STK Steakhouse Has an Elevated Vibe but Not Every Dish Reaches the Heights

STK isn't your grandparents' steakhouse. It's not even your parents' steakhouse. It doesn't evoke Ponderosa or Bonanza steak chains — or, if you've lived in Denver a long time, Mr. Steak family restaurants (where I got my first job at fifteen as a dishwasher). STK is a modern steakhouse that proudly proclaims it offers a "vibe dining experience," by which the eatery means there's a live DJ curating a mix of dancebeat techno and EDM sounds that fill the spacious, contemporary dining room as accompaniment. No old-school Muzak or oldies rock and soul here!

The vibe is unmistakably hip, young and wealthy. You gotta be, at $55 for the least expensive entree (free range chicken) and $165 for a dry-aged, bone-handled tomahawk steak (granted, it's 34 ounces of protein). You can choose seafood from oyster on the half shell ($59 for a dozen) to miso-glazed Chilean sea bass ($63). So yeah, the place isn't Red Lobster from the days of yore, either.
The One Group, which operates STK, opened its first steakhouse in Manhattan's fabled Meatpacking District in 2004 and its fourteenth in LoDo in 2014. Ironically, the One Group is based in Denver; its corporate headquarters are just a block from STK, at 1624 Market Street. In the years since that location opened, the company has become an international hospitality powerhouse, with a portfolio that includes of STK, Kona Grill, Bao Yum, RA Sushi and Benihana; the last two were added in spring 2024.

So the company has a very Asian-centric group of businesses under its umbrella. Even STK, which doesn't exactly trumpet "Japan!" in its branding, reveals a Japanese focus in its menu.
At a recent promotional dinner, the trans-Pacific influence was noticeable in lots of ways. The appetizers included a couple of brilliant ideas: cheesesteak eggroll and spicy yellowtail crispy rice. But that's where some of the contemporary vibe slipped a bit: While the eggroll seemed like a terrific cultural mashup, it didn't have the flavor of either the cheese or the steak and was oddly bland. The ice-cube-sized crispy rice, which had been deep-fried to a crisp on the outside but was still soft and rice-like inside, was topped with sashimi that was like a small spoon of yellowtail — again, a cool idea on some chef's part but the execution was a mess. It was as if a good idea had been swept up in a wave of cultural enthusiasm that landed in a kitchen sink of Japaneseness because, hell, it's gotta taste great because the various sauces and marinades will just make it, well, more Japanese. Nope. The flavors clashed and fought each other and then left a salty aftertaste. We couldn't really taste any of the individual ingredients, including the unagi sauce, which I'd been looking forward to.

But the blue cheese iceberg salad was delicious. Sadly, the charred Spanish octopus with blistered shishito peppers wasn't available that evening.
We were much more pleased with the entrees: Picanha (Brazilian-style) A5 wagyu beef steak, and a top-notch blackened ahi tuna sashimi served over sesame broccoli with a ginger miso brown butter sauce that I could have finished right out of the container. The winner for the entrees was A5 Wagyu Fried Rice, which was flavorful without being overly salty, a trick the earlier crispy rice app could have used.

Anthony, our friendly and very knowledgeable server, brought out a dessert of housemade doughnut holes with three dipping sauces (caramel, chocolate and berry), accompanied by a sparkler firework that shot flames for a full minute or more. It was exciting, albeit a bit of overkill that had other diners staring at us as though it were one of our birthdays.

Overall, the experience was fun and satisfying...although expensive for someone who wasn't being treated.

One last suggestion: With so much attention paid to Japanese cuisine — not just at STK, but at other One Group properties — I was disappointed when I asked about chopsticks and was told there are none. Some of these dishes would be better eaten with chopsticks, and it's easy enough to keep some on hand.

Just sayin'.

STK Denver is located at 1550 Market Street, and is open Monday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., Friday from 11 a.m. to midnight, Saturday from 10 a.m. to midnight and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m.; find more information at stksteakhouse.com. Later this month, STK will launch the Laid Back Lounge patio series, with custom surfboards and a retro rattan lounge, vintage West Coast classic songs, "Snoop Dogg-approved sips" and STK's summer menu.