The Tenderloin Restaurant — Restaurant in La Verne

Pretty good place. It's quaint with really decent prices and good tasting food. Our service was fine - nothing remarkably good or bad from Erica. It was a weeknight & not too busy.

My cousin and I were looking for something to eat on a Wednesday evening and she said we should try out the steak house by the bundt cake place. Like most people, I wanted to get a feel for the place online first, but sadly they don't have a website. I read a few reviews and figured we could give it a try.

The two of us ordered the appetizer sampler, the specialty steak, the ribeye steak, and she had a Pepsi. Yes folks - a Pepsi place, not a Coke place. Our total bill was about $62 - $12.99 for the appetizer, $16.99 for the specialty steak, $24.99 for the ribeye, and about $3.49 for the soda.

The appetizer platter comes with fried zucchini, onion rings, and potato skins. I prefer my onion rings with a breadcrumb type batter, so I could not have those again and be ok. They were fine tasting, just not my preference. The zucchini was THE BEST I have tasted in a while! It was SO good. It came out piping hot and it was perfectly crispy and seasoned. I don't know if they season the batter or the zucchini itself or what, but it was GOOD! We concluded that the next time we go, we would get just zucchini for the appetizer, because there WILL be a next time.

The dinner entrees all come with a big old hunk of garlic bread, your choice of the soup of the day or salad, and your choice of potato - mashed, baked, or fries. I looked over the whole menu and contemplated some other cuts of steak, but ultimately decided on the ribeye, which is my favorite cut. It was a 14 oz. steak & I got it with the soup - creamy chicken vegetable and a baked potato - butter, sour cream, chives. The soup was so much better than I expected! It tasted kind of like a pot pie without a crust. The chicken was cut into good sized chunks and it was so flavorful. It was quite enjoyable to eat. I'm glad I opted for that. I ordered my steak medium and it was cooked to a PERFECT medium. It's a huge pet peeve of mine when places have steak on their menu, but can't cook it properly! No such issues here! The only drawback on the ribeye was that it wasn't seasoned extremely well. It was a little disappointing, but a little salt is all it took to wake up the flavor, so I was pleased. The food was SO good that I couldn't stop saying "Mm!" after each bite. I actually didn't make it to tasting the potato skins because after I polished off 6 pieces of fried zucchini, the bowl of soup, my WHOLE steak, big piece of garlic bread and entire baked potato, I was just a touch full.

I tasted everything my cousin ordered as well so that I would be able to give you a review. She had the Specialty Steak with a baked potato and salad. The salad was extremely basic. It was a bagged lettuce blend with shredded carrots on top - no frills, but it tasted so crisp and fresh! If you are a fan of Thousand Island dressing, get it here because it's a good Thousand Island. Not too sweet, not too tangy, a nice middle. I would have preferred a crouton, tomato, and cucumber, but it was a decent basic salad - not really complaining. The STAR of her meal though, was the specialty steak. It's a 6 oz. sirloin! Who woulda thought!?! Sirloin is not known for being a great cut of meat, but I tell you, if you go to The Tenderloin, ORDER THE SPECIALTY STEAK! My cousin ordered the steak medium-well, but not too well. I don't know how this was communicated to the kitchen, but the steak came out cooked just like that! It was tender and juicy and the SEASONING was FAN-tastic! That little steak packed so much wonderful flavor, I wished I had ordered IT instead of the ribeye! That's ok, now I'll know for next time.

P.S. I asked for a piece of foil to take the steak fat home to my dog - they gave me a LITERAL...

I gave 2 stars instead of 1 because the waiter was nice and the food was decent. We ordered our steak medium well and it came out very well done but was still tender. We had issues with the manger or co owner, not sure who he was. To describe who he is, he had a man-bun. We use to go here over 6 years ago before we moved out of the area. Our adult son recently moved to La Verne and we thought we would take him here for his birthday lunch. Our son is on disability due to a back and leg injury and is a very big guy. We asked for a table and we were told they are not seating at tables during this time due to the Covid. Well we managed to squeeze him into a booth but he was very uncomfortable the whole time. We had the 3 of us and had to share 1 paper menu. I saw 2 “regulars” across from us get 2 menus. I asked the manager guy if we only get 1 menu and he stated yes. I told our waiter it will be a little longer to order since we only have 1 menu and that it is his first time here. Finally my son asked if we could please get another menu and finally he brought us another one. We were hoping to find a good spot to eat when we visit our son in the area. Not a way to get a first time customer to return. They seem to only cater to regulars and are not concerned about getting...

We went there on March 4, 2024 to get their $16.99 Monday special for fried chicken. Prices were apparently raised a couple weeks ago in February. The Monday "Special" fried chicken dinner was raised to $18.99. After checking other prices on the menu for meals my wife and I have had in the past, it seems their prices were raised about 12%. The wage for fast food workers (MacDonald's, Burger King, etc.) was raised to $20.00 per hour beginning this April 2024. Waiters and waitresses in businesses such as Tenderloin may be paid up to $16.00 per hour under certain conditions governed by the State, but are not entitled to the increase fast food workers will receive. This is my understanding of the new wage law. So why a 12% price increase in food prices for the Tenderloin? It seems excessive. The quality of the food, and the portion size was less than in the past, (Small chicken pieces and very small baked potato) and the quality was just not there. Chicken was tough and overcooked, and as I mentioned the Potato was very small. There is no senior discount at the Tenderloin, and the specials, in the past, were the prices we could work into our budgets as seniors. We will NOT be returning to the Tenderloin anytime soon (like never) because of the reasons listed...