LongHorn Steakhouse — Restaurant in Springfield

I used to prefer Longhorn over other steakhouses. I'm going to have to start going back to other places because I am done with paying $20+ for steak that is a horrible piece of meat. I expect better steaks than the last two that I've had from Longhorn at a IHOP and I don't order steak at IHOP. I didn't send it back. I sawed through it and literally toughed it out.

The staff was friendly, service was good (I still tipped 20%) and the restaurant was clean but that doesn't make up for the inferior quality of meat offered at this Longhorn.

Pick a different restaurant or cook at home if you want a good steak. Getting a good steak at Longhorn is long gone.

-----------------------------Update------------------------------ So Longhorn contacted me about the above review, apologized, gave me $25 coupon and asked me to give Longhorn another try. I don't do reviews to gain anything from the places that I patron. I do reviews to tell about my experience. The only things that I ever want from restaurant are good food and respectful service. That's it.

I went back to Longhorn a week later after the above review. I ordered the same meal as before: a ribeye medium well with a sweet potato and broccoli. My steak was the same horrible quality as before but this time cooked worse. I don't even care about how bad it was prepared. The piece of meat brought out to me was not a ribeye by definition. There was zero marbling in either steak and both were very tough and dry. Longhorn has heavy duty steak knives that make cutting virtual effortless. That was not the case with the so called ribeye. At this point, I had lost all faith that I could get a palatable steak so I ordered chicken tenders. That's is nothing more underwhelming than eating chicken tenders while dining at a steakhouse.

I went back to Longhorn because my mom enjoys the salmon. I didn't spend the $25 coupon. I feel the coupon was just hush money vouchers. The steak was still inferior regardless of who was fitting the bill. I paid for my meal like you're supposed when you patron any restaurant. Still tipped over 20%. The waitress said that the manager was going to stop by our table but that didn't happen. Unless, he is responsible for picking the cuts of meat being offered, addressing me was unnecessary.

I hate this review because I shouldn't have been given a reason to write it and definitely a reason to write it twice. I have no plans of eating at Longhorn anytime soon. They can have the coupon back because they don't offer anything that I would use it for even if I chose to do so. If they served quality, Longhorn wouldn't be compelled to give out hush money vouchers.

If you are in the mood for a ribeye, Longhorn is not the place to get one. Maybe Longhorn should start selling pancakes and leave the steaks to IHOP or Denny's. I will be at Texas...

When this restaurant first opened, my wife and I would go there for dinner about six or seven times a year. However, starting about two years ago, we dropped this to about twice a year. The service was still fine, the food is a little pricey, but not bad. The wait time isn't bad either. They do not take reservations, but you can call ahead of leaving home to minimize the wait.

So what is the problem? The quality of the steaks, and the way they are cooked. Two years ago I ordered an Outlaw Ribeye. Some restaurants call this cut a Cowboy Ribeye. It is basically a much larger bone-in ribeye. It was riddled with gristle and had large globs of fat attached. Now some fat on this cut on the outside edges, along with proper marbeling are signs of a good steak. I complained, and was told that is how they all are. I disagreed and told the waitress to please relay to the cook the problem. I got no further response, so I politely left.

A year and a half ago I went back. This time I ordered a New York Strip cooked medium. It was darn near mooing when it came, with lots of blood surrounding the steak. I thought maybe the translation got lost between myself to the waitress to the cook. I sent it back and it still came back bleeding profusely. Now most of you know that a medium steak should be pink in the middle. I sent it back two times. The last time it was burnt. I refused to eat it. I just asked for the bill and for the waitress to explain to management what happened.

A year ago I went to LongHorn Steakhouse and ordered salmon. It was indeed a delightful experience.

Six months ago I ordered the Outlaw Ribeye again. It was undercooked and had and abundance of gristle. However, the steak was cooked properly after I returned it. The fat was correctly trimmed on this one. If only there had been less gristle like in the early years of this restaurant, which really isn't that old.

Two days before Christmas, I took my wife and one of my daughters there again. This time my wife ordered salmon, my daughter ordered a sirloin cooked medium, and I ordered a 12 oz. ribeye, medium. My wife's salmon was wonderful. However, both my daughter received our requested medium steaks well done on the inside and burnt on the outside. Being in a bit of a hurry, we ate them anyway. The flavor was great for charred steaks that were not pink in the middle.

In my opinion, the cook(s) can't get it right. It will be a long time, if ever, before I go back. I get steaks cooked better as Outback, Chesapeake Seafood House, Smokey Bones, Hickory River Barbecue, Anderson's and some other mom and pop shops. I have also had some bad experiences with the steak quality and preparation at Texas...

EDIT Our last visit was much better than the previous. Had roughly a 15min wait despite numerous staff and a mostly empty dining room. Service itself was night & day difference in comparison to previous visit. Everything tasted delicious and the server even offered drinks to go.

30 minute wait which I wouldn't have minded if when we were finally seated I saw numerous tables available. After being seated we ordered drinks that didn't arrive for another 10 minutes. Ordered an appetizer that never came. We were given bread but server didn't return to take our order for another 20-30 minutes. Our salads arrived a few minutes prior to our meals. My meal was good but my wife and mother in law's chicken strip meals were puny (slightly bigger than popcorn chicken). Fortunately they both ordered 9 pieces so there were still plenty to be shared amongst the 4 of us. The server seemed to want to rush us out as we were given our check just a few minutes after our meals arrived at which point we told her we may be ordering desserts. She returned again a few minutes after to ask about our dessert order (again not even halfway through our meal). We were there 2 hours total due to waiting for a table and slow service. We still tipped well even though our service was...