Quaker Steak & Lube — Restaurant in Council Bluffs

I was looking forward to eating here, due to the decent reviews. I live 2 hours away, and decided after a long week of working, I would treat myself. Arrived around 530pm, in hopes to beat the dinner rush. Place wasn't very busy and you could see that both sides of the restaurant had planty of open tables & booths. When checking in at the desk, was told it would be about 15 min, so gave my name & was put on the "wait list".

Again, looking around, couldn't figure out why there was even a wait, so not sure if short staffed or what. There were plenty of people waiting as well, and more kept piling in. The front wait area is very small, with nowhere to sit, so pretty much just had to stand in front of video game machines etc, inside the front door. We heard one host tell people they could sit at the bar if they didn't want to wait for a table, but seemed it was hit & miss who they gave that option.

It was closer to 25-30 minutes before my friend and I were finally seated. When we followed the host to a booth, we passed by maybe 10 people seated already in the large section/room with cars & motorcycles. So again, only reason for such a long wait that I could see, what short on staff.

Waiter we had was very good and attentive, anc checked on us regularly. Menu was fairly small for such a popular place and prices were on the higher end, in my opinion. It was mostly burgers with a few meal choices. Food was actually delivered quickly, which was surprisng. I had the Philly cheese steak and it was just ok. I thought it had kind of a weird taste, but wasn't aweful. Friend had shrimp & said they were okay, but coleslaw wasn't good at all.

This restaurant is such a neat place with it's motorhead themed decorations. It was neat to see all of the cars/motorcycles and various items around the building, whether hanging or mounted to the wall. Lots of cool things to look at for sure. But with lack of organization for check-in, wait times, prices and taste of the food, I doubt I would go back. Too many other options out there, especially if driving 2 hours. Such...

The place serves average food with an interior that is begging for an update. They still have reviews on the wall that say stuff like “Voted best wings in town! -2004”. The place just seems run down and drab on the inside. There were tiny TV’s in the corners of the room that were off. Went around 7:30 on a Monday and the place was pretty empty.

Food was average and overpriced. Meals are between $12-$20 with most falling around that $15 range. Add drinks and you’re at $20 per person. Keep in mind the up-charges for multiple wing sauces, even if you’re just going half and half on one order.

Fried pickles were delicious, two came stuck together which left the breading underdone. Chicken tenders were very good flavor-wise, but they came out to the table warm at best. “Loaded” fries were average fries with a sad sprinkle of shredded cheese and bacon on top. I could count the individual cheese shreds. They also came out warm at best, the cheese wasn’t even melted when it reached the table.

We tried three wing sauces and all were quite good. Bone-in wings were good from reports of others at the table. Green beans were reported as being the best of all the sides ordered.

Service was about average. Nothing amazing, but no complaints either. I was told the loaded fries has green onion and possibly “other stuff” by the server, but no green onion or anything else was found.

There’s are a number of other places in the area that offer better food for the same price or less. I haven’t been here in about 10 years, so thought I’d give it another try, and I probably won’t be coming back...

I can honestly state that without hesitation, this is the worst food I've eaten in years. I got smothered steak and couldn't eat it. Was worst steak I have eaten in my entire life and I've eaten in 3rd world countries. The special bourbon baked beans tasted exactly like Bush's baked beans. I am not exaggerating when i tell you the taste and texture were identical to canned beans. The kids got the kids' cheeseburger and asked if they had to eat it. They will literally eat anything. They described it to a horrible school burger. I tasted it and it was just frozen patty, but the aftertaste made me almost vomit. Everything had a dirty burnt plastic flavor except the salad, and we had to eat it like lettuce and dip. I mean, our server was so bad he didn't even give us silverware, so we dipped our lettuce in the small container of ranch. After asking more than once for silverware, he finally brought it, but by then, we had almost finished our salad. The water even tasted dirty. The only good thing I can say and I do mean only good thing is the decor was nice. Other than that in my 45 years on this planet and over 25 countries I traveled to and countless MRE's this place made the top 3 worst places i have ever eaten and the worst steak tips I have ever had to endure. I am not trying to be rude. This was our actual experience. How they got 4.3 stars astonishes me unless we just hit the worst night...