Emil-Lene's Sirloin House

Great food and service! I would have given this place 5 stars if I hadn't used the bathroom. Wow! You walk from the dining room of a steak house, into a bathroom that looks like a truck stop gas station bathroom off I-80 in Go-F-Yourself Iowa!

Pros: Great food, great service
Cons: Bathrooms! (Seriously, get this fixed!!)

I was impressed by the food and friendly wait staff. The drinks were good too.
Kids love the tree in the middle of the dining room covered in lights. Its definitely got that old school feel to it. Carpeted floors and old wooden tables and chairs.

This place has what they call a "Verbal Menu" which means the server tells you the entire menu for that night. She doesn't list off prices, so you'll have to wing it if you're worried about it. The prices are definitely 'Steak House' prices, but its probably the best steak around! I love the mom ñ pop feel. I would recommend this place to anybody who's looking for a good steak somewhere other than some chain restaurant.

(But seriously, don't use the bathroom)

I'm joking. But serious!

I would give this place more stars if the service wasn't so slow!  We came here on a Tuesday evening and got seated right away.  Waitress ordered our drinks, but it didn't come until 20 mins later.  Took another 20 min to get our complimentary bread and veggies and another 10 min for them to take our orders.  Server asked if we wanted refills on our drinks 3 times before they actually got refilled.  This place is reasonably priced for a steak dinner that comes with spaghetti, soup or salad, plus choice of potato or fries.  Our food took forever to come out.  The Medium steaks were more like medium rare, and the medium rare was more like rare.  Co-worker sent back his rare steak to get cooked longer and it came back without the fries he ordered!  Took another 20 min wait to get the check.  Not sure if this is normal for the service to be this slow.  The food was decent but we were starving!!  This place was hard to find also, since the sign on the road doesn't reflect where the restaurant is.  You have to drive a little further down the road to this small house-like structure.  Parking was tight since this place was packed, so I parked my rental on the side of the road like some other cars.

This restaurant has been in the same location for 53 years! I first visited 10 years ago and I was astounded by the cost then. We went a couple years after that, and then we thought tonight...eh, we hadn't been to Emil-Lene's in about 8 years, let's check it out again.

I don't think they've ever updated anything. It is an old farmhouse made in to a restaurant. I also think it needs to be stripped and seriously cleaned. It needs to be updated as well.

Paying $90 for two (that's with tip included)...I expect a really nice , classy, CLEAN and up to date restaurant with nice, updated and clean restrooms. (I was disgusted that I went in to use the restroom and someone didn't flush their big turd!) Ugh. Aside from a turd in the toilet, it was just cold and run down.

The restaurant has cheap art throughout. And just stockshow stuff. I don't think they've changed the decor since the 70's. I think they just keep opening every day and that's it. They don't do anything else.

I really LOVE the relish dish they bring out! Celery, carrots, green onions, olives, peppers....all heaped high on ice! The homemade dressings are wonderful. Tonight we had the special. And 8 ounce sirloin with king crab. The crab was nothing less than succulent! The steak was just ok. Mine was actually undercooked. It was ok, because I didn't eat it anyway. I was full on my crab, so I brought the steak home. Being undercooked...it will be perfect when I re-heat it with steak and eggs!

The waitress we had tonight was spectacular! Spot on!! But that doesn't make it worth what they charge.

I give it two stars for the following reasons:

The restaurant is run down and the decor is cheap and outdated. It's not as clean as I would expect and I was very cold during dinner. While some of the food is really very good, and portions are ample. It's nothing special. It's very typical. (Except for the relish dish...which isn't served anywhere EXCEPT Emil-Lene's.) The prices are just beyond ridiculous. I had forgotten how exorbitantly priced they are.

I think it they readjusted their prices (lowered them...A LOT), they would have a chance. But, as it is I don't expect Emil-Lene's to hang in there for much longer. They can't. I think they have priced themselves out of business.

They will have to make some serious efforts to turn it around and I just don't think they see that. Either that, or they just don't care!