The Stockyard Restaurant — Restaurant in Boston

A casual steakhouse with moderate to high-end prices. Food quality seems to be all over the place. Inattentive service based on 2 visits. Abundant parking.

Food (3.5/5): Dinner rolls are served after you order and they are delicious, warm, and lightly toasted with a crisp exterior. You also get some butter and sesame crackers.

We tried the Rhode Island Calamari, which was lightly fried, with some cherry peppers mixed in, and tartar sauce and house-made marinara on the side. It was as described; lightly fried, so not much of a crisp, and the marinara was delicious.

The clam chowder was okay, nothing special.

The Beef Tournedos, which is two petite tenderloins with whipped potatoes, grilled asparagus, and some demi-glace. The tenderloins were cooked just right and very tender and tasty. However, it was clear that my dish was left sitting in the kitchen because the steak was room temperature; even the bread basket we were served at the start was warmer than my steak and the asparagus had wrinkled. I am guessing they finished cooking the steak before they even started my friend's dish. The whipped potatoes were basically mashed potatoes, which were pretty good, but there was no gravy or anything for it. If this dish had been served hot, I probably would have loved it.

I also tried the 32oz. Prime Tomahawk Ribeye, aged 49 days, sliced to share. I was personally very disappointed with this steak, given it was well over $100 after tax and tip. It was chewy and not flavorful. We added a side of bearnaise sauce to go with it and it was very much needed to add some flavor to it. Hopefully, we just got a rare bad cut because this was the most expensive steak on the menu, yet the significantly cheaper tenderloins were much better.

Service (1/5): I've dined in twice and service was abysmal both times. The first time, we were told we had to wait about 10 minutes for a table on a Sunday night at 8pm. 10 minutes turned into 20 and then 30 when we asked about the wait again since people were leaving but no one else was coming in. They seated us and we saw several empty tables along the way. It seemed like they forgot about us sitting in the waiting room in front of them. Other reviews also mention having to wait while there are empty tables.

The second time we dined in, our server only stopped by to take orders, check on us once after our food came out, and then one more time when we asked for water refills, but she never came back to refill our water and we never saw her again for about half an hour.. until we asked for the check. It was 8pm on a Wednesday night and the place was over half empty. The table next to us with a different server was checked on several times while we were left alone by our server.

Parking (5/5): Somehow, they have a huge parking lot in this area. I don't think you'll ever run into a problem finding a spot here.

Final thoughts: My bad experiences don't seem to be the norm based on reviews, so I might give this restaurant one more...

Yet another steakhouse, not much to see here unless you're already in the area. Move along folks. The logo even bears a striking resemblance to the Longhorn's chain restaurant. (Side note: the world will never know the glory of my original review due to Yelp's mobile app glitching out deleting my draft review!) My sweet SO wanted to take me out to a nice place to eat while also finally using up our Phantom Gourmet gift card, which is surprisingly difficult partly because the website list of restaurants is not up to date. He found this restaurant and it seemed promising with all these positive reviews, so he also called ahead of time just to confirm that the gift card would be accepted. A misinformed individual erroneously affirmed that we could use it, so we couldn't wait to get there!

Upon arrival, we asked again about the our reservation and the gift card however the hosts were singing a different tune. They needed to check with management. Much to our dismay they told us that they were featured on Phantom Gourmet, but they do not accept their gift cards with a halfhearted apology. Well what a waste of driving here, but we were hungry so they had us by the stomach. The host lead us to a strange location sandwiched in between the noisy bar and a booth, which was later filled with a larger group.

One point of pride that I cannot deny the restaurant was the top notch holiday decor. As we entered, there were 2 life size nutcracker statues along with various lights strewn all over the walls. In the main area they also have a large tree, Santa with presents, a fire place and more festive tidings everywhere.

Our waiter was a courteous gentleman who gave us a solid appetizer recommendation for the Steak Tartare at $15. However, as soon as the other tables with larger groups filled next to us, his attention quickly diverted to them. Also anyway you slice it, I can't imagine any area of the restaurant being romantic since it all wraps around this huge noisy bar in the center. As for the main course, I ordered their signature burger with sweet potato fries and was sorely disappointed with the sheer lack of flavor at ~$14-15 especially compared to a Black Iron Burger or even Shake Shack. This was also the cheapest entree on the menu... and everything else is closer to the $20+ mark. My SO ordered their full rack of ribs at $24 with regular fries, which were tastier but still not worth the price tag. At least the food was ready quickly as we finished up sooner than expected. I couldn't wait to finish up and continue on with our...

The pros: (1) The place is huge, very spacious. (2) The bar is even pretty big. (3) The service was phenomenal, the waitress we had was kind, polite, attentive and showed empathy (3) Plenty of parking, they have there own onsite parking lot. (4) Parking is free.(5) Outdoor eating. The cons: (1) They are pricey, one crab cake $16. Ribeye steak $44. I'll stop at them two examples to move on to the second con which was major for me (2) Remember that $16 dollar crab cake? Well it was overcooked, overcooked to the point where you tasted the burnt taste. That was returned. Now let's recall the $44 dollar Ribeye steak, I asked for medium-well and that was overcooked as well. Furthermore, the steak didn't come with anything and when I say anything, I mean it came with nothing, no sides, no garnishment - nothing, just the steak. I will say this the steak was huge. For $44 dollars though, even if you're not going to include any sides with it, at the very least garnish the plate, presentation is 'almost' everything. The steak was returned as well. The bread (free bread) was floury and undercooked, making it doughy. Flour was caked on the bottom. We also had baby back ribs which were decent. They came with a side of french fries and cole slaw, however, I was allowed to substitute the french fries with mashed potatoes which tasted like instant mashed potatoes. In their defense, it doesn't state on the menu that the mash potatoes would be home made or from real potatoes. And the presentation of the baby back ribs were definitely better than that of the ribeye steak. We also had the lobster mac & cheese. It was watery and tasted like pure lobster bisque. At this point, I was done. Maybe the chef/cook was having a bad day, maybe they were new. But based on the Pros, I would give the Stockyard another try. Though they are pricey, this is something I'm willing to absorb if the quality (including cooked to preference) and the presentation of food is correct. If not for the food and lack of presentation, I would have giving...