Metro 8 Steakhouse — Restaurant in Durham

In town for a funeral and Metro 8 happened to be across the street from the funeral home. The smell of steak wafting from the roof inticed us to try them out. We were greeted promptly upon entering. We were happy to be seated without a reservation. Our server Dee was friendly and informative, but spoke as if in a hurry. Although the menu is not large , the fusion of Italian and Argentinian was intriguing yet I was in doubt of my entree choice. We started with the cheese and tomato appetizer and the squash soup. The cheese appetizer needed help. The tomatoes were plain jane ( could have used heirloom, or multicolored cherry tomatoes) the seasoning on top were just dried up shaker seasonings. It really needed fresh basil , garlic, something...even if they offered it with a little Argentinian sausage. It fell flat. The soup was definitely squash soup. It needed a drop of sherry or chicken broth. It was ok. We ordered the 1/2 churrasco steak medium with asparagus and the Gnocci pasta in a pink sauce with churrasco as well ( I know it was a strange mix ) The steak was good. Would probably never order the pasta combo again. The asparagus were cooked perfect and not overly seasoned. A dinner roll/bun with a jalapeño, cream cheese was served throughout the dining experience. Another strange combination. Also the hurried theme of explaining the concept was noticed at other tables nearby. Even the owner who was greeting and serving, addressed tables that way. Dessert was Key Lime Pie. My favorite thing all night. The owner dropped off our check and immediately after , the owner grabbed the check presenter book as soon as we placed our card inside. I was not finished drinking my wine and was not in a hurry. There was no one waiting for our table. She came back as quickly as she picked it up. My husband started to add gratuity and sign the bill, but noticed a difference in the bill and what was charged to our card. Upon closer inspection, we found out that she charged our card with a different tables bill. It was 20$ more than our bill. I called the busser/table attendant over and showed him the discrepancy, which he quickly took back to the owner. I could hear her say, " I got it, I got it, I got it " She voided the charge and brought it back promptly, but dropped the check server and said nothing and basically buzzed away. I get that mistakes happen, but it just left us feeling like we were a production line or a bother. My advice to the owner, slow down , enjoy your guests. Your staff was doing a great job, just remember it's dinner not lunch. I want to add that my husband and myself, eat out every meal , 99% of our time. We travel for our business and we are also restaurant people. He was a chef and I a server for many years with...

First visit. Staff was friendly but oh boy there was one thing after the other. We arrived at around 9:30ish and first ordered a mojito. Well, they didn't have mint. Then we order provoleta as our appetizer after talking with the waitress and asking her for recommendations and description on the dish. We got sold with the provoleta. Well to my surprise, since I didn't know any better, they never served us the provoleta. Instead they gave us Caprese salad. The waitress was trying to convince me that I order that but at any point in our conversation I mentioned Caprese salad so don't know where she got that from. Then she was trying to disguise the fact by telling me that the Caprese salad was the provoleta but when we look at the menu the prices were different. That is when she admitted that they serve us the Caprese salad instead. Then we order our entrees with baked potatoes and after we order they returned saying that they ran out of baked potatoes. What!! Then we ordered more bread. It never came out because apparently they forgot and left it in the oven so it got burn. To make things worst, management didn't take ownership of what happen. Instead she started saying that next time we need to call ahead to make sure that they save or hold a potatoe. What in the world!! I have never heard such thing. Then management was saying that they had mint outside near the window but it was too dry to serve. Again people, it is not our fault. This restaurant is supposed to be one of the top steakhouses with many awards but our experience says something different. We felt blame for what happen. A simple "we are so sorry that your experience was not as expected. We want to make it up to you guys" would have been much appreciated instead of trying to justify themselves and put some of the blame on us. Food was good after all, they gave us the dessert for free which would have been fine if the blame was not partially shifted on...

1st time at the Metro 8 Steakhouse. Made reservation the day before and arrived at the restaurant at 5:30 PM (Saturday 1/11/2020). We were celebrating my daughter's 18th birthday. All of the staff were very friendly and excellent customer service throughout out meal. The restaurant appeared to be very clean despite the 92 score that they received on their last health inspection.

Appetizers: Empanadas and Provoleta were ok. House Salads: Lettuce, big chunks of sliced carrots and 3x rings of onions with a sesame dressing. Standard salad that you would expect at a diner. Salad ok.

Main Dishes: NY Strip - Cooked to no pink. Not sure if it was just a bad cut of meat.... It seemed to have some gristle and it was tough. Looked like the chef noticed the same thing and performed surgery on it prior to cooking it. (See picture) My kids stated that the Churrasco and Filet Mignon were cooked perfectly. The french fries appeared to be the standard fries found at a diner though. The grilled Chicken Breast and the Lobster Ravioli were also ok vs amazing. Our bill was $155.34 for the five of us.

We had high expectations regarding the dining/food experience for our first time visiting the Metro 8 Steakhouse. We thought the food was good but not a...