Rails Steakhouse — Restaurant in Montville Township

In fairness, I'd go 3.5 stars if possible, and it's important to note that this rating is relative to other $$$-$$$$ steakhouses, not ALL restaurants in general.

The server felt the need to explain what razor clams were even though she didn't for the table beside us. Can only assume she was judging us based on our age/looks. I'm 45. My partner is 41. We are casual people, but we've eaten at many nice restaurants and know how to tip and what to expect. More on that later.

Had the ham and cheese croquettes as an app. I literally could not detect any ham or cheese in either of the two croquettes I had. Also, four little fried potato balls for $17 (one of the more expensive apps) is a little ridiculous. This item must have an insane profit margin.

Also had the bibb salad, which was good but bland (watered down ranch dressing). Had to ask for salt and pepper, which helped it. Couldn't be trusted to dispense our own pepper, which I know is normal at nicer places but weird never the less.

Had the cowboy steak and pepper honey bourbon ribeye with the hash browns and Brussels sprouts. Only the NY strip was labeled as prime. Should have gone for that. The ribeyes were fine, cooked well (medium and medium rare) but underwhelming. Mine had too much silver skin and not enough marbling, and the marination flavor was very minimal. The cowboy steak was completely devoid of salt.

The hash browns were great. The Brussels sprouts were okay but needed a much better preparation. They were limp and bland. They really needed a crispier roast, perhaps finished under a salamander.

We shared the butter cake for dessert. It was decent but dry and kinda boring. They should soak the cake in the blueberry compote juice and serve it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. That would set it off.

Okay, now for the service, which is driving this star rating a lot. The tone and body language of our server just basically made us feel like we didn't belong, just right off the bat. I can tell when someone is genuinely friendly versus when they're being friendly because they're expected to. She basically assumed she wasn't getting a good tip from the start, and the service throughout reflected that.

After the app and salad were brought, I couldn't get salt and pepper for about 6-7 minutes. After we finished our mains, we sat there for about 12 minutes waiting for dessert menus. After dessert, we sat there for 15 minutes waiting for the check. Yes, I was looking at my watch.

So basically, our dinner was at least 30 minutes longer than it needed to be, and I still gave her a good tip, almost just out of spite, but I take pride in tipping well because I have so much respect for service workers. My dinner companion spent much of her life as a server, so I know how difficult it is. It's a shame ours decided to judge us from the start. I hope she was just having an off day.

In summary, a 5 star experience is easily feasible here. The inside of this place is great. The menu is good. Just a little more effort on the prep and ingredients would help a lot. And make damn sure the servers are treating EVERYONE equally. Again, all easily fixed...

I often order food from the restaurants in the area (I live across the street from Rails) and nobody ever asks for a matching id to the order. My profile picture and google name is my bulldog, I have no interest in posting my photo or personal information online, none of my social media has my name or picture, however, I am an actual woman and I order pickup food sometimes I placed a simple small order consisting in two burgers ($40) and I was called to confirm my order, cool I know you guys do that & I was told you need a picture id or the card (my profile is my dog so no id and I have my husband’s card in my profile) the person then transferred me to the supervisor and she didn’t let me talk when I said that’s my dog I don’t have an id and simply stated that she’ll go ahead and cancel my order (I offered to change the card or pay with different card when picking up but she didn’t want to listen at all) I placed the order for the second time using another card and walked with the card to pick up the food but time passed and when I asked the person at the stand told me my order was cancelled to which I asked why was my second order cancelled if I have the card? He then got the same rude supervisor who wanted to see an id with the picture with the name in the order, once again, it’s my dog! I showed her the debit card used for the order and she just can’t comprehend someone can have a google profile that matches her dog 🙄and wants a picture id and didn’t care for the matching card and asked me for my id I said I live across the street I don’t have an id on me but this is the card I used (how many people takes their wallet to pick up a minimum order when walking across the street?) and, again, the name on the order it’s my dog (look at my google profile, it’s my dog!) I asked then if the order is ready and she replied no, it was cancelled & she’s looking at me from head to toe so I asked why? And you know what? just refund me and I walked out, without food! Probably had I being a man dressed in a dress carrying his male cc/id I would had had better luck and no dirty looks, go figure because that lady has no business being customer service I have worked in hospitality management in the past and I would had been beyond mad and mortified that an associate acted the way this lady did with one of our guests I have ordered before from Rails (actually got a burger for my dog on his birthday, funny they didn’t ask for his id that day, just the card that paid for it 🤔) and other times, we’ve gotten the family dinners to go and we had visited before but no more, no need when there’re plenty of steak houses and restaurants (that I can walk into freely without the judgement) around the area that don’t discriminate nor do they ask for anything for an already paid order BTW food is pretty decent and restaurant always looks nice but so do many other places without the rude treatment Attached there’s a picture of Tobias Martini Crazy times when someone unvetted can cross our border but Rails won’t make a cheap burger order because my dog doesn’t...

After tasting 7 appetizers/sides, 4 drinks, 2 entrees, and 5 cakes, here are my OVERALL FAVORITES: APPETIZERS: Grilled Octopus ENTREE: porterhouse with Chimichurry sauce (get extra, they gave one tbsp) SIDES: lobster chopped with mashed potatoes ALCHOL: Cohiba (bourbon) DESSERT: Brownie bar

After tasting 7 appetizers/sides, 4 drinks, 2 entrees, and 5 cakes, I can confidently say that my experience here was 10/10, the best food I’ve ever tasted all around. Not one dish disappointed my table today and here would be my recommendations for the foods I tasted:

Appetizers: tuna tartare: if you are looking for guac, chips and salsa style appetizer, chose this Burrata: medium portion dish, good for people who love bruschetta or mozzarella calamari: if you like them crispy, crunchy, but not hard, get these onion rings: if you like them crispy, crunchy, but not hard, get these. They do not slide out of the fried part, are not slippery/chewy, which is good Grilled Spanish octopus**: personal FAVORITE, tasted like meat but in the best way possible. Best for people who like seafood or want to explore seafood Creamy spinach: anyone will like the creamy part with the spinach, but towards the bottom, it’s just spinach. It’s a good introduction to spinach if you are wary of eating it truffle fries: very standard, take this instead of regular fries sauces: if you want to chose between chimichurry or bernaise: pick chimichurry to your steak. Bernaise is very like and creamy, extremely delicate taste. Everyone liked the chimichurry.

Porterhouse for 3, medium rare: excellent temperature on the meat, no complaints All cuts that I tasted were cooked to perfection. lobster and mashed potatoes: top notch, creamy to perfection

Desserts: My personal recommendation is buttercake or brownie bar. buttercake: for those who like light, fluffy cakes brownie bar: cold, fudge-like brownie cake, hard, but amazingly delicious. Very sweet, but not overpowering Carrot cake: nothing to complain about 10 layer chocolate cake: nothing to complain about cake with flan: nothing to complain about

Alcohol: Personally, my taste is sweet but I was not as impressed by their sweet drinks as I was with their hard drinks. Cohiba: bourbon, drink that was strong but everyone enjoyed, men and women, best drink at the table today elder flower champagne: if you don’t believe that cucumber will work with champagne, order this to prove yourself wrong perfect rose (gin): I would recommend this over the champagne. Flavor was just better. (unsure) but there was one beverage that tasted like Snapple and some type of alcohol. Not the experience I...