Meatier Shower

When in doubt, reach for the cow.

You know the story of how Mr. B’s in Brookfield came to be? It was first an Italian place that didn’t do gunsmoke business, so owner Joe Bartolotta changed the focus to steaks and — ba-da-boom.

For some types of food, I think there’s a saturation level. Maybe not with red meat. Mason Street’s yanni’s is the newest steakhouse Downtown, a half-mile from Mo’s and Butch’s. In another half-mile, there’s Milwaukee Chop House. Due east a few blocks, inside Cudahy Towers, Bacchus is sporting a beefier menu, thanks to steak additions made last fall. And — I’m not finished yet — Milwaukee Street’s Carnevore, co-owned by Sake Tumi’s Omar Shaikh, opened late in December.

That’s, like, a Porterhouse every six blocks or so — pretty stiff competition for the new kid. Yet a half-year after opening, Yanni’s seems to be thriving. Maybe there’s no such thing as too much filet mignon. Maybe beef is our catnip, our Viagra. Owner Danny Goumenos, better known for departed Downtown ventures like Park Bar and Señor Frog’s, scrimped not on this space, hiring architectural firm Engberg Anderson to design the classic leather booth/mahogany wood interior and Bob Millhoff, a Culinary Institute of America grad, to run the kitchen. Staffing? There’s certainly no shortage of servers. The menu’s bling is the beef — USDA Prime, the highest grade available. (“Yanni,” by the way, refers to Goumeno’s father, not — maybe I’m the only one disappointed — the New Age musician.)

Whether it was the positive hype last fall or the process of getting settled, the familiar yin-yang did its balancing act during my visits — some things were good, others just okay. What shined above all else were steaks: filets, bone-in rib eye, Kansas City cut and the mighty Porterhouse. Around the shiners on the menu, they’ve grouped fresh fish and seafood (grilled halibut, shrimp de jonghe), chicken, prime rib, various chops (veal, pork, lamb) and casual sandwiches.

A shiny shine is also the goal of the service staff. The moment we were seated, servers encircled our table. In a quick, concerted movement, they clutched our napkins and spread them out on our laps (a practice I find pretentious). The servers go for a conversational-meets-professional face, and it’s mostly successful. But each time we visited, we lost their attention near the end of the meal — waiting a bit too long to order dessert, have our plates cleared or get the bill.

What they do with the menu is typical of steakhouses. The entrée is a substantial portion of meat served solo. Starch or vegetable side is priced separately. But you get a gratis soup or salad, nice courses both. With the portions of most everything here, appetizers may be more than many people can eat, although, Lord, I saw lots of crab cakes and fried calamari rounding the corners of tables. The most interesting from at least a visual aspect is the lamb rib chops, a tender trio propped on pita triangles and a nest of fried potato strings ($13.95). The chops would have been tastier had the folks in back been more munificent with the spicy yogurt sauce (if not the seasoning on the lamb), here just dabbed on the pita.

Salads and soups tout quality. Chicken minestrone and beef mushroom noodle, sampled on different occasions, were made with full-flavored meat stock and riddled with vegetables and meat. The house salad mastered the idea of a trademark plate of greens — if this creation is the pre-entrée plate most diners will eat, why not make it exceptional? And Yanni’s does. This respectable one has romaine, radicchio, hard-boiled egg, red onion, cucumber and croutons. For $3 more, you can upgrade to a half-size of the more exceptional Mediterranean salad, with arugula and field greens, carrots, tomatos and shaved Parmesan. (But think twice about the spinach salad — the bacon dressing wasn’t warm and didn’t taste fresh.)

It’s a compliment to the filet to have so many choices: crusted with Parmesan, blue cheese or peppercorns or served Oscar style — broiled and topped with crabmeat, asparagus and hollandaise sauce ($27.95-$36.95). It’s a personal thing, how you like your steak (similar to pizza and eggs). I like mine peppercorned so it practically stings my tongue. Yanni’s had that effect, and the medium-rare filet, bedecked with chestnut-brown brandy sauce, was pristine and unequivocally tender (8 ounces, $29.95). The 22-ounce bone-in rib eye was tender as well but beautifully marbled, without too much waste and slicked with juices as pure as morning dew ($33.95). The sides I ordered went charmingly with the steaks: The creamy garlic mashed potato added another realm of richness ($4), a twice-baked potato was crusty and bacony (two qualities I appreciate, $4.75) and sautéed mushrooms and spinach breathed garlic and maintained a shade of crispness ($4.50).

The veal chop is 16 ounces, as firm as a quarterback’s chest, but I reckon much juicier on account of the delicate moistening jus (and I liked the salty, sweet potato nest with this, $34.95).

Is there room on a steakhouse menu for good fish? Absolutely. I devoured a swell grilled salmon filet dressed Japanese style; on the crispy black and white sesame seed crust lay a feathery hat of seaweed and green bean salad soused in wasabi/miso sauce ($26.95). But I took unimpressed bites of baked sole paupiette — bundles of delicate filet of sole with crabmeat inside and a pale, rather plain lemon cream underneath ($25.95). It was like getting farina when you’re expecting five-grain granola.
I should really have listened to the waiter and not insisted the night my table was delivered an apple pie — that’s right, not a slice, but a whole warm, crumble-top pie ($5.95) — and a tower of layered chocolate mousse that would have ballooned up a waifish model ($6.95). These creations, no matter their size, were lusciously rich and not cloying, more satisfying by far than the ricotta cheesecake in syrupy, commercial-tasting cherry sauce ($6.95).

If we set the Yanni’s hype somewhere in a box and close the lid, we can see this place in a more realistic light. With a firmer grip on things other than beef, maybe then we can talk about greatness.

Yanni’s
540 E. Mason St.
847-9264

Hours: Mon-Thurs 5-10 p.m.; Fri-Sat 5-11 p.m.
Prices: appetizers $8.25-$13.95; soups/salads $3.95-$10.95; sandwiches $8.95-$13.95; entrées $14.95-$39.95; desserts $5.95-$6.95
Service: in tag teams; professional, friendly but a shade affected
Dress: no code but lots of guys in suits
Handicap access: yes
Nonsmoking dining room
Credit cards: M V A DS D
Reservations: recommended