1889 Prime Steakhouse — Restaurant in Olympia

NO, stop and only proceed at your own risk!!! I thought about this for several days and decided to write this review because 1889 needs this information as well as the public! I waited a long time to try 1889 for the first time wanting to ensure they worked out their image, food quality and dining experience. heck they present themselves as a meal to "Savor the Art of Steak Perfection"..." to create a dining experience like no other"...sounds great to me! So full admission, I had a lot of expectations after reading many of the reviews, and I have eaten fine steakhouses all across the country, so I had expectations for a savory top-notch meal and experience....Damn it, what a miss..! I made a later reservation not wanting to be caught in a Friday night dinner/date rush, and was seated within a few minutes and the staff was polite and welcoming, so far so good. But from that point forward it felt like an "Olympia" quality restaurant, save the drive north and just accept average to good, but then it got worse..! Here are a few of my experiences - Filling my water glass holding the top of the glass when setting back down, not knowing the menu when questions were asked, several questions and several I don't know but I can find out, dropping bread as if it was obligation before a drink order was even taken, bring an appetizer which was good and full flavored, but the shrimp would not break free from their shell??...how old were those shrimp, fresh shrimp break free, not fresh no so much, again how fresh were they...before we finished our app my salad is dropped in my lap, are we in a hurry folks...the salad, dressing with lettuce and more dressing...then before my apps and salad were finished, not to mention my 1st cocktail was not finished either, our steaks are dropped onto the table, again am I supposed to be out of this table in 30 mins?....seriously I had three plates in front of me..by the time i cut into my steak it was warm, I know this because the cube of butter on it was not melting...so did it arrive warm and was just cooling...seriously!! Did I mention the steak was dropped off and when I ask, are you rushing me, the kitchen runner didn't say a word and ran away...I was in the fine dining twight zone....but wait there is more, the $100 plus bottle of wine I ordered was brought, yup opened and poured with no comment, no presentation, no acknowledgement what so ever...seriously I'm being kind, this was NOT a fine dinning experience! I caught the owner's attention and expressed my disappointment that my $450/ dinner for two felt like the sizzler (sorry sizzler)...this was not a Prime Steakhouse I shared with her and shared a bit about what I have detailed above, it was a long long way away from being a Prime Steakhouse. To her credit she smiled and agreed with me and wanted to remove the cost of my steak, I told her she did not need to do that my feedback was much bigger than a food credit. Their is one other steakhouse in our area that I have frequented many times, and I now know they have absolutely nothing to fear from 1889! My recommendation, send every employee to Seattle, hell Tacoma, for a fine dinning steak dinner, send them with a note book and pen and have them understand and capture what a $300-500 dinner experience should feel like, taste like and only return to work when that level of product is what they strive for with every meal they serve for their customers....and then do that! In the world of fine dining these are career professionals and they act like it day in and day out...1889 have servers and staff, not career professionals. I will not be returning any time soon, and heck after this review they may wish me to never return, rather I'll be spending my $500 dollar meals where the sellers understands their buyer! Best of luck 1889, you all have...

I have spent the past few days digesting my time at the steakhouse. I would like to like the place, but I am not impressed. What I can say is this: The service here was fantastic, but the place is industrial in its looks and somewhat cramped and poorly laid out despite having a LOT of vertical open space. Once again, the staff was fantastic and very much dedicated to the restaurant. The food is acceptable and would be excellent but not at these prices. I've had a better meal at less than half these prices in places with better ambiance. Heck, some let you toss peanut shells on the floor and serve tomahawks ala Fred Flintstone.

I don't consider this to be a steak house. Three steaks to choose from, ala cart, makes it a place that serves steaks. When your bar takes up 50% of your floor space, you have a bar that serves beef.

I really wanted to like this place. The food tasted good. Any complaints you see below are not complaints worthy to "ruin" a meal, they are a critique of a place that takes itself too seriously to be delivering this food the way they did.

The food was well put together, plated acceptably if unenthusiastic-ally. Spiced well, but for the pricing it was supremely lackluster. A half inch cut of meat (similar to Supermarket butcher slicing) that had a weird partial over sous vided gamey texture on the outside and almost normal texture by the bone. It tasted very good, seasoned well, but it just didn't knock my socks off. With a 24 dollar crab meat topping with a very sweet hollandaise and 4 small asparagus stalks, I just wasn't impressed for a 90 dollar steak. Did it taste good? Yes. Was the texture uneven across the steak? Yes. Was it cooked to the temp I liked? Well, partially. By the bone? Yes. On the edge? No. It was more medium/medium well in coloring than rare. That was because I think it was a sous vide steak that was either packed into a container with too many steaks and not enough water flow or something else entirely that I just can't figure out. I mean, a thin cut can easily be fumbled - this steak was thin. I ate it, and was happy enough to do so. Please keep that in mind in reading my words - it tasted good and was very well seared. It just doesn't match its price point, in my opinion.

The loaded potato wasn't really loaded, it was just a baked potato with butter and sour cream and overcooked, dry bacon jerky. The jacket of the potato was dry and by the end had a flavor I cannot identify. Not a bad one, per se, just... off. Not enough to bring to the attention of our delightful server, but enough of one to change the overall flavor profile. If you don't eat potato jackets, then the rest of the potato is excellent.

The other diners with me enjoyed their meals, which were not steaks, but pasta based. I envy them their experience.

The bread was very good.

Dessert was very good, and since it was a trial run, I gave my feedback to our server at the time. The drinks were mixed well, and presented quite nicely.

Overall, this place would be 5 stars if the price didn't inflate expectations. I am, days later, left feeling underwhelmed by my experience at this place, and only suggest that you attend to give the staff your business. I was deeply impressed with the way the team worked together, and how our server was on the ball the whole time. I would name them for kudos, but my review may not be seen as positive to the owners, and I wouldn't want to tie our wonderful server to my...

The food was delicious—The service was lackluster.

Some notes—they could use more servers and hosts. We greeted the (what appeared to be the GM or head of staff) who was at the host stand and they seemed overwhelmed with their tasks. If you want scenic seating I would specify that in your reservation. I did not and was seated at a table too large for two people, in the dark corner by the bathroom and bar. The volume of the ambiance and size of the table made it hard to communicate with company.

The waiter forgot about our table, I know that because he told us that. It was the first thing he said when he came up to our table. It seemed every time he came to check on us (which was 4-5 times throughout an hour and a half meal) he greeted us with an apology. When I asked for the bread service his reply was to say how he needs to remember to ask people about that. One of the times he came to check on us, I wanted to put my desert order in (because who knows how long it would’ve been until I saw him next) he asked if it would be alight if he took the tables order behind me first—I said okay—but if he could’ve heard my inner monologue. I just thought it was very rude and scatter brained. I get the hustle and bustle of opening week, but it was disappointing to literally pay for that experience to be forgotten by our server. The tip should’ve gone to the food runners and bus boys, as they were more attentive to us.They also have a card fee so if you pay cash, let them know so they can remove that. Our waiter did not ask, and almost charged us that fee.

The food was FANTASTIC, the drinks are great too. The chefs and bartenders are the real stars of this place. We got the scallops, filet, NY strip, side of garlic mash, and the apple crumble for dessert. The steak was perfect—most likely the best you can find in Olympia and well worth the price. The sides are sold separate, which I think if they reduced the size of the sides (They are 2-3 servings each) and just put the sides with the entrees and increased the price $5-$10 per item it would be a better menu experience. The apple crumble was more like apple soggy, but the flavors and flakey edges were delicious. Overall LOVE this menu.

Also, with the menu prices I was concerned how dressed up or down to be, but people had flip flips, tennis shoes, and shorts on, so its more casual than the...