The Ribeye — Restaurant in Champaign

My Family and I have Patronized The Rib Eye Restaurant in Champaign Illinois for Several Decades beginning over 45 years Ago and their Steaks, Baked Potatoes, Mushrooms and especially their Well-known Famous All-You-Eat Salad Bar with Many Items has been Excellent. They also Pride Themselves on serving 32 Ounce Rib Eye Steaks. I have been going there Weekly for Months and have found their Rib Eye Steaks and Baked Potatoes with Sour Cream/Butter Tasted Utterly Delicious. Their Bread Continues to need much improvement which is nowhere near the Taste of Bread at the Lamberts's Cafe, The Beef House, Texas RoadHouse, Morton's The Steakhouse and Ruth's Chris Steak House Restaurants. Their Twice Baked Potato also needs improvement because it was very dry which affected how well it Tasted.

On 1 Occasion a few Weeks ago I chose to eat a larger Steak for $65.50 before deciding whether to consume Salad Bar Food Items to avoid Over-Eating. However, before I was able to begin Digesting my Meal to decide whether I wanted a Salad(s) I was told this was unacceptable to Management who said that they only allow no more than 90 minutes to have Cocktails, Converse with Table Guests, Eat Salads, Consume Main Entrees, Desserts and after Dinner Wines. This Information was confirmed last Friday a 2nd Time by my Male Waiter who said that the Main Reason why they have this 90 Minute Time Constrictive Restriction is because otherwise it would Hamper Other Waiting Customers. I asked if they would allow extra time for Cocktail Drinks, conversing with Table Guests and eating Larger Steaks. He said no. On several Occasions the Waiter or Waitress(es) put a Bill on my Table Before I was able to even start or finish my Meal. Consequently, since Male Waiters do not arrive until 5:00 pm I had to leave by 6:30 pm which I could not do to eat Comfortably. However, since all other Patrons receive their Bills after they finish their Meals I felt somewhat Discriminated against and it then was decided to Survey other Steak Restaurants to determine whether they had similar 90 Minute Time Limiting Constraint Restrictions for Finishing Meals. I have found none so far.

The Assistant Manager of a well-known local Franchise Texas RoadHouse Steak Restaurant said they have no 90 minute Time Constraint Restrictions for finishing Meals and place Bills on Tables for all Patrons after they finish their Meals. Lambert's Cafe, Morton's The Steakhouse, Ruth's Chris's Steak House and The Beef House Restaurant also have Similar no 90 Minute Time Limiting Constraint Restriction Procedures now followed at the Texas RoadHouse while also serving Superb Special Cut Rib Eye Steaks, far more superior Bread Products in addition to some offering 10-12 Ounce Filet Steaks for about $24.00 and Up. All of them do not place Bills on Tables before Customers Finish their Meals. The Beef House is also considered by some as the Best Steak Restaurant in the State of Indiana and well-known for their Foods Items especially Steaks, Filet's and Famous Delicious Hot Rolls.

Consequently, due to the aforesaid 90 Minute Time Constraint Restrictions placed upon me by The Rib Eye Restaurant that does not allow me to eat and finish my Meal Comfortably and by placing my $43.00 Bill on my Table before I started Eating and/or Finishing my Meal which is not done for other Steakhouse Restaurant Customers, I have no other choice but to look for another Steakhouse Restaurants to Patronize but after reviewing the information that I have been told so far it looks quite Promising that I can visit Steakhouse Restaurants without worrying about previous Salad Bar Issues and Eat Comfortably without being Subjected to 90 Minute Time Limiting Constraint Restrictions currently implemented now at the Rib Eye Steak Restaurant in...

This was my first time visiting The Ribeye. Located off South Neil Street, it's very easy to get to. The parking around the building is a little tight, but there are plenty of spaces. The inside is more on the dimly lit side with seating that's a little close, especially around the salad bar area. Starting with the salad bar, it's amazing. As a complimentary addition to entrees it's a great deal. The salad was fresh with plenty of options for toppings including real bacon bits. There are a variety of pasta salads to choose from as well, though I did not try any of those. The bread loaf that comes with the table is also amazing. The white bread is soft, but what makes it so great is the heap of butter that comes with it. It's SO good! I went with a 20oz ribeye, medium rare. First cut it was perfectly cooked, which was impressive considering how thick this monster was. It lacked salt for the size, but table salt was available. After salting it was delicious and tender.

Unfortunately, not everything stayed so great or this place would have gotten 5 stars. The food is delivered on a hot plate, still sizzling when it comes from the kitchen. Don't touch it or you will be burned. I think this could be mitigated with a handle sleeve, an easy addition, but one overlooked. However, the biggest issue here is that it continues to cook your food while it's just sitting there. My massive medium rare steak was medium well by the time I got 3/4 done with it. When you're paying $50 for a steak, that's the last thing you want.

The baked potato was unfortunately overcooked from the beginning and by the time the meal was over I couldn't even cut through the skin due to the continued cooking.

The sauteed mushrooms were not impacted by the hot plate and were great from start to finish.

The waitress was attentive and very polite, being the first time here she was happy to make recommendations on her personal favorites.

I will be back and I do recommend giving it a try for a special occasion, especially if you enjoy a good salad bar. However, I will be asking for a separate plate that doesn't continue to...

The food was sub par. We had the senior special 4 oz ribeye. Seemed more like a sirloin than ribeye. The steak had no marbling, was ¾" thick, tasteless and the texture seemed like it had been pummeled to try to make it tender. It did not look like they grilled it, there were no grill marks. Looked and tasted pan fried. The ribeye does not need to be pounded to make it tender, it's tender because of the marbling and they are usually twice as thick. This was the 3rd time in 33 years we've been here because we've never been impressed. Well this will be the last time I give them a chance. I'll stick to Texas Roadhouse where the ribeye is a ribeye.

Many said the salad bar was excellent. It was so so. There is only iceberg lettuce, no spinach or other dark greens, and just a few regular common things to add and a handful of other types of salads that didn't look appetizing. If you want a good salad bar go to Schnucks.

The fries and mushrooms were way too salty. I would have asked to have them lightly salted had I known they'd be so salty. I've never had my sauteed mushrooms salty any other places, fries yes, but not mushrooms. The salt just ruined them and I usually like the mushrooms better than the steak.

The waitress was pleasant enough. She never asked how the food was and my husband didn't want me to tell about the salty food. Usually I would have. She also needs to watch what she's doing when she refills the water glasses. She reached over the table to my husband's glass and the pitcher was right over a small serving of ambrosia that I had gotten from the salad bar and water from the bottom of the pitcher dripped into the ambrosia. Needless to say I did not eat anymore of that. And when she first took our order she asked if we wanted whole wheat or white bread. We said whole wheat. About half way through our meal we hadn't gotten the bread so my husband asked her when we were going to get the bread. She had totally forgotten to bring it and asked again what kind we wanted. Usually bread is brought out before you even...