Hondos — Restaurant in Short Pump

My experience was a 3-star for three major reasons. It is now a 1-star for the response from Toni, manager at Honodo's. 7 drink orders were placed individually and all 7 required us to flag down our server to place that refill order. When a guest asked to take home the remainder of their meal, our server Jack gave her to go container while she sat at the table. A manager brought my rib order to my table and stated "if you finish that, I'll buy you a drink" I finished the ribs entirely and then was questioned by both Jack and the manager if the offer was indeed given and if I truthfully finishe . In addition to those three the ribs were delicious to the taste but over cooked and slightly dry. The manger who offer the free drink after questioning my truthfulness asked if there was something other than a drink I would like since I do not drink alcohol I originally stated that I was ok. He persisted and I let him know that I had ordered a dessert. He further offered to comp it. When the check arrived, it was on my bill and I had to remind Jack to correct. I waited a week to ensure that my response waa unemotional and as I had clients that I was entertaining, I was not in my best interest to address it at the time in front of my clients. When I called and spoke with Toni, she listened and would also apologize which was appreciated until she responded to Jack's conduct to my client when he belittled them with questions that "that's not what Jack meant"

She committed to talk to Jack, the manager, and the owne . She called today and offered a $100 gift card for my complaints and breezed over the agreed upon failures only to further emphasize that Jack was correct, and so was her manage . When she spoke to me she would interrupt to argue aggressively. When I noted her interruptions, she stated that I could "just talk to the owner". Then she disconnected the cal . Shortly after the owner called me on my personal cell phone, attacked my character, validated her without a word from me with her 18 years of service and his 50+ years industry experience. Then he commanded that I listen as he argued against every failure both his manager, Jack and manager confirmed. Then stated that he never wanted me to come bac . As if that was even an option.

I am astounded that this was there reply to a managers unsolicited commitment failure to follow through, Jack's 3-star service with drinks and food to take home, and mediocre ribs. Wow. And I didnt even want a refun . I just expressed...

When I walked in I was greeted with a friendly smile from the hostess. The dining room was beautiful. The server had a trainee with him. I said it was my first time in and wanted to know what to expect. The server had no response. I thought especially with a trainee, he would have "walked me through the menu" and all of its options. IE: Lunch specials, add-on options, Happy Hour menu, or talk about dinner service. He simply poured me water from a pitcher. The water had paper or something in it & the server took it away immediately. When he brought back another water, it too had many particles of ?? paper in it. He looked frustrated when I said something about it and he brought me a bottled water. Just set it in front of me, a plastic water bottle NO GLASS to consume it from, said nothing and walked away. finally the server returned and asked if I was ready to order. He didn't ask if I'd like to start with any apps or beverages. I had to ask for a beverage menu. He looked annoyed but returned with it quickly. I had to ask if they had bread service. I saw other tables with bread, so I assumed there was. The trainee returned with the bread and piping bag of butter. The bread balls were rock hard! I could have broken a window with them. As if they were baked and then microwaved to reheat. Also, it would have been nice to be forewarned that the butter was sweet. When the server returned, he just asked if I was ready to order. I chose the Mahi BLT sandwich. It was not appealing to look at. The Mahi was 3 thin and flavorless pieces. (Yes, I expected a solid thick piece of well seasoned Mahi, especially with Hondo's reputation) The fries were barely warm. The fried green tomato was still hard. There was hardly any aioli on the bun and no lemon on the plate. The trainee came back to check on me. I didn't see the server till I was nearly finished and I asked for a box, which he brought quickly, no bag was offered. He didn't ask about dessert or coffee till after I asked for a check. He made sure to mention that the water and the beverage I chose was on the house and apologized for the dirty water. His service was appalling, especially as a trainer. The food was lack luster. I was really looking forward to treating myself to a fabulous experience at the much talked about Hondo's. What a...

For my boyfriends birthday he wanted a nice steak dinner so we decided to try out Hondos. I really wanted this to be a great dinner and it just wasn't. When we walked in we were ignored by the hostess that was putting the specials list in the menus, we were greeted by the other hostess and then seated near the bar. It probably would have been fine if it was a quiet bar but it was not, the bar was very loud with people yelling, singing and what not. So there went the quiet elegant atmosphere I was hoping for.

The good, I ordered the rib eye which was great! You really can't ruin a rib eye though. Also the Caesar salad was excellent, probably the best I've had. So if you go for the salad and a rib eye its great. Our server was very nice so that was a plus.

The not so good, My boyfriend ordered the 12oz Oscar style filet. The filet was way too big, I would have thought they would have broken it down a little more so that it would cook properly. It looked like a baseball on his plate, it being such a big cut made it impossible to be cooked the way he was hoping for, he ordered it medium-rare. The center was ok but the outside was tough. The Oscar style meant it was topped with crab meat which was obviously canned meat and it was dry so that was disappointing. He also ordered the potato wedges as a side, thinking they would be a little nicer than just a fried potato with ketchup but that is exactly what he got. We ordered the mushroom and onion side to share, we were hoping for a side that could be eaten alone but it was mostly onion. It did however make a good topping for my rib eye. The knob creek neat my boyfriend was drinking were definitely poured light(less than two fingers) which was a little disappointed seeing as how they were $11 per glass. Overall it wasn't completely terrible but it definitely was not worth the money we spent and it wasn't at all what I expected from a "4 star"...