McCormick & Schmick's Grille — Restaurant in Anaheim

A LONG but HONEST REVIEW. I'll give you the bottom line first, then I'll give you the good, and then I'll give you the BAD. Bottom line: been curious to try this place for a long time, I heard it's pricey but it must be good and I'm a gambler. Okay, I lost. This is one of those cases where you will try for curiosity, you'll go once and that's it, because your curiosity has been satisfied but the experience was not stellar enough to make you want to come back and pay the prices for things that are not really much better than what you can get at other less expensive venues. I expected to see more people at 5:00pm memorial Day, only two tables occupied and one of them was us. In an earlier review someone else said the same, not a busy restaurant. I see a red flag there. Bubba Gumps next door was packed. Owned by the same company, I'd say Forrest Gump is paying the rent for Schmick.

The good: The bacon wrapped shrimp ($16) was delicious but it would have been better if it was six pieces, not four (4), to share. The Wedge salad ($12) was a good portion, and the Blue cheese excellent (not like another review I saw here) . The ribeye steak was delicious and tender ($47), BUT the $32 ribeye at Roadhouse grill is bigger and just as good. Server Tyler was pleasant, friendly, helpful.

The BAD: Don't expect to be asking for any containers to take home leftovers because the portions are small so there won't be any leftovers (small/pricey is is the way here). For the prices I expected to see linnen table coverings but it was just basic wood tabletops with place mats. No, this is not Ruth Chris or Morton's but the prices are right up there. For two without bar was 150 ouches$ (one appetizer one soup one salad two entrees). Everything is ala carte, and don't be looking for any baked potatoes with your steaks, here it's mashed potatoes all the way and not much of it. LOBSTER... the only place where my waiter failed is I specifically asked him for a freshly cooked lobster tail. I said make sure! (many restaurants precook things ahead of the rush). I did not get a freshly cooked lobster tail, in-fact it was a petite tail that cost $18! Literally... it was 3 bites. That's like having sex without the climax. Come on. Shaq woulda downed that in one bite. Come on. MAJI MAJI: I don't recommend this. It's an average filet grilled and put on top of cauliflower rice that was a little too oily. It took a while to get it so I think they ordered it from California fish grill and had it delivered. Same thing. BUMMER: I was gifted a $150 gift card which I could use here OR at bubba gump's, but I should have gone to bubba gump's. I could have had two visits out. I blew it all at one place and had nothing to write home about....

First let me preface this review by saying we have dined at McCormick & Schmicks many times (this particular one as well as in many other locations), and have always been satisfied with our meals. This time my family (of 3) dined here for my husbands birthday. We decided to go early for happy hour before dinner. We had fun in the bar, where the bartenders were very friendly and attentive. Unfortunately, this did not continue once we moved into the dining room.

First of all, I think the waiter was not happy that we had ordered drinks and appetizers in the bar, rather than on his check. He definitely had an attitude. Second of all, the food was good. I have no complaints about what we ate. The thing that was most irritating was the fact that we were charged extra for substitutions of the vegetables. My husband ordered swordfish which came with scallops. He asked for no scallops, but wanted asparagus with his meal. My daughter also asked for asparagus rather than her vegetables. If the waiter had mentioned that it wold be $4 extra per person, we would have had no issue, but he never did. We did not become aware of it until the check came. In addition, my husband was charged an additional $1.50 for the mashed potatoes that were part of his meal (per the menu). We queried the waiter about these additional charges, and were told that's how it is. He did take off the charge for the potatoes. I mentioned that we eat there a lot, and have never been charged extra for substitutions, and since they didn't even adjust the price for no scallops, it wasn't right. The waiter said he would talk to the manager but returned to tell us that the manager was busy. By then, all we wanted to do was leave. Everything, from getting our food to getting the check took too long.

I did get an email questionnaire from the restaurant that I filled out. It said I would be hearing from them, but I haven't heard anything yet. (It's been a week). It was not the best birthday dinner experience my...

This was by far the worst dining experience I have ever had. We made reservations with advance notice for 7:30pm on a Tuesday night. It was absolutely not a busy night at this restaurant. Or drink orders weren't taken until we sat for 15 minutes, then took another 20 minutes for the drinks to actually arrive. Then, it took another 25 minutes for the server to actually take our food orders. Our food finally came out an hour later, and it was lukewarm at best. Some of our party ordered the chefs special, which included creme brulee for dessert. They found out 30 minutes after we finished eating that there was no creme brulee. The server then brought out chocolate cake to replace the creme brulee, but didn't bother to ask anyone else in the party if they wanted dessert, particularly our 4 year old daughter, who's birthday we were celebrating (We told them ahead of time). Our drinks were refilled once in 3 hours, and they sat empty for the majority of the time. Our server never once asked how anything was, didn't apologize for any delays, and was invisible almost the entire time. There were literally 2 other tables in the entire restaurant, and other servers, and no reason for our dinner to take over 3 hours. Complaining to the manager made no difference, because she also took over 25 minutes to come to the table after we requested her, never once apologized for the terrible service, told us she would take care of something on our check. We sat there for another 30 minutes before the waiter finally brought us our checks, which she clearly did not take care of. The manager came out one more time and only asked if our daughter liked the dessert, then disappeared again. This place was a nightmare. Do not eat here! The service is horrible and the management could not care less. I would give it 0...