Makes you wonder

[HouseHomey]

Attjack thank you for mentioning that.

How many great meals have you guys had out. A lot. It’s usually a line cook humping on a busy line that cooks your food. Not a food network chef working on your one plate alone.

Likely we all cook a great steak but give me a
break you guys.

We take hours and hours to get bbq on the table or even a steak, and often time late or very late. You know what I’m talking about. The impatient spouse and guests.

We shop for the perfect steak, we trim it with our new fancy knife. We dry brine it perfectly on a rack. We get the coals or water bath just prefect. Then watch videos of the reverse sear from David Parrish At Adrenaline BBQ for the 100th time to make sure we didn’t miss anything. After that we post in the pit to make sure we didn’t miss anything else or what kind of wood would be best.

Ready right? No... "but wait there’s more!" We bust out our new Bluetooth WiFi’s remote satellite aluminum P-36 explosive space modulator. The we hook up the pit probe to temp. Now check the color of the smoke. Ok all good. No probe the meat and place it gingerly in the perfect spot not to close to the pit probe. Ok ready... WAIT!!! Snap the perfect photo (guilty) for social media. Ok, lower the lid.

Now we wait and watch the video again. Ok now we are cooking the steak and we get set up for the next phase of "The Cook."

Ok you all know the rest.

Im one of the only ones I know in my world who religiously cooks by temp/probe. I’m am made fun of a lot for that. In good fun as kitchens do.

I dont disagree agree with the lousy experience mentioned above in the post but geeze a little understanding of how a kitchen actually works would be good.

Most of the guys cooking likely had to set up their station, prep their food, clean that station etc... likely most guys at a higher end place nail that steak most of the time.

Nothing drives a review like negativity. But it seems they earned it this time. The expediter should have caught that. They failed at more than the cook level.

Ok my rant is over. people cook really well without probes although I don’t advocate it. They are a terrible pain to use on a busy line so blaming a fussy customer can often be the trade off when the bad happens. Not me of course.

stepping off my soapbox now.

[gmascolo51]

I get it, restaurant business isn’t easy. We were polite we didn’t criticize while there or give any sort of a hard time and left a very good tip. No negative reviews just sharing with you guys and girls that’s all, other aspects of the meal were all on point.

[HouseHomey]

gmascolo51 it sure sounded like they earned the criticism though. I wouldn’t have eaten the second steak and left with my guests. That’s me though. I feel younon the tip though. Often servers are out in a bad position.

[RonB]

I normally only order steaks out if There's nothing else on the menu that interests me. If we go out with friends, and go to a steak house, I will probably wind up getting a steak, but I don't have high expectations...

[HouseHomey]

When I go out it’s usually a Taqueria or for Pho/ramen.

[Troutman]

+1 on pho and ramen, best bang for the buck. Delicious !!

[JeffJ]

Last steakhouse I went to was La Bisteca. It's an Italian joint and they use Piedmontese beef. It's very lean and incredibly tender. I ordered a filet mignon medium rare. It was perfectly cooked and perfectly seasoned. I could have cut through it with a butter knife.

[David Parrish]

Last steakhouse I went to was La Bisteca. It's an Italian joint and they use Piedmontese beef. It's very lean and incredibly tender. I ordered a filet mignon medium rare. It was perfectly cooked and perfectly seasoned. I could have cut through it with a butter knife.

Did someone say bisteca? THAT brings back some nice memories.

[HouseHomey]

Holy crud man!!

[klflowers]

HouseHomey, you are right. I need to start praising the guys that get it right instead of just criticizing the ones that get it wrong. I had a great fillet Father's Day at a J Alexanders restaurant here in Chattanooga. The baked potato was just right, and the blue cheese dressing was one of the best I have tasted.

[HouseHomey]

Full disclosure. I suck at filet pieces and do better with 30 of them or while tenderloins. I was just on a rant.

[THE Humble Texan]

There are several Texas Roadhouse locations up here and everyone in the family has given up on them because of the multiple goof of the past 2 years. #1 and I have started going to Outback for their pork porterhouse as they call it.

[Oak Smoke]

Won't go to another Texas road house. The last two times I got tough, cheap steak, over done.

[Steve R.]

Oak Smoke I never get steak at Texas Roadhouse anymore, for the same reason. Most anything they have that involves chicken is pretty good, though.

[Missin44]

Agreed. It's rare a get pay for a meal that I couldn't do at least as well at home and for about a 1/5 of the price. Not to say that I din't like to sit down in a restaurant for a meal from time to time, but I find that the price you pay doesn't always translate to quality of the meal.

[binarypaladin]

I basically never do steak out for the same reason. Every time I smoke and sear ribeyes from Costco for a crowd, I always get at least one person telling me, "that’s the best steak I’ve ever had."

And they’re just not hard. My hamburgers take more effort than steaks these days! It really is amazing what a solid foundation in the basics will do.

[Polarbear777]

My success rate at restaurants is 50% so I just don’t get the steak now.

I get get that they are busy and rushed, but when you are paying $$$$... certainly when they replace it, they should do it right instead of always going the other extreme.

[Steve R.]

My MIL is the "I would like to speak to your manager" type, so I try to never go out to eat with the in-laws. lol My other rule is to limit myself to things that I don't cook at home when I go out.

[Troutman]

For a 10 year period I traveled for business. The perks allowed me to eat at some of America’s great restaurants many of which were steakhouses. Places like Peter Lugers in NY, Berns in Tampa or even Vic & Anthony’s here in Htown were places where I experienced some of the most memorable meals in my lifetime.

I guess my biggest complaint, at least when I’m paying, is the whole approach of steakhouses, that being everything ala carte. They elevate a piece of meat to astronomical heights then proceed to gig you on the sides. Costs for wine twice what a normal restaurant would even charge. That’s what keeps me away, the bang for the buck factor.

As to Homey’s post I get it. In my late teens I worked in a steakhouse. The pressure of working those lines, wait staff running around like chickens with their heads cutoff, bus boys dropping trays of dishes; I decided that wasn’t for me. Nailing a good steak 100% of the time is physically impossible under that kind of speed and stress. The good ones nail it most of the time; however, and make some amazing food.

I just wish they would make it more affordable for a family or a couple who are retired. Again no bang for the buck outside of a special occasion. That’s what makes a home cooked steak so much better in most of our minds.

[smokin fool]

Yup, the sides at that one restaurant mentioned, its almost like " how much if I just got 4 kernel's of corn????"
Never to rarely order any wine or alcohol when eating out its just too expensive.
Perfectly said....you want bang for the buck.

[Oak Smoke]

My job defore retirement was in sales. I traveled a lot and was able to take customers to some great places. By great I mean the company guideline was try to keep the combined meal and bar tab under $200 per person. I had some incredible steaks, admittedly some better than others. There was a little out of the way restaurant on my sales route that I saved just for me. At the end of a long day I went there to relax and have one of their incredible cajon blackened ribeyes and a cold beer. One evening I ordered the usual but when I tried to cut it it was still frozen in the middle! The waitress said they had a new cook. It struck me as funny so I just ordered another beer and ask her to have him try again. The second try was great.

[FishTalesNC]

I completely appreciate HH's viewpoint here, as well as those who echo that we typically pipe up only when we are not happy. I really try to make a big deal of it any time I'm pleasantly surprised with a dish. Did this 2 weeks ago with a simple slice of pizza, and the guy was so damn happy/proud you could just tell I made his day. I too rarely go out for steaks any more, and even MORE rarely out for BBQ (which is difficult where I live!). That said, I'm perfectly happy going out to an Outback (expectations set in advance) and getting something "close enough" that I don't have to prepare - I can just sip my boat drink and wait for it, I'm good with that. However... my worst steak experience ever was at Charlie Palmer's in Vegas. And in this case it wasn't even the prep, it was the cut. I ordered a NY Strip just like several of us at the table did. They were setting them down in front of us, and my buddy next to me looks as his... looks at mine... looks at me... and just starts to laugh. I mean the grand canyon of gristle that was running thru that middle of that thing, and you couldn't even cut thru it with one of their steak knives. This had nothing to do with a rushed line cook missing a temp by 10 degrees, this was someone selecting a piece of meat that had no business being served. This I would NOT expect at a high end steak house, and doesn't seem to require much skill. 100% inedible, and no other options because we were already late for a show. I just said "no thanks, I won't be back".

On another note... one of the most bizarre experiences my wife and I STILL laugh about 15 years later occurred at a Chili's restaurant. I don't even remember where we went that day, we were headed back home to San Diego and stopped somewhere probably around San Clemente to grab a bite. The Chilis was crazy busy for some reason, and the couple next to us each ordered the same thing - a rather large steak (sirloin I think), and I when I say they licked the plates clean I'm not exaggerating. And then the waitress comes by, and they're complaining... huh? And the manager comes out to inquire, and of course they're saying their steaks were awful and don't want to pay. He is pointing out they each ate every... single... bite and never said a word. They claim its just because they were hungry. I gotta give it to the manager, over a 10-15 min talk he made it really uncomfortable for them and in (what I perceived as) a pretty funny way - but they clearly had no morals and stuck to their guns. He told them he'd comp the steaks and asked them to not come back. Well played sir... Oh, my point being I guess there are big issues on BOTH sides of this fence!