Prime 102 — Restaurant in Tyler

Went for my husband’s birthday recently. The service in the dining room was excellent (not great at the bar). The food was rather disappointing though. We started with the tuna tartare, which was okay. Rather sweet, but I guess to be expected for the way it’s prepared. My husband got a Caesar salad to start his meal. There was something in there that was soooo salty that parts of it were completely inedible. At first we thought it was the chunks of bacon or cheese, but as we tried bits and pieces separately, realized it was probably just in the dressing or they had added salt separately. So he was only able to eat about half of that.

Now for the steaks. My husband and I both got filets. He ordered his medium rare and it was cooked a bit over for medium rare, but fine. I ordered mine medium, and it was perfectly cooked. Unfortunately it was lacking was in flavor. My husband said the filet he got the previous week at Montez Creekside was much more flavorful than the one he got at Prime. Which is very disappointing for the price, and considering Prime 102 is a steakhouse! The sides: mushrooms were delicious; asparagus was over cooked and there were about 6-7 little pieces for $14. The complementary cake and ice cream they gave my husband for his birthday were delicious. We also got the cheesecake, and it was pretty dense and just okay. Half of it is still sitting in our fridge, and normally a good piece of cheesecake wouldn’t last a day in our house! :)

So if we had spent under $100 for this meal, I would give it 3, maybe four, stars. But we spent much more and had higher expectations, so that’s why I give it only two stars for our experience.

Lastly, I will say that I would probably go back for just a drink in the bar and for the ambiance. The People’s Petroleum Building is stunning and the bar area has a nice view...

Wow! Finally, a great upscale, non-pretentious, dining experience in Tyler. Kalen was our server and she was fantastic. We were never rushed but well taken care of by her and the rest of the staff....we were never ignored or interrupted. This is the kind of service that few can compete with. The menu is creative and solidly balanced. Angry lobster starter.... omg what a great dish and the cornbread texas toast was a perfect complement. One special for the night was lobster bisque....perfect texture, perfect temp, pleasant presentation and in the top two best flavors that I've had anywhere! Chilean sea bass which is a standard at restaurants like this had the perfect crust and the smashed smoked sweet potato made it a perfect combo on the palette. Kalen said the lump crab cakes were only 5% breaded but I think they were only 1%. Great lump crab, really fresh and the size of tennis balls. The sauce was incredible. Even better was the presentation, a real piece of art. We had to order the lobster mac because so many try but very few succeed. Until tonight Capital Grille had the best lobster mac. Tonight Prime102 took the lead in the country's best!, Incredible! Dessert selections were over the top and I was too full to try the 23 layer chocolate cake...next time for sure. We did order the butter cake and it was a perfect end to a perfect meal. They have a really good wine list...really good, and the house special Azalea was smooth and flowery just as the name indicates. The owners came by and introduced themselves and we really got to understand why this place has the great character that it has. Mr. & Mrs. Steve Barnhart, the word perfect is throughout this review and it was a perfect night. Great job with your team, your establishment and the...

We chose Prime 102 for our company Christmas dinner this year because we wanted a special treat! Although only one of my co-workers had been there before, we were all eager to try it out as we'd all heard great things about it. We arrived on a Tuesday evening. The staircase to the restaurant (you can ride an elevator too) was magnificent with Christmas decorations! The dining room was breathtaking with grandly adorned Christmas trees and garlands in rich colors. I've actually never seen a Hallmark Christmas movie, but I imagine this is the place the star-crossed lovers would get engaged during the Christmas holiday. Our waiter, Kevin H., was impeccable. The service was excellent. He was knowledgeable, expertly sold the signature cocktails, patiently explained how the side dishes were portioned and was solicitous about making sure our steaks were cooked to the right temperature. He was great at describing the dessert selection too! We shared some appetizers (run, don't walk for the pork belly) and 8 out of the 9 of us ordered steaks. The other enjoyed the Chilean sea bass and said it was exquisite. My filet was fork tender and perfectly seared on the outside. We shared truffle fries (delicious) and the loaded baked potato casserole. When Kevin said the butter cake with the homemade vanilla ice cream (from a creamery in Plano) was one of the best things on the menu, he was not kidding. The rich cake was enhanced by the aromatic vanilla and was the perfect ending to the meal. It was very much a special treat and I can't...