Phantom Gourmet: The Palm In Boston's Financial District

BOSTON (CBS) – As soon as you step into The Palm in Boston's Financial District, you'll see that this is what a big city steakhouse is all about.

Sizzling steaks, oversized lobsters and over the top sides - all served in a big bustling dramatic dining room.

"The acoustics are really great and you've got the 30-foot ceilings and the light fixtures and the lighting and the music," Palm General Manager Brian Brosnihan said. "But more than anything you're hearing silverware and plates and just chatter. And there's just this great energy in the restaurant that really gives you the atmosphere that you're dining in a great Boston steak house."

Brosnihan oversees this 300-seat space filled with classic steakhouse jacketed servers and those famous Palm caricatures, a tradition started at the original Palm in Manhattan decades ago.

"The location was close to some of the New York publications and the cartoon artists would come in and, you know, after a couple of cocktails and things like that, the owner talked them into putting some cartoons up on the wall and I think in some cases that helped them pay for their dinner," Brosnihan explained.

These days, most customers probably pay with their credit cards for what's coming out of Executive Chef Karen Mitchell's kitchen, like The Palm's eye popping surf and turf.

"Our lobsters are a minimum of three pounds. We don't have any lobsters smaller than three pounds so you have a surf and turf option for 3-pound, 4-pound, or 5-pound lobster," Mitchell said. "And you can combine it with any one of the steaks on our menu.  So if somebody came in and said I've never been to The Palm before and I'm looking for a great meal - surf and turf."

Beyond the steaks, there are juicy burgers, lobster sliders, and all kinds of Italian classics served in a style that's made The Palm famous for nearly ninety years.

"You want to leave a restaurant knowing you got a great value but it's more about the personalities and the service," Brosnihan explained.

"So I think when people leave the combination of the great food and hopefully the phenomenal service is what's really going to make them come back and feel like they got a good value."

Watch Phantom Gourmet on Saturdays and Sundays at 10:30 and 11 a.m. on myTV38.

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