Black Angus Steakhouse — Restaurant in Federal Way

So I haven't been to the Black Angus restaurants in years. The exterior of this particular restaurant is a little run down. The front door was in need of repair as one side was stuck closed. But once inside it was a bit better. Didn't see the main dining room as we were seated in the bar area which was converted to to mostly dining tables. Used to be the bar was a hotspot but not anymore. It was clean but vintage Black Angus furniture. Now the food. The prime rib was tender and flavorful. The 2 lobster tails were like the ones you get at Safeway and they scrimped on the clarified butter. The sweet molasses bread was good. The side selection was a good variety. The potato soup and mashed potatoes were tasty. The rib steak was good but had some gristle. It was the 16 oz but was thin and may have been the 12 oz cut. I was expecting it to be more like the bone in cuts but it was boneless. It had good flavor but maybe a touch salty. They did have a bone in cut on the menu. Baked potato was good. The broccoli on the other hand was like 3 florets with stems. Felt shorted. It was cooked well but not as crunchy. It was a value with the BOGO steak offer currently being offered. Otherwise it would have been pricier than I planned. But in comparison to other steak houses I guess it's on par. Nostalgia is a terrible thing because things cost a lot more these days.

So here is an update two weeks later. I decided to go again because honestly the BOGO steak deal is an absolute bargain! The catch is the maximum value of the second steak is $35. Regardless I really wanted to try the prime rib this go round. I had mine MR which it was and my wife’s M which it was. She had the broccoli with a baked potato. Good helping of broccoli this time. I had the au gratin and Mac and cheese. Excellent and hot from the oven. Now for the bad. Our waiter, Salvador, was a disaster. He was obviously new because he was getting lost getting from the kitchen to our table. It wasn’t just us. He had 4 tables and a total of 12 people to serve. He managed to only deliver 2 meals. Other waiters and waitresses did the rest. He was slow. His attire could use an upgrade. Get some decent pants that don’t have worn pockets. His hair could be more appropriate as you are serving food. He kept reminding me of what a great deal I was getting with the BOGO basically insinuating I was cheap. The BOGO is a great deal but I don’t need you to remind me. Give me the bill without acting like your doing me a favor. My recommendation is to not sit in his station. I honestly believe our prime ribs would have come out warmer and the au jus hot had he been faster. Same for the potato and broccoli. The butter didn’t even melt on it. It doesn’t take long to slice a roast and put it on a plate as apposed to grilling a steak! He didn’t ask us if we wanted desserts. Guess he figured I wasn’t a big spender. Well not with him for sure. Other customers were also commenting on his poor service as well. It was a Friday night. Since they don’t wear name badges anymore, you will recognize him because his first question to you will be whether you “have ever been there before.” Or just make sure you ask the hostess who your server will be. The Service rating for this visit would be 3 stars because other servers bailed him out. The food stays at a 4 because it could have been hotter. Side note. The online ordering for the BOGO is a disaster. It really doesn’t work. Followed the tips on how to do it and it failed every time. It won’t let you order 2 prime rib dinners. And the flashy banner about free delivery anytime? Forget about it. Accepts your address and the either changes it to pickup or says it...

Frequent guest to this restaurant so I’m pretty familiar with the level of service and what to expect. This visit by far was the worst.

Our waiter seemed to be uncomfortable with our table, since his interactions were very distant and at times ignoring our request vs what we saw at the tables he was waiting around us.

For the first time I went up to get our own drinks at the bar. Since it took over 20mins to receive our drink order, I actually went up to the bar to get our own drinks since they were sitting at the bar ready, (condensation already formed on the outside), was told by the bar tender that she’d have our waiter deliver them next time she saw them, but I wasn’t allowed to take them. (Which I figured, but 20mins for some drinks….), Mind you this was already after we asked our waiter about the ETA on our drinks with a reply “I’ll check on that”.

No bread service the entire time, had to inquiry about the ETA of our salads. It seems with each attempt to get his attention he would turn around and avoid walking by.

When we ordered he seemed to rush us, often trying to finish our sentences on what we were ordering which was annoying. On one order we asked for the loaded mashed potato (an item that used to be on the menu, but isn’t. However every time we have asked if they still do it we’ve always been told yes and never had any issues), again asked for this and he agreed we could still get that. However what arrived was regular mashed potato(no biggie) but when we asked he said “oh we only offer regular mashed potato now” yet we got charged for a upgraded side for a generic mashed potato….(so why lie directly to our face?).

Once we got our food he seemed very adamant on getting us out. Twice while we were clearly still eating with over half our food, he came over wanting to get us boxes to go.

Overall just gross service from this waiter. And aggravating to see that he was more attentive and personable with his other tables than ours, for whatever reason his problem was with our table he should work that out, he is in the service industry and represents...

First time dining at this restaurant so I had 'decent' expectations based on the exterior of the restaurant. We sat at a bartop to avoid a 30 minute wait for a formal table. Drinks were made quickly and tasted good. After I got my caesar salad, it is an unfortunate downhill. We received our appetizers- I had the loaded potato skins and well, I have had better tasting ones out of the frozen food section.

It took FOREVER for our entrees to arrive. During this time, what does one do but look around and shove bread in their face.. (I couldn't eat more than 1/2 of a single potato skin). The inside of the place is literally, nothing special. It was during this long wait I realized how unspecial it was and actually, how little effort was even put into it. Not a good place for a date if you want atmosphere or any kind of 'wow' appeal. I kept eating my bread and sipping my drink with the occasional apology for the delay. There just comes a time when the apologies just annoy you. Bring me a drink or something and stay away.

Once the steaks arrived, they were served by the manager. He asked us to cut into them to check them. At this point, I was kinda over the whole thing. Mine was suppose to be medium-well which should have some pink in it (according to their pictures in the menu). There was none. I said what I needed to to get him away so I could just get this over with. Both of us were raised in east Texas - we KNOW steak. This stuff was dry, gristly, and unfortunately needed A1 or something to mask the poor quality of the meat. Properly cooked steaks do not require steak sauce. I am telling you I at 20% of my steak at the restaurant and the Texan in me couldn't go any further. The best thing on my plate was the mac and cheese and the adult beverage.

With tip, for two of us, we spent $165 and I am here to tell you I feel ROBBED. This was not a $165 meal. If I was given a gift card to this place, I would re-gift it at the office white elephant exchange next year. These glowing reviews... my goodness have these people never had a good...