★★★★ (4 Stars)

This place is pretty good.  I was very surprised with the filet mignon I ordered.  I expected it to be somewhat like Outback or those type of places being that Texas Roadhouse is a chain, but boy was I wrong.

I downed a few margaritas during the extensive wait.  This restaurant seems to be a pretty popular one, for good reason.  They apparently hand cut their steaks and do a great job cooking them to order.  Unlike most steak restaurants, I asked for my steak to be cooked medium and I got medium.

The price was perfect too.  I think it was $16 for a filet mignon and it came with a salad, and two sides.

A Side Note:  I saw the Texas Roadhouse CEO appear on CNBC recently and he spoke about how they, like Morton’s and Ruth’s Chris, have been buying beef off the spot market (commodities market).  So, this is one way they’ve been able to save costs, up to $1/lb., during these inflationary commodity times (http://www.cnbc.com/id…).

★★★★★ (5 Stars)

Wowza!

We were looking for a good place to eat before we went to see The Spelling Bee at the Wadsworth Theater.  We kept driving for a bit and noticed a sidecar / train dining car / trailer sitting on the side that had a COW logo on it.  Hey, anything with a cow on it HAS to be good, right?

We walked into the Pacific Dining Car restaurant and I quickly felt under dressed.  I think I was wearing jeans and a t-shirt.  The place was really, really nice.  The tables were set with crystal and gold silverware settings.  And, the dining rooms, yes they had multiple dining rooms each with their own name, looked like scenes from the Titanic.

After looking over the menu I decided on the filet mignon.  This is kind of repetitive because most of my reviews will probably say that I ordered the filet mignon!  But, I did!  And, it was probably one of the best filet’s I have ever had.

The service was perfect. It seemed the wait staff was always there by my side when I needed them.

I don’t know about the other reviewers, and maybe this place is hit-or-miss, but I really hit a great steakhouse by mistake on this day.  I haven’t been back, because I haven’t had a reason to be in that area, but it’s certainly on the top of my list for when I am.

★★★★★ (5 Stars)

Ohhhhh Fogo de Chao. . .  how I love thee, let me count thy ways.

Meat.  Lots and lots of meat.  Oh, they have a really damn-good, huge salad bar with all sorts of stuff too, but the meat is marvelous.  It is a buffet of sorts.  The gauchos come to your table offering about 15 varieties of meat and once you’re done you can continue asking for more.  My favorites are the bacon wrapped filet and the picanha.  I’m drooling on my keyboard as I am typing this.  BRB, gonna grab a napkin…….

The service is perfect.  Not once did I have to ask for anything.  Sides, such as plantains and mashed potatoes,  were quickly replenished as were my drinks and water.  Actually, the only thing I did ask for was feijoada and rice.  They brought it, promptly, to my table.  Great!

The experience is in and of itself one reason to go.  Yeah, it’s a little expensive, but it is well worth it.  Oh, and a side note for vegetarians: If I’m not mistaken, you can eat salad-bar only for a lesser price.  :)

★★ (2 Stars)

For the type of restaurant Aloha Steakhouse strives to be, I give it two stars.

It was a weeknight and we were seated fairly quickly.  That was the good part.  The menu looked like they offered some really good dishes.  I settled in on ordering the Filet Mignon with the peppercorn gravy.  Mmmm, sounds good doesn’t it?  heh.  It sounded so good, I quickly became depressed with the first bite.  What?!  COLD peppercorn gravy?!  What in the world are they thinking?  The cold gravy made the filet also taste cold.  I let the waitress know and she came back with the manager.

He told me that he had tasted the gravy and that it wasn’t COLD it was LUKEWARM.  I was completely flabbergasted by his comment.  Is this gravy *supposed* to be lukewarm?!  This was not good.  In any case, I told him I’d just scrape it off and he was fine with it.  He didn’t offer to make things right for this horrific crime.  I don’t know what I was thinking.  I should have just ordered the filet mignon plain to begin with.  It certainly would have been a lot better.

Anyway, the service was not good.  The waitress was not helpful even with her knowing that it was our first time there.  She was slow to take our order, put our order in, and we had to go to the bar to pay the check because she never came back to the table.

Maybe it was an off-night.  I’ll have to be patient and give them one more shot.