Chophouse Thirteen — Restaurant in Jacksonville

KNOW THIS IS LONG BUT YOU REALLY WANT TO READ THIS ONE : Have been patronizing this restaurant for several years. Chop House 13 changed general managers. RYAN is the new manager but we'll get to that. This is how we found out: Made a reservation there few months ago, checked in with the front desk and hostess said it would be 20 minutes until seating. No big deal, went to the bar and was told front desk would text when table was ready. After 30 minutes, went up to front desk to ensure we had not been forgotten and was asked if we had a reservation (same hostess) - went through the process again. While we waited to be seated hostess was in poor temperament. She then proceeded to tell us what a rotten day she was having, people don't have it together there, etc. Sorry you are having a bad day but not really what we wanted to hear.

SERVICE: terrible/ waitress had a poor attitude, scowl on her face. Another waitress walking by was more attentive even though we were not in her station:

FOOD: very mediocre - bland. Chophouse 13 is on the expensive side which would be fine but the food, service and management are more like a fast food chain. Steak was not cooked to requested temperature. We asked a waitperson if Chophouse 13 had been sold to new ownership. Not new ownership but under new management = our "Ah ha!" moment.

LONG WAIT FOR FOOD: We noticed other patrons around us did not look happy with one woman very vocal. We asked another set of patrons how long they had been waiting for entrees - 2 HOURS! When their food was ready - they instructed the waitress to box it.

LET'S GET TO NEW GENERAL MANAGER RYAN (self identified): General manager comes over and apologized for the wait. He asked us how everything was so far and we asked if he really wanted to know. When he affirmed that he did, we proceeded to tell him service poor, hostess hostile and food was mediocre. He thanked us for being honest with him and asked we give the restaurant another chance next time we were going to dine out. We are HUGE believers in supporting local businesses so we decided to give them 1 more try.

Made a reservation a week ago (last Saturday). Got a call 1 hour before service and GM Ryan left a voicemail that no longer welcome at Chop House 13 and to call back if there were any questions. Left a message at restaurant for Ryan to return the phone call as we most definitely wanted an explanation of why a message like that was left. He did return the phone call and said he made notes about us when we were there the last time: Not happy with food, service, long wait, poor customer service. He claimed he had footage of the scowling waitress' hand being slapped when she went to clear an appetizer we were still eating. THIS NEVER HAPPENED. We were somewhat taken aback that she would pick up a half eaten appetizer that we were still chewing and let her know we were still working on it.

I told Ryan we would love to see that footage as it doesn't exist. THEN the real Ryan showed up: "I don't have to show you anything - you didn't like it here so don't come back." We assured Ryan we would never patronize the restaurant ever again and will be sure to convey our dreadful experience.

THERE ARE PLENTY OF EXCELLENT STEAKHOUSES in Jacksonville, FL that give you the entire experience you are paying for. Tierra Goucha is excellent, Morton Steakhouse is superb and local Salento Steakhouse is fantastic!

MSG FOR RYAN & OWNERS OF CHOPHOUSE 13: We have some conjectures regarding Ryan's actions but that being neither here nor there: As long as you treat patrons this way, we predict you'll be getting more review just like this one. Our money is GREEN everywhere with establishments who appreciate the business. (while we gave a small gratuity to our assigned, scowling waitress --- thanks again to the waitress who waited on us, brought condiments, etc. even though she was not our waitress and we are not seated in her station - you deserved the cash...

Let me begin by saying that there are two things about this review that I am not going to let hinder my take on things. One being that this establishment is owned by my company, and two being that our meal was paid for as a gift for our anniversary. That being said, here goes: It was our 20th wedding anniversary and I wanted to take my wife to a place we have not been to before. We've wanted to try Ruth's Chris for sometime, and this is where I was intending to go even though it would have been quite costly and we would have to budget for it. Then I thought about Chophouse 13. This restaurant is owned by my company and I knew they offered a discount for employees there. We could likely afford this place a bit more with the 10% off. I then find out that our evening was paid for in full as an anniversary gift from some nice people. We had a 7:00 reservation, but arrived a bit early. We were promptly seated immediately. Ice water was provided and some freshly baked rolls. We then order our drinks, Robin has a coke and I stick with the water, but order an "Old-Fashioned" which was excellent. We then order a shrimp cocktail as an appetizer. It was good and fresh, but no particularly unique qualities about it. It's shrimp served cold with some cocktail sauce, which I suspect was made in house. My wife ordered a trio of filet minion, shrimp and scallops, which along with my meal, is pictured. She loved it and kept mentioning how tender her steak was. She is no fan of scallops, I ate those. They were huge, and this can sometimes be suspect as some restaurants will try and pass some "stingray" or something as scallops, but these seemed legit and tasted amazing. For MY meal, I went with a special that the waiter "Taylor" recommended. It contained three small portions of different versions of filet minion. The first covered in herbs, the second soaked in worcestershire sauce (tasted like the best beef-jerky ever, only super tender) and the third was topped with blue cheese sauce. All were amazing, and I don't think I had a favorite. The side we chose (served family style, and not included with the entree's) was potatoes a gratin. Also pictured, it was cooked perfectly, oozing in cheeses and garnished with scallions. Unfortunately, this dish missed the mark a bit. It was too salty. I have to make the assumption that this was an anomaly, or perhaps there was some miscommunication with the cooking staff, because any chef "worth his salt" would not have created a dish this salty. Salt is an ingredient intended to bring life to the flavor of something, but not be the dominant flavoring. If I had been paying for this dish, I would have sent it back. Any saltier, and it would have been completely inedible. Now, the desert! Cheesecake. I believe it was New York style as it was a baked type. It was the best cheesecake I have ever had. We ordered it with the topping on the side, and I am glad, as the cheesecake itself needed nothing. Served with freshly-made whipped cream and fruit on the side as well. Just...

We only stopped in for a drink at the Oak Bar and maybe an appetizer. So my ratring has nothing to do with the dinner menu. Between 4PM -5PM it was pretty much empty. Lots of bar seats and a great bar seating area with several HD TV's to watch all the games. We had been here when it was the the Tree Steakhouse and was never really impressed with the food. The bar area has not changed much and from what I could see neither has the dining room although to be honest we did not eat in the dining room. We came at happy hour with $4.00 well drinks and $5.00 house wines. Not bad pricing for Happy Hour but they fell short on the happy hour bar menu which only has two items for half price. Chicken wings and Blue Cheese chips. Everything else on the Oak Bar menu was regular price. We had the blue cheese chips for $6.00 and they were quite tasty. But regular price for those same chips is $12.00! We might have scarfed down a few appetizers had they had an expanded happy hour menu but with only two items at half price we passed. The dinner menu prices have gone way up. Last time I ate here the dinner menu steaks were considerably less . Looks like they are trying to step up to the likes of Three Forks and Ruth's Chris. Unfortunately we did not have dinner so cannot vouch for the quality and taste of their steaks and how they compare to the other two steakhouses. None-the-less it's a great spot for cocktails and appetizers after work .

Update: It's been a while since we visited Chophouse 13 and to be honest I may be the only one who thought it was average as it relates to a good steak. Everyone else enjoyed their meal from the crabcake, Caesar Salad, Filet and rib eye. All were cooked perfectly. I ordered the 12 oz NY Strip and while it was ok, it wasn't up to par with some of the fine steakhouses around. A bit chewy but prepared medium rare as it should have been. Also a bit thin for a NY Strip. The rib eye was also quite thin making the price for each a bit more than it was worth. (my opinion). The Service was excellent, water glasses were kept full, dishes were taken away in a timely fashion, knowledgeable and friendly waitress and to top it off they brought out a special dessert to congratulate my daughter who will be having her second child in two weeks. The atmosphere is nice but not what you might find at an upscale steakhouse. Their bar area is very nice with several high tops, plenty of bar seating and a dollar-saving happy hour. Quite a few folks like Chophouse 13 because it was packed by the time we left on a...