Del Frisco's Grille — Restaurant in Westwood

This was a great experience today. We were a party of 2. We were greeted well and provided a table after a very short wait. All the staff were good from A to Z, including 2 managers stopping by our table and checking on us. We shared cheesesteak rolls for appetizers. You kinda get a on looong rolls, about 7 inches long, that is cut in half longitudinally and diagonally to give you 4 boat-like servings (see picture). It came with a cheesy dip, which was amazing, and a sweet and chilli dip. This appetizer was so great with it not being too hot or too cold, just the right temperature and the right crispy texture on the outside and soft and delicious cheesesteak flavor on the inside. We almost cancelled our entrees to just order more of this plate. We them got 2 NY Strip Steak, both done medium well. One with french fried with parmesan side dish and the other with zucchini parmesan side dish. Both sides were included in the price of the steak, which is a big plus. The steak was 16 oz piece on the menu, and what we got was indeed HUGE to a point that I wouldn't be surprised if it was actually more than that in reality. The meat was done correctly being medium well with just the right amount of doneness and dark pink to purple color on the inside throughout the entire piece. Even more amazingly the server insisted that we check the doneness before she leave to ensure that it's to our most satisfaction, and it was. There is enough char on the steak exterior that gave that yummy fire-grill flavor. The only comment I have on the steak is that I came across 3 bites that had more connective tissue that I would have liked to encounter. However considering the size of the steak I believe it's inevitable that you will encounter such a challenge, and hence I'm not taking any stars off because of that. Side dishes were good but not amazing. The zucchini side was actually good as it gave a good healthy feel as it was light yet flavorful with the parmesan crust. We them ordered the nutella bread pudding and the peanut butter chocolate pie, along with cappuccino and espresso. We were full but we still wanted to try them, so our judgement could be biased towards being full. Both essentially tasted good, but the PB chocolate pie was too heavy and oily after such a good meal... nutella pudding was a bit lighter and nicer to finish the meal. Coffee flavor was not robust, but just OK. Overall we felt we could have skipped the dessert and coffee and left with a more comfortable stomach.

Although we paid a hefty $160 bill, I think it's worth the money. The steaks being 16 oz and having great quality and taste with side dish included at $48 is a very acceptable price for a steakhouse. We ordered 2 coke each at $2.95 is also very acceptable. Desserts at $9 each and coffee at $4 each is not bad. The cheesesteak rolls appetizer for $14 was a bit too much, but the flavor makes you forget the price. Overall good value for the money.

Setting of the restaurant was great and full of business-casual level customers. It wasn't too noisy nor too dull, just the right amount of vibrancy. I'll give Stacy B, our server, a good shout out for providing a great service and made feel regulars.

There were 3 instances that I wasn't fully satisfied during the visit. The first is that we weren't served water at all throughout the entire visit until we ended up asking for it when our throats became too dry from the steak and desserts. Also I asked for Americano but got espresso. Lastly the service was a bit slow, but we were bothered by it as we had the time for it, but we still wonderedat time of the spead. I don't think these were big deal, but it gives the restaurant a room for improvement.

Overall I would highly recommend this place and...

Called in to make dinner reservations for our parents 50th wedding anniversary mid week, and requested a table outside, and inquired about what they offered to helps us celebrate such an occasion. Only reservation available was for after 7pm (on a Saturday so no big deal) and was told they did not offer anything but I could bring my own cake. I stated I would prefer to just buy a dessert and have it brought to the table with happy anniversary written on it. I was told they could sell us a couple of desserts, but they do not write anything, again not a deal breaker. I had eaten at another location previously and the menu had a nice variety, so given the limited fine dining locations on the south shore I made the reservation. After I received a text confirmation of our reservation, I followed the link to again put in a request for dessert etc just to be sure.

Fast forward to Saturday, we show up early and we are seated right away, restaurant is by no means full and half the outdoor seating area is empty. After a few minutes our waiter (anthony) shows up, clearly frazzled, and pours us some waters. Before we get an opportunity to order drinks, or ask for a high chair for our 2 year old daughter, he's gone again. After about 5 minutes he comes back and takes our drink order, we ask for a high chair and he's gone again. Several minutes go by and our drinks come out, and again have to ask for a high chair. Several minutes later the chair shows up and ask if we can put in our order. We list of one appetizer, and he's gone without letting us finish our sentence. 10 minutes later app shows up. Steak and cheese egg rolls, which are great. Anthony comes back and takes our food order, and despite it really not being super busy (especially for a saturday), he is completely distracted and just monotone. No personality, no small talk, literally nothing other than acting annoyed that we can't spit out our order fast enough for him to move on. At this point we basically don't see Anthony again till after the food comes out. My wife and I are staring at our food waiting for literally any employee to walk by so we can request steak knives to actually cut it. He comes into the outdoor room and we have to flag him down for that and he's gone again. Salmon was good, filet mignon x2 were good, faux chicken entree was not. Fries were undercooked and super greasy. Baked potato dry. Mashed were good. So we finish eating and again sit around and wait. Literally we watch and the only reason Anthony comes around is to grab checks from tables that have left. Other people are clearly having the same frustrations we were, not really even letting people talk, just taking a request and disappearing. After dinner when he finally showed up, he had no idea about the dessert thing and ask if we needed dessert menus, amd I essentially had to ruin the suprise to advise him that I had made prior arrangements (which I was given no say in) And he's gone. 15 minutes later shows up with lemon cake and what I believe was coconut cream pie, fidgets around with candles, and he's gone. At least manager had a moment in passing to say congrats. Desserts were good, bit I'm just sitting there in complete shock wondering how a single person could completely ruin what was supposed to be such a special night.

The final insult occurred when we request containers to wrap up our leftover food and as he shows up with the containers, he proceeds to stack up some of the plates without even asking, and takes half of our leftovers away.

So $350 dollars later, we leave in just complete disbelief. Even our parents, are telling us not to apologize, for the terrible service. I cannot even put into words how disappointed we were.

Thanks...

Such a missed opportunity to promote the Del Frisco brand. There are now 55 people who told at least 7 of their friends and family how poor the DF service was that night and they will likely never go to a DF for a meal. I know I personally avoid them now.

Here's what happened... The servers were overwhelmed due to poor management planning. We had a party of 54 people with a contract in place for a Business dinner at 6pm and it was quite possibly the worst experience anyone could imagine. The servers did their best to keep up but the management didn't plan well enough to handle their regular business in addition to our large party. Remember, they knew we were coming and what our Apps, Salads, Entrees, and Desert selections would be. Before we arrived they called to let us know they had placed the Black linens on the table as opposed to the white ones we requested, and while we said that was fine it was probably a signal of what to expect.

We agreed to be placed in the sundeck area with the agreement if the weather was inclement they would move us inside. The restaurant had removed the windows of the area and the weather was ~30 degree wind-chill. When we asked to be moved inside the Manager headed home and left the Assistant to deal with us. Our party was taking the cushions from the chairs to keep the cold winds from hitting them while they waited for food to arrive. The heaters you might ask were unable to keep us warm enough and we had to suggest they turn on the firepit for additional heat. Drinks were order in some cases, multiple times because they were either forgotten or given to someone different. The appetizers were improperly distributed amongst the party so a table of 10 received 1 tray of each where a table of 6 received 2 trays of each. The salads didn't arrive for 2.5 hours and the main course showed up 3 hours after arrival. The waitresses were clearly distressed and I don't blame them at all for any of this. They were definitely trying their best. When the bill came my boss advised not to pay it and take it up with the CSR who contracted with us. The Assist. Mgr heard this and changed his tune giving us a 20% discount. Unfortunately the damage was done and the dinner was a total bust. Our European members and 4 of our NAm team left the event and had a nice meal over at Joes across the parking lot or at the Marriott. Sadly, the DF Regional Manager agreed to take myself and some of our Office staff out to lunch or provide a buffet to the office not quite understanding the team was from North America and Europe so the ability to rectify the situation was lost.

After this initial 2 star review was posted I wrote on their internal Landry's review page but the resolution was far from adequate. After telling the experience to the local hotel staff they responded, "yep, it's hit or miss over there. Not great service"

One positive mention from a few of our team who went inside and sat at the bar... the Bartender was on point!

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