This is a "real-time" review. That's right, I'm writing this while I'm eating!
First off... I am a self proclaimed steak snob. I've had the privilege of eating steaks at Gallagher's in New York, Don Shula's in Florida, Wolfgang's in Hawaii, Cattlemen's in California, Maestro's in Las Vegas, Joe's in Washington DC, And I cook a pretty mean New York if I do say so myself. I LOVE a good steak!
I had heard great things about Star Rover based on some videos about their 72 oz (4.5 lb) challenge.
Since I'm in Nashville, I owed myself a good steak dinner.
I quickly made reservations through OpenTable. Easy -peasy lemon squeezy!
I arrived a few minutes late. My own fault.
I was quickly seated and received the menu. This is a steak house through and through. They serve steak and that's all (they do have a chicken dish for the cow lovers but that's it).
After a few minutes, I placed my order. My waitress, Paige was very pleasant and got me started with an Old Fashioned from the bar.
I ordered a 10 oz ribeye. This came with salad, bread, fries, and onion rings.
The old fashioned arrived first. Well made. Nice orange peel. On point. Missing the cherry.
The bread arrived second. Nice bun with a salt and butter encrusted top. Kind of tasted like sea salt. Not too heavy, but could have been lighter on the salt.
Soon the salad arrived. A little unusual. Rough cut iceberg lettuce, cucumber, blue cheese crumbles, smoked bacon, red onion, and some strange, fairly bland dressing. No options for dressing substitution. I would have preferred blue cheese dressing and a few cherry tomatoes to perk everything up.
Soon the main event arrived. Paige encouraged me to cut into the steak to make certain it's cooked the way I like it. Nice! They take pride in their product!
The steak was perfectly cooked - medium rare (because anything beyond is uncivilized) and seasoned perfectly. But alas, the first two bites literally took me 5 minutes to chew. It was as if I was chewing a thirty year old tire with retreads! No bueno!
The steak came with fries and onion rings. The fries were overly cooked and kind of burned. I just pushed them aside. The onion rings were the star of the show.
So far, we're in 2 star Yelp! review territory!
Then oh how the stars aligned...
Paige returned, filled my water, brought me a second Old Fashioned (this time it had the Luxardo cocktail Cherry - Proper!). She asked how I was enjoying my steak...
Moment of truth...
I explained the problem.
Paige sent the manager (I did not get their name) over. They quickly arrived and took things to task. They promptly switched me up to a filet mignon.
Shortly thereafter, another employee approached me. Their name is Alison. They brought me a second round of fries and onion rings. MUCH BETTER! And I didn't even mention the fries from earlier!
Soon the fillet arrived. I took one bite and we did not strike gold... no, we found platinum! Delicious! I gave a big thumbs up to Alison who was waiting with baited breath.
Another gentleman, Casey from New York came by to refill my water. He looks like a biker without the leather, wore skinny jeans, biker boots, and has an epic beard that would make any self respecting Viking proud! Great guy!
Everyone was very attentive. Paige and I talked baseball.
Alison and I talked about steak houses around the nation.
I ordered the apple pie (of course I did) for dessert. It's not like grandma used to make, but it's passable and has good flavor.
So a near two star review became four stars in the twinkling of an eye!
Why not five stars you ask?
There's always room for improvement.
Like others have said, they are a little heavy handed on the salt.
The minute differences in bar drinks (I know it's only a cherry but it's the little things that matter sometimes).
And the obvious quality control in the kitchen makes me wonder. Could have just been a one-off. It's forgivable.
But the shining star is their customer service and pride in the end result. They even comped me the pie for the faux pas - totally unnecessary but appreciated. So if I could give them a 4.99999 stars, I would.
They also have live music at 9pm, but I'll be long gone by then.
I'll definitely come back and tell my (non vegan) friends who are visiting Nashville all about Star Rover! read more