One restaurant reviewer in the Fort Lauderdale, Florida, area returned to dine at LongHorn Steakhouse after a whopping eight-year hiatus.
His meal got off to a solid enough start.
Starting with half-and-half sweet tea, TikToker @gangsta_gramps says, “It’s pretty good.”
But at the top of the video that’s been viewed over 50,000 times, he’s issued a disclaimer: “Longhorn, count your days.” He also says this is “not going to be a good review.”
Undercooked, Dirty, 1990s Vibes
After the tea, the bread arrives. “It looks like it was kicked around the kitchen a few times,” says the critic. It was warm but otherwise bland and unimpressive, according to him. It’s not “Texas Roadhouse or even Outback” quality, he says.
But that’s not the worst of it. As the popular creator is eating his bread, he looks over at the windowsill and sees dust—so much that he feels like the restaurant isn’t even trying to hide it.
Next the salads arrive, and the diner doesn’t mince words: “If a starter salad could look like the ’90s, these are definitely them,” he says.
“Not only did they look like the ’90s. They tasted like the ’90s. I don’t know if that makes sense, but if you know, you know,” he adds.
Entrees arrive, practically on top of the salads. “The one-way trip downhill just got faster,” he quips. He says that even though his ribs are “top five chain restaurant ribs,” his wife’s steak gets sent back to the kitchen for not being cooked to her liking.
“This is where it got bad: raw steak,” the TikToker says while zooming in on the cut piece of meat. “And the quality of it looked horrible.”
Meanwhile, it’s time to try the potatoes. The TikToker says he couldn’t even finish the baked potato. “The skin—no salt, no oil, very soft—I couldn’t do this one,” he says.
Finally the new steak arrives, and it’s properly cooked.
Because they had a big hiccup with their order, the general manager offered them a free dessert, which they declined. The TikToker does admit the service was good throughout.
LongHorn Vs. Texas Roadhouse And Outback
Usually the internet is ready to ride for a negative restaurant review. However, in this instance, loyal LongHorn Steakhouse diners lined up to defend their favorite chain steakhouse.
“LongHorn is hands down the best compared to Texas Roadhouse and Outback, I’ve never had a bad steak there–they always get it exactly right. Sure you can’t satisfy everyone, but that’s exactly why we have different steakhouses to choose from,” said one.
Another argued, “never had a bad meal at Longhorn.”
“Longhorn by far a better choice then Outback or Texas Roadhouse. Better quality steaks hands down,” a third claimed.
‘Will Try It Again’
In a TikTok direct message to BroBible, @gangsta_gramps says that he and his wife plan to return to the restaurant to “try it again.”
When asked how the experience could have been improved, he has a suggestion. “Having a manager in the [food] window on busy nights to expedite and ensure proper timing of the food would be beneficial. We ordered our starter salads and entrees, and both came out within a few minutes at the same time. We knew something wasn’t right,” he said.
How Many Chances Does A Restaurant Get?
These days, even a simple meal at a mid-tier chain restaurant can set a couple back close to $70 (and that’s without an appetizer). So, considering a restaurant is a dynamic environment, how many chances does it get? Informal research suggests that most folks are willing to give a place two or three chances. That’s if it’s not a fine dining establishment. If you’re dropping upwards of $200 for a meal, most diners want it right, the first time.
But in general, for a new restaurant, “reviewers follow the unofficial rule of not being critical within the first 30 days,” reports St. Louis Magazine. But for established places, most people seem to wait for a pattern of bad food or poor service to emerge before wholly writing it off. After all, servers and cooks are people too, and everyone can have an “off” day.
BroBible reached out to LongHorn Steakhouse via its listed media contact. We will update this when they respond.
@gangsta_gramps #steak #food #review #restaurant @dardenrestaurant good service, and great ribs