Steak Town USA: At Ruhlman’s, a data-supported dream becomes a successful steak destination in Ashland

Phil Ruhlman had a hunch.

It sure seemed like Ashland — smack dab between west Omaha’s suburbs and downtown Lincoln — could support a steakhouse.

When he was in college in Lincoln in the 1970s studying theater, Ruhlman bartended at Misty’s Steakhouse, a capital city icon. He grew to love the environment, the regulars and the longtime owner, Bob Milton, who worked tables every night.

He didn’t pursue either theater or steak, instead working as Gallup’s first chief information officer for 32 years. But the memories of that time persisted, even as he prepared to retire and moved full time to Sandy Pointe Lake.

“I always thought, ‘Well, if there were ever a chance to have my own place, that’s something I thought I would really enjoy doing,’” he said.

So he did what many CIOs might and turned to data.

He hired longtime restaurateur Willy Theisen, who started Godfather’s Pizza and Pitch Pizzeria, to be his adviser and partner. He put together a business model for a steakhouse that could be both classy and relatively affordable. He asked his brothers, both in real estate, to start shopping for a parcel of land off busy U.S. Highway 6. He spent a year crunching numbers and another year securing the land, part of which was owned by a longtime Ashland resident who became a family friend.

One year later, it seems like both his hunch and the supporting data were correct: During my recent visit to Ruhlman’s, the latest in my Steak Town USA series, business was booming.

A third of the diners at Ruhlman’s come right from Ashland, Ruhlman said, a town that’s experiencing a population boom: Its current population of 3,546 has spiked nearly 15% in just the past five years, according to U.S. Census state population estimates. 

The steakhouse’s Ashland diners, as well as visitors from Omaha and Lincoln, clearly have some expendable cash, judging by the cars in the parking lot. But Ruhlman’s menu itself feels almost shockingly affordable when you compare it to some other Omaha-area steakhouses I’ve written about this year.

The restaurant was bright and vibrant (some might say noisy) on a recent Thursday night. The place was nearly full, including tables in adjacent rooms and seats at the bar. 

Ruhlman’s serves everything on the Steak Town shortlist, and we tried all of it, plus several additional dishes that made it hard to select one for the specialty item slot; at least two were good enough to have made that shortlist.

The steakhouse focuses on certified black Angus beef. We tried three steaks: the two on our list, a filet and a ribeye, plus a Delmonico. The filet impressed with a great texture, not too soft, and a bright red center, cooked to perfection. The signature Angus marbling threaded through the ribeye and lent its rich, fatty flavor and deep char. The Delmonico, a cut that can be less forgiving, was the toughest of the three, though the kitchen did prepare it to the correct temperature.

Ruhlman gets his beef from several producers, most notably from Connealy Angus, a sixth- generation purebred Angus ranch in the Sandhills run by Ruhlman’s cousins. All the dry-aged beef on the menu comes from Connealy Angus. The rest, Ruhlman says, is high-quality Angus that comes from ranches across the Midwest.

Cocktails are strong and good, and both our Manhattan and Negroni were well-executed. The drink menu also features several original cocktails, which I always find impressive.

I liked the onion rings, which appear on the sides list. Uber crispy, with a thin, golden crust that stayed adhered with each bite, these were some of the tastiest we’ve tried this year. Our server brought two ranch dressings for dipping, and after sampling both, the one made in house with black pepper and black garlic was far superior to the basic.

“That’s 10 calories I’m never getting back,” said one of my dining partners after sampling the lesser of the two.

The shrimp cocktail comes with eight pieces of seafood — the highest count this year. The seafood was tasty and fresh, though the cocktail sauce tasted straight out of a jar.

We tried the “million-dollar mushrooms,” which were good, roasted until tender and stuffed with a mix of four cheeses, then sprinkled with chives. Ruhlman told me later that some of the bestsellers on the appetizer list are the Asian-inspired dishes conceptualized by the chef who helped him open the restaurant and has since left, including the crab fried rice, which he said many people eat as an entree or take to go.

I saw the Asian influence again in one of my side dishes, a surprisingly good serving of roasted Brussels sprouts tossed with Kewpie mayonnaise, a house-made crunchy chili oil and crispy shallots. Ruhlman said some diners are put off by the dish’s spice; I was not one of them.

There are several other tasty sides: creamy cooked cabbage topped with crunchy bacon; creamy fried potato puffs stuffed with garlic and Parmesan cheese; a bread board with warm rounds drizzled with a flavorful garlic butter that one of my dining partners described as “what your Midwestern mom makes, but better.”

The loaded baked potato is much smaller here — in fact, it was about the same size as my filet. But it had a nice crisp skin and tender interior, with simple condiments that include bacon, cheddar cheese and sour cream.

Whenever I see the words “skillet cookie” on a dessert menu, I know I am done for. Ruhlman’s cooks the dessert in a cast iron pan inside its wood oven, studding it with toffee and peanut butter cups before drizzling the whole thing with brown butter caramel and a finishing scoop of vanilla bean ice cream. It is sweet, crunchy, warm and honestly, very difficult to stop eating. Highly recommend.

Dinner for five including a bottle of wine, cocktails and dessert ran $576.79, after tip. I know that seems like a lot, but if you’ve been reading this series and keeping track, you’ll note that I’ve spent nearly that much for just two diners at several Omaha steakhouses. I asked Ruhlman how he keeps prices so relatively affordable. He didn’t ever reveal his secret.

“I asked myself, ‘What if I could create a place similar in food quality to the high-end places at roughly half the price? Is that even possible? And if you could do it, people would come in more than just for an anniversary or major celebration, or if their company’s paying for it?’”

Great questions, I thought. He continued.

“So I went to work on how to do that. I spent a year, year and a half, trying to figure that out. And I think we’ve accomplished that.”

I think so, too.