STK Steakhouse serves $3 bites during happy hour. That doesn’t mean it’s a bargain.

There’s not much you can get in a restaurant for $3 these days. So at first glance, the happy hour specials at the new STK Steakhouse by the Inner Harbor seem like a steal.

Food specials, priced at $3, $6 and $9, are available starting at 2:30 p.m. daily. But take a closer look, and you’ll see the value slip away.

For $3, you can get an oyster — which is a normal price for a single oyster — tater tots or corn fritters. The restaurant was out of corn fritters during my visit, so I went with the tater tots, four crunchy mashed potato cylinders with a side of spicy aioli.

For $6, a miniature hamburger the size of a passed app comes with a side of truffle fries no bigger than a Costco sample. Or there’s an order of two thumb-sized cones filled with pastrami, smoked salmon and cream cheese, presented in a glass bowl of uncooked rice. During happy hour, diners can also try the $19 chimichurri filet mignon, tiny and tough, with a tasteless side of pale green sauce.

The chain, which calls itself “not your daddy’s steakhouse,” arrived at 1 E. Pratt St. earlier this month with a red, life-sized statue of a bull announcing the entrance. Inside, flashy decor includes the restaurant’s name, STK, spelled out in fake flowers by the hostess stand, and white spikes protrude from an opposite wall like a walrus’ whiskers. Or do they look like the horns of a triceratops? Discuss while you wait for your food. (You could be waiting a while, if the slow service during my recent visit was any indication).

The space was previously home to Kona Grill, which lives on as the grab-and-go Kona Grill Bistro next door. Both eateries are owned by Denver’s One Group Hospitality, a publicly traded company that touts itself as a “leader in vibe dining.”

But vibes come at a price.

Aside from those $3 apps, STK is a shockingly expensive restaurant, with prices of entrees and sides that make fine-dining competitors look like a bargain. The average steak price is almost $100. A side of creamed spinach will set you back $21. For comparison, the same dish is $14 at both The Capital Grille and the Ruxton.

As for drinks, nonalcoholic cocktails are $15 each, with regular cocktails in the ballpark of $23. The priciest cocktail on the menu at the James Beard Award-winning Charleston, on the other hand, is $18.

For $28, STK diners can partake in the dessert of undercooked butter cake served with a helmet of pink cotton candy on top. Videos posted to TikTok show it being flambeed tableside, wisps of candy turning to splats on the plate. Or, for half that price, you could head to The Capital Grille for some coconut cream pie instead.

At a time when diners are more sensitive to price than ever, STK seems to want to entice customers with a good deal. But when the price of everything else is so inflated, you may exit STK feeling like you’ve been served a load of bull.