Roots Steakhouse — Restaurant in Morristown

Attended a birthday dinner at Roots in Morristown on Sunday, February 17 at 7pm for 10 people. As we arrived we were greeted and seated promptly by friendly hostesses, and that’s where the chivalry ended. Upon being seated our waiter George and Terri were average at best. George continuously reached over me and others at the party that made it uncomfortable to continue our conversations.

Once we began ordering George informed us they were sold out of three of their steak options, I inquired how a well-known steakhouse could be sold out of Kansas City steak, Cowboy steak, and a Porterhouse? He claimed it was a busy weekend and they weren’t prepared for the magnitude of patrons. I do not believe a word of that. As a well known establishment there must be record of how busy they usually are for Presidents Day Weekend.

The best side they had were the mashed potatoes. Fluffy, flavorful, with the right amount of garlic, that’s were the positive experience ends. The lobster bisque was ordinary in taste and hardly had any lobster. The salads were nothing special and not worth the price tag. The creamed spinach was run of the mill, the broccoli had a sour note to it (I believe too much lemon). The special side of the evening, the risotto was over cooked and lacked butternut squash.

The main star of the evening, the steaks, were cooked perfectly with a beautiful char and locked in all the flavor of salt, pepper, and butter. The problem with the steak for me was the lack of options since they sold out of their Kansas City, Cowboy, and Porterhouse. The 16oz. NY Prime Strip was delicious but didn’t create a “WOW” factor as many other steakhouses could produce the same quality product.

Overall experience, with dozens of choices in the region, I will not be returning to Roots. Their shortcomings include being sold out of 3 of their 9 steaks, their lackluster service, and ordinary food is not worth the price tag. I was completely underwhelmed and dissatisfied with the entire evening. For $100 per person I expect exceptional food...

Fancy on the outside, mediocre steaks at best.

Although it has an upscale atmosphere to impress, steaks are at best a 3/5 stars, with 1=LoneStar, 2=Arthur's, 4=Ruth’s Chris/S&W, and 5=Keens/Luger’s/Grass-fed. Ten (10) of us guys went for dinner to celebrate a friend’s upcoming wedding, and we all agreed the steaks were below average compared to the places we’ve been above.

Seating was late. We asked for tap water, but since we ordered sparkling also, they still brought bottled still water also (@ $7 bottle, mind you). I ordered the heirloom tomato salad for $13, which was literally one unimpressive tomato sliced into 6 pieces with non-fancy blue cheese (the same that was on the wedge salad) and some shaved onions. I was almost in shock thinking it was a mistake, but the waiter didn’t follow up with the chef when I asked if it was a mistake (I think they ran out of tomatoes). The tuna tartare w/ avocado one guy ordered seemed a good size and taste for the price.

Anyway, most of us ordered the dry-aged bone-in filet, which didn’t have any additional flavor for the 21-28 day aging, and all of them had a lot of fat and tendons. I personally felt it was tasteless. The cowboy or ‘tomahawk’ steak was wimpy and unimpressive and not like any image on google. The lone guy who ordered the NY Strip was the most satisfied, but the rest agreed the place was nothing special. They do cook the steaks perfect to your request, but a mediocre steak cooked to your liking is still mediocre. Waiter otherwise was knowledgeable. The tuna entrée one guy ordered was massive. The entrée sides of chorizo hash, mac& cheese, and vegetables were forgettable.

Wouldn’t go back, unless you want to impress someone and spend money foolishly, but anyone who knows about good steaks will see through the fluff. The ‘guy stigma’ of going to a steakhouse is lost on the quality. Maybe go to a good Italian chop-house where the selection is smaller but they do it well. Sorry Roots, we were not impressed. Hope you enjoyed the one-off $$$ you...

Pretty disappointing experience. We arrived for our reservation and were immediately seated, which was great. The problems began with the waitress, who seemed displeased that we were fine with tap water and then immediately (and obviously) wrote us off when she learned that only one person out of our group of 4 would be ordering alcohol. She made it very clear in her mannerisms that she was disappointed that we would not be spending more money on beverages. For the remainder of the night, she relentlessly pushed us to order drinks, relentlessly pushed us to order individual “starters” before our meal, recommended only the most expensive meals, and generally was unpleasant. In addition—she and another gentleman came to the table entirely too many times to clear singular items from our table. My recommendation would have been to clear empty plates and empty glasses in rounds, as most restaurants do, so that our meal and conversation wouldn’t have been interrupted quite as many times. It was entirely unnecessary.

To seal the deal for an unpleasant experience, the waitress brought us one check after we specifically told her upon being seated that we wouldn’t need to split it 4 ways. We asked upon being seated if splitting was possible, to which she replied that it was. However, when she arrived at the table with one check and we gently reminded her that we had requested 4 separate checks, she replied “oh I didn’t know you were serious.”

???????

Unfortunately, her actions resulted in a lower tip than would have been the case had she not counted us out from the get-go. If she wasn’t so focused on how much we were spending (and we spent plenty, by the way—we ordered 4 meals, several sides, 1 cocktail, 1 glass of wine, and an app), she would have received a higher tip. The food was fine, but I likely won’t return based on this experience (on...