For years, we have heard the lament, “If only we had a Morton’s here,” or, “I sure wish we had an Andre’s like the one in Naples.”

What island residents making these comments are longing for is a classic American steakhouse, featuring meat and cocktails -- nothing too fancy, just the finest prime steaks, seafood, chops and wine -- served in a clubby, masculine atmosphere.

Typically, these chop houses serve huge portions, and charge prices to match. To succeed, they have to send you out the door feeling that you’ve just put away the best meal of your life.

The closest we have come to having this kind of steakhouse in Vero was 3 Aves, which tried and failed. Its steaks passed the test, but 3 Aves didn’t have the feel of a chop house. The almost -too-cool-for-Vero-Beach, night-clubby ambiance that I wrote about in a review last summer proved, in the end, to actually be too cool for Vero.

Now, we have a new contender – MT's Chophouse, an offshoot of the similarly named steakhouse in Gainesville, which for a month has occupied the South Beach space formerly known as Rip’s, and before that the Menu.

Ambiance-wise, MT's passes the classic steakhouse test with flying colors. It is a comfortable place, with a lot of wood, and upholstered banquettes and booths. When the lighting is dimmed, the servers bring you menus which upon opening, turn out to be back-lit by battery operated LEDs for easy reading. Nifty touch.

Foodwise, we would say that based upon two visits in the first three weeks, MT’s shows promise, but remains a work in progress.

We have previously stated our belief that it is not fair to review a restaurant soon after it opens unless it is unqualified tremendous, and we continue to hold to that view.

But since the daily newspaper, foregoing for a week its customary reviews of the Olive Garden and Applebees, blew its 2009 restaurant review budget by reviewing MT’s after two weeks of operation (what’s that all about) and made it sound like the best thing ever to hit Vero, we thought a more nuanced interim review might be helpful to beachside readers.

Our first visit to MT’s came in the week after doors opened, and steaks – ordered Pittsburgh-style (known by some as black-and-blue) – came to the table prepared Chernobyl-style. But as we said, that was the first week, so we toss that experience out, and get to our most recent visit.

Last week, five of us tried MT’s again in its third week of operation. Things have, as the waiter assured us, gotten a lot better.

In lieu of appetizers, we tried their signature Baby Blue salad ($7 each if you are sharing), a nice mix of c risp romaine, baby spinach and spring greens, topped with tomatoes, red bell peppers, sweet red onion, crisp apple, dried cranberries, and toasted almonds, served with MT's big blue dressing. A nice salad.

All entrées come accompanied a choice of tasty side dishes including sautéed spinach, macaroni and cheese with truffle oil, grilled asparagus, sautéed mushrooms, and sweet potato served with a bourbon Grand Marnier brown sugar butter (yum) – but amazingly for a steakhouse, there is no baked potato option.

For entrees, I had the diver scallops ($29) based on a wonderful experience on our initial visit with the diver scallops appetizer ($11). The large, pan-seared scallops both times were plump and juicy – wonderful either as an appetizer or main course.

One member of our party had MT’s Blue Crab Cakes entrée ($29). This consisted of two jumbo lump crab cakes, sauteed and served with a lemon buerre blanc sauce. The crab cakes were almost pure crab meat, and were rated excellent.

A third member of our party had the beef short ribs ($29), a large portion of savory fork-tender meat, nearly falling off the bone, which she said would have her returning to MT’s for more.

But our steak aficionados rated their entrees good – but not great. One had the 12-ounce ribeye ($36), which he enjoyed but did not think ranked up there with the best he had ever had. And my husband had the 12-ounce New York strip ($39), which he pronounced good but not what he would have expected at The Palm, Smith and Wollensky, Capital Grille or other steak houses of that ilk.

That, in my view, is a challenge that MT’s has to overcome. If you are going to charge Big Time steakhouse prices (which they do), the steaks pretty soon need to get to Big Time steakhouse quality. And they also would be helped by more attention to seasoning.

The other problem, which we did not encounter on our two visits but which we have heard about from a half dozen Vero Beach 32963 readers, are waits ranging in excess of an hour for diners who have reservations. The bar, from all appearances, is a great place to spend a little time before dinner – but the operative word is “little.”

With two modestly priced bottles of wine (but no dessert), dinner for five came to $270 before tip.

We remain optimistic that MT’s Chop House will evolve in the months ahead into the tremendous steakhouse Vero’s beachside has long wanted and needs. It’s good today, but needs to be great tomorrow. Six months from now, we hopefully will return for that perfect American steakhouse dinner.

I welcome your comments, and encourage you to send feedback to me at tina@verobeach32963.com .

The reviewer dines anonymously at restaurants at the expense of Vero Beach 32963.

Hours: Daily, 5 to 10 pm

Bar: Full bar

Address: 1555 Ocean Drive, Vero Beach

Telephone: 772-231-2725

Review first published: March 12, 2009