Dodge City Steakhouse — Restaurant in Harrisburg

Our party of 5 arrived as a walk-in around 7pm on a busy Saturday night. We tried to call ahead but the phone continued to ring with no answer, but we tried to go anyway. We were told when we arrived that the closest time we could reserve a table was 8pm - we said to put us down and asked if we could be brought back sooner if possible. The hostess was very pleasant and said she would do her best and to check in around the 45 min mark. We sat in the waiting room, without knowing about the bar.

There were 6 people standing in the doorway at the 45 min mark, so we waited until 8pm to get up and ask about our table. The hostess seemed very flustered and took 2 of the 6 people waiting to their table. I stood there patiently waiting for her to come back from seating them and she never appeared again until 8:15pm. At this point, we were understandably upset, but tried to ask calmly what the status of our table was as we have now been waiting for over an hour, and 15 min past our reservation time. She then said “you are a walk-in, and I am seating all of the reservations first.” At this point the owner (which we did not know) came up and we explained that we’ve been at the restaurant since 7pmwith a confirmed reservation at 8pm, and now it’s 8:20pm. He instructed her to seat us immediately. Most of this conversation occurred between the hostess and myself, with one of the husbands in our group listening in and questioning why we were still waiting.

We were seated, our waitress was prompt and pleasant, we ordered drinks and appetizers/soups. While waiting, the rest of the party asked what took so long and what happened. It was discussed that we made the reservation at 8pm with hopes to get in sooner (which they knew), and that it came down to a “scolding” that we had reservations and we shouldn’t still be waiting. That was it, maybe 2-3 sentences spoke about it and we changed the topic and moved on with our night.

Now, I have eaten here every time I’ve been in the area, probably 4-5 times, always a lot of money spent with cocktails, apps, dinners, and desserts. I’ve never had a bad experience and that is why I suggested it to the group (even though it would be a long wait). At this point, we had finished our appetizers, everything was delicious and I was starting to think it was just a little episode of stress and not anything to discredit the restaurant for… until this happened…

The chef came out, greeted our table, and asked if we were seated late. I explained that we had walked in at 7, set reservations for 8, but weren’t seated until 8:20 or so. The entire table thought he was there to apologize, offer some sort of discount, etc. except then he said “if you please could stop talking about my wife, that’d be great!” He walked away having the last word and we were all a little confused, and now visibly upset. He’s the chef… would he do anything to our food? We sure hoped not, and tried to continue on with our meal but this definitely ruined it. I am in a very high profile career, and have never in my life experienced something so inappropriate in a restaurant (even fast food!).

It was hard to eat the food in front of us without that thought in the back of our minds… it was delicious for what it’s worth, but wasn’t as good as it should have been. We finished our meals, ordered dessert, then checked out with the waitress. Our bill totals (with tip) we’re $220 and $90. That is a lot of money to spend for the extremely inappropriate behavior of the chef - I’m at a loss for words.

Before we left, we told the waitress that although we had a minor issue with getting seated and the chef was extremely rude, she was beyond excellent and helped to make the night a little better. She was in shock when we told her, and apologized for his behavior. I admit that we will probably not return, and I will no longer recommend friends and family as long as he is the chef. The owner is a very nice guy, and he doesn’t deserve to lose business, but the behavior of his employees needs to...

To be fair, I’m not the typical food reviewer type. I don’t believe that everyone with a tastebud and an opinion is qualified to review something. You know what they say about having just enough knowledge to be dangerous. That said, let’s step into the abyss. I was immediately skeptical about a restaurant that plays on people’s familiarity with the old west as a draw for business. We arrived early on a Friday evening to an almost empty dining room and were asked if we had reservations. We were then promptly seated at a table I thought surely would’ve been reserved if we needed them. Skepticism grew. For food I ordered the gratuitous death of a baby cow Italian style while my spouse and daughter ordered steaks. For the drink a bourbon neat. I wouldn’t write home to mom about the food but I’ve had worse and my family liked their meals. The unnamed bourbon is a different story and that is where my disdain began and quite frankly ended. For those bourbon aficionados the menu offers a choice of bourbon, wood type, and your choice of bitters. Presumably some bartender infusion gimmick to mask the nectar of the Gods. My $13 pour was served oddly chilled but I ordered it neat. The color was that of some fill in the __ light beer scrubbing calories at the expense of taste. The extremely faint nose was citrus forward. The palate was that of water with a teaspoon of bourbon for taste and the finish nonexistent. My bourbon hating spouse commented she would be willing to regularly drink bourbon if they all tasted like that one. Skepticism confirmed. A day later I opened my bottle of the same bourbon and was pleased to find the distillery didn’t bottle my bourbon in the same manner as Dodge City’s. Interestingly, Dodge City only charged me $9 rather than the $13 listed on the drink menu. Probably because I opted out of their drink gimmick but maybe because they were ashamed of diluting spirits? In the end it was likely my chiseled manly features that earned me the discount! Like I said...just enough knowledge to...

We had the crab dip which was outstanding. You get lightly toasted mini slices of bread which is awesome. Alot of places has the bread hard, but not this place which I really enjoyed. They put cheese on top of the crab dip which is amazing. I had the filet steak. Oh.. my.. word it melted in my mouth. It was so... amazingly good. I would go back there again. We were so.. happy with the service as well. When your glasses was empty they asked would you want another drink. I didnt have to beg someone to refill our drinks. The waitress was really amazing and friendly. She explained everything and answered any questions because this was our first time there. I felt like it was an up an up restaurant. They were very patient with us. Which made me happy. My food cost me 38.00 and my husband's meal cost 36.00 my soda was 4.00 the crab dip cost 16.00. My husband got water. Anyway I would go back in a heartbeat. The steaks were so.. good that I didnt even need A1. The steaks had alot of juices. I did ask for A1 but I didnt use it because it was so.. darn good. Everything we ordered at this place was way above our expectation. Food was juicy, amazing, delicious, and out of this world. Whoever is back in that kitchen cooking; knows how to cook. An thats putting it mildly. That person is a top notch chef. Let me tell you if you have steaks that just fall apart and melts in your mouth you know they got one hell of a chef. I would go back to that restaurant in a heart beat. I wish that restaurant was closer to us. Its 50 minutes away.. i would be there all the time if it wasn't for how far away it was.. I hate to say this but I am. This restaurant is 20x better then Texas Road House any day of the week. Plus I feel like you get your moneys worth, and the food is out of this world. They gave us rolls with honey butter as well. Which was delicious as well. I will be going back...