Lone Star Steakhouse & Saloon

1.5 Not Recommended

Food  1      Ambience  3      Service  1      Value  1     

Two of us dined at this restaurant on a Friday night a month or so ago and were absolutely shocked. The service was poor, the food was poor and the settling of the bill.. oh dear.

I ordered the chicken tenders with honey mustard dipping sauce. Have a look at the online menu and its pictures! Yeah. All I received was bland fried crumbed chicken which most likely came from a freezer packet. It didn't have any accompaniments, just a huge Bouquet of parsley and the price for that is ridiculous. So it arrived and I was a little confused. I had to ask for the honey mustard dipping sauce which should've arrived with the "meal" and then the waitress explained that the chefs had run out of it.

Why wasn't I informed earlier? But "Oh wait a second!.. Here you go!" and she comes back with a bottle of Masterfoods honey mustard sauce. Um. The service was extremely slow and the staff lacked enthusiasm. The cashier had no team initiative and lacked basic customer service skills, ahh, but so did her fellow staff so there you go! One more thing: Why can't they focus more on service/drink service to ensure their customers are happy?

Peanuts and birthday songs are a lousy distraction as we waited almost an hour for our lousy meals. I have dined at better steakhouses and I'm sure you know which ones I'm talking about. I've worked in hospitality for some years myself and have always been very understanding but this is bullshit. You're definitely not getting the food or service you pay for. I wish we have gone somewhere else.

Jun 28, 2011 

4.5 Below Average

Food  5      Ambience  6      Service  2      Value  5     

Service was quite poor. You had to wait for ages and little assistance given when you had a query. Tables were also left dirty for long periods after customers had left and food was average. Very disappointing and I don't think I will be going there again.

Jul 09, 2010 

5 Average

Food  6      Ambience  6      Service  4      Value  4     

Cheap staff with expensive meals and drinks, servings quite small.

Mar 26, 2010 

3.3 Below Average

Food  5      Ambience  4      Service  1      Value  3     

On reading previous reviews my family and I went there about 3 weeks ago and had similar problems. We had no problems getting seated, but waited probably 10 minutes for an Indian waiter to come to us. We also had a 2 yr old with us. We ordered wine which also took ages the bottle was put on the table not even opened(even though it was screw top) no ice bucket?

Then the ice bucket came and it was just placed on the table. We ordered potato skins hoping they would come quickly to keep the 2 yr old occupied but no. Then we all ordered steaks with sides salads. The salads came and we ate them by themselves, then the steaks came 2 1/2 hrs from when we ordered them. This had cause a lot of stress trying to keep the 2 yr old happy? The problem seemed to be coming from the kitchen because it was a week night and was not busy. So we won't be going back either.

Mar 03, 2010 

9 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  9      Service  9      Value  9     

This was a great visit! Fantastic steaks and the best ribs in Brisbane. Can't wait to go back.

Jan 20, 2010 

2 Not Recommended

Food  2      Ambience  4      Service  1      Value  1     

When we arrived the place was nearly empty and yet it took us 10 minutes to be seated. In hindsight we should have taken this as an indication of what was to follow and left. Our Indian waiter was difficult to understand and didn't do a good job of taking our orders. He took an order for two desserts even though they hadn’t been available for over a month. Unsurprisingly, he messed up a few other meals too.

My ribs came out cold and the smoked hickory barbeque sauce had a thick skin across it; I could only assume it had been sitting out for some time. Our garlic bread was frozen in the middle and all four steaks weren’t cooked properly; some were burn on the outside and raw in the middle. Our meals took a long time to be served; I assume this is because our Indian waiter didn't bother to check if they were ready.

Someone at the table got their main meal after someone else's dessert had been served. When we explained to the duty manager that the meals were cold she investigated the problem. When she returned she informed us that all the proper processes had been followed and that she couldn't understand why our meals were cold. She alluded that we were the problem.

This along with her cheeky smirk and bad attitude rubbed everyone up the wrong way. Instead of apologizing she tried to come up with ridiculous excuses as to why the service and food quality was bad. She refused to admin any fault on behalf of Lonestar; instead she took the word of her ill trained Indian waiter and other incompetent staff.

However, according to one patron the burritos were fantastic; maybe they should stick to Mexican food and do away with their current business model. After speaking to friends and other dissatisfied customers in the restaurant, I believe they’re name is turning to mud.

So if you want a frustrating dinning experience and bad service this is the place for you. Even though we were given a considerable discount I still regret paying a cent for that crap. If I’m ever forced to go to this restaurant again and the same thing happens I’ll walk out without paying.

P.S. -
Also, the duty manager told us she was the highest ranked manager there, even though we found out 10 minutes later this wasn’t the case. I assume this isn’t the first lie she’s told a customer.

Jan 08, 2010 

1.8 Not Recommended

Food  2      Ambience  2      Service  1      Value  2     

We used to love coming here to the Lone Star but not anymore. The service was terrible, food pricey, and staff attitude (particularly the duty manager) was shocking. The garlic bread came out cold in the middle, mains were served cold and needed to be sent back, my mothers steak - ordered well done - was indeed cooked well done in parts but rare and leaking blood in others.

As we had a rather large group (7 adults) - some of us were served first and others nearly an hour later (I was still waiting on a main as others were on desserts). It was hard to believe it was so bad considering there were hardly any people in the restaurant.

On top of all this, we were made to feel it was totally our fault by the duty manager who kept telling us about their high standards! We refused to pay full price and were given a 50% discount after the arrival of a more competent manager. Unsurprisingly, we met even more unhappy customers in the car park outside.

Jan 04, 2010 

3.8 Below Average

Food  5      Ambience  3      Service  5      Value  2     

What a dreadful experience! Couldn't change salad for vegies. Steak had huge piece of gristle in it. Service annoying, kept coming back every couple of minutes to take order from the minute we sat down. Not even good value for money. $4 for a soda water!

Feb 24, 2009 

1 Not Recommended

Food  1      Ambience  1      Service  1      Value  1     

The last time I ate at Lone Star, my steak which I ordered well done, arrived still bleeding, and when I asked for my steak to be put back on the grill, I was abused by the senior staff and told to just shut up and eat my food, when I asked the senior staff for my meal to be cooked more, he told me that the chef doesn't believe in cooking steak past medium rare.

We never received our drinks, after having asked for them at least 5 times. The only good thing about Lonestar is the baked sweet potato, its the only thing they seem to get right.

Oct 12, 2008 

2.5 Not Recommended

Food  3      Ambience  3      Service  2      Value  2     

Terrible best described our experience at this place. My wife and I just spent two weeks holidaying in Queensland and the Lone Star was really the only bad time we had up there in your beautiful state.

The service was non existent...took us over an hour and a half to get meals, not one person came up and asked if we wanted another drink in that time, meals were bland with little flavor and very disappointing and I have to say with the prices you pay at Lone Star they should be perfect everytime, I believe if you're paying top dollar (you do at Lone Star) you should get top food and service and then your happy to pay whatever.

We drove through Warick on the way back home and had a meal at the local RSL there.....half the price but ten times better then Lone Star....steak was cooked to perfection, mushroom sauce was the best I've ever had.

Jul 14, 2008