Jameson's Charhouse — Restaurant in Bloomingdale

My friend and I decided to treat ourselves to a steak dinner pre-Christmas. Her family had been there at this location many times and had private parties in their small room in front and loved it this time my friend ordered a ribeye, and it came cooked incorrectly four times the third time the manager brought it out and she said it was fine. I said no that it was undercooked but she was like it’s fine and he walked away. Nobody ever came back and checked on us or on Her, the steak as she ate a little into it it was raw for more than I’d say 60% and she gave up at that point and didn’t want to send it back-and-forth time and decided she would just take it home and cook it and have it for dinner the next night I ordered a “” prime sirloin, which the first time came overcooked. It came well done when I asked for medium and the second time it was cooked pretty well. They did a decent job. I don’t think the meat was prime. I am not sure because there was no tenderness. It was a very tough piece of meat which I’ve never had any piece of prime meat that didn’t have marbling, which is what makes a prime, and is very tender because of the marbling, but mine was only cooked twice , at the end of the meal which both of us had food left of course because of the whole mood of the evening we ordered coffees and I had asked the server if they had decaf cappuccino and then decaf cappuccino and she told me I was very special and like a handful for asking that question and I didn’t really understand because I just wanted to know if they had cappuccino and then decaf cappuccino so at the end of our meal we received the check and there is not one thing taken care of not the coffees, not a steak nothing at all so I asked to speak to a manager the manager came to our table and I explained to him our dismay, and that we had been there three hours, which was not our plans And I thought that they should do something for us. We didn’t come there looking for a free meal we didn’t come there looking for a discount we came there to enjoy a girls night and have a great steak dinner which my friend thought we could there and he did take the check he took off the coffees he took off my friends steak and came back and gave us the check I N, and use the excuse that the server couldn’t find him. It was all his fault there was miscommunication. I’ve been in the restaurant business and I’ve worked as a server I would be embarrassed to give somebody a full check, and not an apology with the check on top of it, and sated them we’ve compensated for our errors , and this one just put down the check like nothing like pay the bill I will never be back even though the manager did take the initiative to acknowledge the fact that it was not good. What happened? The manager when talking to him told my friend that the reason the steaks were different on her second one I think was that they were older steaks, and now she was getting a newer steak and I don’t know what that meant, but boy was that an uncomfortable statement for a manager to make I’ve been as I said in the restaurant industry I’ve been an owner of manager Never what I say something like that to a customer then my friend got nervous that even though she had a few bites, she was eating old meat and old men a week a month a year we had no idea why he said that to us but anyway, I am very sorry that I drove all the way out there. It was not what we were both looking for and I hope it was just an off night for them because I haven’t had a bad meal like that. In a very long time. The manager was a nice person. I don’t wanna say he wasn’t an understood that we shouldn’t have gotten a mistake three times and even on the third time it was wrong , I hope that they get their act together and I hope that the server who was confident understands you shouldn’t really talk about a person’s personality to them at the dinner table when you’re waiting on them it’s not...

This restaurant feels like its not sure what its trying to be. There is an emphasis on Greek items across the menu, a lot of Italian items But the sign says Charhouse and Seafood. There are TWO items on the Seafood section. I'll give them a break on that since they had all the fish on the specials menu.

Service was okay, polite, not the most attentive but not bad.

The atmosphere is also confusing, classy stone exterior and exposed beam work in the oversized entry area. Host stand is way off to the side, instead of front and center, full bar to the left and dining on the right. The dining area is an amalgam of family friendly and trying to be upscale. Some tables are bright as a sunny day, while others were so dim that I saw people using their phone flashlights to read the menu. The music...did not lend itself to classy nor comfort, it was just bland one hit wonders. They need to pick a theme and stick to it!

The Food was actually pretty good. Pork chops, steak, soups and sides were all seasoned and cooked properly. The ranch dressing had mustard in it for some reason and they didn't offer thousand island despite Junior telling me its a frequent request. I've also never had red bell pepper in clam chowder, has anyone else? Or am I missing something?

The main reason for this rating was the drinks.

First I ordered an Old Fashioned. Easy, Safe, would pair nicely with my meal. There was sugar from a packet (not a sugar cube) on top of the ice. The drink tasted like soda water and nothing else...

So, disappointed, I asked for their El Diablo. Ginger beer, tons of lemon juice from concentrate and a lime wedge...tasted no tequila, just sour ginger soda water. IMO with a name like that you should stick with the ginger beer, put enough tequila to know its there, muddle a slice of jalapeno and hit it with some honey, shake and pour over ice.

After a while I decided that I really couldn't drink this either, so I thought ill just get my standard, I mean they have a Martini menu so maybe they can manage. So I asked Junior if the house had Belvedere, he replied "I think so" so I asked for a Belvedere Martini with a twist. He brought vodka on the rocks...which he realized right away that it was not what I asked for. An honest mistake.

There was ice in my martini and it was definitely their well vodka, tasted like smirnov. The biggest giveaway was on the check he charged me for a Balvidire, proving to me Belvedere was not on their menu.

This was a Friday night, train your bartended how to make drinks the right way or do not put them...

Our family has gone to eat here to celebrate birthdays several times, always as a medium-to-large group. (Usually 8-12 people.)

The food is very plentiful and quite good as a rule. You get soup, salad, choice of potato, and a veggie with steak or seafood. For burgers, it's fries (or another potato) and coleslaw. (The serving of coleslaw is really tiny, which is sad as it's quite yummy.) All of our steaks have been perfectly cooked. My filet mignon was perfectly seasoned, perfectly cooked (medium), and so tender I likely could have traded my steak knife for a butter knife and still had no problem cutting it up. It just about melted in my mouth. Very yummy. Everyone else was happy with their food.

The service, however, leaves much to be desired as their waitstaff tend to be inattentive. As an example, we went last weekend and were one of only a few tables when we arrived. (Nor was it crowded at any point while we were there.) A few of us arrived together. The waiter sat us, took our drink orders, and said he'd bring bread to nibble on while we waited for the others. The rest of the group came in. Our drinks arrived. He took - and brought - the others' drink orders. He finally remembered the bread (after we'd asked about it twice) when he came to take our meal orders. Everything else was similarly slow. Dirty plates from the bread and such were removed only haphazardly, making it difficult to set down our actual meals. (Nor could he remember who ordered what. Yes, there were nine of us, but I'm not sure he offered the right dish to anyone. This was after he skipped someone entirely while taking our orders. We had to call him back to do it as he was starting to walk away.) There were other issues, but I'm sure I've made my point.

We ordered only one drink and I'll never order another. That drink should be creamy, but the alcohol was overpoured so badly that the cream in it was literally watered down with vodka! So not only was it ridiculously strong, but it didn't taste good in any other way either. (That review with a picture of bottles of wine in the bar's ice box and the story of them scooping ice with the glass instead of a metal scoop guaranteed that I won't give their bar a second chance.)

In short, their food is good but the service simply does not live up to the standard set by the food. Thus I'm torn about recommending it as the food is well worth getting, and the service may be better with other wait staff. So you may wish to try it, but be prepared for potentially...