The Beef Restaurant & Pub — Restaurant in City of Binghamton

Ugh. This is one review I regret to write. I had heard the hype for a long time. "You want the best steak in Broome County go to the beef". I blew it off for awhile. My fiance and I live in Endicott, so it's not far for us, but it's a bit out of the way. We also have our local favorites and as much as I like to try new places, we're creatures of habit. Finally this past Tuesday we just said let's go. Let's see what this alleged hidden gem is all about. Man, what a let down. I had such high hopes. From the small setting in a residential neighborhood to the old time feel, I was really excited. Things started out well. We were promptly seated by a friendly waitress. I wish I could remember her name to give her props because she was the one saving grace of our experience. Very attentive and pleasant and she was a hard worker. You could tell she has been there for a long time. She got us our drinks and we both started with french onion soup. It was very good, however very different from what you'd expect. Nothing like traditional french onion. The cheese was shredded and melted in the broth itself, rather than put under a broiler. Nonetheless, it was good. For dinner we decided to get two different entrees and share. So we got a 12 oz NY strip medium with a baked potato and the beans and greens over linguine. The steak was very large and cooked to temperature perfectly. It was a quality cut of beef but there was nothing exciting about it. It was barely seasoned and lacked any flavor whatsoever. For a place simply called "The Beef" you'd think they would nail it. Maybe it was an off night, but I feel that in a traditional steakhouse I shouldn't have to douse my steak with salt and pepper just to make it edible. As for the beans and greens? Same story. Zero flavor, no garlic, no pop. Very disappointing when you're going out to a $100+ dinner. The service and the setting was awesome. I give that 5 stars for sure. But the food? I can think of quite a few other spots within 5 miles I'd rather have dinner at....

do not ever come to the beef especially if you're a young college student or if you're a person who wants good service.

when we came here we ordered the dinner entree (which is not cheap) it stated that it comes with a side and a soup. we confirmed with our waitress (emma) that there was no upcharge for the french onion soup sub and she confirmed that there was a dollar upcharge only for the french onion gratin.

we also ordered the shrimp scampi (which is expected to come over noodles) and our waitress proceeded to ask if we wanted that over noodles or rice. we then asked for a side of roasted mushrooms and a soup with that. when the check comes we see there is a FIVE dollar charge for the mushrooms that we thought were a side. we nicely asked out waitress and she told us that the linguini was the side -- so the 28 dollar price tag for the shrimp scampi was for the 5 shrimps. the waitress did not tell us that the mushrooms were an additional charge and basic logic would have us assume that when she said "over noodles or rice" meant it came with the dish.

there was also a one dollar upcharge for each soup. when we asked her she literally admitted she made a mistake and then said and I quote:

"i made a mistake. what do you want me to do about it? do you want me to comp it"

it was as simple as a two dollar comp. we were unhappy about the FIVE dollar mushrooms but we were gonna eat the cost. but the attitude of the staff was shocking as she was talking about us within earshot of the bathroom (thank you for that btw) she then disappeared and had another staff handle our check who also told us

"there's upcharges for stuff at every restaurant"

that's totally fine but it's basic expectation to make it clear what those costs are otherwise it's highway robbery.

it's not that we can't afford the 5 dollars or two dollars but it's about basic respect...

There has been so much hype for this place over the years and I wanted so badly to love it but I just don’t get it. I love a local spot, try to support only local restaurants as much as possible, but this just confused me. Why does everyone say it is so good? Is it just nostalgia? You enter into a lively bar area. Looks like any townie bar. Host was lovely - she seated us quickly and was very nice. Decor is dark, low ceilings and looks like it was done decorated by someone’s grandmother once and never touched again. I suppose it’s nostalgia for a moment in time - basement club feel maybe - but it all looks a bit run down. Our server was fine but kind of rushed and we felt like he didn’t listen to us.

Menu is quite small but I love a place that knows what they do well- the problem is, it wasn’t done well. French onion soup is…not French onion soup and had a really weird texture and not much flavor. The cheese was in the soup not just on top and it was more like Campbells golden onion soup. It tasted like the onions weren’t cooked down enough. Steak temp was as requested but had no flavor. They are called The Beef but the beef wasn’t anything special. Chicken was swimming in butter and the plates were greasy. Everything needed salt or was super salty. Cocktails were mediocre. The cost was well over $100 for 2 people and we wished that we were happier considering the cost. It just all feels dated in a bad way. I love old school but it has to taste good! Kinda wish we had just gone across the street for good pizza at Paul & Son’s. Likely...