Butte Beat: Checking Out Butte’s #1 Recommended Steakhouse

BUTTE, MT - Choice.

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It's a wonderful thing. So much so, in fact, that it seems that there is a direct correlation between happiness and number of choices. Another word for this phenomenon that resinates with all Americans is freedom. You hear it all the time: "My right to choose," "Freedom of choice," "I love driving it, it is so choice." In summary, us Americans love to choose, and Americans love to have the freedom to choose, especially when there's a variety of things to choose from.

Such as the choice to steal your friend's dad's million dollar car for a joy ride. Worth it.

Sometimes, though, we want our choices made for us. For example, when I get home from working at the talking-into-microphones and crafting-pompous-articles factory, I don't necessarily relish in the fact that I have to go through 20 different food groups in my fridge and decide what to make. What do I do instead? I date someone and make her do it all for me! Problem solved.

Just jokes, people. But my point still stands: choice can be hard sometimes, and choice can be especially difficult when it revolves around food. That's not always the case, though. When you go out to eat, what's a common 5-star review you hear? That the place caters to vegans, or that it has a wide beer selection, or that it has a big menu. In other words: they have lots of choices.

So do we like choice or not? And who else is sick of the word "choice"? The answer is yes to both, and nothing makes the answer more evident—at least to the first question—than Casagranda's Steakhouse off of Utah Ave in Butte, Montana. Don't believe me? Go to Google Maps, look up Casagranda's, and tell me what the first two words are in its description. (Spoiler: "Varied fare...")

Casagranda's was the number one recommended steakhouse to me when I first moved here, and I could see why immediately when I walked through its admittedly confusing entrance. It blends history (as the restaurant sits in a 1900s warehouse) with the freedom of choice. They seem to directly challenge the age-old adage that "you order steak at a steakhouse," by offering pretty much everything else, along with multiple steak options. And booze. Obviously.

When my kitchen employee—sorry, my "girlfriend"—and I went and checked the place out, I was taken aback by the commanding presence of the building itself, along with the charming decor that felt exactly like how a steakhouse should decorate its interior. The place was bustling and hustling, even though we got there 45 minutes before closing. Yes, I'm that guy. No, I don't feel bad. Everyone knows 30 minutes before is the cut off.

Anywho, again I was taken aback by the surprisingly large menu, and the fact that they poured my drink real nice and strong. Yum. But, yeah, that menu. It had everything from pasta, to steak, to even sushi, and I was loving it. In the end, my girlfriend ended up ordering the pasta and I got myself a nice juicy steak and, even though I'm lying and I actually got the pasta and didn't want to lose face, I actually found myself enjoying—for the first time in my life—pasta at a steakhouse. I tried some of her, err, my steak, and it was just as you would expect it: buttery and flavorful. The sides complemented the meal nicely.

When we go back, I intend to try different menu items purely because the options are there, which is significant for a restaurant in Butte since, honestly, there aren't a ton of options for different foods here in the Copper City. If me saying that pisses you off, don't worry, I won't have a job here for much longer after I made that "kitchen employee" joke earlier.

In all seriousness, we as Americans (and especially Butte Americans) love to have our choice and, for the most part, that wish is respected. And places like Casagranda's Steakhouse make our choice-desiring needs feel fulfilled.

See other Butte Beats here.