Taste of Texas Restaurant

02/07/08

Used to be good - now it's a rip-off living off of a formerly good name. Avoid.

by LarryBrown at Citysearch

More than $10 per drink is simply ridiculous. It took the guy about 12 minutes to make 2 margaritas and a pina colada-that's inexcusable. That ice shaving machine you've got is silly, slow, and loud, especially since bartender is inept. My wife complained that her drink tasted like ice water, but when she saw the look of disgust in my eyes when I thought of going to get the drink remade and missing another ten minutes of my birthday party, she backed off. Mumzy complained that her pina colada had no liquor, and my margarita was bland and had no liquor.

Mumzy had the filet on the sizzling platter. It did not come sizzling, which is a pet peeve; however Mumzy reported that she liked the steak. Mumzy reports that her asparagus was cold and not good.

Alicia and I had the medium well porterhouse for two with portabella and scalloped potatoes. The steak was inedible. Neither one of us liked it. It was full of fat and inedible nerve that we had to cough out, and we had to send it back for raw disgusting bleeding on our plate, which makes Alicia nauseas. There's no excuse for serving a bleeding steak that was ordered medium well. And at over $60? This steak was not tender, it had no seasoning, mine tasted like water and I had to ask for A?1 sauce to cover the objectionable flavor so that I could eat it. The portabella mushroom was inedible, tasted like water, and did not have a char-grilled flavor like the wonderful one at Cheesecake Factory. I said the scalloped potatoes were inedible, Alicia said they tasted raw. Neither of us ate them. Someone else also complained that the potatoes were raw.

Jimmy said that your variety of steaks was too limited for a steakhouse and that ?Texas Land & Cattle? has a better selection, is much better than you, and is an infinitely better value. Also note that the Margaritas at ?Texas Land & Cattle? are the best, and strongest, we've ever had. Susan had the stuffed shrimp. She didn't like them.

• Pros: Beautiful, impressive place, museum decor.
• Cons: Waaaaay overpriced, lousy, slow, inedible.

11/08/07

Yet to be disappointed.

by cpede at Citysearch

We first tried Taste of Texas when a friend from out of state visited and wanted to go. We were pleasantly surprsied then, and have been thoroughly pleased ever since. Being a meat eater, and a huge fan of steak, I won't settle for the run-of-the-mill (fill in your own chain steak house here) steak. The steak is phenomenal, and the rest of it is great (but you really go for the meat). It is expensive but well worth it. The desserts are awesome too; but with hardly enough room left over after our meal, we usually take it home for later. (just a note: you get one free desert if you are celebrating a birthday...including a polaroid of the birthday person)

The wait staff, hostesses and servers are always cordial, even when busy...and that's just about every night. There's no doubt that this is a great place to eat given that the line is pretty much always out the door. They provide free munchies (chips, popcorn) and drinks (sodas, tea, and water), though, while you wait. The best time to go is before 6:30 or after 8:30/9. They do not accept reservations, and usually won't let you take a number until your entire party is in the restaurant. We recommend this to all of our carnivorous friends, and will continue to be faithful patrons for many years to come.

09/11/07

DO NOT GO AFTER 9 BETTER YET EVER THE CS IS TERRIBLE

by thefoodanddrinklover at Citysearch

I have been to this restaurant before and had a fairly decent experience, this last time I do not know what happened. The service was good and the waitress was really attentive, however I have had better FRESHER food at a steak house. The lobster sucked, was over cooked and had a nasty charbroil taste to it. The steak was full of fat and not cooked properly. Lets not talk about the stuff they try to pass off as butter (think heart attack to-go) it wasn't melted and didn't melt with a little help. Basically what seemed to had happened was someone ordered the same steak and lobster (earlier that day) and they did not want to get rid of it.

Taste of Texas, if you are going to charge someone $70 for ONE meal could you at least make it a decent one. I called to speak with the managers (we took the meal to-go) and to no avail I received no call back what so ever--I'm still waiting by the way. I have always heard the expression you get what you pay for--this was no cheap meal. They have lost a customer because of the poor manner that it was handled. I guess that is what you get from a place that you pay $125 for two meals in one sitting. I will make sure I tell everybody that asks me about this place NOT TO GO.

• Pros: The waitress was very attentative
• Cons: The customer service is not good, the food is expensive and prepared good.

08/09/07

Big disappointment!

by NYC_Brunchers at Citysearch

I'd been wanting to try this place, but am so sorry that I did. The experience begins with a nightmare of a parking lot. It took my husband 20 minutes to find a spot. The worst part, though, is the food...it is flat, boring and completely without flavor. The salad bar is tiny and uninteresting, the prime rib thin and leathery, and the sides completely tasteless. Even the cheescake tasted frozen. For the same price I'd go to any of the other fine steakhouses in town, Pappas Bros., The Striphouse, or even Smith and Wollensky. One mildy redeeming thing was the wine. We had a nice reasonably priced cabernet that we enjoyed. #36, I believe. The service was also slow and borderline rude. After an hour wait, we were shown to our table and I asked for a highchair to put my infant seat on. The hostess chastised me and refused to give me one saying it would tip over and pushing two chairs together was safer for the baby--fine if that's their policy, but don't comment on my parenting choices please. There was a much nicer way to approach this. Overall a bad experience we won't be paying for again!

• Pros: Nice wine list
• Cons: Awful food, way too expensive for the quality

07/23/07

Amazing steaks without the pretense

by vivacleo at Citysearch

I hate getting dressed up to eat but I love excellent food. Taste of Texas is the answer to this dilemma. It's so good, I stopped swearing off red meat. The prime rib is divine. DIVINE. It's perfectly roasted, tender, juicy, and melts like butter in my mouth. I don't understand how people order an appetizer, with a salad bar and bread bar, it's enough to almost make me full. I can never finish the side item that comes with the meal. I've only been here twice but it's been consistently good. I waited an hour (in their convenient waiting room) without complaining because I was more than happy to waiting longer for the taste of perfect steak.

• Pros: Fantastic food, nice waiting area with snacks,
• Cons: Parking during busy times,

11/17/06

awesome beef

by desdup at Citysearch

My friends and I love a great steak and we have been here a couple a times and it was good I was not all together please with the wait to be seated and we had a reservation for a birthday. the service is good once we got to our seats. I think for the price you pay that when you take the time to make a reservation you get seated when you get there not 25 min and they could make the bar more accessible for those people that are waiting or have a waitress help with taking orders

• Pros: The cuts of the meat was good the price
• Cons: The wait time is awful

11/08/06

Great value

by dbahry at Citysearch

This restaurant is a great value for the money. You can even choose your own steak from the display case by the salad bar.

11/07/06

good food but pretty pricey

by tx07 at Citysearch

I went here because I got a gift certificate- I wanted to try it because I had never been here. Walking it, it was a bit surreal- I have never seen so many people waiting in one place. That said, there is a great waiting area with snacks and drinks, and the numbers go up on a screen so they are not constantly yelling out people's names. We had to wait, but they have a nice bar area and we were actually seated before we were supposed to be, so that was nice. The salad bar was fun- probably my favorite part of the menu. Our steaks were pretty good, but priced exactly the same as the steakhouses downtown, which I thought was a little excessive. I enjoyed my meal, but I wouldn't pay that kind of money without the gift certificate at this place- I would go to one of the many many other excellent steakhouses in town. If you have someone in from out of town and want to show them something very "Texas" I would say this would be a good place to go .

• Pros: pretty good food
• Cons: price too much for this food

10/22/06

Great food, but crowded.

by krazyray at Citysearch

The food here is wonderful! We went early on a Friday night, so there was no wait. It did get crowded, and loud. I didn't mind because the food was so good. The salad bar is great, and the mozzerella bread--to die for! Didn't get around to dessert, but they looked good. Maybe next time!

07/23/06

You get what you came for

by beliue2 at Citysearch

Anyone that wants to complain about a wait at the Taste of Texas, go to another steak house then and let me have your table!! The wait is long because the steaks are exquisite and everyone loves them. Nothing can compare to their filets, bacon wrapped with some garlic butter, its well worth the wait. Some people complain that their chicken dishes are sub par but guess what its a steakhouse, why go to a steak house for chicken! I would suggest sitting in the bar area, I always am well taken care of in the bar and the bartenders are always very helpful.

• Pros: Bar area, steak add ons
• Cons: service, hostesses