Hillstone — Restaurant in University Park

I am writing due to a recent visit at this establishment on 6/17/22. My friends and I had been planning to meet for dinner and one suggested Hillstone because her and her husband were regulars and loved the food. We made it around 6pm and the restaurant and bar area was full so we had a 1 hour wait. We grabbed some drinks while we waited for our table and a nice patron at the bar recommended the margaritas. We ordered based off her recommendation and they were great and we laughed and talked while we waited. This was my first time visiting this establishment and I was very excited. Once we were seated, we ordered the spinach artichoke dip, which was very tasteful as well. We then ordered food, another round of drinks and continued to catch up. The nice lady that recommended the margaritas came up to our table and asked what we thought of the drinks. We expressed satisfaction and laughed at a few things she shared. We knew she was enjoying her margaritas, based off the things she said but no judgment was placed. Anyone that has been to Hillstone knows that it’s very noisy as is to be expected on a Friday evening after work. Our waitress was very attentive and we enjoyed her. We were then caught off guard when we received a visit from whom I assume was the manager and he informed us that there were complaints of us being to loud and asked if we could we keep it down. We were very confused considering the noise level/ambience in the restaurant which included loud conversations and people having a good time. We weren’t yelling or screaming and had been seated for maybe 30-40 min. We could understand if this was more of a calm/mellow environment but it was not. We politely informed the staff we were very offended to be told to keep it down, when it was already loud and felt we were singled out and to politely take the food back. We paid for our drinks and appetizer. Our waitress was just as confused as we were once we informed her what was said and we left the establishment.

We were 3 African American women with 1 Caucasian woman, in a restaurant that had less than maybe 6-7 people of color with us included. We were eating, drinking, laughing, having a great time and no louder than anyone else in the restaurant. The manager was polite but after reflecting on the situation it wasn’t handled appropriately and I hope he can reflect before approaching other customers with similar situations going forward. We were spending our hard earned money just like everyone else in the restaurant but we were expected to be quiet and eat our food while everyone enjoyed their food and might I add at a very loud establishment on a Friday night! I’m sure the person that complained didn’t want us there, because the looks were obvious. I will never return to this restaurant and will definitely not recommend it to my friends or family. You shouldn’t be made to feel unwelcome and treated different and if you are a person of COLOR please know you are truly NOT welcome at this location and they help support the RACISM of there customers. I’m pretty sure if we weren’t African American, there wouldn’t have been a complaint. Based on my experience, I would give them a zero but it’s not an option. I hope this review brings awareness to situations like this that may come up in the near future and you all take proper steps/precautions and make ALL people feel welcome and comfortable in your...

Hillstone has gone through several iterations over the years….. at one time at the peak of the restaurant at its finest quality and with an amazing team it was called Houston’s.

I used to frequent this restaurant about four times a week . Sometimes I would go to lunch and grab their club sandwich, which was by far the best in town. By the way that doesn’t exist anymore..

Or I would go out for an evening have a few drinks and enjoy a nice steak .

That is just a distant memory from what I experienced yesterday .

The weight was long ….. service was about the same I would get at something like IHOP or salt grass. Not saying it was bad, but definitely not saying it was good.

It started with an order placed at the bar for a dirty martini …. The bartender was not in a very good mood and didn’t seem like she put much care into the making of the drink. I ordered a couple of other drinks for my guest, same attitude.

Then, after about 50 minutes, we got our table .

We ordered two filet mignon‘s a basic type of house mix, green salad and a wedge salad

I will say the best thing that we ate was the wedge salad . It was good. The biggest issue that we experienced at the table 1st off was everything was brought out at one time our salads and our food at the exact same time so either our steak got cold or we ate our salad.

We had one or to stop by from our server. I remember the days at each meal the manager would stop by and check on his guest and ensure they were having a good experience that didn’t happen either.

As far they were cooked to our liking, and the quality of the meat was good. One of us had a side of fries and mashed potatoes. The other just had a side of fries.

I will say that the fries tasted like it came straight from a freezer bag ….. a far cry from their string tasty french fries that they used to have. The mashed potatoes were lackluster at Best. And honestly, the food presentation was basic if not sloppy.

Our total bill was just under $200 not including the drinks that I ordered at the bar .

It’s been a long time since I left a restaurant feeling like I definitely didn’t get what I paid for .

Disappointed to say the least Hillstone quality does truly matter…… and somehow from this experience, I feel like you have lost your way and...

I have been a fan of the Hawaiian Ribeye from Hillstone previously Houston’s since moving to Dallas a decade ago. Historically I’ve had no issues with service or food. However a week ago Sunday I had one of the WORST DINING EXPERIENCES of my life. I orders my steak medium well and by most standards that is a light pink line in the middle of the steak. The problem began when my steak was presented to me, my waiter did not wait for me to cut into the middle of the steak as usual to be sure it was cooked per my order before leaving the table. when I cut the steak in half I saw it was cooked Medium Rare not medium well. Finally after about 10 minutes my waiter came by and I showed him the undercooked cold steak. I requested a new steak be prepared because it had been cooked incorrectly and so much time had elapsed it was now cold. The server said no problem took the steak and returned about 5 minutes later with the same 2 halves of steak reheated this time it was over cooked. I rejected the unsatisfactory steak and requested a new one be prepared. The waiter left with the steak and after a couple of minutes the manager on duty Cindy Crawford came to the table and said she would not have a new steak prepared medium well as I ordered it to replace the now over cooked steak, however I could have the prior steak heated up. l I told her I was very disappointed with the response and asked her to think about it my perspective I wasn’t asking for something for free just my food prepared as ordered. Since the first steak was now over cooked it required a new steak. I told the manager Cindy Crawford this is your opportunity to make a bad situation good and solidify a satisfied loyal happy customer and a great review and I would happily pay for the meal. She said replacing the steak with a new one was not a option she would rather remove the unsatisfactory item from the bill than have a satisfied customer who paid the full bill. As a Businessman myself if one of my managers made a clearly flawed decision like this I would fire them immediately. Losing customers and revenue is a bad combination if you tell me I lost a little revenue but gained a happy customer I’m all in. I won’t be coming back to Hilstone on Preston in Dallas...