The Fat Chef

Summary: The Fat Chef is a best-in-class steakhouse with mop buckets in the parking lot.Located aside RT12 sits The Fat Chef. The building is for sale, sits in front of poorly maintained storage units. We were told that The Fat Chef leases the building and that the property has been for sale for a long time. From the outside it looks like a dump. For a nice steakhouse it's not what you expect.Reservations - Saturday, 7:30p. Interior decor isn't that of a fine steakhouse. The floors are cheap tile so your chair slide around a little too much. Tables are covered in a plastic, where my wife sat the plastic was worn through. The chairs are padded but dated. It's a small restaurant, Maybe seating capacity is at max 30-40. At 7:30 the restaurant was about 60% capacity. Saturday night, I guess I assumed there would be more guests. Our waiter greeted us, he was professional but obviously not of top-notch steakhouse breed. That was ok though, he did an good job. We reviewed the wine list, we decided to get a bottle for dinner. First impressions of the wine list is overpriced. Sure, you expect to pay restaurant retail, but the most least expensive bottle was $60. I'm used to upper $30s/lower $40s as an option. We chose a red blend, the Sean Minor 2022 Signature Series-Nicole Marie. I had no experience with the wine, but it was very pleasant. It was worth a $60 so I didn't mind as much that there weren't less expensive items.For appetizer we opted for the Shrimp Cocktail. The menu says that there's four colossal shrimps. They are colossal! I've lived in major metros, traveled for over a decade 80k-100k miles a year, been to the best steakhouses in the US. I've never had shrimp that large. The cocktail sauce homemade perfection. At $34, expensive but you know you're getting something special. We waited 30min for the appetizer. The waiter apologized, that meant that we had to pace ourselves with the wine. A let down to the experience because we chose one bottle for the entire dining experience but now we're sipping water not wine to accommodate delayed courses.Entrees come with a house salad and a starch. Solid, well-crafted dressing on an average dinner side salad. Nothing to brag about but nothing to complain about. A small soft loaf was served with compound butter. The bread was very pedestrian. The compound butter was exceptional. Heavily herbed, the enjoyment was that the bread showcased the butter. Well done, it's a detail that deserves to be called out.We decided to each order the ribeye. Our waiter went to check if they still had the cut. He said they had one left. I let my wife take the ribeye and was happy to choose the T bone. We found it to be somewhat poor planning that they ran out of ribeye. We waited about 40min for the entrees. It was explained to us that my T bone was very thick.My wife's ribeye is described to be 14-16oz. That's conservative. I'd estimate her steak to be 20-22oz, it was prepared perfectly and at $62, including a salad and potato is a fair, in the upper end of price. Her potato was a special prep that was like a twice baked potato with horseradish. She didn't think the horseradish was overpowering but balanced nicely. T bone is described as 24-26oz for $84. I opted for the AuPauv Style preparation, $20. That priced my entrée at $124. It wouldn't surprise me if it weighed 32oz. They certainly underestimate their cuts leaving a nice surprise that they over deliver. I thought at first that they missed my AuPauv. I asked the server who pointed out the cracked pepper encrusted on my T bone. AuPauv is always a sauce prepared with heavy cream. In fairness, they do claim it to be "AuPauv Style" described as "Tri-Colored Peppercorn Encrusted with Brandy Glaze". I'm sure it was there but never detected glaze. The AuPauv was $20 extra I guess that's why The Fat Chef says "style", the encrusted peppercorn was WONDERFUL, for $20, I'd suggest preparing it as AuPauv, not AuPauv style.Added colossal fried shrimp ($24) to my entree. Like the shrimp cocktail, your wow'd! Perfectly crispy, 3-4 large bites a piece with the homemade cocktail sauce - extravagance.The steaks are the best you can get anywhere. Generous and prepared well. I lived in Chicago, been to all the steakhouses and a hundred other top steakhouses in major US cities. The Fat Chef's steaks are right there. You'll not be selling yourself short ordering a steak and you can be confident that you've had a top shelf steak. We finished with the Crème Brule. It was ok, no complaints but mine is better.Is The Fat Chef overpriced? I'll leave that up to you. The restaurant is a contradiction that you need to accept going in. I paid $124 for my entree, and I'll say, for me, yes but I'll also say I'd completely understand if someone else would say no. The food is worth it. The experience in totality is questionable at that price. Understanding what you're getting and not getting is a critical key to finding the value of The Fat Chef.

The food was excellent , we each had Fillet mignonCooked to perfection medium rare, the service was very professional as well as very helpful in food selectionThe ambiance was a small log cabin very personalAnd very much enjoyedGreat place to celebrate a special event in your life

I wish I would of some the reviews before coming.First I want to say our waiter and the chef wife were very attentive!I was so excited about this place. And hate that i didn't think the world of what I ate.To start hubby ordered the walleye with a baked potato served with some veggies.He had to ask for a Cajun spice as the seared walleye didn't have much flavor. But it was not fishy at all! Once he put a little Cajun seasoning on it , it was good. It came with a salad and asked for blue cheese dressing, it was very good.I Order a cup of clam chowder. It had potential to be very good if it was served hotter. The homemade bread they serve with the salad and soup is really really good!My escargot was just okay. I'm from Texas and have been looking for escargot to taste like a restaurant named Pappas . This is Not even close. I also ordered macaroni and cheese. It's $17. They use Gouda and white cheddar. Not sure why I didn't like it. It had no flavor. I was expecting it to be creamy and homemade tasting . It was homemade but just not my kind of Mac n cheese.Corn soufflé was the BOMB! Sweet and just pure deliciousness!I'm not sure I would go back.

This is a nice place. It's not cheap but top notch food and service. I will say I dressed up based on the prices and was way over dressed compared to others. Dress up or not, they are cool with it. Great place and we will be back.

3.5 rounded up because Our server Dustin was awesome! Christine is absolutely fabulous and ao kind and seems to know many of the diners! I love that the inside is like a cozy log cabin. Super comforting and relaxing. They bring bread and butter and it was not very good. That's ok. The salads were amazing. Homemade blue cheese was delicious. Caesar salad was wonderful. The issues came with the main entrees. The veggie side of the day was cabbage and peppers. It just wasn't good. My son ordered his 8oz filet medium, we should have ordered medium well. It was basically mooing. He couldn't finish it. My husband was excited for walleye and he got it pan seared and probably should have gotten a different flavor but it was mild and not fishy and very good. The sea scallops were like butter. Melted in your mouth good. The Alfredo served with it was good but a tad crispy on top like dried out but under it was very good. The desserts were delicious and you must save room for some! Pecan cobbler was like brown sugary buttery nutty goodness. The Crème Brûlée was light and delicious. Overall very expensive. Wonderful service. And good food but not excellent which you would expect for the price. May try and go back now that they have burgers Wednesday and Thursday nights and the Reuben looked good as well.

Great spot for dream dinner with a special someone. Excellent presentation and taste.

We were celebrating a huge milestone and wanted to try The Fat Chef. What a great place near the lake in Northwest Arkansas. We started with wine and stuffed mushrooms and both set the stage for a great experience. My husband ordered the bone in ribeye special and WOW. The steak was hand cut and huge, cooked perfectly, and also included shrimp and twice baked potato. I enjoyed a plate of delicious seafood fettuccine. Creamy and full of parmigiana goodness. The staff was very attentive and made the night super relaxing. We will be back.

A beautiful dining experience with delicious dishes for any travelers. Recommend any of their specials. I had the shrimp marsala, and... Finished. Every. Bite.

Great food and service. Enjoyed eating here with my husband and hope to go again soon.

Got the big ribeye and it was about 99% fat. I like a juicy piece of meat, but this was ridiculous. Made a comment to both the waiter and then the chef when he walked out of the back... Both just shrugged.