The Star Hotel Basque Dining

My husband was raised in the area over 20 years ago. Him & his family have always talked about their fond memories of The Star & all the delicious food. I visited with him for the first time last year and fell in love with The Star!! We just came back for our yearly visit and it is still a 10/10. The staff is always welcoming… but the food? The steak?!!!! The best I’ve had. The way they are able to get the char on the steak and still keep it at medium rare? The added garlic on top?? Incredible. All the sides are so fun and make it an experience. We love their cabbage soup and the garlic salad so much. I can see why this is a family favorite and overall a cherished place. Can’t wait to visit again next year! 💗

Outstanding! We stopped mid road trip for lunch. Barb took very good care of us. Our sandwiches were delish. Cabbage soup, salad + bread also delish. The couple next to us both ordered the NY Steak sandwich, and they looked amazing. We will definitely return.

We went only to the restaurant for a business dinner. Did not stay at the hotel. The service was excellent as was the atmosphere. The portions were large. All the sides were delicious. We ordered steaks, and honestly they really lacked flavor. That was the only disappointment of the evening, the main course.

The food is so bad and it’s sooo expensive it’s hilarious that this is considered “fancy”. -the “steak sandwich” is literally just a steak between 2 pieces of bread -the beans, green beans, and pasta that come with entrees are just canned/premade and flavorless -the mac n cheese is a generous portion of Kraft -the bread pudding is horrible unless you like soggy bread sitting in a massive puddle of butter with a shot of alcohol over it -the “flan” is not sweet or custardy it’s like a fried egg patty and burnt on the bottom I’m pretty sure that we could have made a better dinner at home fairly easily for just the price of the crab alone ($86 for 1lb) Service was great though, servers were kind and attentive and did warn us about the Mac n cheese.

You have to stop here. This place is great. I highly recommend stopping here. I will, eventually, find my way back here. Absolutely incredible. We had been traveling for 5+ hours and were drawn in by good reviews and the pictures of the building. When we drove up we didnt know what to expect, there are brothels right next door that were lit up that made us both curious and questionable. After circling around we decided to take a chance. You have to walk though the bar to get to the dining room. All the tables were already set, so cool and refreshing. It felt very homely, locals were just enjoying their meals and hanging out. The place setting was already in front of us, a bowl, a salad plate, and a main plate, we were curious. We were greeted by a warm bowl of broth and cabbage and asked what we would like to drink! I ordered a red wine with coke and line!!!! insane. My sister ordered a white wine, we filled out bowls with soft buttery cabbage and wam broth. We ordered BAKED BEEF, and CHICKEN FRIED STEAK, to share. With that we got an insane amount of sides, that we couldnt finish, we both really loved. We backed them up and ate them the following morning. 10/10

Wait time was over 30 minutes, steak was unseasoned, very bland. Wife's filet was unseasoned as well, the lobster was chewy and overcooked. Spaghetti was runny. Felt like everything was thrown on a plate right out of a can. Alcohol beverages were watered down. The worst and THE MOST money I've ever spent on food. For a restaurant that has a lot of good reviews it was very disappointing. I do not recommend. We will never be going back. Place was a total rip off.

Compared to other Basque restaurants I've been to it was pretty similar. However the spaghetti was bland like straight up tasted like chef boyardee bland. The lamb was really good and the salad was good too. The beans were ok nothing special and the fries were reasonable. They make an ok picon punch but no complementary wine which is normal at Basque restaurants. But whatever people have told me a million times to eat here and I finally did but yeah it was overall meh

Tons of food. 3 kinds of beans, bread, French fries, salad, and cabbage soup. Food was just ok. Ribeyes weren't very tender or flavorful and the salad was more like coleslaw it had so much dressing. Fries, soup and bread were good. We drove out from Idaho specifically to try this place and despite the average food, the service was outstanding and food and drinks came out at lightening speed. The place was absolutely packed but we got a table immediately and Sydney made the whole experience worth the drive.

I absolutely love the Star! The food and friendly dining experience is always amazing. The cabbage soup and borders lunch is sooo good! Love this place

Everyone was raving about how amazing the food is at the Star Hotel. I was rather disappointed. If you love restaurants that serve large quantities of food then you will love this place. Your meal comes with cabbage soup, salad, green beans, spaghetti, beans, and french fries as a side. It's served family style where you share. All of the tables are long so you could end up sitting next to someone else. I ordered the steak sandwich and thought it didn't have a lot of flavor. There is very few parking out front so we had to park a couple blocks away. It's right next to a few brothels which might make parking awkward if you're with kids. The Basque style dining served in a family setting was a fun experience, but not something I would do again.

If you're there, you gotta go. Enjoy a piece of history. It's a lot of food and the entree was pretty good. The sides seemed to be prepackaged and not made in house, but you get so much salad and bread that you don't really need them. I don't think any of us finished our meal. I'd go back with new people, but I don't think I'd go back just because.

We arrived early before the crowds came in. Our server greeted us the water, bread/butter and soup. We orders Cocktails and viewed the menu. I ordered the filet, my dining companions ordered the shrimp and the other one ordered the prime rib. We enjoyed our salads next, then the sides came out. Our entrees followed soon after. The whole meal and the ambiance of the restaurant was enjoyable!

The Star Hotel has all you want to see in a Basque restaurant: 'hotel' in it's name a bar just inside the door; a crowd enjoying picon punch waiting for the dining room to open; a dinning room with shared tables and Basque memorabilia. Soup comes quickly to the table here. A light vegetable soup eases the appetite to all the other sides. The sides of salad, bread, beans, green beans, sphagetti and fries were fine. I had the pirk loin, which resembled more like a thick pork shoulder steak. Roasted garlic is offered with no additional charge. The pork was very tender, juicy, and flavorfu. We shoulde have shared this dish. Service was very good in a busy place.

So--the star is FAMOUS! I have heard about it for years. Living in Nevada for the past 20+ years I've been to a lot of other (pretty well known) basque places dotted along the state. I was expecting the star to be the best. I am so sad to report that I'd put it at probably #3: behind the Martin in Winnemucca and Louis in Reno. I think I came in expecting the family style basque dining, and it really wasn't. I didn't share a carafe of table wine with my unknown neighbors, I ordered by the glass. My beans were a little sad and the only people I talked to were the folks I came in with. Perhaps my expectations were too high. My steak was delicious! They did that very right.

Filet of beet absolutely divine we split the filet. Won't do that again the Filet was fantastic

If I could give 6 stars on a random roadtrip pitstop, this is it. There should be a warning on the door that says "you will not leave hungry." At first site with the old school family style seating and conference room chairs, you might be concerned. Don't you worry. Ribeye was juicy and crusted perfectly, holy cow! Service outstanding. Food endless. I could write more, but I might ruin the movie.

Happened to be in the Elko area this fall with intentions to tour Lamoille Canyon and take in the spectacular fall colors. Of course we had to eat as well so the group of friends we were with all got to chose a restaurant, three to be exact. When one of my friends announced the Star was his choice I was a bit disappointed. I had been to the famous Star Restaurant before and was oddly put off by the old dankness of the place and the confusing mush mash of sides that arrive with every menu selection. I Managed a cocktail in the bar and then declined dinner and left. So here I was again for a do-over. The place was PACKED but we were promptly seated. This place is a well oiled machine and seated next to the kitchen door we had front row seats to the great service show. I never thought I was in love with the whole "Basque" menu vibe but I had such a wonderful experience this time. I ordered a giant Australian lobster tail and absolutely loved the simple tossed green salad that was part of the accoutrement of sides that arrived. The garlicky aioli dressing that the iceberg was tossed in was just sublime. My lobster was so good. I've been craving it ever since. When we left there was a party of 28 queued up and drooling. I couldn't resist mentioning to the group that I was pretty sure I got the last lobster. The moans were palpable and I laughed and said just kidding. I'll be back Star!

Let me just start off by saying don't think and just come here to eat asap. This is a family style basque dining restaurant. You order your main course but they bring you bread, soup salads, spaghetti, french fries beans, mushroom, potatoes, etc.. you will leave this place with a full belly. Trust me. I ordered the 22 ounce lobster and 16 ounce filet mignon. Yeah I know a bunch of protein, right? I was definitely not disappointed. We also left with a little treat for desert. Can't really recall the name, but it was some kind of pudding bread it was amazing. Don't waste any time and stop by believe me you won't be disappointed.

Eating at the Star Hotel while in Elko is a must. The hotel was built in 1910. The two of us came on a Saturday night at 6pm. The bar and restaurant were bustling to the max. Wait time was quoted at 1 to 1.5 hours. We ordered drinks and sat outside. The crowds came and went as the evening progressed. Surprisingly we were seated in under an hour. The wait staff was very busy, but we were not in a hurry. All of the sides: bread, salad, veggies, spaghetti then our lamb and steak came out within 15 minutes of ordering. I would give the meat an "ok" rating. Not dazzling or fantastic, but not bad. We ordered cheesecake for dessert. Our seats at the tall table were in a very crowded location which meant elbows and faces near our food drinks. It's understandable- the ambiance is what I came for. Happy families and friends eating and drinking in an establishment that has been at this location for over 100+ years.

We absolutely love The Star, the Family Style Dinning, the Service and the Atmosphere! You can never go wrong with the Steak Sandwich or the Filet and Mignon with Lobster. The Lobsters are Huge and the Steak melts in your mouth. Definitely a must try!

Wonderful food and great atmosphere! Go for the dinner, you get the full traditional Basque experience! If you do lunch, the best thing to order is the steak sandwich!

I came to the star 4 years ago and didn't care for it. I went again last night and it was great. So I removed my less satisfactory review to leave this one. We came with another couple and I got the petite ribeye and my significant other ordered the king crab. The sides were great. The salad was my favorite. Beans and spaghetti were meh, but that's not what I came for. Drinks were strong. Atmosphere is lighthearted and fun.

Family style Basque steak dinner! Enough said! Delicious food in a fantastic location with friendly and helpful service staff. Dios (sp?) took great care of us. Don't forget the bread pudding with vanilla ice cream for dessert. :)

Great food and lots of it! The only down side is that it's now hard to be impressed when I visit some where and someone tries to show off their favorite steak restaurant.

Food was great I have never been to a basque restaurant before. The portions are huge and very well worth the price! The 14oz (petite) rib eye was only $32 and you get all the sides with it plus bread with butter, salad, and soup!

Great place one of the best basque restaurants but it's funny yelp says I got it going well when i post the truth in Reno it's not there but any. Basque restaurant in Elko go to you won't be dissatisfied at all in fact you'll be lucky if you can finish your meal

I am still depressed about this updated dining experience and have to drop a star from The Star. We loved The Star last time we went. My husband raves about to everyone we know so it was obvious that this was the one place we were going to dine at while in Elko, and, (NO JOKE) part of why we drove four hours from Reno. We literally drove in for dinner and some bar mingling. The wait was and hour and a half. We expected that because it's always busy. No worries. We took our beeper and walked around and waited. Long story short. The soup was still amazing. The salad was still amazing. Everything else was up to par per the last visit and my husband very much enjoyed his steak. The staff was super friendly as well. No issues at all. But........(fictitious tears falling down my face as I type this).......my $72.00 lobster - was burnt to a crisp. The entree I was looking forward to during a four hour drive and one and a half hour wait was ruined. The meat was tough. I used a knife to cut it like a steak and after being COVERED in butter, it didn't taste any better than chicken I could have cooked at home. We didn't send it back. Why? I have no clue. Because we were starving? Because they were getting close to closing? Because we just don't do that kind of thing? I don't know, but we didn't. I ate 3/4 of it and called it done, wrapped my disappointment up in a doggie bag and called it a night. Don't get me wrong, we will be back, but I won't be ordering lobster again. :(

The service here is very good, the waiter is nice and the ambiance has a Midwest vibe with many taxidermied animals. The food was amazing with a very delicious stake sandwich, lamb and beans, although my family thought he lamb was weird tasting, Definitely recommend this place if you are passing through Elko

Great food and environment, we had a Ribeye with garlic mushroom and blue cheese. Delicious! The house salad that comes with your meal was so good. I would recommend coming hungry. You get so much food with your entree. As soon as we sat down they were already bringing the side dishes, our server was so sweet and made sure we had what we needed the entire time. 10/10 would recommend checking this place out.

The steak sandwich is outstanding!! We also had like a Cajun shrimp in butter and big chunks of garlic. If you love garlic that's the one!! The clam chowder came out with the meal to it was excellent!! The Basque BLT came out as a normal BLT with a twist which is a Poblano pepper!! Different but good!! If you come here the steak is your best bet. But everything we had was good!!

Delicious. I usually don't give 5 stars, hardly ever, but this this place is exceptional! Big portion size, you automatically get big bowl for two homemade cabbage soup, beans, spaghetti, salad as "tapas" or like a version on how Korean restaurants give you plates of appetizers. My friend and I ordered the main two entrees - mine was Baked Lamb and his was Baked Beef. Holy cow so good so tender, slow roasted, not dry just full of dark meat flavor! We recommend the lamb. We're from LA and there's nothing close to like this. The size of the lamb and meat alone, slow roasted like this, would be $80 or so at a NYC or LA steakhouse. This place is not a tourist trap. It's highly recommended!!

Amazing place to eat! Such tasty food and the service is 5 stars! We had the chocolate cheesecake and lava cake for dessert! If you're in Elko- you must stop in for dinner!

Best restaurant in town. These guys know what they're doing service is fast, they're friendly! It's a cute restaurant and very family friendly and I haven't had one bad experience with the food.

Ready-Set-Go-- ''Twas the night before solstice, and all through the nite, Elko was booming after all it was Friday night. The line it was long, but at 5 it did open, The crowd rushed it, seemed like a good omen. Come soup, come salad, come fries, and the like, Our table was friendly...it seemed just right. My Baked Lamb was garlicky, wifey's shrimp was too, neighbors Porterhouse was huge and he finished it through." We will return.

Grilled Haddock was outstanding! Excellent caramelization and abundant garlic! Lamb burger with grilled mushrooms... machete cheese was the star of this dish.

The Star used to be an elko staple but it has gone downhill. I had lunch here the other day and was given the wrong order. Fries were old. When my right order arrived which was a steak sandwhich it was overcooked and the bread was old.

We are from Florida, traveling the country in our motorhome and somehow ended up at the Star! (Thanks to the guys at 7018 Brewery!) We had no idea what Basque food was or how amazing picon punch could be, but we especially had no idea how friendly everyone we met would be! It was a Saturday night and the cowboys and girls were all there after spending the day at the county fair so we had to wait quite awhile for our table but we never have had so much fun! All of the staff was friendly and helpful but here's a special shout-out to a young lady named SIDNEY who single handedly waited on a huge table next to us at 10:00 at night with energy and charm and took the time to stop and speak with us! If America could clone her, it would fix a lot of things for sure! Thanks again to all for making this one of the most memorable evenings of our trip!

I wish there where places like this in the city. Will stop by anytime in Elko. Tongue sandwich and bread pudding are a must!

Soup, salad, bread, chickpeas, green beans, baked beans, spaghetti and French fries - then the entree.

I live in California and plan my trips across 80 to have lunch or dinner here, Food is amazing and salad is legendary! You will never leave hungry ! Get here early as it gets packed.

Super disappointed in this Basque restaurant. The bread was stale -and the meat quality was subpar. The whole meal was underwhelming.

My daughter and her boyfriend raved about this place and I can see why. Elko has a strong Basque presence and The Star has that cultural vibe with a Basque style dinner, family style. It was a Friday night and the place was PACKED! That's always a good sign. The restaurant has outdoor seating, a nice bar area and decent indoor seating as well. Hint - if this place is not packed, you'll want a booth that seats six for four people - more on that later. We started off with their house famous punch, called the Picon Punch. Warning - this drink is strong! One was all I needed. Now to why you want a bigger than normal table if at all possible.... The format of this dinner is you order your own main course but the meal includes sides of cabbage soup, tossed salad, bread, basque beans, spaghetti pasta, green beans (w garlic), and wedge french fries. Yes, I'm not making this up. All these come with your meal - amazing. You can navigate with a four person hightop but it requires a little jenga plate stacking to make it work - (we did). Okay, the sides...I'm starting with the sides. The cabbage soup was amazing, warm and flavorful. Bread - fresh. Salad - nothing fancy but tasty. Green beans were one of my favs - lots of flavor there. Pasta and fries, load up on the starch! The pasta spaghetti was really interesting in a good way, loved it. Basque beans were garbanzos and red beans - both great. Why did I start with the sides? Notice they were all great according to our table so PACING is really important so you can enjoy your main. Okay there were four of us and luckily, we all had different mains. My daughter had the salmon, grilled with lemon pepper - flaky and delicious. I had the mountain trout, also grilled with lemon pepper - equally good. Her boyfriend had the baked lamb - it melted in your mouth. It came with a side of mint but it didn't really need it. My wife had the filet, perfectly cooked. Note: If you ask rare, it'll come rare. So their medium rare is on point. If the sides weren't enough, the mains were big so bring your empty stomach and you'll still have leftovers. We all had carry boxes for our mains and the sides - multiple meals in one! The server asked if we wanted dessert - we all laughed. "Does anybody order dessert after this massively good meal?" She laughed, "Sometimes, our desserts are really good!" Ok, maybe next time. The place was packed but the service was great - always the sign of a great restaurant when they can handle a huge rush both with great service AND perfect food. We will be visiting Elko again soon and this is a can't miss restaurant.

We had this restaurant bookmarked for nearly half a year planning our huge road trip and it did not disappoint! Came on a Thursday night around 630. Waited about half an hour in their bustling bar area enjoying the country music and taking in the local scene. We were seated within a half hour at a long communal style table. It took a little while for our server to get to us with how busy the restaurant was but she eventually came and took our order. We sat back and we're treated to an absolute parade of appetizers and sides: cabbage soup, bread/butter, salad drowning in dressing, two types of beans (red and green), spaghetti with red sauce and finally the absolute winner being their amazing freshly made seasoned fries! Despite being served a mountainous platter of them, we had no problem cleaning the fry dish. They were that good! As an entree, we chose to forgo their steaks (even though they looked delicious) in favor of the large lobster tail I had had my eye on for months. Their lobster is served in three sizes: 16, 18 and 22(?) oz priced at about $70, $99, $120 respectively. We shared the 18 oz and with the plethora of sides filled up quickly. The lobster was HUGE as expected. Slightly on the dry side but still delicious especially with the clarifies butter served with. So happy to have finally tried this place. Exceeded our expectations!

Pretty darn decent American-Basque meals, bar, service and unique atmosphere. More than ample servings. Mixed bag for service (some staff are really friendly even when the place is slammed, others barely give you the time of day, even on a rare slow day). If you don't like crowds, steer clear during Cowboy Poetry gatherings when the place is a festive, absolutely packed hot spot.

My family ordered take out on Halloween. We ordered a rib eye, cod, and a cheeseburger. The service was great but the food was not. We have lived in Elko for 30 years and have eaten at the Star dozens of times. We have never had this bad of a meal at your restaurant. The steak was terribly undercooked, the sides were flavorless and the fish was soggy. We threw the majority of our order in the trash.While I'm sure we will continue to eat at your establishment, I wanted to let you know how disappointed we were with the quality of our meal. I know I would want to know, if roles were reversed.

Great tasting food, this restaurant is Basque family dining. If busy, you will be placed at a table with strangers. If it's your first time coming, it's best to have a heads up on this dining experience. The cabbage soup is delicious, I would order a large order of soup to go. I love the potatoes here and great tasting steaks. A great meal and a wonderful place to take your spouse, friends, and loved ones, especially for a special occasion

The food was great! The service was excellent & we went for the Basque ambiance. You get the full Basque experience here.

Scotty thanks for your response. It pained greatly to ever say anything about the Star ANY time we travel thru Elko or come for moto cross races or poetry gathering we will always come to the awesome Star!! Bill

My brother and I ate her twice this week and it was superb. Had the borders lunch, which is several state medallions with onions and green pepper with optional sautéed garlic. It was excellent at the restaurant and even better as a leftover later in the evening.Service top notch. Ambience, location and overall spirit are amazing.

Review is only for drinks! Food/Taste/Flavor: 5/5 - Picon Punch is American picon, brandy, grenadine, and club soda. It has a slight bitterness to it which is offset by the sweetness of the grenadine as well. It's a good combination to offset our second drink. Kalimotxo is red wine and coke which was an interesting combination! There's a bit sweetness from the coke and the savoriness from the wine Ambience: 5/5 - quiet and cozy for a drink in the afternoon and a place to relax Service: 5/5 - bartender was very attentive and willing to converse and chat Value for price: 5/5 - $6 per drink was reasonable

We stopped in for lunch on our way back from Wyoming. Excellent Basque food. So much our leftovers fed us two more times. Highly recommend the boarders special

Basque restaurant serving family style. Food is great, I had the filet and thought it was very good. Service was good and I just like the place. Has a bar as well.

I've noticed a trend with Star Hotel where when you're new to town, everyone says, "Have you tried the Star yet!?" It happened enough times that even my ten year old son wanted to try it. So I took him on a mommy/son date there! First thing I noticed when you walk in the building, you're automatically in the bar area. I remember it being the same for another basque restaurant I went to in Reno, so I figured I'd just walk past it. And I was right, the dining area is just past the bar. Now being a Renoite born and raised, I can only compare this to Louis Basque Corner on 4th in Reno. After trying everything I'd have to say Louis reigns supreme. But the Star isn't bad by any means. Let's break it down... The dining room is SMALL. You have to literally ask people to scoot in, just to get to your table. Not a fan of that. The waitresses are all so kind and on top of things, you don't have to wait long for anything. The food was hit and miss. Yea you get a TON of food... but is all of it worth it? Here you get bread, salad and soup. All delicious. Then you get a plate of different kinds of beans. Not a fan. I remember the charro style beans from Louis and these are just pretty sad. Then you get spaghetti and French fries. They're not bad. I also ordered mushrooms because yumm. They're extra but definitely worth it. I got lamb with garlic and my son got the burger. The lamb was amazing and came with mint jelly. Finally I got bread pudding and he got cheesecake. The cheesecake was delicious but the bread pudding was literally amazing it had some kind of butter sauce on it and I could literally eat it all day. All in all I think The Star is great, but there's room for improvement with their food and seating arrangements.

Food was mediocre - most everything was under salted and bland - cabbage soup was something you imagine is made during an 1800s famine, the bread was flavorless, the salad was soggy and bland, the meat was fatty and somehow bland, all the sides were mushy and bland. The punch was meh. Wine list was comparable to your airline flight selection . Yet, this place was packed. I can see how this could be a locals favorite bar - everyone was having a great time. Sports were on the TVs and that drew in a crowd at the bar. Didn't see any kids on a Saturday night. So the yelp rating suggests the restaurant is good but this is not four stars. Quality is similar to dinner at an IHOP. Portions are huge but food wasn't good so do you want a pile of bland food?? Would not return due to bland, expensive food and communal seating (unless you like sharing a table with other diners, beware you may not get a private table)

It's got history. It's got a great story. I've been here in the past a few times while on the yearly trek to see family. I know memories can be fuzzy but there was nothing as good as I remembered. From the soup to the entrée. The woman serving us was also working a part of 16 behind us and who knows how many others? We were asked if we wanted water. "Yes, please." Someone brought water in a reusable bottle (kudos for that). But No glasses. I was never offered a glass for my beer either. Had to ask for water glasses...just poor service. The ambiance? Has it ever changed? It's old (part of the charm I guess) but clean. Won't go back the food was such a disappointment.

A meal I won't soon forget! I'm a fan of Basque-style dining. I love the endless courses of simple dishes and getting to drink a good, stiff Picon. They were out of the fried chicken, but the baked lamb was out of this world! It was so succulent, just falling right off the bone. Say yes, when they ask if you want garlic. Bread pudding for dessert was rich and buttery. I can't wait to go back!

We chose to come just for drinks because the menu seemed a bit underwhelming for what we were hoping from a Basque restaurant and more than we wanted to spend. The ambiance matched what we had been told to expect by a local, and seemed like a popular spot for locals which we really appreciated! The Pincon Punch was an efficient drink - you could drink very little to really feel it. It's not going to be everyone's thing, but definitely worth trying. We would recommended to others stopping through Elko.