Prime Steak Club San Miguel de Allende — Restaurant in San Miguel de Allende

Man, did this place drop in quality fast. Last night was my fourth visit in six months.

First visit: Superb.

Second and third visits: Meh. A little rough around the edges, but forgivable.

Last night: A complete embarrassment.

First impressions when I walked in:

A broken, smashed wooden candle holder right by the entrance

Fewer candles lit along the pathway to the dining areas

The hanging art pieces with the long fringe? Filthy.

The light fixtures? Caked in dust. Haven’t been cleaned in ages.

We’re seated. The hostess is lovely. That’s the last nice thing I’m going to say for a while.

The iPad with the cocktail menu? Dirty, torn, grimy. Just give us a paper menu already.

And can we talk about the music? What is this restaurant’s obsession with blasting 80s rock at full volume? I’m trying to have a conversation with my friend, but instead I’m yelling over Kiss: “I Was Made for Lovin’ You, Baby.”

We ask if the volume can be turned down. They turn it up. We ask to move rooms. They oblige. The new room is... marginally better, but I still have to strain to hear my friend.

With three dining areas, why not create three different moods? Rock in one (if you must), soft jazz in another, and traditional Mexican in the third. Your restaurant is stunning—the food, atmosphere, and service should be the stars. Instead, you’re trying to turn it into a trashy nightclub.

On to the food and service:

The onion soup was fine, but definitely off compared to previous visits.

We were seated in a corner, and the server didn’t even attempt proper service etiquette—she passed my friend’s plate directly in front of my face.

The Wagyu and melted cheese dish? Way overcooked. I know it's probably trimmings from other steaks, but there’s no excuse for turning it into beef jerky.

The server forgot the au gratin potatoes. I reminded her, and they showed up a few minutes later—stone cold.

My second cocktail never arrived.

The café con leche came, but without the leche.

And look, I get that this is Prime’s “style,” but do I really need:

One server to take my drink order

Another to bring the bread

Another to remove the bread

Another for salsas

Another to take the food order

Another to deliver it

I’ve had major surgery with fewer specialists involved.

I complain because I genuinely liked Prime. I’ve been a fan. I’m hosting a group of 17 this autumn, and Prime was supposed to be our “Big Night Out.”

Now? I’m not even sure I’d stop in...

My second experience literally getting burned at this restaurant. My experience on Wednesday night, March 19 - I ordered an expensive steak that was grilled next to our table and then the waiter put the sizzling steak in the center of the table while it was still cooking. All of us were popped with hot grease, a couple of people got hot grease spattered on their skin and I had grease splattered all over my white linen shirt. My niece, who has Down syndrome, also got popped with grease.

This is unacceptable and dangerous. All it takes is one pop of hot grease it the eyes or face and it's a potential trip to the hospital. When I addressed this with the waiter, Jorge, he offered nothing except soda water and then practically ignored our table the rest of the evening. He sent the manager on duty, Federico, to check on us and Federico just offered an apology and some ice cream after we had already paid for dinner and were leaving the restaurant. The lack of true authentic care was astounding to me for a restaurant billed as high quality in food and impeccable service. WE did not receive that quality.

Last November on my birthday, I also ate at Prime. A black bowl (almost like volcanic rock bowl) of au gratin potatoes was served and no one told me the bowl was hot, so I reached to pull the bowl towards me and burned my finger and had to keep my finger in ice water the whole meal.

I wanted nothing for free. I have plenty of money and can eat anywhere. I wanted some acknowledgment that their food practices at the table were off the mark and problematic, not to mention a potential to be hazardous. You can have the best atmosphere and food in the world - but if the food practices are poor coupled with poor service and care, all it is - is a poorly crafted show. In San Miguel there are many options for fine restaurants and the food in those restaurants are often not that different from others: steak, octopus, tacos, grilled artichokes, DJ's, etc. I can get that anywhere and still receive better care. I will not return to Prime after these experiences. Burn me twice, shame on me. I won't be burned there a 3rd time. Quite sad, because it's a nice environment. I hope the owner, Bernardo, hears me and pays attention to cautionary experiences with how food is presented and delivered...

Imagine this.... 4 ladies, dressed up for a fun Friday night out at a new restaurant in town. We arrived for an early reservation at 6:30pm and were sat at a nice table in the main part of the restaurant. The place is absolutely beautiful! Stunning actually! Our waiter was very attentive and friendly from start to finish. We started off with cocktails which were good and then we moved on to the wine. By this time it is around 7:15pm at the beginning of a busy weekend. All 4 of us ordered from the main menu (there are 2 menus - one is the main menu and the second is the 'high-priced' meat cuts). 20 minutes after ordering our waiter returns to tell us that they are out of ALL of the steaks we ordered and a few of the side dishes including French onion soup because they were out of onions. Wow! What this forced us to do was order from the high-priced menu - a scam? maybe or maybe just a complete lack of inventory control. But it was absolutely unbelievable that a steakhouse was out of steak. Our waiter was sorry and tried his best to make up for it but the damage was done. We were given a complimentary glass of wine but that was only after we asked for it. Not once did a manager approach to apologize which is truly shocking for what is touted as a high-end restaurant. We ate our second choices and the food was good but in reality we didn't eat what we really wanted. And for dessert....guess what? They were out of that too so we ordered our second choice and it was ok. Beauty is about all they have going for them right now, but I look forward to them hopefully stepping up their game for the future. *Service - 4 *Atmosphere/ambiance - 5 *Food -...