LongHorn Steakhouse — Restaurant in Town of Babylon

First, let me say that I had given up on steakhouse restaurants a long time ago. I find almost all of them overrated and overpriced for what you're getting. After all, how much should a good steak cost? Well, let's just say, "Whatever you're willing to pay." I was invited to a family dinner outing at Longhorn steak house a couple of weeks ago. When we arrived, the parking lot was jammed. After finally getting a parking space, we now had to contend with an hour and a half wait to be seated. After some discussion, the family agreed to wait. Seeing this and how many people they were turning away, I said to myself, " This must be some great steakhouse." Hmmm, read on. We were finally seated with appetizers ordered. The waitress eventually brought their fried onion appetizer with dipping sauce. Sorry, I don't remember the name, but I'm sure you're familiar with this offering and know what I'm talking about. It was nothing special, and had the taste and aroma of frialator grease. It was very unappetizing. A while later, the steaks came. I ordered my steak MEDIUM, not Medium Rare. I made sure my server understood this at the time I placed my order. What I received was a very rare steak that had so much salt on it that I should have sent it back because it was borderline inedible but was afraid to do so. I'm sure I would have incurred an unacceptable wait time for a replacement. To quote a line from a popular movie, "The steak was so rare it still had marks on it where the jockey was hitting it." Thank heavens I didn't have to pay for this dinner. Someone in my family picked up the tab. For years now, whenever I've wanted a good steak, I've headed over to my Butcher and have him cut a porterhouse or a ribeye steak. I pay between 30 and 50 dollars for a beautiful steak. It easily feeds two people, with ample leftovers, for a late snack, or some good pickings the next day. It is usually better than any steak, from any restaurant, at any price!!! Believe me, I understand most people either don't have the skill, time, or willingness to cook, and that's ok. All I'm saying is that in my case, I'm tired of getting my wallet cleaned out for substandard food. It has become the rule rather than the exception. I'd like to leave you with a few thoughts. Longhorn steakhouse will never see me again. They're a far cry from Ruth's Chris, or Peter Lugers. By the way, I know these named establishments by reputation only. I find it very amusing how most people are very willing to easily pay in excess of one, two, or even three hundred dollars or more when dining out at these higher end establishments, but are very reluctant to pay thirty to fifty dollars for a superior cut steak from a good butcher that they have to cook themselves. Have we become that complacent? Apparently so. Oh, well, as a dear friend of mine used to say, "Such is life." Remember what I always say. We all vote with our dollar, and the best food you will ever eat is from your...

Visited LongHorn Steakhouse in Farmingdale with my fiancé for the first time ever yesterday. Overall it was just down right terrible experience. I would give it 1 star but our serve chastity was the absolute greatest. She was sweet, bubbly, knowledgeable and very accommodating. Other than her, this place is NOT on my list to visit ever again. We ordered the Texas Margarita to begin.. it tasked like lime water, so I switched to Miller, which was fine, as it should be.. it’s draft beer after all. Next we went to order their version of the “blooming onion” the “tonoion” they call it and of course they were all out.. bummer. However, after our experience with the food it prob wouldn’t of been anything to rant and rave out anyways so we got the spicy chicken bites.. they were surprisingly good and the sauce was delicious.. maybe the best thing on their menu lol. Onto the entrees.. first off how is the biggest sirloin you offer 8oz? You’re a steak house… 8oz? My unborn son can eat an 8oz steak. Where the 10/12/16oz sirloins at like many other steak houses? Sure they offer “Tbones” that were “20oz” but it ain’t really 20oz, Bc of the big bone. ALL their steaks that were over 12oz were all bone in steaks. Nice try longhorn but cowbone is heavy.. you might fool other but not me. I grew up in the restaurant business.. and I was definitely disappointed. So I had to order an 8oz sirloin with a side of steak, would you imagine? Lol. I will say this, my steaks were cooking great. I ordered it rare and it was cooked just so, and it was very tasty.. so props to the chef, on my side. My fiancé however, she wasn’t so lucky. She ordered medium rare and it came out med well.. however chastity makes it right Bc she actually cares about her guests experience. She made her a brand new one, and it was cooked much better. She didn’t care for her rice, she said it was bland and our side of steakhouse Mac, also was very underwhelming. It needed to be seasoned by someone other than Stevie wonder. The manger came over and we voiced our disappointment.. she did what she could and gave us a discount.. however the bill was still on the high side considering the lack luster food and sheer disappointment overall. Will not be returning, I really understand why outback absolutely crushed longhorn and have many more locations. If chastity was smart she would take her talents to a different franchise or restaurant Bc she is way too good for this place. If you decide to go here, good luck. Just make sure you eat before you come Bc if you don’t.. you’ll prob leave hungry and...

A pleasantly and surprisingly much better than I had expected. At first I thought it was going to be like an Applebee's or an outback, but was far better than that. The interior was more of fine restaurant. They don't take reservations so get there early to avoid long delays. We got there at 6:30 and had a 30 minute wait. We got two drinks at the crowded bar at cost us $20 with tip. We were taken to our seat and greeted by our waiter Damien, who was quite personable. We ordered the wild west shrimp which we were told was a fan favorite. It was a very nice portion for two people for about 12 bucks. My girlfriend order the 12 oz ribeye and I ordered the 18 Oz ribeye. Both came with two sides so we both got Caesar salads and vegetables. she ordered the steam broccoli and I ordered the honey roasted brussel sprouts. The brussel sprouts were amazing. The service was excellent and the steaks came pretty quickly despite the crowd. We both ordered our steaks medium rare but when I cut into mine it was very rare, so I asked to have it sent back and they were glad to accommodate. About eight minutes later the manager brought a new steak out that was cooked to perfection and apologized for the previous error. So all's well that ends well. so all total including drinks at the bar and an additional glass of wine with dinner, it all came to about $120 with tip. Bottom line is I would certainly go again, between the food and the service it was well worth the trip.

Update, we did go back only this time, the wait was an hour even though they added a policy where you can call 45 minutes ahead of time but we still waited 30 minutes after we got there. Service was slower but our server was very nice. Food was ok, I got the full rack of baby back ribs and girlfriend got the rib and chicken combo. Nice flavor but just ok. Maybe a little overcooked.

My issue this time was with the tip schedule on the receipt. 15% is no longer an option. Even worse is the fact that they calculate the tip after the tax which is sneaky and underhanded. Not only that, but we split the check with another couple and the repriced check still had the original tax recommendations rather than the revised amounts. That is downright evil. They need to fix this policy. I always tip heavy but this was ridiculous. Not sure...