The Tenderloin Room — Restaurant in St. Louis

Possibly the most expensive steak in America! If I could choose no stars, I would consider it. We had a very disappointing experience with their service and management this past summer. The menu stated their filet as “market price,” but it was not listed anywhere in the restaurant or disclosed at the time of ordering. Based on other items on the menus and past experience at other classy steakhouses, we made the unfortunate assumption that a market price 10-12 oz filet would be somewhere around $50-$60. There were four of us dining, we all ordered filets and we only had a couple drinks. They were out of the sides we wanted, so we were comped French fries and mushrooms. We received the bill and it was over $600! We were shocked and paid it at the time, out of respect for our guests and the server who was already struggling and figured we would go back in the morning to straighten things out. We went back the next day and met the manager, who shall remain unnamed out of respect for them as an individual, since I don’t personally know them. We asked how much market price filets were and were informed us that they were $110 each 😧. Again, shocked! The manager stated that they were busy and that we could call or email them directly at a later date to see if there was anything he could do. I have eaten at many 5+ star steakhouses across the country and have never in my life paid that much for an okay steak that wasn’t even presented well (literally just the steak on a plate, no garnish, no side, nada). I did some research on surrounding high end steakhouses in St Louis and those filets were not even close to this price. The market prices according to the USDA data for prime wasn’t even in this ballpark either. We emailed the manager shortly afterwards, expressing our dissatisfaction with the price and concerned that they were not operating in good faith by not disclosing that cost or providing it anywhere. We never heard back, further disappointed once again by this now ongoing experience.. Buyer beware, make sure you ask what market price is for an okay steak at this place. Will not be recommending The Tenderloin Room and at least it makes for an interesting story for us and we have an inside joke about what “market price” means, if nothing else. I looked at their menu online today and they do in fact have their prices listed now, four months later, so maybe this wasn’t the first time patrons were unhappy...

A Central West End Association event brought us to the Tenderloin Room, which purported to be providing free appetizers and 'happy hour' drink prices. When we walked in, the waiter (who looked and acted like he was drunk, and hadn't shaved in a week) mumblingly asked what we wanted to drink, and I asked for a menu, because I wanted to know the prices. He looked at me blankly, and said again 'what do you want'. I asked for a menu again, but he would not let me have one, so our party of four just ordered; three glasses of wine and an amaretto sour. The wine tasted like it was from a $5 bottle from the supermarket, and the amaretto 'sour' was actually just amaretto and water. Absolutely appalled; I thought this place was supposed to be 'high end'? Our waiter did not seem to understand anything we said, and when we didn't say the things he wanted to hear (eg 'another drink please') he just shook his head and looked blank at us. Personally I believe this was acting; why would the TR hire a waiter who couldn't understand simple requests? The one time we have gone to the TR before, our waiter (a different guy) looked and acted pretty similarly. Perhaps it is part of the 'authentic experience' to have drunken bums as ones waiters? The free appetizers turned out to be crackers with those squares of cheese you get at Schnucks. Fail. And then our bill arrived, and the 'happy hour' drink prices were $11 per glass of wine! I wouldn't pay HALF that for a BOTTLE of that wine! We complained to our waiter, but he just looked blank again, and sent over the manager. The manager said that these WERE happy hour drink prices(!!!), and he tried to argue that we were getting a great deal. He pointed to the free appetizers (which, we found, had not been provided by the TR but by the CWEA anyway) and seemed to be making out we were ungrateful. We paid up, but we only tipped 10%, and we will...

I have eaten at many steakhouses (Peter Luger in NYC for ex.) and they are often rustic, wooden and always have great steak. The steak is usually $25 - $60. I decided to splurge and have one. Unfortunately it was burnt on the outside and lacked the flavor of a great piece of meat - I had the Filet Mignon. I had ordered a medium rare, which it was, but the burnt crust ruined it for me, It was not even at a (mediocre) Texas Roadhouse standard. The inside mushy, even though it normally would nto be even if cooked rare. The twice baked potatoes weren't that great either, dry and crusty - what about baked potatoes with the skin on or mashed potatoes with skin left in whipped with butter or wasabi or herbs? Their potatoes did nto taste fresh and were a bit dry. The teasted ok, but I could make better ones myself. The "famous" steak sauce that they make in house was ok, but not as good as A1 (but I prefer no sauce). The vegetables were steamed beans that were ok, but nothing to write home about (what about broccoli raab! or steamed broccoli with salt?). The wine was excellent, the service good, but waiter was somewhat robotic (we joked he might be an android). He lacked the charm you might expect. For desert we had cherries jubilee which was wonderful - he made it in front of us, fire blazing, a real event - yet he did not let the alcohol really burn off all the way leaving our heads spinning. To be honest, it was everything I expected from a steak house - yet - the steak was not all that great. Otherwise...