Black Rock Steakhouse — Restaurant in Springfield

Finding ourselves in Vermont for our 30th wedding anniversary, we sought out what appeared to be a nice restaurant which had a good menu and reviews.

My husband and I split the tuna appetizer. It was fresh, plus perfectly seared and seasoned served over seaweed salad.

For dinner we each chose filet mignon medium rare. He had it with mashed potatoes and bearnaise and chose the day's vegetable which was broccoli. He requested cheese sauce on the broccoli and they obliged. His steak was prepared as ordered and the meat was flavorful. He enjoyed the mashed potatoes but especially enjoyed the thick, creamy cheese sauce and broccoli, commenting that the broccoli was tender from crown to stem.

My filet mignon was served with Oscar topping. A beautiful presentation of asparagus and crab legs radiated from the filet mignon. Unlike my husband's, my dinner was on two stacked plates. The server warned me that the top plate was hot. My steak was medium, not medium rare as ordered. I can only guess that to finish the Oscar, the filet wound up in an oven -- hence the hot plate and lack of medium rare meat. Instead of the vegetable, I opted for a house salad. It was garden fresh. I chose sweet potato fries which were delicious.

I ordered the special blueberry margarita with a sugared rim. It wasn't very strong and was a little heavy on the ice cubes.

It was a good meal and plentiful servings. We left with take home bags.

Overall a good experience, but not a place to go for a special night out. The exterior looks somewhat fancy. The interior was more of a pub-meets-wine-and-cheese establishment. Clientele were laid back, casually dressed with some who seemed like regulars were hanging out at the bar. A few diners wore shorts.

The server brought us menus which were back-lit, however one wasn't working. That's something that should be checked before given to a diner. She was very sweet and attentive to us, but was not on top of clearing dishes as other food was brought out, leaving the table crowded.

Bottom line -- you'll enjoy a good meal at Black...

If it weren't for their awesome steaks and prime rib, we definitely wouldn't keep coming back and putting ourselves through such unpleasant dinner experiences. We find ourselves complaining every single time we give them another chance. We've just come to realize that this place is just very poorly managed. Their dingy dirty tables, messy floors, and their new big light up menus, are always filthy with crusted food droppings, ring marks from drink glasses, and dirty finger prints. Have also had to send drinks back many times either because our glasses were gritty to the touch, or there was no detectable alcohol in our pricey cocktails. I always order the same drink, for a whoppin $11 each, yet never know what size glass it'll come in. It's ranged from a tiny water glass to large pint sized beer glasses. Consistency and training is key, and this place is desperate for both. They've had no problem raising their prices considerably, but management should really be raising their level of expectations. Those new menus were actully beautiful and pretty cool when they first came out, no other place has that around here. But now they're FILTHY GROSS, and don't even light up half the time anymore. Wiping those down should be the sidework of the waitstaff, or hostess, EVERY SHIFT, or at the very least...when noticeably grimy. The last 4 times we've gone there, we joke about how nobody's gotten around to cleaning them yet STILL. But it's exactly how the rest of the place is cared for, or not cared for rather! No expectations, or consistency in training. However, I will say to whomever is in that kitchen cooking the food, WELL DONE!! Your food is amazing!! Not once have we complained or had to send anything back. You alone are the ONE REASON, we choose to keep spending our money here!! That and the lack of competition in our area for a nice rib eye or prime rib dinner!! For that reason, and the whole cooking on the "Rock" experience... this place has so so much more potential...just not in the hands it's...

Okay, I'll start off. Reservations for 6pm, seated fairly accordingly but never handed menus or given water. We got the menus ourselves. Sure, cool lighted menu but poorly formatted it seems.

My partner had to get up and ask the hostess for service because after 15 minutes no one came over to check in for drinks nor even give water. Ordered fairly easily for drinks and the appetizers. Partner got his order correctly, but it seems the menu has a serious problem for the waitresses.

I felt like Gordon Ramsey because I asked if the sweet potato fries were frozen and the waitress didn't even know.

There wasn't an actual drink menu aside from up on the blackboard which is super hard to see once seated...and no pricing. I hate to be this person, so much, but it's just so hard to find positive things in this experience of mine. No, I didn't feel entitled because it was my birthday I just expected decent service.

I ordered the chicken caprese with the fries and a house salad. The waitress comes back and says "sorry, that's gonna be an upcharge on those items". She thought I was ordering the CAPRESE SALAD instead of CHICKEN CAPRESE. I don't think she knew the menu, but I pointed out the items I was ordering, I didn't touch the caprese salad side at all. I was not expecting to go out for dinner and only get an appetizer salad and frozen sweet potato fries. I will not be going back and will seethe about a failed dinner for quite a while because it was just so upsetting for me. I hate making a big deal out of things but couldn't figure out what to say. I never asked for caprese salad. I also didn't ask for the end of a pickle in my plate??? Nor two pieces of hair??? Like one I'd just brush away but two different colors I'm just sputtering 🥴.

Oh, and the bread was dry and the butter tasted like country crock or some cheap stuff. Yeah, I might need quite a few years or new management to...