Knife Steakhouse — Restaurant in Plano

An incident occurred on 10/25/2025 when we were at the Plano location of Knife for dinner, where my wife was very disrespected.

We had reservations for 8:30 but because of our previous obligations running late, we called and let the staff know and asked if it would be possible to move the reservation to later on in the night. They said they had a 9:30 time available and since the restaurant closes at 10, we asked if that would be an issue. We were told that no, that’s absolutely fine. The kitchen closes at 10 but once we’re inside and get our food ordered, we can take our time and enjoy our meal.

While at dinner, an incident occurred where my wife was eating lobster and started having a bad allergic reaction. She normally always has lobster and this never happens. Because of this, I drove to the nearest CVS right away (which was about 6 minutes away with tolls) to get her allergy medicine. Our waiter was in the back so I let 3 other people know (one server who was next to us and two of the guys at the front entrance) that I would be about 10-15 minutes and they said that was perfectly fine, so I went.

While I was away, the waiter came by and asked my wife if she wanted things to be boxed up. She told him I was almost here and that I might want to finish up, when he pointedly looked at the watch on his wrist. He had also asked her if we wanted dessert and at that time she ordered dessert for me as well, since we were celebrating my birthday.

The waiter came by again in a little bit and asked about boxing up our meal again, so this time my wife told him to just box it up because she felt we were no longer welcome. At this time, he said to her in an annoyed tone, “And ma’am, for future reference, don’t leave the table during dinner because we do close at 10 pm”, to which my wife was very shocked and responded with “I’m sorry, I was having an allergic reaction so my husband had to run to CVS to get me medicine. He did tell several of the guys before he left.”

To this, the waiter responded with a very condescending “I understand,” as soon as the words were out of her mouth, as if wanting to end the conversation as quickly as possible.

For someone to be having an allergic reaction and the waiter to not show any sympathy or care at all and just say in a condescending tone, “I understand” is just very unexpected at a restaurant that is known to be “high end” and of Knife’s caliber. If this was a lower end chain-restaurant, we would understand the lack of care and hospitality. However, at Knife, which normally has raving reviews, it was just very uncalled for and unexpected to be asked by the wait staff to “not leave the table” during dinner, especially in the case of an emergency, and then to not even ask if she was doing okay or needed help or emergency attention was very shocking. For someone who never has allergic reactions to lobster, God forbid if anything had happened, Knife could have been liable, but the waiter staff could not even spend two minutes of their time asking if she was okay. We did not expect this out of a restaurant of this caliber.

We’ve seen similar situations happen at other restaurants and the wait staff have shown our friends concern, bringing out their medical kits and the manager coming by to speak to them.

In this scenario, we felt unwelcome and like we were being an inconvenience and they wanted us to just get out and leave.

It was extremely uncalled for of the waiter to approach my wife and ask her to “not leave the table during dinner” when she wasn’t even the one to leave. I was the one to leave and he could have suggested that to me upon my return, but finding a woman alone and making comments like that to her instead of me seemed like he wanted to take his anger out on the easy target.

We had heard raving reviews about Knife but felt very disrespected and disappointed by our experience. Because of this, we cannot agree upon the sentiment, and will not be returning to...

Our dining experience at Chef Tesar’s restaurant Knife in Plano exceeded all of my expectations- which were quite lofty! The food was beyond amazing and the service was impeccable - and this was despite the restaurant being short-staffed due to the fact that they are just relaunching dining room service. The restaurant had a nice casual elegance vibe. It was fun to look at the artwork around the restaurant. I was especially touched when my eyes landed on a portrait of Anthony Bourdain. We were seated at a table near the kitchen- which I was excited about. The line was 3 members short and they worked like crazy trying to keep up with the incoming orders. It was fascinating to watch them work. The front of house staff was also scrambling to make sure they kept diners well-taken care of - and they succeeded marvelously! Shortly after we were seated, a small platter of beautiful raw vegetables and dill dip on ice arrived. I am not a fan of raw vegetables, but the gorgeous colors of the carrots coaxed me to try the items on the tray. I had no idea there were purple carrots- and they were so yummy! The fact that they included radishes was extra special to me. My all-time favorite episode of “Top Chef” is “Choke Holds and Clammy Hands” where the elimination challenge forced cheftestants to prepare dishes that featured radishes. A basket of a variety of fresh breads arrived tableside and we chose the rosemary sourdough. It was so tasty! Our appetizer was the flight of 5 types of bacon with bacon jam. Our server cut each slice of bacon and described what it was and included details about the flavor profiles. My husband, daughter and I were all blown away by the bacon. My daughter is not a huge fan of bacon but she said the bacon flight was the best thing she has ever eaten! It’s impossible to put into words how good it was! Then the main course was served. My husband and I both ordered a 10 ounce filet with the macaroni and cheese. (Again, I loved the nod to the season 14 victory Tesar had with macaroni and cheese.) We shared a side of butternut squash that had been roasted with brown sugar. My daughter ordered lobster with drawn butter and the macaroni and cheese. Our steaks were wonderfully tender with a crisp outer layer - simply scrumptious!! The Mac and cheese was out of this world!! It was so creamy and the bacon crumbles added the perfect panache to the dish. The squash was really good too - first time I have ever eaten butternut squash. Dessert course was AMAZING! I ordered the chocolate creme brûlée and it was the best dessert I have ever eaten! Truly! My husband ordered the chocolate, hazelnut and blood orange. It was also delicious! My daughter had the chocolate and coffee cake and ice cream dessert. It was so good! We topped off our meal with a carafe of pressed coffee and a cappuccino for my daughter. They provided our desserts and coffee at no charge due to the slow service time. The entire dining experience took more than 3 hours due to the staffing issues. But the attentive staff, amazing food and my soaking up every moment made the dining experience extremely enjoyable! This dinner dethroned my former favorite- Michael Chiarello’s Bottega in Yountville. We made sure to tip well and even handed the chef a nice tip to share with his team - you should have seen his eyes light up. With the pandemic’s brutal pummeling of the restaurant industry, watching the team at Knife work so hard on our behalf was something I won’t ever forget! If you ever get the chance to dine at Knife,...

The dry aged burger is phenomenal. Being such a nice looking restaurant, you'd expect the burger to be some nouveau-sophistiquee pretentious burger. But this could not be further from the truth. The burger presentation is reminiscent of one that you would find in a 50's American diner. It's so simple: melty cheese draping the patty, 3 pickles, and caramelized onions. It's the ideal of a good chefy elevated dish - rather than being overly complex, it's pure simplicity. The patty is not too big and can be held in the hand comfortably. Most of all, it avoids what many other pretentious burger places do, and opts to go with a shorter burger that can actually fit in a human mouth. The dry aging really helps with the flavor. It could best be described as a diner burger that's on steroids. That classic hot greasy juicy burger taste is magnified ten fold in this smallish burger patty. The crust is perfect; it has a crispy character throughout the ends of the patty which is what gives a burger its flavor. The inside is a juicy buttery mince that has a deep rich flavor beyond compare (due to the dry aging). If this burger ain't the perfect one, then it's the closest thing to it. The fries are spectacular too. Being called Verde fries, I originally thought they would be drowned in green salsa, but it's actually just some salsa Verde dry herbs sprinkled onto them. They lighten up the fries and make them aromatic pieces of joy. Knife takes the classic fries format and instead of reinventing the wheel, they just add enough of a small but meaningful change that it elevates the standard fare to new heights. Lastly, the service is great. The people working there are among the nicest people I have interacted with at a restaurant. The food comes out in a timely fashion like one would expect in a well oiled kitchen.

John Tesar, the experience here exemplifies the phrase Anthony Bourdain uttered about you being the most talented chef he's ever worked with.

Addendum 6/18/22: After dining in person, the service is as impeccable as the food. The restaurant, when we came in on. Saturday lunch, is less busy than it ought to be. Given that it was mostly empty, the server gave us a wonderful, comfortable, executive table. It was a nice plus that was totally unexpected and not necessary, and it illustrates the hugely friendly service you'll find here. The ambiance inside has the class of any high end steakhouse in the DFW area, but it has a nice casual and personal touch that other luxury steakhouses miss. It's not stiff at all.

Our server Basil (yes, the same name as the herb) was probably the friendliest, most welcoming server that I've ever had the pleasure of meeting at a restaurant. Great professional service. Nice, as well as prompt, but not overbearing. Whoever he is, he deserves a raise.

As for the food itself, I had the magic burger as well as bacon sampler plate, and unsurprisingly, it's delicious. The sampler comes with immaculate smoky and rich bacon slices. The ingredients in the burger are top notch gourmet. The little touches such as Boston lettuce are premium ingredients that are appreciated by any food connoisseur. The burger itself is constructed flawlessly. Everything holds together as one as...