Medium Rare — Restaurant in Bethesda

Update- to the owner's additional response "we" did not determine that the original party was for 9 people, he mistakenly did. The owner Mark will not take responsibility for their mistake of refusing to set a table for more than 9 people. Our group did not slowly increase to 20 people; we were a total of 12 people since they did not plan for our original group size. Many of our friends had to go home. This review is a direct reflection of Medium Rare's service and experience of poor communication, racial inequality. Simply put, you are only a dollar bill to them, they do not care about your experience. I gave the owner Mark an opportunity to at least make things a little better and his response was "it ends here"

Update- Had we been told that our party was not able to be accommodated and that Medium Rare was just too busy and unable to hold our reservation. We would have been fine to go somewhere that could have done so and prevented this entire experience.

Update- The owner reached out to me (our original reservation was for 20+ people. The owner offered me a complimentary meal to make up for the experience. Unfortunately this does not make up for the special occasion that we planned and were trying to have, her birthday only happens once a year and it was supposed to be something special. The whole reason for the review was not to receive compensation, it was to hopefully bring to Medium Rare's attention to manage things better so that celebrations do not turn into unpleasant memories. Unfortunately we will still not be back. When it comes to special events you can not recreate them and they happen once. I'm sad because I really liked this place prior to this experience.

Made a reservation a month in advance for my girlfriend's birthday party and her friends of 10 to 15 people. The day came when we all gathered to celebrate her day. The restaurant placed our party in a very awkward location of the dining room where a few of our guests had less than an inch from the back of their chair to the table behind them. We were not greeted but sorted like animals to our sitting area by Vanessa. She did not make us feel welcomed and told us that they had other more important parties after ours and that we had to be finished by a specific time. Instead of my girlfriend being able to focus on interacting with her friends (some she had not seen in a while) she was subjected to the stress of not knowing if the restaurant would let her friends stay. Two of her friends showed up a little late after traveling specially to celebrate her birthday. Unfortunately with the attitude and poor organization of Medium Rare they had no choice but to turn around and go home since Vanessa was not interested in seating them. Some other friends had arrived before and after begging Vanessa she put one small table together but they felt un-included. The entire experience was horrible, our drinks were poorly made, the steak was cold, the fries were soggy and we felt pressure to eat as if it was some kind of race. When we asked for more water we were asked if we wanted the check. We continued to be pressured and rushed by the staff. Everyone left disappointed and hungry, as far as my girlfriend she was in tears. They charged us more than the $25.95 per their website and charged us $26.95 for our party along with forcing us to pay them a 20% tip that they did not earn or deserve. I am very surprised by how we were treated and None of us will return in the future. I must add that I have personally volunteered many times to help this restaurant with delivering food to seniors and mothers on mothers day, Medium Rare made it clear that all of that was unappreciated. It seems they have grown to a size where quality and service is non-existent and to pressure their customers to pay as soon as they put down their forks. The table arrangement and favoritism towards other guests and parties was a huge problem as well. We will never return to...

I was brought to this restaurant by some friends. I should start by saying my friends love this place. I should also say that I don't care for the menu design, but I can usually get around that.

The menu is steak frites, literally steak and fries, and that's it. The only question the wait staff asks is "how do you like your steak cooked?" And that's virtually it. You can substitute mushrooms for steak if you want. Nothing else on the menu a far as I know. Actually more desserts than entrees and sides. Maybe I'm not a world traveler, but I have not been to any restaurant that has such a limited menu.

With that said, it started with a rustic bread which has a thick crispy crust and wasn't bad. The garden salad had various greens which looked inviting and just a couple cherry tomatoes cut in half. It was very lightly dressed with a dressing, the nature of which I forget. It wasn't bad but not memorable. Sorry, I was eating at several restaurants this week.

The steak came cut in about 10 or 12 slices with a cream sauce on it. We were not aware of this ahead of time, but the sauce was tasty and I like sauces fortunately. Steak was properly cooked and juicy.

The frites were shoestring fries done properly, think McDonald's on their best day - good but nothing special.

Best of all, you get seconds on steak and fries, or frites. My second of steak had a string in it so that was unpleasant. The rest of my party had no such issue.

The wait staff was very good and attentive. We sat outside because it was a pleasant day so I did not see the inside of the place. I'm sure it's very nice.

Fault me for not knowing that the menu was so limited. That's on me. I was at least expecting some variety and a more elegant meal. I'm not sure what this place is trying to be. Now this is a chain so others obviously get it. I had minor issues with each meal component. In the end for me, it comes down to price point. Even for what this restaurant offers, I cannot justify the price for what it is. Like I said earlier, me...

Went on a Thursday night around 8:30. My wife walked in and was able to be seated but had some trouble getting a server. When I went to the front I was immediately accommodated with a server where we chose to sit outside as we didn't like where we were seated within the dining room. The menu is a pre fixed menu with bread coming out first, a small salad and then rib eye steak I belive and fries. The food was very good, the bread is just bread so if that's your thing you'll love it. The salad was very small but the dressing they used was so good, I think it had a hint of horseradish or grey poupon mustard. The steak was over cooked for me but I think they got it right for my wife, we both requested our steaks to ve done to medium. The first round of steaks was okay, whatever sauce they give you for it is absolutely divine. The fries are just regular shoe string fries, either you like them or you don't. We initially thought the portions were too small and it wasn't worth the price of admission but we were pleasantly surprised to get a second course of steak and fries included in the price which immediately shot up the value of the meal. The second round of steaks was cooked much better and had more flavor. The wine in the picture was really good, so good me and my wife went to look for it over the weekend at total wine. Overall it Medium Rare is a very good place to eat if you just want a simple meal of...