TJ Highland Steakhouse — Restaurant in Town of Black Wolf

Refined food, great selection of wine and liquors, wonderful interior design concept, but mediocre customer service which appears to be (imo) a matter of staff training, management, and maybe chef personality? A few examples are:

Chef is good, but temperamental, and gets visibly upset upon receiving minor but relevant customer comments at the restaurant. I have also observed his resistance and refusals to adjust menu items for the catering customers' preferences. Overall he is an odd choice considering he's in the service industry and behaves like a diva when he can't or won't even make a good popover.

On a Thursday evening in August, we (a party of 2) arrived at 8:06 PM with the last seating at 8:00 (which is extremely early on a Thursday IMO) and they refused to seat us even with decades of being a club member and several tables eating. The host asked the manager if she could seat us and he said no. But a smart manager can juggle cost management and late diners with less than an ounce of creativity and flexibility. So why dont they?

Regarding the popovers... oh boy. Big subject. The popovers have been a part of OCC history and for many years were reliable fluffy and moist and a topic of conversation among the card playing bakers who frequented the club. So much so that even as chefs changed, the popovers remained a hallmark and a joyful moment for the diners. But this chef has managed to turn a thing of beauty into a hard and dry focal point of disappointment. Supposedly he provided some excuse one evening about the lower quality flour he was able to get. Right. Does he just hate popovers or the customers? It's hard to tell.

TJ's Steakhouse can be and has been a lovely experience sometimes, but only on their terms. Mediocre service equals mediocre experience even if the food and setting is very high end and a lovely contribution to the area. But for the price, and what they're trying to achieve, this place should work harder to to get top marks in the quality of...

I have tried TJ’s over and over. The food is nothing less than mediocre. Continually I have had food that was way overcooked. Chicken Parmesan that you couldn’t cut with a steak knife. Halibut that was so overcooked that it was chewy. The waiter even said it was way overcooked. A few weeks ago we had the pork chop special. My chop was still oinking, and my dinner companion’s chop was so tough, she couldn’t cut it. The waitress brought out a different knife for her to try to cut it, and she still couldn’t cut it, so the waitress took it out to the kitchen for the chef to cut it. Absolutely ridiculous! Numerous times I have ordered the caramelized brussels sprouts. They are not caramelized at all, they are barely cooked, and hard as a rock. There is no caramelization on them period!!! My last dining experience there was the Thanksgiving buffet which was absolutely terrible!!!!! Everything was overcooked and even the basics like sweet potatoes and mashed potatoes were disgusting. For $48 a person plus tip, for absolutely terrible food is ridiculous. The golden corral has better food than that! I spoke with five different people that went to TJ‘s for the buffet, and they all said it was terrible. One person thought they got food poisoning. There are better places to eat in Oshkosh at half the price. I don’t mind spending $75 on dinner if it’s excellent food. This is not excellent quality food. The chef seems to have an awful high opinion of himself. I have had two friends that went to Christmas parties there, and they said the food was mediocre. I don’t know how they think they can charge huge prices for awful food? The owner needs to reevaluate his kitchen staff and make the necessary changes.

I will say, the wait staff has always been great! The owner needs to reevaluate the kitchen staff, and make some major changes to them...

I really wanted to like this place. Its prices and menu items somewhat remind me of Lombardis in Appleton. Since we've been to Lombardis many times over the years we thought we'd try something different. And I will say that the appetizers we had were good. The oysters on a half shell were among the best I've had in Wisconsin. No, they didn't have that briny taste that you normally get from the freshest oysters at coastal California restaurants - but that's not fair to expect so I'm not faulting TJs.

The sides were good, just not the massive portions that you get at Lombardis. At that place, one side can easily serve three or four diners. Maybe I'm just spoiled. A TJs side will reasonably serve two if you're not total pigs.

So why the three stars? Mainly because the steaks were a letdown. I would have thought they would be the centerpiece of this restaurant. The Delmonico was decent but nothing special for $50.00. The Wagyu was $60something and while it was juicy and flavorful, it also seemed to contain a surprising amount of fat chunks and connective tissue. When I've bought Wagyu steaks from the local butcher shop, they have been well-marbled instead of fatty and you could almost cut them with a spoon. And that's just me cooking them on my gas Weber grill. I don't have the high-temperature broiling equipment or the cooking skills that a chef at a high-end restaurant would have.

When you're spending $200-300 on dinner for two, you normally expect a memorable experience. Next time we're in the mood for good steak we'll either go back to Lombardis or I'll get steaks from Niemuth's Meat Market and grill them myself. Either one would be a huge...