John J.
Yelp
After a two-year hiatus from Bob's we gave it another try. We wanted this to be outstanding, but it was not. Nothing much has changed since our last visit unfortunately. Cocktail prices were astounding at the bar. I am not sure I could look someone in the face and feel good about charging them $35 for Blanton's on the rocks or $18 for Buffalo Trace on the rocks (BT is about $26 for 750ml to give you a baseline) $22 for Decoy Merlot, or even $7 for a bottle of Bud (I mean it isn't a Cowboys game!).
Service at the bar was slow and I have seen it far more crowded. Our bar tender was not the friendliest and she disappeared after providing me the check while I waited at least 5 minutes for her to return while my friends were at the table waiting on me.
On to dinner. Our server was friendly and sort of attentive, but pushy and tried to constantly upsell everyone. By pushy I mean she pushed us to at least start appetizers. We did, but after a round of drinks was consumed, we still had not seen our appetizers and she was pushing to order entrees. I said we haven't seen our appetizers yet and instead of apologizing or saying sorry they were taking so long, she just stared at me asking what I wanted for my main course. I told her we needed a minute, and she was then fine with it. A few minutes later she was back and we ordered, but still no appetizers. They finally came a few minutes later and I have to say the Quail appetizer was worth the wait and delicious. I highly recommend the Quail. The fried lobster appetizer at $69 was not worth it and you could not really even taste lobster over the breading and crisp. Skip it!
All the steaks come with mashed or some type of potato. When ordering, I asked her if she could substitute something besides potatoes (carbs) and she said sure at only half the price of a side. I found this ridiculous and a bit insensitive toward people trying to watch carbs. What's another $7 you say for a different side? Seems like the principle to me.
The starter salads were surprisingly small for $12 each, but very good. You can order half sizes as well. Our server pushed a bacon upsell on the wedge. I have to say the special game chili was outstanding and may have been the best tasting chili have had anywhere. It was spiced perfectly and delicious flavor, but the meat was a bit overcooked. Great deal at $8 and highly recommend.
The steaks were all prepared as ordered. The bone in ribeye was delicious, as was the 12-ounce filet. Fried shrimp got compliments and the shrimp were huge. The special Red Deer was a small portion at $70, but definitely enjoyed. Our table sides of creamed spinach and sauteed spinach with mushrooms were mixed. The creamed spinach was great and definitely recommended. The sauteed spinach was missing spinach as it was mostly mushrooms that did not have any flavor. I would not order the sauteed spinach and mushrooms again.
No one was hungry, but we got the dessert push and could not resist. The Brownie Sundae was huge and for chocolate and peanut butter ice cream lovers a definite treat. We each had a bite, but a chocolate overload for me!
So, most of the food we had was in the 4-5 star range. 1 star for overpricing. 1 star for service. Funny how service makes or breaks the fun of the evening regardless of the quality of the food. So easy for them to fix! We might be back next year at the Safari show, but only because by then we will have forgotten how this went. In the meantime, we will spend our time and $ at Al Biernat's, Del Frisco, Steve Field's, or Dakotas.