The Keg Steakhouse + Bar - Dixon Road — Restaurant in Toronto

We have been going to this Keg location for many years. We have always received great service and the food - YUM! It's what keeps us coming back year after year. However, after our last two experiences, I'm not sure we will return. We wanted to treat ourselves to a nice meal so we made a reservation and, unfortunately, we were seated by the cash register near the kitchen. It was busy and loud. We asked our server to be moved and were denied. While the food was good, the ambiance was sorely lacking. We noted a ripped chair and, overall, the restaurant looked tired. During our most recent visit, last week, we were seated in a quiet area, the service was good but the steaks, were not cooked properly. My husband's medium was cooked rare. Half of my steak was a perfect medium rare but, bizzarely, the other half was practically raw. My husband told our server about his steak immediately and she corrected the situation - he got a fresh steak properly cooked to medium, we were not charged for his meal and our deserts were complimentary. This, however, meant that I was eating my food while he was still waiting for his. I did not notice an issue with my steak until I got to the raw half and could not finish it. We called the manager over and showed her my steak, she agreed that it was not properly cooked. My husband and I heard her say she would take care of our meal but we were not credited for my steak. That's two expensive meals ruined, the first by ambience and service and the second by poorly cooked food. To be clear, we don't go to the Keg for free food we want a nice night out and good food. While the manager did credit part of the meal, it was, overall, not an enjoyable experience.

ETA - Customer service reached out to us and we will be giving this Keg location another go. I've changed the rating from two stars to four because, at all levels, The Keg has gone out of their way to make it right.

ETA - I have now given the Keg five stars. We made reservations for the week after Valentine's day and both the service and food were perfection! We were seated in the bar area but we didn't like our table (the chairs were much too low for us to eat comfortably.) We told our server and we were immediately moved to a different table. The waitress was friendly, attentive and knowledgeable. She helped my husband pick a red wine to accompany his meal and he commented that it was exactly as she described it. Our steaks were perfectly cooked. The salads were very fresh, the sides were yummy. We had a great evening and can't...

A steakhouse that can bring out a black and blue NY strip without batting an eye is pretty special.

A lot of places won't even do it. Blue rare is hard to do consistently, and places will "have a policy" against internal temps that low. The real reason: they can't. To do it properly, you HAVE to bring the cut up to temp. Otherwise you'll get the 'blue' part of black and blue, and the steak will come out cold and tough. But bringing your steaks up to temp is a logistical nightmare and has overhead costs, so a lot of places don't bother. It's also a contaminant risk - management won't let their chefs cook blue rare if there is a part of the procurement process where there's a chance the cut wasn't handled or stored properly, starting at the source.

It also shows that the waitstaff and the kitchen have been working together long enough to build trust. They know what it is, know the kitchen can handle it, and I don't have to worry about it. If I have to explain what it is, there isn't any point asking for it.

Finally, even rare steaks can do a lot to mask lazy cut choice. Blue rare needs a cut that is already tender, but not well marbled since it won't render. If you use shortloin (the typical NY strip cut) it'll come out tough. The chef needs to know that, and switch to something like a top sirloin center cut or tenderloin.

With that out of the way, my review:

The black and blue peppercorn new york strip I had at The Keg this evening is in the top three restaurant steaks that I've ever had. It reminded me of carpaccio - that same melt in your mouth tenderness but with peppercorn steak familiarity. I'm curious what they're doing with the peppercorns, I couldn't figure it out. Delicious, though. I would have liked a better crust but I don't know any indoor restaurants that allow a searzall (cooking flamethrower) in...

Went here for dinner with some friends who we have not seen in a long time. Unfortunately, service was extremely slow. The waitress did not follow up with us or attend to the table often enough. In addition, requests went ignored or significantly delayed. For example, we wanted to purchase a bottle of wine and didn’t get the bottle until our meals were almost halfway done. Why have red wine when your steak is almost eaten, when you could have it a little bit to enjoy it before, during and finish the remainder after? No effort was made to follow up with us on drinks or to ensure there was adequate water for the table. The drinks that were ordered were extremely watered down (margaritas, sangria, etc). Pop was also flat. We had asked for more bread, and never got it, and by the time the waitress remembered, it was already too late.

In terms of steak, you would expect a Keg steakhouse to have a fine quality cut. Most of the steaks were poor quality, tough, and not what you would expect when attending the Keg.

Atmosphere was overall fine, but I will say that it was a little bit warm at our table and seemed like air conditioning, with today being a very hot day, could’ve been much better.

Appetizers were fine. We ordered 3 appetizers. One appetizer was requested to be set up to share among four people and it was not. This forced us to have to order a second one in order to save face with our guests. The server represented that it would be fine and split to share, and enough food, but it definitely was not. Misleading.

Not a good The Keg compared to many out there. Paid over $400 and...