Dino’s Steak and Claw House — Restaurant in Grapevine

The rating this place gets, baffles me. We selected it a few weeks ago to take my mother for her birthday...mainly due to the name and reviews. She is a huge Dean Martin fan so we had to go to a place called Dino's.

Obviously the place is shooting to give the impression of a high-end steak house but it was below average in my family's opinion. We opened with the crab claws and shrimp cocktail. My wife commented that she had better crab claws at Joe's Crab Shack and the shrimp had the texture of rubber and did not seem fresh. Also the cocktail sauce was essentially ketchup with no sign of horseradish...disappointing opening all around.

Next we shared a chop salad and caesar salad. Both salads were unremarkable and could have been found at any average restaurant. My 9 year old, who loves salads and has an unusually sophisticated palate for a kid commented that the salad would have been better had they not been so heavy handed with the feta. Feta should be an accent for sure rather than a dominate flavor that overpowers. Anyway, we agreed with him.

Moving to entrees...my son had the lobster ravioli from the appetizer menu for dinner and it was unimpressive as the lobster was overcooked. I had their surf n' turf special which they apparently offer frequently. I can say they cooked the filet medium rare as requested and the scallops were cooked well. What was disappointing was the complete lack of seasoning on both items. A little kosher salt and pepper would have gone a long way but seemed to be absent. My wife had the rack of lamb and it was also cooked medium rare as requested, but like my plate it was absent any seasoning. My mother had a prime NY strip medium rare and Pittsburgh style. Again they cooked the steak well but zero seasoning...Either they don't believe in it or it was just a miss on our whole order. We also had the Macaroni a la Quattro Fromage as our side, and it was quite unforgettable. Zero flavor and the portion was so small it was ridiculous.

We all agreed to skip desert based on the overall experience to this point. I can say the service was average, but no where near as attentive as a typical steak house (Perry's, Del Frisco's, Pappa Bros., etc.). We had some wine and a few cocktails and with tip this was just shy of $500. I have not had buyer's remorse at a restaurant like this in I can't remember when! On our way home, we all tried to theorize how this place has received so many good reviews. From talking to my relative that lives in Grapevine, it's apparently a local family with another restaurant and I guess people in the area have a loyalty and overlook that they are being severely overcharged for average/below-average food.

If you think this is a good restaurant, then do yourself a favor and drive to the Perry's in Southlake or anywhere else for a real experience.

Reviews do not add up to what we experienced. ...

First off this place is pricy, however we were looking for a very nice steakhouse for a romantic evening and this fit the bill perfectly. We did go an hour before closing so the service was a bit slow at points but still overall good. It oddly doesn’t state on the menu but all meat entrees come with piped mashed potatoes and carrot with zucchini as sides. Free bread rolls with piped butter and balsamic vinegar to dip is also included. I really liked the presentation of the food, it was beautiful and fit the ideal I had of what is a nice dinner. Another restaurant in the area we looked at had awful plating, their sides were literally giant pieces of uncut carrots (like carrots for stew) which is just offensive for $50+ a plate! The ones here were beautifully sliced with the zucchini. The music was lovely and romantic, lots of Frank Sinatra style tune and the restaurant had a cozy speakeasy vibe. We ordered our steaks medium and they were more medium rare (most restaurants undercook steak so they can cook it longer if requested without overcooking it so be mindful if you prefer medium rare it will be closer to rare/blue rare). We still liked the steaks and they were delicious. The mash potatoes were tasty, I loved how they were piped (like how they pipe icing on cakes) it just added a nice touch.

The waiter was very nice and he even scratched the bread crumbs off the table cloth with a metal tool. He was very professional like an old fashioned waiter who took great pride in his job. Everyone seemed to be proud of their work which was really nice to see. We got the tiramisu for dessert and it was nice, I wish it had a bit more expresso flavor but it was still really enjoyable. We told the waiter it was our anniversary and he wrote happy anniversary in chocolate sauce on our dessert plate and gave us two glasses of complimentary champagne. It made us feel incredibly special and pampered which is exactly what we wanted on our special day. We’d definitely like to come back and try the creme brulee.

We also normally don’t go to restaurants so close to closing but had a set back at the hotel but the restaurant never rushed us and we had tons of water refills, food came out promptly and two bread refills. So overall really lovely time. We really enjoyed this area in general lots...

The old wooden steakhouse tries too hard to be a classy joint and instead comes across as a somewhat tired experience. The piano player is nice, but the decor and interior looks more like a movie version of a bawdy west Texas saloon with a dance hall and pretty ladies of ill repute. In fact, I would go so far as to recommend ownership make a change to embrace the western heritage and make it less of a private supper club atmosphere and change it to a more lively experience, sure to be fashionable among those who stay at the Gaylord and visit Grapevine Main Street looking for a memorable experience.

As for the service, we had a trainee being supervised and so it was, at times, a little annoying. The servings were good although the Halibut was dry and overcooked and the filet could have used more time for the sear, and perhaps better use of salt and pepper would be on the meat before seared instead of waiting to be asked if I want salt and/or pepper to be served at the table. (*Pet peeve: restaurants that do not have salt and pepper at the table because of 'aesthetics').

Probably won't be back, though, because the bill included an unannounced service fee. I looked in the menu and there is no mention of this fee, so, it left a bad taste at the end of a pretty good meal. I asked about it, was told it was for using a credit card. EVERYONE uses a credit or debit card. Just build it into the price of the meal! No surprises, and no customers complaining, as I am, that the fee sets a bad finish to the meal, and it's not a taste that I expect to experience again, at least at Dino's, because its not about the meal. It's about the experience and if you try to sneak in a service fee without explaining it to your customers, it cheapens and ruins...