Chop House at Lake Sumter — Restaurant in Florida

First off, shout out to our server Misty who did an excellent job. No complaints about her.

But my wife and I decided to splurge on the 14 ounce Delmonicos (which at the Chop House means boneless ribeye) because they should be the most tender steak they provide. SHOULD be.

What we got instead was tough meat that much better matches the description of a not-so-good New York Strip steak. And definitely not a 14 oz cut, at that. I often have 12 oz cuts of prime rib that are bigger than our "14 oz boneless ribeye". And as I tried to eat the edges, I kept getting a tiny bit of meat and a lot of gristle. We ordered medium, but it was a tough cut all the way through and never a tender bite.

So we asked our server if there had been a mixup, she agreed that something seemed unusual and went back to check. She came back and let us know a manager had been informed and would be out to talk with us.

That manager, though.

First, she walked by like she was just roaming and only happened to stop at our table. As managers do, she casually asked if everything was okay. So I assumed she was not the one who'd been told and I said "no, but another manager is supposed to be coming out" because I didn't want to tie up all their people for one table.

That's when she admitted she was here because of the complaint, which immediately struck me as sneaky behavior. Trying to catch us in a lie or something?

We asked again if this was a NY strip and she said no, it's definitely the ribeye. We pointed out the problems and she was like "it's perfectly fine but if you'd like something else we can get that".

It was not fine, though. As far as the weight, she tried to claim that it was "thicker" than prime rib (which is often true BEFORE cooking but they are supposed to be beaten flatter during preparation). And then she pointed at our flat pieces of tough steak when she said this as if those flat things were proof of the thickness. Bizarre.

There were subtle hints that we were somehow crazy for thinking our flat steaks were flat instead of fluffy tender bits of heaven. Regardless, we mentioned that the server had actually agreed that something wasn't right, and then the manager had a look on her face when she replied that it was strange the server would say that when it's "clearly not true". My feeling was that I just got the server in trouble, and that this manager was trying to gaslight us for knowing how badly they make their steaks.

Indeed, poor Misty came out later and did the same thing (pointed at the flat meat and claimed it was thicker), so I decided not to press the issue any further and simply refused to get something else. I did point out that if their best steak was this bad, there's no way I'd want a worse piece of steak.

At no point did the manager volunteer to comp the meal or in any way discount things for our terrible experience - she only offered to get us something else - so I was preparing to just take my lumps. However, to my great surprise when the bill came out the two godawful steaks had been comped (removing $120 off our bill).

And that's the only reason this review got two stars, but I still don't trust that manager one little bit.

And I see that someone else had the same experience three weeks earlier, but the restaurant only seems to respond to positive reviews for some reason.

My mom loved her salmon dish, though. So maybe it depends on...

First know that I have worked both in retail floor sales and I have worked in leadership growing teams by as much as 600%. I have taught leadership and authored a book on leadership tools. I do not believe that the customer is always right, but I do believe that the customer is always the customer.

That being said, we ordered the 8 oz Filet Mignon, medium-rare, with baked potatoes. I also had the mushrooms per the menu description, others substituted different sides. I would approximate the time after ordering to be 15 minutes. The manager came out and explained that there was a “technical difficulty” in the kitchen and they would not have baked potatoes for about an hour. We all took the mashed potatoes instead. Things happen, right? I get it. No problem.

It was about another 45 minutes before our food arrived. We were never told why. Our server was more interested in other parties where they were drinking alcohol (we were not). I would assume the reason to be the increase in her tip because of elevated checks for their meals. As I was with guests, I did not make a scene to ask.

After the long wait, when I cut into my steak it was more like medium-well than medium-rare. Out of 6 of us, 3 were well overdone. We requested a fix and the manager came out to take them back with apologies. We were left our mashed potatoes and other sides.

The manager came out and said that since there would be an additional wait that he would offer us a free dessert. Now I have an eyebrow raised. The Chophouse is supposed to be more of an upper-end restaurant. Yes, you pay for food, but you also pay for ambience, and you most assuredly pay for service. This was not the service that we were paying for nor expected from such an establishment.

Another 20 minutes, and after we had eaten all the sides we were left when he took the steaks back, and our new steaks arrived much more closely cooked to our order. However, the attitude of our server had dipped significantly and she was still not giving us much attention due to the alcohol table across the way.

Our free desserts were delivered and were tasty. We also ordered coffee, which was less than hot. Nothing was said. I then ordered a refill on coffee. It took about 10-15 minutes to be delivered. Our server said she had to wait on a fresh pot to brew. She was less than truthful. This time, my coffee was room temperature.

When the check came, the desserts were still on the bill. We requested a fix. When the server brought the fixed checks back, it was evident she didn’t like taking them off the bill. Her tone was snarky and mocking.

No, I, the customer, am not always right. But I AM always the customer. I get to choose where I put my dollars for a meal. It is people like me that pay your salaries, earn you bonuses at the end of the year or quarterly, and I have influence among many in our community.

I will give grace and forgiveness to you as individuals before you even ask. But I will not choose to spend my dollars in your establishment when there is a lack of good leadership and good customer service. Money is too valuable. So are relationships. And good food is always a strengthening bond of relationships. I value my time building relationships and my money too much to not be a good steward of how I spend both....

My wife and I made a reservation for 8:00pm but decided to check and see if there was a table available at 6:45. One of the hostesses said she would check us in early, handed us a pager, and led us to believe we could get in earlier than our reservation. As we sat for 20, 30, 40 minutes we watched as people were seated at the bar, outside, and heard a different host telling a couple that wanted an early table that "most likely it will be close to your reservation time." We wished we would have been told that, and, if that was the case, we would have enjoyed the live music and shopping Lake Sumter square offers. We are here on our honeymoon and would much rather wait for our original reservation time enjoying the square than sitting in their lobby. Not one time did any of the four hostesses update us, or tell us we could enjoy a drink at the bar, or tell us we could have immediate seating outside, which we watched a couple that did not have a reservation request, and they received immediate seating. We had never been there before, and stayed inside the lobby, out of sight of the bar, waiting to be sat. At 7:46 we were told it would be about 3 minutes, at 7:55 I walked over to the hostess stand and asked for an update. We were seated a few minutes later at...almost exactly 8:00, the time of our reservation. Once seated, our server was nice and offered helpful opinions. Our cocktails were excellent. When our food came, my wife's medium ribeye was missing the bleu cheese topping. The server brought it back a few minutes later. The steak was inedible. It was the worst ribeye she or I have ever tasted. It was cooked poorly - burned on the outside, not seared. It was medium rare on the inside, filled with grizzle and could hardly be cut with a sharp knife. The first bite was all char, and the second bite was so chewy/rubbery she couldn't swallow it. At that point the server checked in and my wife explained the issue. The server tried to blame it on a ribeye being a fatty cut and we told her, truthfully, that we eat ribeyes frequently and knew what to expect. Then my wife attempted to cut the steak to show the server the texture and she agreed it was not acceptable. She offered a new steak, my wife politely declined. The manager came to the table a few minutes later. He made excuses for the quality of the steak, telling us it is cooked on open flames and maybe they got too high and the ribeye cut is going to be fattier, etc. He offered a different steak, my wife politely declined again as she didn't want to wait any longer, especially since I would be finished with my meal by the time her new steak came. He walked away with a huff. We would have liked the manager to take ownership of the poor quality of the steak, it wasn't good enough for a dog, to keep it real. Instead we got excuses and an...