Cattlemen's Steakhouse — Restaurant in Sac City

If you live in or find yourself traveling to/through the Midwest, you need to plan a stop in Sac City, Iowa. Cattleman’s is a restaurant that I have heard about, but never looked into or visited until now. Honestly, I was blown away. The staff was extraordinarily helpful and professional– you could tell that they cared about what they were doing and were happy to be working for this restaurant group. The decor and atmosphere was a nod to traditional steakhouses without being overly rustic or stereotypical urban cowboy. I truly appreciated the subtle touches that pointed towards sustainability and some best practices. A majority of the food is locally sourced, it lists where things like the oysters are being harvested from, they use metal straws, and biodegradable to go containers. Again, small, but impactful things. The spirits and food is so well done. I’m pretty sure I could talk to the owners/chefs/staff about it for hours. They have a lengthy spirit collection, their cocktails are meticulously crafted by a recently award-winning mixologist, and the food is prepared and presented beautifully. I had a very difficult time deciding the route I wanted to go, so thankfully my friend was willing to share so we could at least try a few things. My Manhattan was perfectly balanced and well made. Had I not been driving an hour home, I definitely would have loved to have tried another cocktail from their list. We opted to share the warm Caesar salad (small portion pictured) just so that we could try it. It was a delicious salad, but next time I would love to try the Scottish egg salad. The oysters (one baked and one fresh) were small, but tasty and obviously fresh. We tried the shrimp and salmon, broccolini, glazed baby carrots, a loaded baked potato, not pictured are the house fries that we took to go(you have to try the ranch!!), and of course I had to try 8 oz. fillet. After all, the restaurant is called Cattleman’s. Finally, my dining partner insisted that she had room for dessert and chose the brownie trifle. Of course, I had to snag a couple bites for the review, right?! The brownies were warm, moist, and rich. However, the passionfruit mousse cut through the richness perfectly. If I’m being overly critical, my fillet was probably a little overcooked for what I like, but not much and it was still deliciously tender and flavorful. Also, the salmon skin wasn’t as crisp as I was expecting. However, I am certain that had I let Staff know that they would have...

This was our first experience since the restaurant had been purchased and completely remodeled by its new owners a couple of years ago.

Fantastic wine and cocktail list, including a great selection of bourbon. The menu is set by “stages” - we opted for a mix of both fresh and baked oysters (both from Boston, we liked the raw oysters best) for stage 1; by stage 2 - the warm cesar salad was quite good (the soft egg was cooked to perfection) and the scallop with polenta (a highlight of the dinner - the scallop was perfectly cooked and the collection of flavors in the dish itself were outstanding). We then had stage 3 (entrees) - my husband ordered the prime rib, which was one of the best he had anywhere in recent memory; I opted for the fillet which was quite good but a tad overdone. We finished with the apple crisp for desert was more of a deconstructed version that was great in flavor but a bit lukewarm.

Service overall was good - our waitress was pleasant and attentive. The owner checked on us several times and was consistently checking on all patrons in the restaurant…you could tell that there is tremendous focus on customers and the overall service and quality. A couple of the waitresses seemed to be new and unfamiliar with the menu but not unexpected with current workforce.

This is definitely a stop you should add...

We came in on 7/27/2024, based off of an amazing experience in the past. However, we were severely disappointed. For the price of the food, it was not worth it tonight. Our drinks took quite some time, one they forgot which was a whisky over rocks (took 45 mins). We were reminded several times throughout our dinner that there #1 bartender was gone, and yes we get that but we don’t need to be reminded 20 + times. We told the owner, and he mentioned they were short staffed as well, which was disappointing. If a customer isn’t overly excited when you come to talk to them, read the room. We arrived at 6:30, and they were already out of prime rib, which was a major disappointment. The lobster bisque was loaded with pepper, so it almost tasted burnt. One of the waitresses on shift tonight was setting up a table, and wiped the plate off with a dirty rag that was sitting next to the cleaners. The AC needs fixed, the temperature was uncomfortable. I don’t like to give small businesses bad reviews, but considering I’ve recommended this place to others based off of my experience from 2 years ago I won’t recommend this...