Lincoln Steakhouse & Bar — Restaurant in Paradise Valley

What a night, until the food came! Went to the Lincoln room to celebrate a birthday. We had made reservations and told them this when we made the reservations and upon arrival, most places would have said something like "I see you are celebrating a birthday tonight with us, who's may I ask is it?" Not a peep, we did tell the hostess that we were celebrating a birthday and she says great and brought us to our table. Great views, well made drinks although not consistent, two of us ordered an Old Fashion, one came with 3 cherries and one with 2, not a big deal but when you go somewhere that's supposed to be great it all starts with consistency. We also ordered a bottle of wine. The server, when going over the menu spoke about the special Spanish oven they have and being the only one in Arizona. However, it's not that special is you haven't perfected using it. But going on his recommendation, Three of us ordered the Filet Mignon, 2 med rare and one rare+ and I ordered the 18 hr Short Rib. When the food came out they had little cows noting the degree of doneness, how wrong could they be! The rate+ was cooked more than the med rare, which were both cooked to med. They short rib, which was actually a full beef rib, tasted like pot roast that was cooked a few days ago. When they server came back to check on us and asked how everything was one of us stated his Filet was overcooked and the server simply responded "well, I didn't cook the steak" and walked away!! We were left there dumbfounded. Thought maybe he'd send a manager over or do something, never saw him until he brought the check. We'll get to that later. We ordered four different sides, the butter mashed potatoes were very good, brussel sprouts and green chili Mac and cheese were fair, the portabella mushrooms were simply terrible, hard to even cut with a steak knife they were so over cooked. Then time for dessert, again we mentioned that it was one of our birthdays. When the desserts came out the birthday girls dessert had "Happy Birthday" written on it and the server (not the one that took out order)delivered it he said happy birthday to her. The desserts were good. When the server brought the check I noticed he had charged us for a different bottle of wine than the one that we had ordered, when I brought this up he said "well they are both in the same bin" but this time he did unwittingly correct it. Needed I say overall we were disappointed, from the service to the food this is definitely a place I would not recommend to eat. But a nice place to have a few drinks and sit outside and...

Take a beautiful terrace/patio, amazing view, and great service; then, add discounted drinks and fantastic light fare - all together a great evening. We've dined twice while staying in Scottsdale this month and each time was exceptional. In this time, while in town, we've realized how happy hour is quite 'the event' here - sooo many places, so little time. Here's the specifics:

In Paradise Valley, the higher-court of Scottsdale, driving west on Lincoln off Scottsdale Rd, past resorts and some of the best real estate in the area, is JW Marriott. The resort itself is quaint with villas set in the hills with a beautiful golf course which surrounds the banquet facilities, restaurant and bar.

The patio is flanked with several sitting areas, one in particular is vast with a huge fire 'pit' - one can strike-up conversations with the areas finest and those visiting from a far. It can feel very high-end but extremely casual - that's what makes Scottsdale fantastic.

The menu is interesting for happy hour - one item in particular cannot be missed - the popover (2) $5 is nearly a meal in itself. It's served with fresh butter and sea salt (amazing). The deviled eggs (3 halves) were tasty - $5. The truffle fries were worth the happy price of $6. And a previous visit had us trying the shrimp cocktail $11 and Burgandy Escargot $7 (the latter a better choice).

Specialty drinks like the Bramble is exceptional (fresh blackberries and top shelf tequila) and the wine is OK (I've had better but $6 isn't soo bad).

Overall BLT Steak should be on your agenda while in Scottsdale - it's relaxing and romantic with views of the mountains (fantastic setting for a sunset). It isn't too 'fancy' and a great place...

My husband and I LOVE trying a new steak place. We are accustomed to going out once every few months and spending a good $300+ on a good steak dinner. He found this one and we were excited for something different but man do we REGRET our decision!!!!

Appetizers: The French onion soup was so gross and flavorless! They put a pile of onions and a cheese stick in beef broth and call it French onion! Stay clear of this! My husband ordered the wedge and it was decent but the smallest wedge I’ve ever seen for $20.

Dinner: I ordered a fillet and for $70 you would think they would have added salt and pepper. They touted their grill they bought from Spain but they must have forgotten to buy seasoning. Not only was my steak tasteless it was cooked to almost well done. My husbands KC was so full of grisl that he could barely eat it. His was also overcooked and had no seasoning.

Sides: we had the Mac and cheese, broccoli and au gratin potatoes. The only thing that was edible without salt and pepper was the mac and cheese but honestly KFC has better Mac and cheese.

Not only was our food bland and overcooked but it took nearly 45 minutes to come out. We left without dessert as we couldn’t imagine spending more money when we were disappointed with every course thus far! Let’s just say it was so bad we didn’t even consider bringing the left overs home to the dog.

If you are over 60 and looking for a bland meal this is your place. Young and with tastebuds stay...