Chandlers Prime Steaks & Fine Seafood — Restaurant in Boise

I hate giving a bad review because I've always only had great service and food at Chandlers, but this last time was not the case, unfortunately.

Food: As you can see in the photos, both steaks ordered were extremely charred. When it was brought to the attention of the waiter, he only said, "Well, our steaks do have a strong char on them. And ma'am, you did order yours well done." Which I did, but when I've ordered this exact steak like this in the past it has never been this charred (or burnt in this case). If you're going to offer to cook a steak as medium well, then you need to be able cook it properly. Otherwise, don't offer it at all. And, certainly don't use it as an excuse as to why it's burnt.

Additionally, the New York was ordered as "medium rare" at the waiter's suggestion, and it came out borderline medium well, which the Captain even admitted when he came by the table. The meat was extremely dry, and although they offered to make a new one, we didn't want to wait for another one to come out after already eating half of our meals. When you eat at a steakhouse such as this, the Chef should have known not to even bring the meat out to the table when it was not cooked to order. They did end up comping it at the end, but it was disappointing that the person I was with had this as their first experience. Fortunately, it wasn't my first experience, which almost made it more disappointing.

Service: Our waiter talked far too much, spending several minutes at the table each time trying to "pitch" us and upsell us on items that we weren't showing any interest in. It got to the point where it was annoying and felt pompous and way too showy, trying to tell us "what parts of Australia" a certain piece of Wagyu was from, and "if we didn't know, that's the North East part of the country." It just put a bad taste in my mouth.

Atmosphere: The live music was so extremely loud that we couldn't even have a conversation. I had to move to the other side of the booth at dessert so that I could have a proper conversation.

Edited: Emailed the address in the restaurant's reply but never heard back. They obviously don't want to make it right, they just want to make it appear that they...

A Disheartening Experience

Coming from Dallas, where Eddie V’s filet mignon sets the gold standard, I walked into Chandlers with high expectations. I was ready for something special. What I got, though, was a filet that missed the mark in every way that matters.

I ordered a rare filet mignon grass fed and gave very specific instructions: one minute on one side, three minutes on the other, expecting a thicker smaller cut due to the temperature. It’s a simple request, but it’s not just about preference—it’s about precision. That level of care is how you create a perfect rare steak. Instead, what landed on my plate was dry, lifeless, and completely off. The cut was thin targeted more for a medium temperature and the texture was bland, and there wasn’t even a proper sear. Nobody stopped, to light up the filet and ask me if this was what I ordered.

And here’s the kicker: the grass fed filets around me all looked the same. It didn’t matter if someone ordered rare, medium, or well-done—the filets were cut and cooked like they came off an assembly line. That’s not how you deliver a premium experience. A filet mignon should be an event. Every steak deserves attention, and every temperature preference requires a different approach to honor the cut.

The reality is, the temperature determines the cut. Let me repeat it: The temperature determines the cut! I understand that most guests are food illiterate and will eat whatever is on their plate. A rare filet mignon = thicker tower like cut, medium temp filet = a flatter cut.

I don’t say this to knock the restaurant—I see potential here. But potential doesn’t count for much if the execution doesn’t deliver. My hope is that Chandlers takes this feedback seriously, because people like me are looking for something great. I just didn’t find it this time.

Our bill was +$400 with tip etc and we are great tippers! Unfortunately this was very disappointing!

The steak tartare was on point! I would like to come back and try the carpaccio. It has been very difficult to find a decent restaurant in Boise or surrounding area.

Loved the Christmas songs on the piano last night and the wonderful...

Wow the food was absolutely amazing. Let's start with the oysters unbelievable the best I have ever had. The Ceasar sald was delicious. The new york steak was so tender and cooked to perfection. The garlic mashed potatoes were yummy and the creamed spinach was delicious. Are server Deborah was amazing top notch, if you go here to eat make sure you ask for her you will not be disappointed. One last thing the chocolate souffle was INCREDIBLE!!! Sorry some of the food was partially eaten it was so good kept forgetting to take pictures. If in Boise Idaho Chandlers is a definite must. So let me start by saying THANK YOU so very much Chandlers for saving the night. It was our anniversary dinner and we started at cottonwood grille and ended walking out after 20 minutes with no drinks. Called Chandlers and they had room at the bar for us. Which you can order of the whole menu at the bar. So of course the food was absolutely amazing like always. But I gotta give a HUGE shout out to our server Sarah she was incredibly nice and accommodating. I also gotta give a HUGE shout out to Ryan who runs the bar. He was amazing and so friendly and generous. I wanna thank everyone at Chandlers for just being good nice people. I highly highly recommend Chandlers, the food and service is incredible. Again thank you Sarah and Ryan. Sorry about the pics but the food is so good I kept forgetting to take pics before I started eating. The oysters are so good took pics after they were gone again sorry. But that is how amazing the food is. So we had family in town and we took them to Chandlers. One of the family members is an restaurant owner in New York and he absolutely loved Chandlers. From the service to the food. Thank you to are server Bodie he was amazing and took care of everything ❤️. All I can say if you haven't been to Chandlers you are missing an amazing experience. Highly...