Sterling's

Sterling's has two locations; the original is on George Washington Way in Richland and there's a new second location on Clearwater in Kennewick. We have visited the Kennewick location 3 or 4 times and we have visited the Richland location once.

Food
I had to break from traditional order here and start with the food. In our one and a half years of eating here in the Tri-cities , I have not found a place with a 'dyed in the wool' steakhouse. I should say, I had not found a place, because now I have. Sterling's makes a ribeye that's mouth-watering and grilled to perfection. As far as my well-used taste buds are concerned, it's the best steak in the region; superior to anything I've tried at Cousins', Magills, Tony Roma's, or anywhere else in between. I have tried several of their soups as appetizers and have found them all to be delicious - the vegetable beef, chicken noodle, and gumbo, which was a new, spicy treat. My wife has enjoyed the fetuccini alfredo, one of their famous stuffed potatoes, and the salad bar. While she was happy with the salad bar, she felt that the house salad offered with a dinner was a little too plain. When they have so many options on their salad bar, it only came with lettuce, croutons, and dressing. We stopped in for lunch one day and tried a couple of sandwiches. I had a burger and my wife had a chicken sandwich. Both were topped with fresh vegetables and cooked to perfection. The french fries are amazing - we compare them to salty funnel cakes - they are golden brown, crispy on the outside, and deliciously mushy on the inside. All in all, everything we have tried has been superior and delicious. We look forward to trying their breakfast, and we'll let you know when we do.

Service
This is the only area of concern we have for Sterling's. Our service has been hit and miss. Our first visit the service was terrible. Our waitress seemed to mostly be serving tables in other areas of the restaurant and once she had brought our food out she pretty much ignored us. We even waited five or ten minutes after finishing our meal and the check never showed up. We ended up just going up to the counter and having them go find our check. Since then, the service has always been better than that, but not great. One great thing about our visits is that despite going on weekend evenings during the prime dinner time, we have never had to wait more than a minute to be seated, and there are always friendly, familiar faces there to greet you. All in all, the service is okay, and every now and again it's well worth waiting a few extra minutes for the excellent food.

Cleanliness/Atmosphere
This is a very clean restaurant with a nice atmosphere. Plenty of booths and tables to accommodate every body type. The Kennewick location is new and they went all out. From the lighting to the artwork to the china, everything comes across as being so upscale that their menu and prices almost seem out of place. Soft lighting creates a nice casual dining atmosphere.

Price range is $8-$17 a plate.

Overall Rating

Despite the 3 star rating on the service, I am awarding Sterling's 5 stars overall, because the food is really that good. The low prices and atmosphere will win you over as well.

What do you think of Sterling's? Was this helpful?