Johnny Fab's Cadillac Grill — Restaurant in Lubbock

UPDATE 7/7/24: fantastic service all around, especially our waiter Santos. Whatever issues they had early seem to have been ironed out. Oysters Rockefeller were among the best we've ever had, bacon-wrapped shrimp were perfectly prepared, chipotle burger was grilled medium without us asking and turned out juicy and flavorful. Even our little guy's popcorn shrimp were tasty and not overdone. We had their European-style cheesecake again and this time my wife agreed with assessment - excellent!

Very good brand-new restaurant that could get even better when they iron out the inevitable issues that accompany any hot new opening.

My family and I had lunch and were generally impressed by the food and service with a few areas for improvement. Let’s start with the misses. The guacamole app was far too salty even for my salt-loving toddler but was otherwise fresh and citrusy. My wife’s shrimp fettucine alfredo’s sauce had the consistency of watered-down milk, which can be attributed to the kitchen staff rushing to plate the noodles before they had time to drain properly, and I made that observation to the server with the hope that she would forward it to management.

On the plus side, my wife’s pomegranate & pecan salad was outstanding, especially paired with the balsamic vinaigrette dressing. My mother-in-law’s rotisserie chicken was tender and the side of home-style skin-on mashed potatoes was very good, though the pinto beans were somewhat bland. My own ribeye steak initially came to the table rare rather than medium, but after a quick trip back to the kitchen it returned beautifully seared and, in a perfect example of the Maillard reaction, was as excellent a steak as any I’ve had in Lubbock. I also had the mashed potatoes and beans and shared my MIL’s opinion of both, though my wife prefers a creamy skin-free mash.

Where we also differed, surprisingly, was in our opinions about the cheesecake. Although my wife is European, she has grown accustomed to the creamy “cheesecake” aberrations served at the Cheesecake Factory and similar corporate outlets, even eschewing the denser authentic New York-style cheesecakes, while I have had the reverse journey and am now a fan of creamy/crumbly European-style cheesecakes.

Let me be clear: this cheesecake was exquisite, and my wife needs her palate reset :-). My MIL, who has been in the US for only a year, shared my opinion.

Our other dessert item was the pineapple upside-down cake, which was flavorful if a bit dry.

With two lemonades and tax our check came to $108, which is a bit steep overall but my steak, the cheesecake, and my wife’s salad made the meal totally worth it.

I should note that there is a long wait for tables, which we avoided on the third try by showing up at 10:50am, just before opening. Service quality is OK, understandable for a newly opened place -- especially given how atrocious it can be elsewhere in the post-COVID era. The ambiance is casual and friendly, and surprisingly not as loud as you might expect.

I’ll probably give the place a few weeks to settle in and then stop by to try a few more items from the menu, although I may be tempted to try the excellent ribeye again to make sure it wasn’t a fluke, and of course I’ll be having another slice of that...

DON’T GO HERE!!! The food, staff, and management are complete garbage. My whole family took my wife here for Mother’s Day and it was the worst experience dining out in my entire life and I eat out several times a week! Once we were seated it took over 15 minutes to get our drink order placed. Then we placed our lunch order and it took almost 40 minutes to get the food. The restaurant was over half empty so I couldn’t figure out why it took so long. My wives enchilada lunch was made with meat after we specifically ordered it with no meat since she is a vegetarian. The waitress didn’t come back for ten minutes so I took the food to the kitchen myself and spoke to a manager about it. He said he’d take care of it. 25 minutes later the waitress came to our table to tell us they made it wrong again, so they were remaking it. 15 minutes later she came to the table with a bowl of what looked like chicken soup with a fried tortilla on top and a soggy undercooked egg on top of that! I told the waitress never mind and she said she would take it off our bill. I said I hope so, my wife didn’t even get to eat any of it. The manager didn’t even come by to check in with us. This was my wife’s Mother’s Day lunch and she didn’t even get to eat!!! It was just disgusting to me the kind of mentality the management took on this. The waitress was avoiding us like the plague after the mistakes they made in getting the food prepped correctly. Do yourself a favor and avoid coming to this establishment, unless you just want drinks, then I would suggest the bar, as they have a dedicated staff member there. Highly disappointed in this company since they seem to have other restaurants in town that I have visited and the experience was much better. I don’t think that the owners are getting a true look at the performances of their staff members without reviews like this, which is the reasoning for me posting this. And yes, it is a little later than I would normally write a review, because if it was done before this time, it wouldn’t have been so objective as I was very upset and frustrated. Next time I decide on a local sports bar/restaurant in town, I will be choosing Caprock Cafe, Ground Zero, Texas cafe and bar, or Woodrow’s, Skooners, Bier Haus, or Champs sports bar. Or any of the national chains that actually do give a hoot about their customers satisfaction and dining...

The experience that I had at this restaurant, I hope I never have to go through again. After ordering our food, the waitress asked us if we had been there before, is this your first time here. And then proceeds to try to sell us a gift card, which I understand. But it was almost as if we were being stereotyped. The location of the restaurant is in one of the most upscale neighborhoods in Lubbock. No we have not been there before I feel her approach was totally off base. The waitress did not ask My Son what sides wanted with his ribeye steak. The appetizer was brought out with our meals. The food is very tasteful. The presentation is good. That’s why I’m giving it a three star rating.. So after I’ve had my meal, I excuse myself to go to the restroom . Of course you can except the strewn pieces of toilet paper here and there in the bathroom, but what was shocking to me was the most wretched smell in the last stall of the ladies restroom. It looked as if the sanitary napkin disposal had not ever been cleaned and it smelled horrible. I almost gagged it ruined my meal. That’s how disgusting it was stains from previous users where it had not been cleaned properly. In order to get this bathroom clean, you would have to take a water hose in there and spray it from top to bottom that’s how disgusting it was. As I walked through the restaurant, I noticed an overhead vent located above the kitchen area covered in dust. As you will see in the photograph, I’ve included. Yes, I was new at this restaurant, looking forward to a new experience dinning in a new place. I really feel like this restaurant needs some attention to cleanliness and proper training of the waitresses and waiters. This concludes my review. I do not plain to eat at this restaurant...