4/15/2012 - I've been to several Longhorn Steakhouses over the years; Dulles Virginia, Concord North Carolina, and now Round Rock, Texas. Longhorn is usually quite consistent with their food, but this is a new one and I'm not quite sure they have all the kinks out just yet. I was seated in a booth in the main dining area. When the hostess seated us, she removed two of the four place settings and bread plates, pretty normal. She happened to leave two bread plates, one of which was dirty with food attached to the plate. When our waiter came over to offer drinks and bread, he began to pick up the dirty plate to have it replaced, only to find that the plate underneath it looked like someone had vomited food all over the bread plate. It was really disgusting. He noticed me grimmacing and took them both away to replace them immediately. Definitely a good move. Apparently, if plates went unused on the table, they were not picked up and instead left for the next customers. Not a good start to the meal.
So, this gross out definitely called for a top shelf Margarita. It was a good one. No salt, served cold and with a shaker that basically fills the glass a couple of times.
I ordered the 12 Oz Prime Rib, Medium (which they claim is still a little pink inside, it wasn't), caesar salad, a baked potato with butter and chives (if you don't specify, then they load it with EVERYTHING...cheese, sour cream, butter, etc.). The meal was served warm and the steak was seasoned quite well, but the prime rib was fairly chewy. This is unusual since I have eaten here before and the steaks are usually quite tender. This was an aberration. One thing I have found they consistently do is overcook the prime rib. Medium here has typically turned out to be Medium-Well. I thought about this before ordering this time, but I wanted to see if it was going to be the same as last time (overcooked) or not. It was. The seasoning was excellent however, and I never needed to reach for the salt or pepper.
One unexpected addition to the meal was when the waiter came out with a lobster tail (which we didn't order) and offered it to us as complimentary because the chef had cooked one too many this evening and they didn't want it to go to waste. The lobster tail was split down the back andd roasted with some mild seasoning. It was done quite well.
The damage for a steak dinner with a lobster-stuffed baked potato, the prime rib plate above, an iced tea and a top shelf margarita came to about $65 after tip. In this area, that's a reasonable price for this meal and it was generally OK. Strikes for sanitation and overcooking, but the seasoning and the wait staff were good. Overall, this is an OK place to eat, but I wouldn't go out of my way to eat here.
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