The Steakhouse & Lodge — Restaurant in Hayward

Disappointing Experience at Our Wedding Reception

We had our wedding here and while the venue itself has potential, the experience was incredibly disappointing due to how we and our guests were treated — especially by the owner.

Things started off promising. We were told we’d be given a complimentary hotel room for our wedding night, which seemed like a kind gesture — until that, too, was taken away without any explanation.

We had the entire hotel completely booked out for ourselves and our wedding guests, yet just two days before the wedding, we were suddenly informed they only had 140 chairs available for the ceremony. Our confirmed guest list was 230. This kind of last-minute oversight created a lot of unnecessary stress.

During the reception, things got even worse. The owner was ripping drinks out of people’s hands and swearing at them — even though many of those drinks came from the guests’ own hotel rooms, in a hotel we had entirely rented out. Instead of calmly informing people of the venue’s policy, the owner chose aggression and profanity.

Several elderly guests were yelled at for mistakenly getting up to go to the buffet and were told they were “ruining everything.” No one deserves to be spoken to that way — especially not at a wedding.

To make matters worse, two employees from the attached Steakhouse were drinking on the job, sitting at the bar all night, and ended up starting a fight with guests. Later, they pounded on our hotel room windows and ran when the police were called. Shockingly, they also threatened harm and even death to some of our guests — behavior that was not only unprofessional but truly frightening.

Later in the night, after a guest set off a small confetti popper on the dance floor (something we had no knowledge of), the owner pulled me — the bride — out of the photo booth and began yelling and swearing at me in front of everyone. She even threatened to shut down our DJ — someone we had hired and paid for ourselves. There were countless more respectful and professional ways this could have been handled.

While the actual wedding ceremony was beautiful and we’re so thankful for our loved ones who made the day special, the reception turned into a nightmare due to the way we were treated. We had planned to celebrate until bar close, but instead we left early and went next door to Flat Creek, where we were welcomed with kindness and respect — the way paying customers should be treated.

After all the planning, time, and money we invested in this day, it’s heartbreaking that it was overshadowed by such unprofessional and unacceptable behavior. I would not recommend this venue to any couple looking for a stress-free, respectful, or professionally run...

I have been to a plethora of steakhouses throughout my life and I can say with 100% confidence that this was the worst dining experience I’ve had from any restaurant in any facet. There has never been a time that I would consider even taking a second out of day to write a negative review for an establishment, but this felt warranted and I would not want others to experience what we did. Between the dining experience, staff, and food, I couldn’t be more upset.

When we got to our table the server was quite clearly upset/rude for no reason. Did not offer to bring any bread rolls out and when I asked if they had any (like most steakhouses do) she scoffed and said “yeah I guess I can go get those for you right away if you want”. Then, once we were finished with our salads/drinks, we waited 35 minutes for the table to be cleared and offered more drinks. When the water pitcher was brought back to the table we were never offered to have our water filled, the pitcher was set down on the table and she walked away (quite comical having to fill your own water glasses in a “classy” restaurant). Once we waited 1 hour and 15 minutes for our food (the table next to us actually walked out), in a restaurant that clearly was nowhere near capacity, I realized that I genuinely think I could’ve made all 4 meals myself in the back kitchen at a remarkably higher quality than what was served to us. The filet and rib eye was literally the quality of a branch/fast food restaurant.

Overall, it was seriously the worst dining experience I think I’ve ever had in my life. Not to mention, after an over priced bill for the quality of food/atmosphere/service we experienced, we walked past the hostess stand and out of the 3 women sitting there not a single one asked how our dinner was or mentioned the typical “thanks for stopping, have a great night!” They were all dead silent and none of them even attempted to make eye contact. This came as enough of a shock that all 4 of my family members mentioned how they noticed it as they left the building.

At least I know if someone asks me where they should eat in Hayward, the easiest response to that will simple be “anywhere but the...

I rarely leave reviews for establishments because I’m generally easy to please. As someone who works in the restaurant industry, I understand that mistakes can happen. First, I want to highlight that our waitress was extremely kind and absolutely wonderful.

Now, onto the food. I initially wanted to order the stuffed mushrooms, which I’ve always loved, but they were out. No big deal—these things happen. I then opted for the bacon-wrapped scallops, which I truly enjoyed. My family member ordered the fried bluegill appetizer, and when I tried it, I had to immediately spit it out. It tasted off, almost like freezer-burnt or that the fish was a “bottom-feeder fish”. I've never had bluegill that tasted like that…

For my main course, I ordered a 6oz filet (medium rare) with fries and upgraded to the French onion soup. The soup arrived in an unconventional bowl, which I understand—they were busy. However, it was filled to the brim with soggy bread, leaving barely any broth. It was like eating onion-flavored bread rather than soup.

The main courses at our table included two pasta dishes that appeared to have been sitting in the window for quite some time. When my steak arrived, I was disappointed to find that it was cut twice to make it cook faster, resulting in it being smashed and charred. I did not ask for my steak to be butterflied. A medium rare steak doesn’t take long to cook properly and certainly doesn’t need to be cut horizontally twice. The steak was so dark that I initially thought it was overcooked, but it was actually undercooked and rare. Extremely disappointing for $40 dollars.

In the end, I was extremely disappointed with the food quality. I grew up coming to this place, but the last three visits have left me unhappy. I kept returning, hoping it would be as good as I remembered, but something has changed over the years. Unfortunately, I won’t be...