Dean's Italian Steakhouse — Restaurant in Charlotte

The food was fine, but probably one of the WORST services in charlotte you can find if you are under the age of 40. Booked this for my 26th birthday dinner there were 5 of us, we were seated and handed 1 wine menu and 1 food menu for the whole table, waited 15 minutes for water. FINALLY after 40 minutes we flagged down a random waiter saying we haven’t seen our waiter in over 45 minutes we don’t know what’s going on but we are ready to order, drinks at the very least. This random waiter took our drink order just for our old waiter to come back and tell us the hostess confused him when he was serving all of the tables around us but apparently the hostess didn’t tell him that he was our server? We had multiple waiters come up to us after that and offered to help, they did give us a free app up to $25 which was “nice.” Things went somewhat smoothly after that, other than ordering a medium steak and having it come out completely raw. The staff knowing that we were quite annoyed were temporarily attentive. Most of the group had been there in the past, for the price that you’re paying they box your food and as they have done CONSISTENTLY in the past. Clearly employees were not pleased with the situation at hand had thrown boxes at us to box our own food which is not a problem but absolutely unnecessary with the way my group was treated all night especially when it was known that it was booked for a BIRTHDAY. The table next to us was a older Crowd who was also celebrating a birthday and enjoyed their compliment/ free desert that was not even offered or mentioned to our party as it was booked as a birthday. Customers Pay for good food good service and a good crowd, the service was the absolute worst I’ve ever en countered in Charlotte. I will never be stepping foot in this establishment again, I am absolutely disgusted by the way they treat paying customers BASED OFF AGE. not only did this ruin someone’s birthday it put a bitter taste in everyone’s mouth the rest of the night. Do better as a “ high end” restaurant. Genuinely you would get better service at an Applebee’s or a Chili’s. A waste of $300...

Restaurant is located conveniently with a parking garage next to it. The building sits at the bottom of the JW Marriott but away from hotel guests. Upon entry we were met by a hostess who checked us in for our reservation and we were promptly sat. The restaurant does have a nice ambiance and decor. My only complaint would be the tables are too close together for my liking. We are greeted by Joe S. our server, who was very delightful all night. We were here for my sister’s birthday and the restaurant did a wonderful job acknowledging it with their dessert special of the night and a candle. Now for the food…simply impressive. The restaurant serves fresh fluffy pull apart bread with a delicious softened butter with salt speckled on top. 5/5 We both ordered the 8oz petite filet and the sear was perfect but the flavor was packed in!! On our first bite we both looked at each other, eyes wide, because we couldn’t believe how much seasoning we were tasting. Steak alone is 6/5 For shareable sides, we ordered Billionaires Potato, Mac and cheese, and broccoli with lemon aioli. The potato was good but the truffle detail was meh to me. It really didn’t make the potato much better than if it was left off and ultimately that’s the selling point. So I give it a 4/5 because for the price per taste I don’t feel like it was worth it. Seems another layer should be added to play up the “billionaires” aspect but it’s still a good dish overall. Mac n cheese-no notes 5/5 delicious and left no crumbs Broccoli with lemon aioli - I misread the menu and thought it was broccolini so I was a little disappointed when Joe informed us it’s just broccoli but obviously that was my fault. And honestly, it’s only so many ways you can execute broccoli and I think they would do better blanching in saltier water. Broccoli was under seasoned and without the lemon aioli slathered on it would not be suitable at the rest of the table. Aioli was truly the saving grace of that side. 2.5/5

Overall I’m giving this restaurant a 5 just off the items I enjoyed and the service alone. I will definitely...

I’ve been to Dean’s Steakhouse in the JW Marriott Charlotte twice now, and unfortunately, both experiences were marred by poor service at the host stand.

When we arrived for our reservation, the hostess attempted to seat us in a mostly empty restaurant (about 40% capacity). The table she chose was in a darker area, making it difficult for one of our party members, who has a sight disability, to read the menu. We politely asked to be moved one table over to a spot with better lighting. You’d think this would be a simple request, especially given the available seating, but instead, it felt like an unreasonable inconvenience. The hostess left us standing awkwardly in the middle of the restaurant while she went to “figure it out,” only to return minutes later with an attitude before seating us where we had initially requested.

Customer experience should be seamless, especially at a high-end steakhouse where a table for four runs a $600 tab. If accommodating a reasonable request requires an unnecessary back-and-forth, something is fundamentally wrong. Just make the switch, then deal with any internal logistics afterward. No guest should feel like they’re being a burden, especially when their request is related to accessibility.

To make matters worse, the manager (a gentleman in a suit) stood nearby with a passive-aggressive demeanor, barely acknowledging the situation. His lack of engagement and disinterested expression only reinforced the poor service culture at the front of house.

Thankfully, our server was excellent and salvaged the night to some extent. However, given my experiences, I won’t be returning, nor will I consider bringing business partners or clients here. For a steakhouse of this caliber, the level of service should be exceptional—at the very least, professional and welcoming. Instead, it’s been consistently disappointing.

If Dean’s wants to position itself as a premier dining destination, they need to seriously rethink their approach to...