Jimmy Hays Steak House — Restaurant in Town of Hempstead

I've now dined at Jimmy Hayes three times, and I left feeling disappointed all three times. My last visit inspired me to share my experience.

I prefer dining in a booth. Since booth space is limited, I tip the front-of-house staff generously for their prime real estate. Before we sat down, I was down almost $100 on this occasion.

When we sat down, we ordered two drinks, and they came quickly. Unfortunately, our server did not ask if we wanted another drink when we finished our first round, through our appetizers, or while waiting for dinner. The bussers (who delivered our food) did notice and said they would tell our waiter twice, but no drink orders were taken. Finally, our second drink arrived after we were halfway through our dinner.

I ordered the fried calamari for appetizers, and my girlfriend ordered the baked clams. Go to any Italian restaurant, including your local pizzerias, and you'll have perfectly fried calamari. They should be lightly fried and tender. The Jimmy Hayes version of fried calamari was closer to jawbreakers than the actual execution of this relatively simple dish. How are they so hard to chew? Some busy restaurants will cook the calamari ahead of time and refry them to accommodate the demand, especially on a Saturday night. If you've ever had buffalo wings that were too crunchy on the outside and dry in the middle, you've also experienced this chef-indifferent food preparation technique.

My girlfriend ordered the baked clams, which were the most visually unappealing clams I've ever seen. I wasn't planning on writing a review, so I didn't take any pictures. The menu specifically said they were middle-neck clams, but I would challenge that based on their size. A middle-neck clam doesn't exceed 2.5 inches, and although I didn't measure them with a ruler, in retrospect, I would say they were slightly larger than 2.5 inches.

The issue with proper "clam size" is the quality of tenderness and flavor. The smaller the clam, the more tender and flavorful it is. My girlfriend said they had no flavor at all, which I found hard to believe, but after sampling one, I couldn't taste anything either. Not clam, garlic, butter, parmesan, or parsley. Just nothing. It would have been a great dish to put on Hell's Kitchen for the episode where the contestants must blind-taste the food and guess what they were eating.

My girlfriend ordered the filet medallions coated in black cracked black pepper au poivre (sherry cream sauce) for dinner. I was in the mood for a game bird like quail or squab, which wasn't on the menu, so I ordered the Capon.

My Capon looked very much like the giant chicken breasts I buy weekly at Stop & Shop, a couple of miles away. So much so that I looked it up on the Internet and learned it wasn't a game bird at all. It is a male castrated chicken with giant breasts. Oops, my mistake. My Capon came with almost steamed vegetables, about half cooked, if I had to guess.

I immediately thought this is what people with digestive issues eat: bland poached chicken and vegetables, although theirs is probably better prepared and didn't cost $35. Maybe it costs $41, I don't remember exactly.

My girlfriend's steak dinner received the same evaluation as her appetizer: Flavorless, which is hard to imagine for USDA dry-aged prime beef, but she was right again. I couldn't taste it either—just cracked black pepper. In fairness, though, she did say it was better when she took it to work for lunch the next day.

Our sides were sautéed forest mushrooms and creamed spinach. Both were excellent and superbly prepared. The kind of quality one would hope to experience at a fine dining establishment like Jimmy Hays.

But as good as the sides were, they weren't worth the $300 we paid for dinner. I didn't want to leave a tip at all. If I had some pocket change, I would have considered that. We felt ignored like our waiter was more focused on the larger tables for a bigger tip. I did leave a tip and justified it to myself by saying I couldn't remember seeing a better bus service in a restaurant of any...

We are def Steak lovers and have eaten everywhere, (Ruth Chris, Capital grille, Uncle jacks, Bryant and cooper, Pete Lugers, Mortons, STK, Benjamins steakhouse, NY Yankees steak house, Wolfgang, BLT, Quality Meats, Christos, to name a few) So when we pass this steak house , week day or weekend, it is always packed and figured it must be good. SO on our anniversary we made a reservation and came in. First impression , was that I was going to leave upon entering (Glad I didn't but I was very close). When entering they were so engulfed with their regulars in conversation they hadn't even noticed the fact that two people showed up for dinner. The welcoming was not warm for what i'm used to receiving at the well known higher end steak houses. I felt very turned off, after say 15 mins they realized we were there after I said is anyone here to take in the reservations? We proceeded to wait another 10-15 minutes to be seated, which is fine. They had live music by the bar area, not that you can hear what anyone is saying next to you the music made the wait less awful. I wouldn't personally put music right by the entrance where people are trying to converse but hey to each their own. ON to the saviour of our 4 star review. THE STEAK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OMG, It melted in your mouth. I felt like they had the butcher shop fresh in the back and the meat was freshly cut. It was the saviour of this visit and our waiter that I feel horrible that I forgot his name, but will update this review with his name, because he was amazing. Once seated in a cute more quiet area with cute booths, it went smooth from there. The food was absolutely great , that as I write this, my mouth is salivating. Thought the personal attention I am use to receiving wasnt there in initial phase of dinner, once seated it was a great evening. I will def return due to the...

I just went here for the first time, and it's one of the few restaurants I can't wait to go back. This is a classic steakhouse, and an excellent example of one.

For starters, service is excellent. As soon as you arrive, there is complimentary valet service. The waitstaff are friendly and attentive, but not overbearing. They seem to appear out of nowhere whenever necessary. Passing waitstaff are always refilling glasses.

The food is extraordinary. I had a Caesar salad, dressing was excellent, cheese was shaved as it should be, lettuce exceptionally fresh, everything is should be. I ordered a Beef Wellington, and it was cooked perfectly to order, and flavor was excellent, although the construction was a bit iffy. My partner ordered a medium-well filet mignon (Sorry!), yet the kitchen managed to execute it correctly and it was still juicy, rather than how most restaurants will just cook the hell out of it. Steak fries on the side were perfect, and the tater tots were interesting and more like fried mashed potatoes.

The wine list was sufficient, and my dessert Hendrick's and tonic was spot-on, giving me a great degree of confidence in their bar.

I am definitely looking forward to visiting again

EDIT: I returned, and enjoyed Lobster Newberg and a gigantic bone-in ribeye, pictured below. Service and ambiance were just as good as the first time, and on a Sunday night. Definitely a...