stars, because we ultimately had to dash out at 11:45 and almost missed the ball dropping at midnight. I can’t forgive this restaurant for that.

I have to say that especially for the price, Prime 44 West wasn’t what I had hoped. Not only have I been to better steakhouses, I’ve been to better steakhouses that are 30−50% cheaper. There are literally michelin-​rated steakhouses in New York City that are cheaper and lightyears better. Perhaps this experience is part of the shiv for being in a convenient resort environment and you’re not supposed to make comparisons to the outside world.
The most egregiously overpriced menu item has got to be the wine. We all expect a markup. A respectable markup to cover overhead and convenience may be 2x retail — perhaps 3x. Prime 44 West has an up to 7x markup on some wine bottles. I have never seen this before in my life.
For starters, the cornbread was dry from being overcooked, crumbly and flavorless. Perhaps we received a bad batch but that’s all I have to go on. The lobster mac and cheese was decent, good chunks of lobster but the cheese sauce itself was otherwise boring. I also had the caprese salad which I thought was very good. The tomatoes could have been better but I suppose it’s not in season so I can’t fault them too much.
The real warning comes with the main event. All steaks save the Filet come out of a 35 day dry-​aging process. Our waiter told us it gives the steak a very beefy taste. I’ll say! I got the t-​bone steak and while it was cooked to a perfect medium-​rare, it tasted like beef dipped in liquid beef stock and rubbed with some beef-​flavored seasoning. The taste of beef was so overwhelming that if they intended for there to be any other taste or seasoning, it was undetectable. I’m a proud lover of meat and I thought it was just too much. One member of our table who got the filet tried a bite of porterhouse and nearly had to spit it out! Not for the feint of heart. My 22 or 24oz (can’t remember exactly) t-​bone was probably 6oz of combined bone and inedible fat at the bottom of the cut, so keep that in mind when thinking about sharing.
All steak accoutrements from black truffle butter, mushrooms and even steak sauce were a la carte, which seems a little cheap for such an otherwise expensive dinner. I mean, you’re going to charge me $ 64 for my steak then $ 3 for steak sauce? I don’t view myself as a cheap person, but I just hate the idea of being nickel and dimed at a high end restaurant. Just price these small things into the entrees (the margins are already incredibly high at this type of establishment).
The salt in the wound is probably that they lost our reservation for 9 and refilling the water glasses continually resulted in small floods at the table Some other reviewers have mentioned the poor service here and I guess I’d have to echo that partially from the aforementioned issues, though our waiter was quite nice and attentive.
All in all, I’d probably skip this place if you visit. The prices are high, the «extra» costs are exhausting, and the steak is… not great.

The food was wonderful. Award-​winning cornbread. Great salad. Delightful steak. One of the best t-​bones I’ve ever had. But it took more than 10 minutes before my server greeted me. It took over 20 minutes to get a drink and order my food. 25 minutes to get bread.
Things went fine after that, if a bit slow after completing my meal to getting the check.
I normally tip between 20 and 30 percent. Here, 20 percent is automatic. If it had been up to me, it would have been 15 percent to the penny. I’d rather have exceptional service and average food that amazing food and mediocre service. I might return for the food, except that I wouldn’t, because of the service.
Chad was very nice, but… no.

Outstanding dinning experience. We arrived on time, but other slowing dining patrons dined a bit longer. We had to wait an extra 30 minutes-​35 minutes. However, the staff, and F&B Manager Pedro Gonzales in particular, went over and above to make sure what could have been a ding, ended up being a fabulous experience.
As far as the food, we had the lobster, and filets. All was cooked perfectly. The Banana’s Foster served table side is a must. I also want to give a shout out to our server. Don’t recall her name, but she had been a server with Greenbrier for 24 years.

Not happy with anything, soup was too salty, steak very average and low for 65 $, veggie dish were awful too.
Too long waiting to be sited for even reservation.
Better to avoid the while thing

We had a superb bone in rib eye steak paired with a bottle of barolo from 2003, and mashed potatoes with lobster as a side. Great experience! And the bread was warm and delicious. What I did not like was all the waiters running around being stressed.

Absolutely outstanding!
We had a group of 8 and they gave us a private room. The restaurant is beautifully done and the service is exceptional.
This place is NOT cheap! That said, it was worth every dime.
I enjoyed the Filet with horseradish crust. Very unique flavor and cooked to perfection.
Brussels sprouts on the menu? YUP! Why not? I hated them as a kid but they were simply delicious here.
All sides are served family style. The baked potato was enormous! 3 of us shared it.

Really good food here; we had the rib eye and it was perfectly cooked, flavored and super tender. Also the Caesar salad; they make it at the table which is fun to watch. Their Caesar dressing is heavy on the Worcestershire sauce which gives it a unique flavor.
Prices are on the very high side but the thing is, any single item on the menu is enough for two people. So a $ 60 rib eye gets divided over two people at $ 30 each which is towards fair for food this good. Even the potatoes can be split — we ordered a «sea salt» potato and it was the size of a football. The Caesar salad is easily enough for two; my wife didn’t want any so I ate it myself and it was almost painful it was so large.

My only regret is that I only ate two courses at Prime 44 West, so I don’t feel as if I can comment on every aspect of the restaurant. I will say, however, that the ribeye I had was one of the three best steaks I’ve ever eaten in my life. The steak was cooked very well, with a delicious crust on the outside and wonderful, buttery texture on the inside. Some people might find the ribeye a little salty, but for me it was perfectly seasoned: no need for any sauces or anything added at all. I wish I had gotten the bone-​in ribeye — there is a choice between wet aged and dry aged steaks on the menu — but what I got was perfect was start to finish.
For sides, we had creamed spinach, roasted mushrooms, and macaroni and cheese. The creamed spinach was delicious, and made a great accompaniment to the beef. It had a nice consistency and good spinach flavor, and had a nice little crunch from a crumb topping. The macaroni was not particularly flashy — no crazy cheeses or garnishes or anything — but was pretty tasty. I wouldn’t call it transcendent, but it was a good quality dish. One of the guys with my party ate all of the mushrooms and said that they were the best he had ever eaten. On the other hand, another member of our party had the oysters Rockefeller (as an appetizer) and said that they were only okay: not great, but not bad.
Even though the steak was delicious, there are two things that keep me from giving Prime 44 West a five-​star review. The first is that my lobster bisque was one of the stranger dishes I have had at an upscale restaurant. I am used to lobster bisque with a real punch of lobster flavor, complemented by a taste of herbs or liquor, with a smooth, velvety texture. This dish had none of those things: it was oily and not particularly smooth, and the croutons overwhelmed the flavor of the soup. Honestly, there would be almost no way to know that this dish was actually lobster bisque, which is a shame. There was some lobster in the bowl that was tasty and nicely cooked, but there were only three small pieces, so it was not nearly enough to save this dish. I let the other members of my party taste the bisque, and all of them agreed that it was a rather bizarre soup.
The second issue was that our service was quite poor. We were there for two hours — which is not a problem for me — but my water (my only drink that night) was only refilled once during the entire meal. My glass was empty ninety percent of the time we were at the table, and it was almost impossible to get anyone’s attention. My companions said that the wine and wine list were both very nice (albeit pricey), but by the end of the night I had to drink each of their waters because I couldn’t get a refill on my own. The server was nice enough, but the actual service was practically nonexistent.
I would come back to Prime 44 West just for the steak, but I would love to go back sometime very soon because I have never seen a menu with so many great-​sounding dishes. I only had two courses because I knew I wanted a big steak, but ALL of the appetizers, salads/​soups (even the lobster bisque), and entrees (including the vegetarian option) sound delicious. I would be willing to eat a meal there chosen completely at random. Without the lobster bisque this would have essentially be a perfect meal.

The best caesar salad I’ve ever had. It’s made tableside and the server doing it walks you through the process. The dressing is tart but salty (thanks to the lemons and anchovies). The croutons are homemade. The white anchovies that top off the salad have also been dressed with something tart.
We also got a cobb salad to share, which was okay. Problem was we had that after the caesar salad. The cobb salad was deconstructed with each part of the salad in its own corner on the plate.
I liked the cornbread that was provided, it had melted butter on the inside! Yum!
The 5 of us split the porterhouse, which I thought was good, but not melt in your mouth good — until I started carving at the bone.
We also split the sea bass (awesome) and the lobster (passable). the sea bass was perfectly cooked, and the accompanying bouillabaisse was delicious. The lobster was a bit overcooked and the sauce it came with was too sweet. The mashed potatoes were delicious and the veggies sides was a tad too salty.
The bananas foster made tableside was quite tasty and had great rum flavor.
Service was incredibly friendly and attentive. The wine selections was good, though one of my fellow diners noticed that the sommelier had really dirty fingernails.