Old Hickory Steakhouse — Restaurant in Kissimmee

Overall was a “fine” experience. The food was good. Dry aged steak, mac and cheese, and gnocchi especially. Dessert is lackluster. When it comes to service, there wasn’t anything “wrong”, it just left a lot to be desired. Our server was very enthusiastic when it came to explaining large bottles of wine for the table, shellfish towers, and charcuterie with “every meat and cheese we offer”. Once it was established we weren’t interested in any of these high dollar extras or alcohol (we don’t drink), things seem to devolve to bare bones basic. We weren’t offered bread, we had to ask for it after salads already came out. My wife had to ask several times for a glass of ice. I was over halfway through my steak when I realized I wasn’t offered any of the sauces. This is our 3rd or fourth time here and I had those in the past, and they’re still on the menu. The water situation was irritating. Separate checks were established for our party of 9, and others asked for sparkling and bottled. When asked if I wanted sparkling or flat I said I’d like regular water. I was poured the bottled and didn’t think of it. Check came and we were hit for 3 bottles of water and told it was split evenly amongst the checks. I should’ve known better when it was being poured but a clearer delineation should be made between parties. This one’s kind of on me, but just indicative of an experience that isn’t elevated in attentiveness beyond any basic restaurant.

I get it, this is a hotel steakhouse used to large parties of convention goers throwing down the corporate card and racking up a several thousand dollar bill for the table with no regard. This was a simple anniversary celebration and the others in our party were there as a favor to us and shouldn’t be hit for not ordering like drunken sailors. I’m fully aware that in today’s world you have to “pay to play” but for a $280 tab for 2 (no alcohol) you’d expect a little more. Also, it was our anniversary and the host acknowledged this, but there was no small offering of a dessert or the like that I’ve always come to expect from a place of this caliber. Picky probably, but it’s just what we’ve always experienced. We’ve done fine dining for a long time, this isn’t our first rodeo, and unfortunately this just seems to be yet another example of the high end service industry really taking a dive over the past 3-4 years, while things get exponentially more expensive. It’s not limited to...

My wife and I were staying at the Gaylord and decided to try Old Hickory instead of going out locally. We ordered French onion soup and lobster bisque instead of an appetizer. In my experience lobster bisque has a slight sweetness but this was very salty without any noticeable sweetness. The French onion soup however was so sweet it was shocking. We shrugged it off thinking it was maybe just their take on it and we were looking forward to the main course. At the waiters suggestion we ordered the "butchers cut" which was a 36oz NY Strip. He said it would be cooked to our liking and then sliced on a board and served with truffle butter so we could both share it. It sounded good so we ordered it medium with a side of asparagus. When the steak came out the first thing I noticed was that I could not see any pink in the slices. On further inspection I found grill marks in between the cuts so it appeared to be cooked, then sliced and then each individual piece was cooked again. It turned out to be between medium well and well done. For the price of the steak I decided that I was going to ask them to bring me another steak. The waiter agreed that it was not medium and took it back. The next steak brought out was a total disaster. It had slight charring on the outside and just below that surface was a jerky dry more than well done beef. The most interesting part was that it then transitioned to a perfect circle down the middle of the steak that was medium rare as if they cooked the meat at a high temp and the middle was frozen so the result was the disaster that I personally would have been embarrassed to serve to anyone. We took some pictures of it just to show some friends because it was impressive that it even left the kitchen (pic attached was with the melted truffle butter so it appears juicy but it was not). We tried one piece each hoping that it would by some chance be tender enough to eat as now we were really hungry however it was dry around the edges and chewy in the middle. When the waiter returned we pointed it out and he took it away and apologized. Mind you now our asparagus was ice cold and sitting in coagulated butter as we were trying to save it to eat with the steak. Thankfully he removed the steak from our bill as I was worried about having to argue that. I left amazed how bad the whole experience was and we probably...

Sadly this is not a good review. My family and I tried for weeks to get a reservation at this restaurant but was unsuccessful. We finally stayed at the Gaylord Palms and still could not make a reservation. The seating hosts were not very friendly and just kept throwing us off when we tried to talk to them. Finally one of the chefs was outside and he got someone to help us in. I must say it was very uncomfortable from the beginning. Our waiter was all over the place! He suggested that we order to share with each other. I guess he stereotyped us thinking we couldn't afford the food. If only he knew who was sitting at that table! When my mom ordered her steak she requested medium well and the waiter told her not to order it like that. He insisted she order it "rear" so that if she doesn't like it he can send it back to cook more. ??? Like who does that? Not to memtion, he still put her order in the way he wanted without our permission and had them cut her steak in half and put them on 2 separate plates so she could share it with someone else! When my Pepsi came it was completely flat. Instead of him having them fix the problem and bring me a new one, he sent me back a cup of Pepsi with no ice! Same problem....FLAT! When I bring it to his attention he offered to bring me ANOTHER CUP OF THE SAME FLAT SODA! I asked him why would he do that if I just told him that it was no good and he just stood there staring at me. I had to send my caesar salad back because it had absolutely no flavor at all. Ive never in my life tasted a Caesar salad with no flavor. I didn’t appreciate him making us feel like we couldn't afford to eat there. We wouldn't of been there if that were the case. My mom is a very well known famous Chef from NYC all the way down to Ocean Reef in the keys FL. She has cooked for several presidents of the United States. I think she knows how to order her steak. Treat all of your guess with kindness and respect and let them order for themselves. The way we was treated and how he made us feel was enough to say we will never come there again or recommend...