Lone Star Rotorua — Restaurant in North Island

I ordered the ribs. They were very tough, I didn't get a finger bowl with them so I could clean my fingers and was only able to eat the ends with my knife and fork which was actually quite unpleasant because they were so tough and had lots of cartilage in them. The waitress was nice but when I told her about my ribs she took them away and came back a little while later and offered another meal replacement but we just wanted to go as we had already been waiting for quite some time. She went away again and then came back saying that we could have 50% off. I asked her if that was 50% off our table (my husband and my meals) or 50% off my ribs? She didn't know so went to find out and then didn't come back so now we had no ribs AND no idea what was going on. I didn't expect 50% off everything but I was not happy with paying 50% for the ribs I hardly ate and since I didn't get these ribs back I was basically being charged half the price to eat cartilage and fatty bits of meat on the ends. We also were seated next to a door where smokers were coming in and out and the strong smell of smoke kept coming through which was really disgusting. The restaurant was way too packed so even getting the waitress' attention was a little difficult. The taste of the ribs was very nice. Pitty they were too tough to eat. The bar ladies saved me from losing the plot however. They handled everything so well and even gave us a decent discount that not only reflected the food I couldn't eat but also the entire experience. If it weren't for them, I would be rating 1 star. Well done. Great service is very important to me. I would rather pay more for great service than go somewhere cheap and get horrible or even average service so well done to those 2 ladies who helped us to...

We went out to dinner to lone star rotorua for a family members birthday. We had family visiting from over seas and thought it would be the perfect place to show off nz cuisine without paying a fortune. We were wrong. We got there on time for our reservation for 6 people at 6pm. But we had to wait for a table. When they took us through for seating there were not many tables full yet we still had to wait even after booking. We were seated and made an order for 6 meals. 2 burgers, one bbq king ribs, one stuffed Chicken, one chicken nibble, and one steak. And 2 jugs of lemon, lime and bitters. The drinks came back after 10 minutes. It then took an entire hour for our food to arrive and even then it took some prodding. The bbq ribs was one rib on coleslaw and a few potatoes.. while the flavour was there they were quite tough. The stuffed chicken breast was burnt heavily on one side and very flavorless. The steak was very raw for a medium - cooked. And yet was super tough. Very flavorless which must've been why it was covered in sauce. The burgers which our over seas guest had as well as the birthday boy. Both said they could get better from maccas. And the chicken nibbles were great except we asked for a main version with chips and coleslaw but they brought them out on different dishes to cramp up our already small table even more. The coleslaw also was terrible lacking dressing maybe. Overall the most memorable thing was the drink. Definitely will not be returning in hurry. I've eaten at the albany branch before and it was amazing. But compared to rotorua, they aren't even the...

My husband and I are on a trip from the US, and we went to the lone star in rotorua. I’ve been going to lone star since I was a kid and grew up here, but this time was pretty awful. We were seated in the hallway of the restaurant which was weird but didn’t necessarily bother me. The server didn’t know the answers to the two questions I asked, one of which was do you serve whiskey sours to which she said I don’t know. I’m used to my ribs falling off the bone like the do in America, but the ribs we got on the appetizer menu were undercooked and chewy. We ordered the venison dish and the Dixie chicken. Both felt like TV dinners. There was some flavour, but it made me feel sick to my stomach. The mash potatoes felt like they were made by a four year old - no seasoning or even milk. Just a brick of potatoes. If I go to a restaurant and pay good money for a meal, I’d at least like some salt on the hot chips of the chicken dish. The vegetables in the venison dish tasted rubbery. I was extremely disappointed by how bland and boring the food was. The Dixie was absolutely drowned in sauce, my plate looked like a soup dish. If you have to drown your food in sauce for it to taste okay, you have a problem. I should have stood up and left when I saw they boil the chicken in the dish I ordered - but I gave it the benefit of the doubt because I really loved coming to lone star growing...