Lowake Steak House — Local services in Ballinger

My husband and I visited the steakhouse for the first time after hearing so many people talk about how great it is. We are regular visitors to Beef Masters in Ballinger Texas so we figured why not try another place? The atmosphere is very busy and the inside is not what I was expecting. It was clean bright and the tables were decently spread apart. We decided since we were limited on funds and our appetite wasn't huge to split a large chicken fried steak. We ordered that and the extra setup for $4.50. as busy as they were our food came out fast. The steak was served on top of the gravy and the batter on the outside was very thin. They offered extra gravy and we were thankful. The potatoes come undressed and they give you sour cream and "butter spread" to go on them. I guess if you think about it you can get cheese and bacon bits off the salad bar to go with your potato. The salad bar is very limited as are the choice of sides. The rolls are light and fluffy and quite delicious. What we didn't like was that to have potatoes be so good and rolls be so delicious and to be served butter spread is a travesty. Those two items need real butter. The chicken fried steak itself was very tender but you could tell it had been pounded thin. When I ask about the desserts because the chocolate meringue pie sounded good I was told that they are not made in house (none of the desserts are). Needless to say we didn't get dessert and ask for our check. I will say that we watched other items being brought out of the kitchen such as onion rings. The onion rings seem to be the most popular because at least six orders came out while we sat there. A couple next to us ordered hamburgers and the patties looked super thick and juicy. We might be back to try an actual steak. We were just kind of disappointed with some of the things that we expected from a place of this caliber. Not bad but for what they charge for steaks we expected more homemade items than...

Update: This update is way past due but I have to brag on Lowake for turning things around since my last review! The food is back to being great, they have the sweetest waitresses/hostess, and Kerry is always extremely helpful when taking our to go orders and Accommodating our odd requests when bagging. We are so glad to have this great place in our little town! I hope it gets to stick around for many more generations to come!

Original: We have been coming here for nearly 10 years. Since the move to the new location, the food has had a rapid decline in taste and quality, and the cleanliness has followed suit. We unfortunately have not had a decent meal there in the last 6-7 times we have gone or ordered to go. The fries desperately need some fresh grease. The tables need to be cleaned with vinegar or something to cut through the grime. The salad bar and the history of the name is what is saving this place right now and the fact that the locals desperately want this place to survive. My chicken friend chicken on Sunday tasted like it had been dipped in old dirty mop water and his steak was so raw it was cold in the center (ordered medium rare). Our kids wouldn’t touch their food after the first few bites. My 6 year old even tried to add salt to see if it would help the taste. I wish the quality would be as good as it used to be and the...

Everything great but the steak, Fried pickles were the best I've ever eaten but may be considered too salty for some, salad bar was not the best quality but was fresh, was definitely worth the 3 dollars. Rolls were average. The steak on the other hand was very disappointing which I honestly hate to say. I cook steaks very often and rarely buy one from a restaurant but the reviews were so good I decided to try it. First off, the steak was not grilled which is totally fine as long as it gets seared enough to have a crust which it did not have much of at all. Second, it did not seem to have the first bit of salt. Pepper and onion powder were all over the meat and were dry so had to have been added after the steak was cooked which is odd. This did not taste good at all. Though it was actually a great cut of meat and was tender, the execution and flavor was just no Bueno. Sorry to say this about a place I was hoping could be a good to for my family. Lastly, the service was actually good.....but I went for the STEAK, not for any of the above. I never leave reviews but I couldn't help...