Chop Shop Bar and Grill — Restaurant in Town of Smithtown

First time customer. Stopped in last night for a quick dinner on the way from relative’s house. Caught off-guard upon entry because it’s not a “Bar and Grill” so much as a well appointed restaurant with a bar area. Now I don’t mind paying a premium for a great meal. I even accept over-paying for drinks because LI is expensive and these businesses gotta pay their bills. That being said, $12 draft and $16 cocktail... Not my first rodeo. Fine. $16 for Restaurant Depot perfectly consistent oversized “Fried Calamari” appetizer that we’ve all had a million times for like half that - I expected better. Next comes the $17 cheeseburger and the $19 Gorgonzola steak flatbread. Ordered medium well on both. What arrived: Blue-rare burger with the bottom of the bun soaked through. (wife ate it with a fork mostly) although the flavor was good. A shame and missed opportunity. And again... Restaurant depot spiced curly fries. I’d have preferred to see hand cut, or at least “5 Guys” quality. The steak? Again blue-rare. I can’t understand missing the temperature on a burger, because internal temp will tell you the story, even if knowledge won’t, but any “chef” worth his salt will see when he cuts into a 3/4” thick skirt steak that he missed the mark. Throw it back for a few minutes under the salamander and finish the damn thing. To make it almost inedible it was served cut with the grain as opposed to across. Again... Any chef worth his salt knows this. I literally spit out 4 mouthfuls because it wasn’t breaking down in my mouth In retrospect, it’s my fault for not stoping the meal after two bites and refusing the rest, and if it weren’t late and being under a time constraint I would have. $100...

This is fine dining. The atmosphere was very nice. The waiter was courteous and attentive. The restaurant review we read gave it $$ for price but I would say it was at least $$$. I had the gorgonzola steak and french onion soup as an app. A generous half a loaf of Italian bread was immediately brought to the table - so good! The soup was delish - a very large crock of a rich broth, perfectly cooked onions, crusty bread (not croutons- which I do not like in fos) and a thick layer of ooey-gooey cheese. I shared with my dinner companion since it was such a large portion. The steak was cooked to perfection and although the gorgonzola crumble topping the steak was good, there was just to much of it which overpowered the taste of the steak. This was easily corrected with a little a little scrapping. The veggies (julienned yellow squash and zucchini along with whole green beans) was cooked to perfection. The smashed potatoes were disappointing as they tasted watery versus creamy. While the soup was seasoned perfectly the entree required salt and pepper. Back of the house gets 5 stars. Took away a star for the front of the house - we arrived at 5:30 without a reservation (we are out of towners) and the manager made a very big deal about the table he was going to sit us at was reserved for 7:30 (there were literally 3 other tables occupied). I assured him that we did not plain to loiter over our dinner for 2 hours. In addition there was a host who thought that a white undershirt was proper attire as he jumped in to seat tables as the meal service progressed. Just feel the host and manager should have been a bit more professional- half as professional as there wait staff...

It is indeed a lovely restaurant. The interior of the restaurant is very lavish and sophisticated, with cozy, warm and inviting decor. Now as far as the food goes, me and my gf were very impressed with the taste of the food there. We both went to eat steak specifically and we were not disappointed. I bought the skirt steak and my gf bought the sirloin steak. Although we were not disappointed with the foods flavor, we were very disappointed with the price. My skirt steak, hash browns and mushrooms were 30$ and it's not like it was a heaping plate of food, it was a 10oz steak with 2 ounces of hashbrowns maybe. My girlfriends sirloin, and steak fries were even more expensive at around 37$ or more, if I remember correctly. What i do definitely remember is that after tax, the whole meal came out to over 74$ for the both of us. I can't even say it was worth it because we've gone to applebees and outback steakhouse, where we've gotten steaks just as good and just as (if not more) filling compared to the steaks at Chop shop, and the total price for both of our meals together at different restaurants were around 30 to 40 dollars cheaper than Chop Shop too! The other foods on the menu are a little cheaper at 20$ or so, but if you went to other restaurants you could find those same dishes for cheaper as well. I say, if you want good steak but don't want to pay over 30$ for one, go to Applebees or Outback Steakhouse. But if you don't have an issue spending alot of money, go ahead...