Ragart09 R.
Yelp
Our annual outing for Mother's Day was quite a disappointment. We have taken my mother (93 years old) to Red Oak Steakhouse for the last 10 years for Mother's Day (also for: Christmas, special occasions, etc). When I called to make reservations I was told the restaurant was closed for remodeling but would reopen before Mother's Day.
We thought great. How wonderful. Wasn't sure how they could improved on a very quiet, elegant venue. We were most anxious to have a nice quiet dinner; see the restaurant and to taste the delicious steaks on Mother's Day.
Unfortunately we only had one out of the three.
The elegant venue was replaced with disappointing, lackluster appointments. Gone are the booths in the past, replaced with tables and half booths that cannot fit two guest with the plates needed to serve the entrées and sides. In fact, the hostess place another couple at one of those small tables and after 5 minutes they ask to be seated at a larger table.
The elegant place settings of the past are gone and were replaced with one of the ugliest patterns I've ever seen. It was one of the many disappointments we experienced that night at Red Oak.
The restaurant had lost that quietness that we enjoyed for our intimate conversations and was replaced with loud, blistering conversation from guest that were seated around you. Appears the carpet was replaced with laminated flooring; the beautiful chandeliers that once graced Red Oak have been replaced with Edison light bulbs (the newest trend); the hostess has now been placed outside the restaurant across from a row of slot machines. And behind, to the right of the hostess, was a public display of slabs of beef that has not yet been cut into individual cuts (in the past while being seated you were escorted by a refrigerated case displaying the individual cuts; porterhouse, filet, ribeye, etc). The public displays of hanging slabs of beef is vulgar and unappetizing.
We were told by the wait staff that Red Oak Steakhose wanted to make the restaurant more up-to-date, trendy and modern. Unfortunately it appears they have failed. It is more like a cross between Green Acres and the Beverly Hillbillies.
I will say this, with the improvements (LOL if one can say that) the food tasted as well as it has been in the past (of course you know there's an exception). We asked for medium well steaks and it came out as medium rare (still great tasting) and the mashed potatoes were tepid (we were hungry after an hour drive to Red Oak, so we did not send the steaks or mashed potatoes back). We have never experienced anything like that before. The food, in the past, has always been hot.
I do hope that the people in charge of the Red Oak Steakhouse will reconsider and bring back the elegant, the MOST elegant and quiet restaurant in the tri-state area.