Review by Guy Hand
Published July 15, 2010

I suspect that more pin stripes and jewels drift through Chandlers Steakhouse on an average evening than any other restaurant in the Valley. Beyond the bar’s backlit glassware, the bird-of-paradise spiked bouquets, the white linen and honey-colored light, there’s a bank of private rooms where more than a few deals are surely made over pricey cabernet and center-cut filets. It’s the kind of place where a waiter announces a surf and turf special for $75 and nary an eye bats.

But Idaho being the egalitarian oasis it is, Chandlers also welcomes a smattering of T-shirts, Hawaiian prints and white-socked sandals. Its menu, too, tries to accommodate that wide spectrum of sensibilities – without dropping downmarket.

The bar menu, after all, has a fairly long list of reasonably priced dishes, including truffled pommes frites ($5), mac & cheese ($7.50), sliders ($12) and a deliciously simple roasted artichoke ($9). A step upscale is Chandlers’ signature appetizer, the Tower of Tuna ($14.50). That vertical cylinder is stacked with rainbow-colored layers of diced raw ahi, white hamachi, tomato and avocado. I’ve popped in more than once just for that light yet richly unctuous appetizer, chasing it (when I’m feeling flush) with one of mixologist Pat Carden’s locally famous if not thrifty Ten-Minute Martinis ($8).