LongHorn Steakhouse — Restaurant in Winter Haven

Royally disappointed. NEVER sit in a friend/acquaintance's section. Friends don't feel that they owe friends anything ...... and apparently tonight that included service. It was ONLY 3:45 on a Saturday afternoon. No one else on the staff (incl our server) gave a hoot enough to stop and refill the obviously empty glasses that we left at the edge of the table ..... which is the universal way of asking for a refill without flagging down ANY ONE to please help u, specifically in hopes that it might be ur own server to take notice. We were completely ignored, even by the manager whom was making rounds to all the tables and asking the guests how their experience was going..... however, not us. Even with our finished appetizer plates, salad/bread plates STACKED at the edge of our table...... silently begging for a little pre-bussing, no one played team member and offered to remove any of them. Must be why we didn't get offered refills.... the empty glasses were buried in our stacked dirty dishes. Appetizer came out fast. Kudos. Salads came out 25 minutes later. 25 minutes without a check-back or drink refill. Entrees came out 4 minutes after the salads leaving a feeling of not only having been forgotten, but now rushed as well. As a server I am not perfect by ANY means, but i spent 25 years in the food and beverage industry and 20 of those years were out on the floor serving and managing and i would say MAYBE 1 step out of the 10 steps of service were performed. The steak was undercooked as a whole, however, when addressed ONE PIECE of meat that was properly cooked well done was pointed out and we were told.. "see, that's well done". All the pink area was obviously ommited from vision. On a positive note, the bread was AWESOME .... as was my Signature Salad made with fruit. Very tasty and perfectly tossed in its dressing. Once properly cooked, the bone-in rib-eye steak was a delight. I normally do NOT eat corporate for this exact reason. "Loose one guest, BIG deal. That won't put us under"..... .....or at least, that seems to be the attitude brushed off on myself and my fiancee tonight. On another positive note though, we were surprised with a pleasantly prepared dish of ice-cream being it was our anniversary and his b-day. Thank you for the kind gesture.... but I'll stick with the struggling "ma'-n-pa'" eateries. The main reason for tonight's visit? We had won a $25.00 gift certificate. Bill: $69.57 Left in total $85.00. YES, all told i STILL left 20% tip! I'm not a mean person, even though...... Normally with proper service i will leave 30% to 40% .

Just...

I recently visited LongHorn Steakhouse in Winter Haven with my family after a long and exhausting day. We arrived around 9 PM, knowing it was close to closing time but prepared to order quickly. From the start, we sensed the host's reluctance, which we understood, having worked in restaurants ourselves.

We ordered appetizers, which were fine, but the restaurant got busier, and then the issues began. Our party ordered the 8 oz Renegade steak—one medium rare and two medium well. I ordered Flo's Filet, expecting the quality I've had before. Instead, my sister's friend received my filet, and I got the Renegade steak. The manager's attempt to explain that steaks shrink as they cook was patronizing and unnecessary. We know how steak work. It was infuriating to have the situation explained away when we hadn't eaten all day and just wanted our meals to be right.

As it turned out, my filet was cooked perfectly medium,but they gave it to my sisters friend, while the Renegades were overcooked to the point of being inedible. Frustrated and hungry, I decided to speak to the manager again but ended up dealing with a very rude host. He claimed not to know the kitchen manager's name and insisted I either speak to the manager or leave without providing any names. His attitude was unprofessional and incredibly disrespectful, adding to my frustration.

Feeling disrespected and still hungry, I left the restaurant. This was the third time I've had a bad experience at this location, and it will certainly be my last. The staff's unwillingness to resolve our issues and the host's rude behavior were unacceptable. I should have gone to Carrabba's, but unfortunately, they were closed.

Overall, this visit left me disappointed, upset, and still hungry. LongHorn Steakhouse in Lake Wales needs to seriously address their customer service and kitchen practices.

TL:DR

They messed up our meals and try to explain away the situation. I asked the host for the manager's information so I can speak to her when I was more level headed. He's said he didn't have to do a damn thing and he can get her now or I should leave or the situation would get worse. I left hungry, angry and disappointed.

Your host is loyal but working under some of the most prestigious places in the country as well as one of your sister companies (Bahama Breeze) my manager would've written me up for speaking to a guest...

Was a bit crowded due to it being Mother's day and all but when we were told that couldn't be served unless we sat at the bar when more people were leaving than coming in with an hour left before closing was put off a little at first especially it was only a party of two and those that were waiting was more than 4 adults and some with that many in children as well. When explained that wife was disabled due to health issues and it would be difficult and uncomfortable to sit in those high bar stool chairs, they're attitude was take it or leave it. What was insulting was when we sat at a bar table, no one waited on us for close to 15 minutes. When asked why, then we were told the bar tables were closed and that we had to sit at the bar itself. We spoke to manager and he apologized for the miscommunication and that they were short staffed and all. Then after we finally got order taken, we waited a long time before we even got complimentary bread loaf. When asked a passing girl if she could get us one , she had a deer caught in headlights look on her that made think she was gonna pass out at the thought of trying to figure out what we were asking for. Then when told food would be out in three minutes just waiting on the fries to cook, the meal showed up finally 20 minutes afterwards. O one said anything to us as to why the delay. All we kept hearing was them breaking dishes left and right. Luck our food didn't come served in to go boxes. We finally moved to a table on our own after everyone was in and no one was left waiting outside with ten minutes to closing. There was more than six tables open that had been cleaned and they just didn't want to have to deal with it seems. However one of the barmaid was very nice in helping us move with our plates and settling up our bill in the end. However though very doubtful if we will return to that...