Chop House Asheville Downtown — Restaurant in Asheville

I was planning to take someone on a date in Asheville. I knew I wanted a steak, and I didn't want it from a chain. When this place popped up, the menu looked great, but I was nervous about the reviews. Thankfully, my date encouraged me to try it, even though he had never been there before either.

When we got there, I did wait a couple minutes at the host stand before being noticed. There were several patrons at the bar, a couple in a table in the back half, and a gentleman drinking wine by the bar. One of the people from the bar walked out and saw me and hollered that they had someone. It wasn't the best service, but I imagine they don't get much business because of the reviews, so they serve their regulars at the bar. While I was waiting, there was a server (Hannah?) who was straightening the back half. She ended up being our server.

My date asked what kind of whisky was served. "All kinds." He asked for an Evan Williams and she had to come back and say they did not have that. He got a Jack Daniels, but it was blonde, possibly had some water in it, which he did not request. He enjoyed it, though.

He ordered the chicken and I ordered the filet mignon . Both were incredible. My steak was absolutely delicious. I ordered it medium rare, because I wasn't sure if they would overcook it. They did - it came out just over medium, slightly more done than I would have liked. But the demi glace and the crispy outside, tender inside made up for it. The flavor was amazing. I did pay for a $4.50 sweet potato, which was a little much, but overall I had a great experience.

Our server made sure we had what we needed and the food was great. I want to encourage other reviewers to refrain from leaving 1 star reviews when they haven't visited - to leave a 1 star review and say that the other reviews kept you from visiting is damaging to a restaurant you've never tried.

There is definite room for improvement, but overall the atmosphere was romantic and the food was...

We had an unbelievably bad experience. We were the only table in the restaurant on a Sunday evening, and the waitress took nearly ten minutes to greet our table. When she finally brought our bottle of wine, she set it on the table without uncorking it for us, and left us to do it ourselves - typically an unacceptable practice at a restaurant with $30+ entrees.

After waiting 45 minutes for our entrees to arrive (when we're the ONLY table in the restaurant), they brought 3 out of 4 plates to our table and announced that they were out of one the entrees we ordered. Instead of letting us know during the 45 minutes we waited, the waitress brought out all but one meal and only offered to make up for it with a dessert.

We sent the three plates back and requested a different entree for the fourth, so our whole group could eat together. The waitress reluctantly obliged. Once all four entrees finally came out (another 30 minutes later), it was clear that the original three steaks had been baking under warming lights and were far past well-done, despite being ordered medium rare. The fourth entree wasn't even the correct cut of steak.

We calmly explained our concerns to the waitress, and instead of even making an attempt to listen, she began using profanities and blamed us for the issue. Our group decided to leave without eating because the service was so poor.

The waitress chased us out of the restaurant carrying a water pitcher, flipped us off and screamed profanities out the restaurant door into the parking lot.

TLDR: Terrible customer experience. Do not waste your...

While flavor is noted, a good solid business sense is not. We were the 2nd group seated, only 4 adults, and our meal came well over an hour later. Slow service is understated. They didn't 'anticipate being busy so they sent staff home.' We watched 10 other parties come in and fill up the restaurant. One server was taking care of all the tables, helped by his floor manager who was also the Bartender! Our steak was over cooked and tough. The baked potatoes were cold, so much so the butter didn't melt. They never asked half the part about what they wanted to drink. Though not a Fusion restaurant, the plating was nice and seemed to be more important the the food. At a 'Chop House' you expected a steakhouse, bigger portions for the prices they were charging. All side items are charged separately, as well. Even after they took steak and shrimp and grits off the bill, it was still $80! FOR 4 PEOPLE who waited over an hour for their dinner. And again, we were the only other party in the room other than a table who were seated, waiting on their food when we came in. One person in our party saw the chef walk through the place 2 times. Should've been back there...