Ellen and boyfriend tackle the Longhorn Steakhouse

MiamiDon


Hey Ellen!

I have to do the Longhorn Steakhouse secret shopper thing tomorrow or the next day.  What do you recommend?  I'm thinking of starting with the triple chicken bites thing.

After those chicken bites, I would go for their porterhouse steak.
In my book, their NY Steak and their filet mignon are tied for 2nd place.
Can't wait to hear all about  your "secret eater" experience, Don!


 

Hi, Ellen! Thanks for the welcoming message - much appreciated. Even though Lone Star is my regular steakhouse chain, I decided, based on the positive comments I read on this thread, to have my New Year's Eve dinner at a Longhorn Steakhouse ( located in Orland Park IL. ) I'm sorry to say it was quite a disappointment. The baked potato was good, and the salad was pretty much what you'd expect, but the steak was another matter. When my server set it in front of me, I was quite pleased - the steak was gorgeous. Unfortunately, several bites into it, my enthusiasm took a real nosedive. The damn thing must have been fifty percent fat. I pulled so many blobs of fat out of that thing, I could have built my own hog!
On top of that, I ordered it medium, but the center was bright red. I should have sent it back, but like a dummy I just forged ahead. Live and learn, huh? One positive note - Longhorn's bread is quite an improvement over Lone Star's.                                        Bob 

nocarolina


Hi, Ellen! Thanks for the welcoming message - much appreciated. Even though Lone Star is my regular steakhouse chain, I decided, based on the positive comments I read on this thread, to have my New Year's Eve dinner at a Longhorn Steakhouse ( located in Orland Park IL. ) I'm sorry to say it was quite a disappointment.

Sorry to hear about your spoiled holiday. You went there on one of the worst days to judge a restaurant. If you had brought to your server's attention, I'm sure they would have done their best to correct the situation.

What some People call Fat I call Flavor,Did You eat it? Could you have sent it back?

jellybear - I didn't eat the fat. Instead, I put it in a doggie bag so that I could take it home and build that hog ( what kind of glue works best with fat? ) Yeah, I could have sent it back, and now I sure wish I had. I gotta develop me a spine!                       Bob

nocarolina

 I could have sent it back, and now I sure wish I had. I gotta develop me a spine!                       Bob

HI Bob,
Sorry to hear about your bad Longhorn experience.
Shucks, we were batting 1000 on this thread until now! (LOL)
Actually, I did do a a "sendback" on one of my Longhorn visits last year.
I've had about 5 real good steaks there, but there was one RIBEYE that did NOT agree with me.  I know the ribeye is a well marbled piece of meat, and I love good marbling..........however, this was just a little too much...
it was more like blubber and did'nt blend in right.
 
The server  gladly accomodated me with a different cut instead.
And I was a much happier camper.
If there is one place you can feel comfy sending food back, it's places like Longhorn (major chains)
It's mostly those independant places that can get a little defensive..
usually , they're cool, too........but I've had 2 experiences that were brutal.
One time at Taylor Prime Steak house in L.A., the chef came out of the kitchen, agruing that my steak was NOT overcooked. I had ordered it medium, and there was no pink.  This was over 15 years ago, but  I still remember how mean he was.  I got a replacement steak, after much negotiation.....and I never went back
 
And more recently, over the summer, I've had the waiter give me a hard time about changing a piece of prime rib. That was at the Rio Station in Rio Grande , NJ, near Wildwood (Jersey shore area)
It tasted like shoeleather to me, and the waiter said "The chef said he won't be able to use that piece of meat again".
 I said "I would'nt WANT him to use that piece of meat again!!"
Waiter then came back and said "The chef is also the owner, and he said he'll do it THIS time, but....."
 
I want to figure out a way to e-mail this Longhorn thread to some of the head honchos at Longhorn.  I think they will be real pleased, for the most part.
(And perhaps , they can work on improving the FATTY cuts of meat that were purchased at the Orland Park, IL location.
We've got to keep new Roadfooder "nocarolina" happy, too!)
(plus other Orland Park, IL Longhorn steak patrons)