Cattlemens — Restaurant in Livermore

We came to Cattlemens in Livermore to celebrate our anniversary—a special night out with my expecting wife. Unfortunately, what should have been a memorable evening turned into a disappointing experience due to poor service and a lack of basic hospitality.

To start, I ordered the full rack of beef back ribs with a sweet potato, and my wife had the 10 oz filet mignon with a twice-baked potato. Her steak and potato were well-prepared, though the filet was beyond well-done despite no special request. Still, she enjoyed it. My ribs, on the other hand, were overly charred—several pieces nearly burnt. Worse, the sweet potato had a strong, fermented odor as if it had gone bad.

They also brought out a side of beans I didn’t order. I had clearly noted in both my reservation and to the server that I do not eat pork. When I raised this concern, a woman wearing a “Certified Trainer” name tag—who also claimed to be a manager—insisted there was no pork in the beans. I explained again that I hadn’t ordered them and didn’t want them. Her response was combative, not accommodating. Rather than offering a different side or simply removing the beans, she doubled down and became visibly frustrated that I wouldn’t just keep them. It felt dismissive and pushy—completely inappropriate for someone in a management role.

Prior to that, there was another uncomfortable exchange with the same server. I had asked if she could sweeten my Arnold Palmer or use sweet tea instead. She brushed it off, walked away mid-conversation, and never addressed it again. When I asked if I could switch drinks instead, I was again dismissed. It was at that point my wife quietly told me she no longer felt welcome and wanted to leave.

After the beans incident, the server completely disappeared. We were left to flag down random passing staff for refills, to-go boxes (which we never received), and basic needs. When I stepped away to wash up, they had already cleared our table—and my leftovers were gone. It felt like they were trying to get rid of us, not serve us.

To be fair, the artichoke cheese dip was excellent, and I’ve always loved Cattlemens’ beef ribs, filet, and rack of lamb with mint jelly. I’ve been coming here since I was young. But this experience was deeply disappointing. The presence of gnats at our table and the dismissive, almost hostile treatment we received made the evening feel anything but celebratory.

The attitude we encountered—especially from someone in a managerial role—gives the impression that this once-great steakhouse is losing its soul by hiring staff who don’t value respectful service or customer experience. I truly hope this feedback leads to better training and accountability. Sadly, for us, this may have been...

Cool place with a nice cowboy vibe.

My husband and I wanted to try Cattleman's because we both like steakhouses and this one was close to our hotel in Livermore.

I enjoyed our dinner. I found the pricing to be inexpensive and of good value for California.

We stated with a blackberry lemonade and a dirty martini. We scored on both the cocktail and the mocktail, but I wish they would have had some blue cheese olives instead of pimento stuffed olives in the martini. But overall, drinks were great.

We decided to get the $70 dinner for two. It came with one appetizer, two sides, bread and unlimited salad. I ordered the salmon and a baked potato and my husband got the 6 ounce filet, vegetables and a side of fried shrimp.

First came a massive, I mean MASSIVE bowl of salad. The salad was great. I dug the dressings, tomatoes, cucumbers and croutons. The blue cheese dressing was fab, so was the ranch. And the sourdough bread....heavenly!

Then came the artichoke dip. It was pretty damn tasty.

Next came the fried shrimp add on. We received five perfectly seasoned and coated shrimp. And 3/5 shrimp tasted almost raw. Big bummer because the fried shrimp looked awesome!

We told our waiter about the shrimp and they were kind enough to remove them from our bill. This says a lot about the management of the chain and left a good impression.

Next came the main courses. My salmon looked beautiful and the baked potato looked scrumptious! Was the salmon beautifully presented with grill marks? Yes, yes yes! Sadly, the flavor of the salmon was fairly bad. I don't think they used a good cut of fish and it tasted flavorless and dry. It wasn't overcooked per se, in fact, I can't even describe why it was so bad. It just was.

The baked potato was perfect.

My husband LOVED his steak! He said the petit fillet was on par with some of the best steaks he's eaten (even at Morton's and Ruth Chris) His side vegetables were cooked to perfectoom!: Sadly they had zero seasoning. Finally, the side of beans were ice cold, but the flavor seemed spot-on.

Dessert was the chocolate chip cookie cake. Great presention, and a huge serving, but way way too sweet.

Bottom line, I kind of liked it. The price point is good. The salad and bread were good and I might return having fairly moderate expectations. Huge shoutout to Benny. He was a really awesome waiter and all the staff seemed...

Been to this restaurant sometime during my ancient past on one occasion and what I remembered then was this;

The waitress was rude and short tempered but I remembered that it was full and maybe the staff had a rude customer on that occasion, but nevertheless, no way to treat customers.

I remember that it took 30 minutes just to be seen by a waitress, another 30 minutes for salad, and about 30 minutes for the main course to arrive.

I had the steak and potato because afterall, we were at a restaurant that serves beef.  I remembered that my steak was tuff and chewy and my baked potato undercooked.

To say I wasn't pleased was an understatement. I  never returned.

Fast forward to our recent visit.

I made advanced reservations because I didn't know that you had to, which told me that the food had improved?

The past was still vivid in my mind and I didn't know what expect.  The interior had definitely been changed and had that old western atmosphere. The staff was friendly and promptly sat us down.

After being seated we had a courteous waitress who brought us fresh baked bread and the beverage of our choice.

"My thoughts were, okay good start so far."  I loved their bread as it was warm and crunchy.

Our meals came with an endless salad, which was fresh and our choice of salad dressing which came separate.

I ordered the steak & king crab with baked potato.  The steak was cooked to order, medium rare, but a bit tough, but a lot better than my first experience here years ago.

My baked potato was very good and the condiments went well with it.

My king crab was prepared nicely and went well with the lemon and butter.  Of course their  baked bread complimented the whole meal.

After our meal we had their carrot cake for dessert and wasn't disappointed.

My overall assessment during this visit was pleasant and we were satisfied...