The Stag - Chophouse — Restaurant in Gainesville

This would have been a five star review… But wow they get you on hidden charges!

My husband and I had an awesome Saturday night dinner at The Stag. It was our first time checking it out since they remodeled and rebranded and I love what they’ve done with the place! The decor is classy and sexy in a masculine, upscale hunting lodge kind of way.

Our server was awesome! She was so attentive, friendly and enthusiastic. Couldn’t have asked for more with her.

The cocktails were impeccable, a great mix of classic favorites and modern drinks made with top shelf liquor.

The food was delicious, same comment as the cocktails - it was obvious the dishes are well-thought out, cooked to perfection and made with top quality ingredients. My steak sandwich was so tender and the pickled jalapeños set off the umami beef in an amazing way. My husband’s burger was huge and all the toppings - the onion ring! The pimento cheese! - it was heavenly comfort food! The Brussels sprouts with bacon and hot honey -exceptional!

We were both full and content and commenting on how we couldn’t believe we waited so long to try this place out when our bill came, and we were pretty shocked to see some of the charges that had been added.

For example, when my husband ordered his old fashioned, which cost $12, our server asked if we’d like it smoked and he said yes. She didn’t mention it was a SIX DOLLAR up charge to have the drinks smoked - and it’s not mentioned anywhere on the menu. Half the cost of the drink for this? He’d had two of them but would have declined the smoke on principle.

Those delicious jalapeños on my steak sandwich? They were an included item on the menu and I asked for them on the side when I ordered not sure how spicy they would be. I got charged $.99 for asking for them to NOT be placed on my sandwich.

Our meal came to well over $100 with four cocktails, an appetizer and two entrees. Honestly, a fair price for the quality and service (save the $18 smoked drinks) but then they also charged us a credit card “convenience fee” on top of all this too. Maybe if we spent under five dollars or something but on such a nice meal it feels like taking advantage. I mean, talk about nickel and dime-ing your diners.

So, I encourage you to try out The Stag, because again, the service and food is great and the atmosphere is really cool, but if you’re given the opportunity to add extras to your meal, you might want to inquire about the price, and apparently, plan to...

Move over, downtown, a new leader in fine dining has just arrived! From the minute you step through the door, you know a new standard for dining perfection has been set. Monday night was my second visit to The Stag - Chophouse. From the moment the hostess greeted us, you could sense that this staff was committed to dining excellence.

Our wait staff - there were two! Were gracious, informative, never rushed and always impeccably excellent in their service.

The three of us in our party each chose a different cocktail. My Purple Princess martini was a fantastic way to start the meal. Try the fried green tomato sliders. Three sliders come out dripping with flavor. Those flavors were perfectly balanced so that wonderful fried tomato taste came through with every bite. We also shared the blue crab dip. Large enough for three of us to share with no skimping, that crab and caramelized onion goodness was served with plenty of toast points to go around.

The dinner menu has the best selection of entrees in town. Seafood, pasta, steaks, pork chops, prime rib, rack of lamb. Wow! I chose the roasted chicken. Before you say “ How boring” let me tell you that this is not your ordinary chicken. Carefully sliced strips from two breasts of chicken, fork tender and so flavorful, sat on a bed of whipped potatoes with sautéed spinach, bacon and tomatoes with, get this, a lemon cream sauce that was a flavorful delight! One of our party had the Chilean salmon on couscous with a shiitake mushroom cream and green beans. Ummm! Our other friend ordered a salad with chicken. The salad was enough for two meals and was served with the same care as their finer entrees. Now before you think this is some fancy place with a limited menu, they have hamburgers (can’t wait to go back and try one) Stag fries, with braised beef,Gruyère, cilantro, bacon and Stag sauce, or you can make a full meal from the vast assortment of appetizers.

So come for a casual lunch (a whole separate menu)or a special night with your favorite date, you MUST try The Stag. Owner Roland Stanley, of Cork It, Peyton’s Pies, Caroline’s on Main (Flowery Branch) has...

Dined at the Stag last night. Not the greatest experience. I was not overly hungry so I ordered the Chili. I asked if it was a bowl or a cup. The waitress replied it was a cup OK a cup it is no problem. This was not a cup. This was a thimble OK again moving on. But now considering this is a steakhouse, you would think there would be a fair amount of meat in the chili as that’s how chili is made. That was not the case at all. This was more like a black bean soup. It actually gets worse. When the sour cream, which took up a good portion of the thimble melted into the already soupy mixture it became extremely runny. This was by no means chili consistency. The flavor wasn’t there either. There was very odd spice added to it. So, overall it was really terrible. I did ask the waitress to look at this chili as I was unhappy with it, and she actually agreed with me that there was very minimal meat and yes, it did resemble more of a bean soup. Waitress also apparently was very enamored by my husband. She kept addressing him and not me. I handed her my credit card and she’s asking him. Was everything OK !! Really!! Even my husband felt uncomfortable. He had a steak sandwich and I took a bite of it. That was actually really very good but overall our experience was pretty crummy. I hate to say that as I was really looking forward to trying this restaurant, and I was very disappointed. How hard is it to actually make chili. And don’t flirt with my husband right in front of me that’s just rude. The lunch menu actually looks better than their dinner menu so perhaps my husband and I will return and give it a second go around for lunch. Hopefully with a different waitress as the atmosphere is comfy and has a nice vibe. We...