Stephen's On State — Restaurant in Media

I don't even know where to start. It was the absolute worst time that my boyfriend and i have had at a restaurant. We had never been there but read great reviews so we figured we'd make a reservation for valentines day. We were really excited, we got all dressed up to go on our date.Everything looked nice when we walked in, there was a bar and live music. However, we were sat in a small room crowded with 4 other couples all the way in the back with away from the music and bar. You could hear everybody's conversations it was very uncomfortable. Our table was unsteady the entire time, every time we touched anything on it, it would lean. We thought this is ok we will look past that, it's just small stuff. WRONG. We didn't get greeted by our waitress Alyssa I believe, until about 8 minutes of being sat. When my boyfriend asked if they had a whiskey menu she did not have an answer, her answer was that she thought they had Jack Daniels. She never once introduced our menu to us nor let us know of any of their items. Never once gave us any direction. After we got our drinks we didn't see our waitress again for about 20 minutes. Once we tried to order the menu special that was in front of us she then let us know that it was a set price per person, that's something she could have introduced to us from the very beginning. At that time we had to go through the other menu instead, which is not the same menu that is online. We chose Stephen's because I am on a very specific eating plan and we agreed that the menu online was perfect as there were menu choices for me to pick from. The menu in front of us had about 10 items all together. We were extremely upset. However we both got a salad, He got the wedge and i got the one with the champagne dressing, his salad came out how it was described, mine however was only baby spinach, dressing, and cheese crumbs. There was no nuts, or apples, or cranberries, or onion like it was described on the menu. We ordered a steak to split (medium/rare) as it's all i could eat from the menu. It looked appetizing when it was brought to us, but when we got into it, it was very dry and bland. So much so that I had to keep drinking water after every bite as i could feel it get stuck in my throat. It was over all a terrible experience, but to top it off they wouldn't take the groupon that we had even though on the website is says it's accepted sun-thursday. We were there on valentines day and it did say that it is not accepted on national holidays but valentines day is not a national holiday. I don't believe businesses should make their own rules that go against what they have advertised and people are paying for. We went home with a a very bad experience, we don't get to go out as we both work extremely long weeks and our one night to have a happy memory out was an absolute disaster. I feel bad especially for my boyfriend who payed very good money for such a terrible experience. I would not recommend anybody to visit this establishment, it disgusts me to think about how...

We were absolutely stunned at the experience we had. We arrived about 5-10 minutes before our reservations; there was no one at the host booth. The hostess was servicing other guests and said she'd be right with us when she was done. She came and asked for our reservation time and name, never greeted us or "welcomed" us to Stephen's On State, as is customary in almost any dine-in restaurant.

We were seated and given menus by our server; she too, failed to "welcome" us and didn't even give us her name! We were given ice water by our server and she walked away...didn't ask if we were ready to order and offer to start us with any bread. About three minutes later, a gentleman brought us room temperature bread, not sure if it's usually served warm as this was our first time dining here.

That said, our server never bothered to ask if it was our first time. Our server returned a couple of minutes after to take our order. We told her were we ordering from the Restaurant Week menu, and gave our order. She didn't sell the service: didn't tell us what was the best or most popular dish, didn't offer us any cocktails, and when she explained what was available that wasn't on the menu, we weren't sure if it was part of Restaurant week or not.

Throughout the evening our server never came to check on us. She told us at our third lemonade that we're charged for each one because it was Trader Joe's Lemonade!!! Are you kidding me?! Which was worse - that lemonade wasn't a refillable beverage or the fact that she told us it was because it was Trader Joe's Lemonade?!?! We always had to get her attention to get her over to us. The appetizers (Prime Rib Egg Rolls and Shrimp Lejon) were the best part of the experience.

The menu listed the New York Cheese Cake with whipped cream and fresh berries; we were served cheese cake with caramel. The ambiance of the restaurant was warm, but the vibe was cold. We felt like we were in a diner with the lights dimmed.

Our server brought us the check and only then did we learn of her name because it was listed on the menu: Mary. We paid our bill and left an 18% tip and left...nobody thanked us for dining, no mints or toothpicks or wet wipes for our hands. Just nothing. So much for first...

Our family got all dressed up to celebrate at Stephen's. We got there 90 minutes before 9pm closing as listed on their website, but we were then told they close an hour earlier and were not taking more customers. We did suggest they update their website since many customers may rely on that info. My daugheter ended up wearing a ball gown and eating over-priced pizza from somewhere else. We went back the next week and the dinner was okay, but the waitress kept rudely rushing us to order and provided very little service after bringing the bottle of Lyric Pinot Noir (went wonderfully with our meal) and the entrees. We all enjoyed the 2 American Burgers and Fries (AWESOME!). The Short Rib Pasta with italian Sausage was not very good due to the bland and scarce sauce and the Short Rib fatty pieces throughout. The Specials were very good. The Veal Piccata sauce was wonderful. Complaint: NO freshly-grated, table-side cheese offered for either Short Rib or Veal Piccata Pastas. For the price point and the self-touted higher quality tier of the restaurant, we would expect this as a basic (even supposedly lower tier restaurants like Olive Garden chains provide this). Definitely felt something was missing. As for the Special, 28oz Dry-Aged Ribeye Steak Bone-In, it was very good (questionable ounces) and only the bone survived. We thankfully got its' sauce on the side, because it turned out to be very overpowering. The Sauce was good, but we actually like to Taste our meat, particularly an up-charged Dry-Aged Steak! Save the disguising and drenching of steak in sauces for lower quality meat! There are many amazing dishes that have emerged out of our "poor-folks" food, but high-quality steaks were usually not the creative spark that led to their creation - just the opposite! We were the only ones in the restaurant, but our waitress was not very attentive at all and just chatted with other staff most of the night. She did proactively give herself a 20% tip for our table of four (2 adults and 2...