Our last night in Portland coincided with my friend's 25th birthday, so we wanted to go someplace special. Ringside turned out to be the perfect spot. We called at 9:30pm to make reservations for 10:30 (it took us a while to get ready).
We arrived at the restaurant, and since it was late, we were allowed to park ourselves in the valet lot for free. We walked into the dark, intimate restaurant to be warmly greeted by the guy that made us the reservation. He lead us to a semi-private table in a back room that had been set with everything. After we sat down, our waiter asked us if we'd ever been there, because there had been some changes to the menu and the regulars (some of which have been coming there for 40 or 50 years!) sometimes get upset.
Inside, the restaurant's dark brick walls are decorated with autographed sports memorabilia. Most of the restaurant is dimly lit, but the some of the wall hangings are spotlighted. There's also a separate bar area for 21+.
The front of the menu consisted of appetizers, salads, and the "Three Course Meal" deal. The back of the menu offered a pretty extensive list of entrees. The entrée prices started at $20 and the appetizers and salads were around $5-$10. The "Three Course Meal" offered a choice of any soup or salad, plus an entrée (12 oz Prime rib, an 8 oz Filet Mignon, a dozen grilled shrimp, or Fresh Alaskan halibut), and dessert. All for a price of $35, except before 5:45 and after 9pm (yay, us!), when it's $25. It seemed like a great deal to us!
For the starter course, all of us ordered salads, except for the birthday girl, who ordered the baked onion soup with a gruyere crust. It came out in a small copper pan and she said it was the best she's ever had in her life. I had the "Annie's" salad, which was tossed in a balsamic vinegarette. It was really good. For the entree, I ordered the shrimp, and after tasting the prime rib, wished I hadn't. The shrimp was good, but the prime rib was out of this world. So tender and juicy. Thankfully, it was so large that my friends who ordered it couldn't finish theirs! The halibut and filet mignon ordered by friends were also good. Each entree came with a choice of baked potato, garlic mashed potatoes, fries, or jasmine rice.
For dessert, there were several choices. I had the chocolate silk pie (as did the birthday girl, for whom they brought out the first cake for with a candle). It was very, very rich and dense, but delicious. I also tried the cheesecake and the bananas Foster. Both were very good.
Overall, everything was delicious. The birthday girl called it "the best meal of her life." If I had ordered the onion soup and prime rib, perhaps I would have agreed.