Restaurant Round-Up: Longhorn Steakhouse

Sometimes you just want a steak. Under normal circumstances, when I get a craving for some red meat, I'd go by some and grill it myself. Well, my apartment has no outdoor space and for now, I don't own a grill. Bummer. I have yet to find a steakhouse that I really like on the West Shore — I'm open to suggestions — so when I got a steak craving the other week, my family suggested we go to Longhorn Steakhouse. I'd never been, and though I generally don't like going to chain restaurants, I had a very good meal. A good steak is a good steak, y'know? Just cook it for a minute on both sides and get out of the way. Details follow:

Longhorn Steakhouse
Name: Justin
When: Saturday night. 6:00pm.
Been Before: No.
Ordered: I had a mammoth slab of prime rib and some mashed potatoes. Other people at the table ordered grilled shrimp, the Rocky Top Chicken, a steak and seafood gratin combination special and, if memory serves me, a New York strip.
The Food: Very tasty. I hate overcooked steak. Hate it. I know there’s a fine line when it comes to cooking steak in a restaurant. You want to cook it to the diner’s specifications but still make sure it is safe. Chain steakhouses probably don’t attract the most adventurous diners, so putting a slab of still-bleeding meat on a plate is taking a bit of a risk. Here’s what I appreciated about my meal at Longhorn; the steak that I ordered medium rare came out from the kitchen medium rare. Which is, well, rare. My mashed potatoes would have made Paula Dean blush. They were basically sitting in a pool of drawn butter and sparkling with salt. They were delicious. Absolutely delicious.
The Ambiance: The Platonic ideal of a chain steakhouse. It was nice, clean, airy and not overly crowded. I wouldn’t pattern my house around the design esthetic, but it’s a steakhouse.
Company: My family and fiancée.
Did Others Like Their Meals: Seemed to. I don’t think anyone was floored, but everyone left happy with plenty in their stomach.
Cost: I didn’t pick up the tab so I’m not really sure. I think about $20 a head.
The Service: Our waitress was friendly and attentive. Dinner was a bit slow, but it was Saturday night; these things happen.
Notes: With the dearth of viable options for steak in the area, it’s not a bad option.
Recommendation: Sure.