The Black Angus has been in operation over 50 years, and has won its share of "Best of the Beach" awards. When I didn’t find it in the AAA guide, I had to wonder why. Throwing caution to the wind and in need of a bit of prime rib, I called only to find that they don’t take reservations (But if you call a half hour before you arrive, they will put you on the wait list.)
In September, there is no wait, and as we sat down, I took stock of our surroundings. The tables are nicely covered with white cloths and are candlelit while the walls are faux barnboard painted a pleasant yellow above brown and hung with interesting historical photographs. Red leatherette chairs, however, and large panels of a suspended ceiling don’t do much for me… in essence, the atmosphere isn’t much although I found that it seemed to improve with the first glass of wine. I suggest arriving after 8pm as the number of small children didn’t do much for the atmosphere either.
A quick scan of the menu found the usual things: some pasta, chicken, liver, salads, soups and on to the beef. Prime rib is offered in three sizes ($16. - $27.); there is also sirloin, New York strip, surf and turf, beef kebabs and a rack of lamb. On the seafood side, you’ll find a 16 ounce lobster tail, scallops, shrimp and crab legs.
Now I don’t know what was going on, but I really liked what happened next. We ordered prime rib (which comes with a salad) with a bottle of Frei Brothers Cabernet ($38.00) and got seriously "comped". The waiter had been dealing with a table of five next to us; they had waited almost two hours for their food, so he was having a bad night. We found that he was doing a good job, but he had become a little flustered. So I don’t know if he was covering for a slow kitchen or was on probation or if he just enjoyed our discussion of the wine list (He was quite knowledgeable.), but we got shrimp before the salad and a wonderful (and large) spinach/artichoke dip with deep-fried chips. As a consequence, our meal turned into a leisurely four course affair without dessert.
The beef (almost incidentally) was excellent and done perfectly. We were in the restaurant for over two hours and had a very nice evening although I don’t think that everyone had the same experience. Most of the people around us seemed to be enjoying their meals, without the extras, but I know that we were approached on two occasions by management who asked if everything was going well. I was pleased to say that it was going very well, indeed.