Mercury Chophouse — Restaurant in Fort Worth

UPDATE I JUST CHECKED MY CREDIT CARD AND FOUND A PENDING AUTHORIZATION FOR $141.59 FROM MERCURY CHOPHOUSE. MY BILL TOTAL WAS $118. I HAVE CUSTOMER COPY OF RECEIPT.

We called ahead at least 3 weeks in advance to make a reservation as we had a large party and we were celebrating an engagement. The soon-to-be groom was proposing at the restaurant in front of all his and his fiancee's friends and family. We got there an hour before the reservation and still didn't get seated until 30 minutes AFTER our reservation time. As it is the weekend and holidays, I could let this slide if this had been the only issue, but sadly it wasn't.

After we sat down, they put bread on the table. After sitting on our table for about 5 minutes, they realized they put it on the wrong table, so decided to take it back and give it to the correct table. About 20 min after the proposal, they finally decided to give us menus. My sister found the wine list on the backside of the first page. She literally pulled the page out of its holder to find it. The server was very rude and snappy. He slammed menus on the table when 4 people chose not to order cause it was too expensive. He was an older french guy. He got snarky when one of us asked to add something to his order by telling him, well I already turned in your order. As I was giving him my appetizer order, he walked off. He did come back and flatly asked what I wanted. The bread was placed on the table as 3 people were served their regular dinner, then I was served my appetizer, the calamari. As I was dishing some out to friends, I found a strand of short black hair. I have long red hair. Then I found a second strand. I handed the 2nd strand to a server and explained the situation. She apologized and walked away. She did not offer to replace my appetizer.

The meal...the couple had eggplant parmasian ($25) and rigatoni ($25). My sister had chicken cordon bleu ($26) and her husband had 12oz New York strip ($32). I had rigatoni also. The steak was supposed to be medium-rare, it came out rare and a slice of a tomato. The sauce on the noodles for the eggplant parmasian was so thick, it made the noodles seem like glue, too thick, and had no flavor I was told. The chicken cordon bleu had no ham in it. It was stuffed with broccoli and cheese. The bottom of the chicken breading was burnt and the chicken was dried out. The potatoes actually crunched when she put her fork in them. As to my rigatoni...noodles had black on them from being burnt and overcooked. The sauce was grainy and flavorlesd, and the chicken was flat and dry. Another person ordered the sauteed mushrooms. I tried them and there was no sauce to compliment the mushrooms. It tasted like just mushrooms.

I will say, I enjoyed the Cupcake Moscato d'asti. However, they only poured half a glass, not a full glass. There was also one server that was amazing. He was a young black gentleman. He was very polite and courteous. He offered to box my food up for me and was very polite in answering any questions. He even explained the steaks were a la carte and offered to get my sister's husband a side when I asked him if the steak was the only thing he got. Very polite. Wish all servers were like him.

Save your money and go to Saltgrass Steakhouse if you want a good steak, better service, and...

Have you ever made a reservation for 7:30 PM then sat in the basement ALONE at 8:40 PM? no? Let me tell ya. Here is a timeline for the sake of characters.

7:30 - check in for reservation 7:59 - ask hostess when we can expect to be seated for our 7:30 reservation. 8:15 - seated at a time for about 5 people for our party of 10. 8:40 - told our original table and was given away to a walk in and they would reseat us in the "VIP area. " which is disheveled basement... and somehow STILL not enough seats for our party... in a basement... alone. The crown molding is coming of the walls for reference of this cozy dungeon. We moved ourselves to a different table in the basement. We were told "here is an amazon Alexa, play whatever you would like"????? 8:55 - was told we would get our own waiter and bartender... at some point and the manager would be down to see us due to the issue. 9:15 - still no waters nor drinks in sight... because we haven't seen a waiter. Since we booked a reservation with them on a Saturday at a prime time and could go nowhere else in downtown (because we called everyone) with our party size and he was to serve us. 9:30 - they come down with half loaves of bread and ask us to share drink and table menus because they didn't have enough for us. We place our drink and food order. 10:15 receive TERRIBLE appetizers and half full drinks. Literally HALF FULL. Tells us don't worry they are comped??? Keep this in mind because later, that comp is changed. 11:10 - finally someone of management comes down stairs tells us our food is ready but we need to move upstairs to ANOTHER TABLE. This is now 4 table switches in our visit. 11:20 - We get seated at our new table. Our food comes out in a flurry. They clearly forgot my steak and tossed on the grill to get the grill marks and into the microwave it went. It was rubbery and tasteless. Everyone's food was horrible. 11:50 - we are finishing up and asked for the birthday cake we dropped off earlier in the day. They had it surprisingly, they served it and we had finally started relaxing and laughing. At this point the manager??? Comes over and STARTS TO JUSTIFY ALL THE THINGS THAT OCCURRED AND STATED IT WAS DUE TO OUR TABLE SIZE! WE MADE RESERVATIONS FOR THIS REASON. He then starts stating that he will comp our food, you think!? But that any alcohol he couldn't help with and we needed to pay that. Mind you, we have been here FOUR hours at this point. We all immediately are irate at his audacity to come over to our table and justify the way we were treated when we're finally relaxing. We let him kindly know we would be paying for NOTHING. After we tell him to just leave us alone, I go to the bathroom and I see this man sitting at the bar with a beer in his hand while the restaurant is open and people are in there.

This place is an absolute nightmare. Stay so far away. I can not express to you how much this was a horrible...

Our decision to dine at Mercury Chophouse was based on several positive reviews, but unfortunately, our experience fell far short of expectations. We were in the mood for a dining experience and spontaneously chose to visit this downtown Fort Worth establishment on a Friday evening. Right from the moment we walked in, we had reservations. The hostess appeared engrossed in her cell phone, and it was the bartender who eventually seated us. The fact that the restaurant was quite empty for a Friday night raised some concerns as well. We began with a round of drinks, and while my husband's choice was satisfactory, my espresso martini was a complete letdown. I knew from the description that espresso was not an ingredient but this seemed like a haphazard mix of various liquors that didn't blend well. When another staff member came to check on us, I asked for a replacement drink, which was kindly accommodated. However, a cocktail that had pumpkin and Russian in the name (cannot find it on their online drink menu) didn't leave a lasting impression either. I couldn't help but wonder if the bartender was having an off night or simply wasn't well-versed in mixology. It was becoming clear that something was amiss. Turning our attention to the salads, we ordered a wedge-style salad (not listed on the website menu) for my husband and a Caesar salad for myself. While my husband found his salad passable, my Caesar salad was a disappointment. The inclusion of tomatoes in a Caesar salad was a first for me, and the dressing was far too mayonnaise-heavy. The menu claimed the croutons were house-made, but they didn't live up to that promise. Given the price point, which totaled $70 for two drinks and two salads, we expected the quality of our dining experience to match. Instead, it felt more like a diner experience than a chophouse restaurant in downtown Fort Worth. I was left perplexed by the numerous positive reviews I had encountered earlier. While the staff was friendly and accommodating, the subpar food and lackluster drinks were a letdown. I would advise others to skip Mercury Chophouse and explore other dining options in the area. Your wallet and taste buds...