Roaring Fork — Restaurant in Austin

Here goes…..

We were back home in Austin for my dad’s funeral the next day (6 Feb). This place, for decades, has always been a go to favorite for my family.

However, Sunday was not a good night for several reasons. My wife and I flown in from Lynden WA and our daughter from Naval Air station Lemoore CA. We joined my sister’s family. Eight of us total

My wife’s side salad was basic and right sized. Pork entre was a little dry but edible.

My martini was not what I ordered. It was not dirty and did not have stuffed blue cheese olives.

Our server was new and delightful! First night on the job. I walked my drink back to the bar a short 25 ft from our table. Presented my drink and explained what I ordered and was instructed by both males to give it to my server. I did and it was returned like I wanted. I just didn’t like the two bartenders attitude.

My steak was ordered warm pink center not over cooked but medium rare. Not a cheap ribeye but large, with enough left over to take home. It was undercooked and I mean RAW in most places. I sent it back waited 15 min and was returned.

The corn bead stuck to the cast iron skillet and was hard like a rock and only softened by the runny and watery Queso. Yuck

The side shrimp however was good and consistent with what I remembered.

The desert was a disaster. Out of pecan pie….bummer. So, I ordered the Cream Brule. Not good. It was soupy with a sugar crust. Looked like a melted milk shake.

My coffee was delivered ROOM TEMPERATURE!!

I thought how the F does this happen. I asked my wife to stick her finger in the cup and she said not here moron I’ll just feel the cups outside. By this time I was tired and overly disappointed because this was not the experience I was hoping for.

The coffee came back hot. I drank it and we left.

I am a retired Navy Sub Commander, Naval Academy grad and home town boy visiting Austinite for years since 1972. My dad retired Colonel out of Bergstrom AFB a F4 pilot for 30 years pilot and 93. His passing had no influence on my critique or the poorly prepared food.

Maybe this was just an off night for the cooks I don’t know but more than one person in the kitchen and the bar were off their game.

The only person that was exceptional, delightful, courteous and pleasant was the recent Texas State grad Tera who was working her first night. She made our evening despite the off food, drinks and dessert.

Bottom line is the evening for me was a disappointment. My past experience has ALWAYS been over the top and exceptional.

I spoke to Grace a manager this evening about our experience. My wife and I are heading back tonight for dinner before we return home tomorrow and sadly say goodbye to Austin. I’m confident tonight will be a better experience.

USNA grad, retired Navy Sub Skipper and native Austinite. CDR Scott D...

DO NOT GO HERE. Had dinner with 9 friends here last Friday night and it was the worst dining experience I’ve ever had in my 10 years of living in Austin. We spent over $1k and I will never go back here.

We celebrated a birthday and ordered cocktails once we sat down. The restaurant was crowded and we didn’t see the waitress for about 20 minutes. She said the cocktails were taking a little bit. Totally fine and no issue. She took our food orders and we decided to add some wine to the bill. Another 15-20 minutes. Still no cocktails.

The waitress explained it was taking a little bit, but offered to open the wine up and we concurred. The cocktails finally came after about 45 minutes. The food then took an absurd amount of time to come. We ordered steaks medium rare and they came out medium/medium well. We were not drunk or an obnoxious party. I would say we were very good customers and never complained about the overcooked meat.

Since we were a large party, it was clear the staff knew they were getting a mandatory 20% tip so they didn’t treat us with any urgency. We were there for so long the entire restaurant cleared out and we decided to add another steak (the waitress cleared the steaks when we ordered were enough). Again, totally fine.

Here is the biggest POS move by the restaurant: the waitress came over laughing and goes “so I hear we are celebrating a birthday! How about we get some shots! What kind of shots do we want?” She was clearly insinuating they were going to be free since we spent so much $ and waited so long for drinks, but when we clarified she said “..no”. She was trying to upsell us on everything yet the service was horrible. Bizzare service. When we got the bill, they thought we wouldn’t notice if they put stuff on it that we didn’t order. We asked for bread and never got it. So many things were terrible with this place.

I don’t write reviews much, but please take the time to read this if you are thinking about attending this place. It was horrible service and incredibly overpriced. The steaks were average at best. We didn’t get anything comped for in the end. We never complained or made a big deal of it because we were celebrating our friend. But this was the worst experience I’ve had at a supposedly “nice...

Austin deserves better.

Reservation was for 8:45 PM. We checked in and sat at the bar at 8:20 PM. Bar tenders were checked out, don’t know alcohol or drinks when asked for a refreshing vodka cocktail that’s not too sweet.

Received a text the table was ready, closed the tab then went to the hostess stand to checkin within 3 minutes. They are confused and ask us to wait because “we didn’t respond”.

We sat down to eat. The waiter was initially patient and understanding. The queso was served like water. We were confused but they quickly replaced it and it grew on us. The chorizo with mussels was okay.

We thought this was an entree place, we were terribly wrong. There is no excuse for the quality, presentation and service we experienced. The entrees and drinks took a while, some strange latency after the appetizers.

The fries were salted pieces of rubber. The steak was chewy boiled fat on a bed of oil and water carelessly thrown on a plate. The worst presentation ever of a $50 steak. The street corn was swampy canned corn and the burger was very unappealing.

We explained to the waiter how we are unhappy and offered him to try a french fry. At this point, we just wanted to eat elsewhere. The manager returned and started with “we are done here tonight”. She was the most unprofessional disgusting human. Grossly inappropriately approached our table with kitchen staff telling us to leave immediately or we will be forced, as if she’s some hero. Coming from restaurant background, she had absolutely no empathy or hospitality experience whatsoever. She accused us of cursing and throwing food. Then continued to make a spectacle as she so courageously escorted us to the exit. This establishment is by far, the worst restaurant experience we have ever had.

We were so relieved to be out of this place. We luckily walked into a nearby restaurant where they saved our night. And no reservations needed! Look for 4.7+ for better food and...