You Gotta Try This: Merrill & Houston’s Steak Joint marks a decade in business in Beloit
By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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You Gotta Try This is the Rock River Current’s dining feature focused on signature dishes at your favorite local restaurants. Want to see one of your favorites here? Email news@rockrivercurrent.com to suggest a local staple.
Where: Merrill & Houston’s Steak Joint
Address: 500 Pleasant St., Beloit, Wisconsin
Owner: Geronimo Hospitality Group
Opened: July 5, 2012
General manager: Brandon Brabender
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What we tried:
- Crab stuff mushrooms: The restaurant’s most popular appetizer is served in seasoned sherry butter.
- Cowboy ribeye: This bone-in ribeye is blackened and topped with herb butter.
- Banana bread pudding: Served a la mode and finished with a whiskey caramel sauce.
Why you should try it: The secret behind Merrill & Houston’s flavorful cowboy ribeye is not in what they do to the steak, General Manager Brandon Brabender said. Rather, it’s what they don’t do.
After the bone-in ribeye is seared on a charbroiler, it’s allowed to rest for five minutes rather than being subject to continued heat.
“That’s what really enhances the flavors and really builds it,” Brabender said. “A lot of place don’t do that because of the time it takes.”
Whatever the reason may be, Executive Chef Bobby Walker has found a way to deliver a tender cut packed with a full-bodied and savory flavor.
The cowboy ribeye is not on the steak joint’s actual menu, but it runs as a daily special for just a few dollars more than the bone-out ribeye.
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For an appetizer, we had the crab-stuffed mushrooms, which are served in the restaurant’s sherry butter. It’s the most popular appetizer on the menu, Brabender said.
You can squeeze a lemon zest onto the mushrooms, but it doesn’t need it. The flavor profile bursts through the soft, melty bites.
Our dessert was the banana bread pudding, which stands out for its house-made whiskey caramel sauce topping. The sweet sauce is so well liked that some frequent guests ask for it as a side with other orders. The pudding is paired perfectly with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and whipped cream. The old cliche is for servers to ask if you “saved room for dessert,” and this filling treat is definitely one you need to save room for. We might recommend sharing it if you want to make sure you clear your plate.
The vibe: Merrill & Houston’s turned 10 years old this month, but its decor is rooted in much deeper history.
As soon as you walk in the front door there are photos from the late 1800s. Follow that through the back of the restaurant and you’ll see photographs from 2012 when the restaurant began.
“Walking in here, this is literally a throwback to history and a throwback to Beloit,” Brabender said. “You kind of walk through history on the way through the restaurant.”
The food here is fancy, and its steaks can range in price between $42-$53, but the atmosphere is intended to be more casual and relaxing.
“We’re not a steak house, we’re a steak joint,” Brabender said. “We do that for a reason. We want you to relax, unbutton, take off your tie, and have a good time and enjoy a meal without feeling like you have to dress up to come here.”
Try this, too: Taffy grapes from Sweety’s By Ashley in Rockford
Pro tip: Brabender said a veteran customer often orders the whiskey caramel sauce as a side with the pre-dinner bread instead of waiting for dessert.
“I don’t know if he wants everybody to know his secret about how good that is,” Brabender said.
Dipping the bread in the caramel makes for a sweet treat, but an old-fashioned serving of bread and butter is good, too. The bread here is briefly deep-fried, giving it a soft interior with a lightly crispy shell.
Contact: 608-399-2440; merrillandhoustons.com
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This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on Twitter at @KevinMHaas.
