As a road warrior, I visit quick-serve steakhouses regularly. Longhorn does it better than anyone else, but unfortunately, there’s no Longhorn in Lumberton. Having forsaken Outback long ago, I opted for what I thought would be a safe bet – Texas Steakhouse. In this case,...my decision was so, so wrong…
Imagine walking in at 7:05 PM and the first words out of the hostess’s mouth are “we have a 45 minute wait for dinner unless you sit at the bar.”
Imagine then saying the bar would be OK, only to have the hostess say “we close at 8:00; the manager wants us to tell everyone.”
Imagine sitting down to dinner at an appropriately spaced bar, only to have the AC drip, drip, drip on you throughout dinner – it seems the dripping ductwork runs the length of the bar…
Imagine asking the bartender for her recommendation from their selection of cabernet sauvignon wines, only to be told “I don’t know, I don’t drink wine…”
Imagine receiving a first glass of wine so old that it had turned and tasted rancid…
Imagine ordering a replacement glass of another wine (merlot, as they only have one cabernet), only to have it arrive just as bad tasting as the first….
…only to then figure out that the reason the wines are tasting so bad is that there’s so much dish soap left in the glasses that it’s turning them into awful tasting, bubbly messes.
Imagine receiving your filet mignon and baked potato side, only to have the steak taste good, but the baked potato to be barely room temperature in the middle…
Too frustrated to complain and feeling too badly for the bartender who was obviously overworked, in an awkward layout that forces her to frequently leave the bar to travel to the kitchen to check on orders, I ate my meal, paid my bill, tipped my bartender/server…
…and vowed to write an honest review so that other Tripadvisor users can be forewarned and can make another dinner restaurant selection in Lumberton. Never again, Texas Steakhouse! The desk clerk at my nearby hotel tonight asked how dinner was; I gave him the whole story, and he suggested that I try a restaurant named “Christopher’s” next time I’m in town. Sounds like a plan…More