Well well, where do I begin?
Went to Jack Binion's with the girlfriend in honor of Restaurant Week. The atmosphere/decor are nice enough, but that is where it ends.
Found out that the Restaurant Week "menu" consisted of an eight-ounce filet, baked potato, house salad, and dessert (cheesecake). Not impressed with an 8-ounce steak and potato for $32, I decided to get something off the normal menu while my girlfriend got the Restaurant Week deal.
I went with the 16-ounce Prime Rib of Beef. The menu certainly makes it sound good:
"Our 28 day wet age process allows the meat to essentially marinade in its own juices breaking down the toughness and accentuating the true beef flavor."
I ordered medium rare, as always. What I got was the most bland, lifeless, frankly disgusting cut of steak I have ever seen, cooked until there was not a HINT of pink throughout the entire thing. The color was a grayish-brown, and it was marbled throughout with thick, tough fat/connective tissue. No hint that it had ever seen a grill. Frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if it had been cooked at some point in the last week and microwaved upon my ordering it. For $31 for a steak and baked potato, let's just say I was hoping A-1 sauce wouldn't need to make an appearance all night. This steak looked so unappealing when it reached our table that I promptly asked for some.
The girlfriend's filet looked/tasted much better. Only one problem: she ordered medium well, as always, and the middle of her steak was BLOOD RED. Bordering between rare and medium rare. I do not mind blood in my steak, but what she got was a bit much for even me. It was certainly too much for her.
So why didn't we just send them back? Well, we would have, had our waitress approached our table to inquire about the meal even ONCE after the food was brought out. I must stress at this point that the restaurant was not at all packed. There were empty tables all around us. We could not help but notice that she did approach the nearest table a few times to inquire about the quality of their food several times. Surprise, surprise, one of their steaks was overdone and sent back.
Another nice touch came when they brought her salad out. The waiter, a different one, asked if she would like some freshly-ground pepper. She said yes, please. He promptly disappeared, never to be seen again. Classy, Jack Binion's. Very classy.
Anyway, by the time the waitress did come back to get our plates out of the way (again, not asking about the food), we wanted nothing more than to leave. Suffice to say, the tip reflected her performance.
It is my opinion that once a place like Fogo de Chao or Texas de Brazil starts serving outstanding steak in an all-you-can-eat-for-$50 setting, $30 for a moderately sized steak and baked potato should at least ensure a good cut of meat cooked to order on a grill. Jack Binion's disagrees. I will not be coming back. read more