Durango's Tavern & Grill — Restaurant in Titusville

On Friday 6/7 we specifically took a trip to Titusville to dine at Durangos, it was very busy. We had lunch at the old location year ago and we were very happy. This visit was not the greatest. The new restaurant is beautiful but the lights were dimmed so much you can barely read the menu. We arrived at 6PM ish and we were promptly seated. We were visited by our server Maddie about 5 minutes later to place our drink order. We then waited quite some time before we saw our server again. When our drinks were finally delivered we placed our order immediately, so we did not order an appetizer (missed opportunity for a sale). Basic order, I did request tomatoes on my Caesar salad, which did not happen, so my husband gave me the tomatoes from his house salad. Our entrees took some time, which we expected due to how busy it was. Our waitress came immediately after our plates were set down to check in, we had not even cut into our steaks yet. That was the last time we saw her until she picked up our empty plates and asked if we wanted the bill (missed opportunity to sell us a second $12 cocktail and dessert). Unfortunately our steaks were overcooked, we ordered medium to medium rare. My ribeye was medium well and my husband's NY strip was medium well on one end and super well done on the other end, despite the steak being the same thickness all the way across. When I visit a steakhouse, I expect more, the steaks should be cooked properly or under for room to correct. We waited a few minutes to catch our server, but we never saw her again. We did not see a manager anywhere but we did not ask for one either. Our server did not ask us how everything was, she just removed our plates and asked if we were ready for the check. We will probably give them one more try, but we were very disappointed. The prices were high and we expected the level of service and...

Overwhelmingly negative experience - as in, if it were possible to give zero stars, I would do so.

I will have to update this review with the photos from my phone, but let me say this: if you advertise your special as "short ribs in a demi-glace sauce" and give me a single rib that has a good four inches of fat atop maybe a half-inch of meat with a slop of brown gravy? That's not going to go down well, if at all.

Perhaps our server was new. Perhaps I should have asked to speak to the manager. Let me rewind, in any event.

The issues began with drinks. The one decent wine on the list was, quite predictably, sold out. The wine I chose in its place was sour and undrinkable, and (rightly) comped. There wasn't a single decent beer on tap or in bottles. In fact, all the beer selections were pretty much the same style of beer, and none of those was a good example.

We ordered our food. The aforementioned short rib, and the salmon en croute. The side-salads came out, and a few minutes later our drinks followed. Then came the bread.

Then, maybe ten minutes after ordering, perhaps longer, our server returned to tell me that the salmon was sold out, and would I like to see the menu? Yes. Yes, I think I would like to see the menu, thank you.

The meatloaf was bready. And salty. Everything was salty. So salty that I could have drained the Sahara dry. Even the chipotle mac and cheese was salty.

All in all, it was inedible. I don't think I have ever refused a box for leftovers before (not that one was offered).

The only people who showed any degree of competence or enthusiasm were the hostesses, who were lovely.

Edited to add: it will be a cold day in Hell before I'm desperate enough or hungry enough to try...

My family and I stopped in while we were in town waiting for our cruise out of Port Canaveral to start the next day. The evening of the 28th (October) was my husband's birthday and he wanted steak, as usual. Since it was Friday night and well into a normal dinner rush, I called ahead to make sure there was no wait. When we were told there wasn't a wait, we were a bit concerned; how could a great place not be busy at that time? We went ahead and gave it a shot. I'm so glad we did!!

We started with the chips and queso appetizer. Again, we were concerned because it was nacho cheese sauce but it had a good flavor. The chips weren't thin and crispy and seemed to be just normal store bought chips that were reheated. Overall, it wasn't a bad app.

Everyone ordered steaks for their entrées. They were all ordered at different temperatures from med-rare to med-well and every one of them came out perfectly cooked. The streaks were well rested before they came to the table so they were super juicy. The flavor was spot on! No steak sauce was needed by anyone. Everyone loved the flavors of both entrée and side dishes.

My only complaint would have to be the temperature of the restaurant. It's likely because the kitchen is open so the heat of the grill flames really heat up the place. It certainly wasn't off-putting but just more stuffy than I preferred.

We loved our experience here (wish i could remember the young lady that served us) from service to food to management). This is our new go-to steakhouse when we're in the area!! It was a perfect start to our 15th wedding...