Longhorn Steakhouse

Longhorn Steakhouse

2451 Wabash Avenue,

Springfield, IL 62704

(217) 726-5130

I would like to congratulate Longhorn Steakhouse for being my first restaurant review. The Longhorn Steakhouse opened for business in Springfield on May 2, 2005. It is a upscale Bar\Restaurant who, as you can guess, features steak. This is a very nice place, with western motif and an all around country western feel to it. From the look of things, I think many people like it because it was busy with people waiting for tables and all the tables were full. It's my opinion that although it is mainly an adults restaurant with a full bar, it does try to make kids feel welcome too. My sister, her husband and three children, as well as my wife and our two kids came with us. They gave them crayons, their own special red napkin and a coloring book/kids menu. The kids menus were reasonable, they did come with a drink. And what surprised me was they even had steak on the kids menu. Nice for those young carnivores out there. But to keep it on the nutritious side, fresh fruit was also served with the meal. Sad to say my picky eaters did not touch the fruit. For those of you with children, there are 7 items available for children 10 and under. As I mentioned, steak is one of the items, but for those health nut kids there is grilled chicken salad. The old standby grill cheese or as we in the Midwest call them "cheese toasties". Of course hot dogs and cheeseburgers are always a hit with the little ones.

For starters, my wife ordered a strawberry banana daiquiri . I tasted it and it was very tasty. Capt' Morgan rum was definitely in there. Also we had a "Tonion" as an appetizer. At first I didn't catch what they said but when we got the appetizer I realized of course they meant a whole lot of onion. As a joke, I stopped the waitress and said, "Mama, there is onion in this appetizer." She laughed but I am thinking it was a sympathy laugh for my wife, bless her heart.

The food for the main courses for adults consists of meat, meat and more meat. I had the 20 oz Longhorn, which I believe is one of the signature steaks. It was very good although a little over done. It is a large porterhouse/filet/NY Strip all rolled into one. The fillet part was a perfect medium but the thinner part was medium well. My wife had the ribeye. The steaks were seasoned with what the called "Prairie Dust". I didn't even need steak sauce, it was that good. There were several other steaks but I don't want to give away all the surprises. Other things on the menu included salmon, shrimp and various salads. They had a chicken section for those who may have had a recent heart attack. But for all of us, we stuck with red meat. Yum Yum. I am not a salad eater so I asked what I could substitute for it. I was thinking they would give me cottage cheese or something insignificant but nope, I got New England Clam Chowder. Of course, when she said that I had to do the comment from the Ace Venture movie, "Is that the red or the white?" She did not get it though, and said "Its the white, everyone asks me that." I don't blame her, no one really gets me anyway. The clam chowder was very good. I liked it especially since it did not have big chunks of vegetables in it. Also the clams were not gritty like some clam chowders are. The dinners come with a side. I had a sweet potato. They advertise cinnamon and butter but I requested brown sugar and they had it. My wife had a loaded bake potato which had butter, sour cream cheese and bacon. Everyone asked for more sour cream because it did not seem like enough. I also was lacking brown sugar but since I was eating a 20 oz steak I didn't care much.

It didn't seem to take long for our food to come either. It seemed like everything was spaced out nicely. We got our drinks, then bread and soup/salads, then our food seemed to come when we finished those. All in all it was a good experience.

I recommend going in nice casual clothes. Jeans are ok but nothing less than that. It is too nice a place to go in shorts, (although this is January). The atmosphere was nice, not too loud, unless you count my children driving me crazy during dinner, (sorry to the folks that had to sit next to us).

I warn you now, save room for desert. We did not and my wife regretted it. We may have to return just for desert. They have fried cheesecake, Cookie dough cheesecake and other delicious sounding dishes. Maybe if I return I will post how they turn out.

I feel bad that I did not get the waitresses name. But she was very good. She kept bread on the table along with our drinks filled. The hostess was also very polite and friendly. When we left she wished us a good evening.

The prices were a little pricey but you did get a large portion of food with your meal. It is comparable to some of the other sit down steakhouses like Ned Kelley's, (NOT places like Maverick or Golden Corral, where the steaks are just mediocre). If you want a good steak and enjoy good conversations, this is a good place to try.

The wait was 1 1/2 hours but well worth it. Its location next to the mall was convenient. We just went over there and walled around until time to eat. Seating was plenty. I would mention something about the smoking, (did not notice any) but soon, I don't think smoking will be an issue in Springfield restaurants.

I did make it into the men's room which was clean and well lit. I had to go in a couple times since my cold has given me the sniffles. I did appreciate paper towels so I did not have to use the air blow dryers, (my pet peeve).

The available seating is 260 people. They don't make reservations but they do have call ahead seating. I ask the manager when people should use the call ahead seating and he said it would be good to do it anytime. They open Mon-Sunday at 11:00 and close at 10:00 PM Sunday through Thursday and 11:00 PM on Friday and Saturday. Longhorn Steakhouse is owned by a corporation called RARE HOSPITALITY. Here is a link to there website.

http://www.rarehospitality.com/home.asp

If you want to go directly to the Longhorn Steakhouse website you can click here:

http://www.longhornsteakhouse.com/splash.asp

I would like to thank the manager for giving me my additional information.

If I was to rate this visit on a scale of 1 to 10, I would give them an 9.5.

So, this draws to a close my first review. I hope you liked it.

Randy