Okay, it has been a while since I ate here and I will tell you why. Â DO NOT serve me my dinner and have the server ask me to cut my steak to see if it is cooked properly. They didn't always do this but it started a few years ago and that's when I stopped going. Â It's a shame, we used to frequent this place often. I just read another review and I see that they still have this practice in place.
Management: Â You do not ask a paying customer to cut open their steak when it is served. Â Steaks should always rest prior to cutting them open and I may not want to cut into my steak the second it is brought to me. Â I don't know if this was a corporate brain child or just this location; but it is the most ridiculous thing I have ever been asked to do. Â
In case you still frequent this location and this request annoys you as much as me, you can just tell the server that you do not want to and they will leave you alone. Â I have done that in the past. Â Please remember this IS NOT the server's idea so treat them well.
This place is okay if you order the right thing. Tonight I was happy to start with a house Bloody Mary. It's been a while since I've eaten here. I miss the days when the menu included a prime sirloin. Now all of the meat is USDA choice, which I guess means something since some other steak joints of this type don't even tell you about the quality of their meats. Entrees include two sides, which for me tonight included two of their classic signatures: the healthy portioned lettuce wedge and baked sweet potato. Salad was tasty, but benefitted from a little table seasoning. You also get a mini soft pumpernickel bread before dinner. My bread was half warm and half room temperature. Warmer bread with honey butter would be better. The sweet potato hit the spot. For my entree I really enjoyed my bacon wrapped filet. I like it between rare and medium rare and at least they didn't overcook it. I had to send it back because the first time it came out, it was blue. I'm on the fence about them asking me to cut the steak as soon as it was served to see if it was to my liking. I didn't have any time to take a picture and post it in its pristine state! Forget the shrimp and grape tomato skewer-- it was over grilled and the shrimps were smallish. Service was nice. Prices were what you'd expect. I leave this place with no wow, just a sense of satiety.
Review Source:While not great steak, even for a mid-price chain; this place is a winner.
Service is very good and food is pretty decent. Â
Steaks here are well prepared, but keep in mind: its all relative to price.
They also offer specials from time to time and their ~$17 3-course meal is a great option. Â My 10yr old orders it over the kids meal, as it gives him soup, main entree and desert(or app).
Chili is good here, well stocked with meat.
Definitely worth a visit for a decent meal and good service. Â Parking may be tight and the traffic flow from the mall is a pain, but if in the area stop in.
I started with a cup of Loaded Baked Potato Soup, it was delicious. Â I then had the Texas Ribeye, ordered Medium Rare. Â It was cooked perfectly. Â The service was great Richard ensured I always had a full glass of water asking if I needed anything else. Â I'm not sure what everyone else encountered here, but I have no complaints.
Review Source:Food was decent for the money. Â What really impressed me about it was the manager's efforts to keep us happy. One steak sent back due to being overcooked. Â My party also had to wait about 30min for our entrees. Â The manager comp'd two of our three meals and apologized profusely. Â For this and the friendly, experienced waitress, I will certainly return when I am in the area.
Review Source:We've been to this particular location several times and each time our experience is about the same which is:
The service is not the worst, but certainly not the best. Â The more people in the place, the quality of the service goes down. Â Which in my opinion, this very point is very important for in this line of business, no matter how busy the place gets, the service should always be top notch.
The quality of the steaks are not the best and I find they tend to be on the tough side. Â Although they generally come out as ordered, they are usually bland tasting.
"There's only one man who would dare give me the raspberry...Lone Star!"
Sorry, had to make the obvious Spaceballs flashback first. Â On we go. Â This was one of the more disappointing restaurant visits I've had in awhile. Â There was a wait on a Monday night when half the dining room was open to sit. Â Well ok, they were a little busy, and I guess a few other restaurants in the area were without power thanks to the crazy ass weather we've been having lately. Â I'll give them that. Â But when servers are standing around saying, "You know I have tables open," it's a little disconcerting.
Add to that, a family of 5 or 6 walked in about 10 minutes after us, and I guess they knew one of the servers. Â She came over to talk to the dad in the group for a minute or two, then after she walked away, the dad went up to the host stand and I guess he was able to finagle his family a table on the grounds that there were tables open, and he knew the server.
The tables that were getting up and leaving weren't getting cleared off, as I saw no busperson in sight. Â The hostesses, who should've been running the door and seating people were pitching in bussing tables, which made the delay longer.
Once seated, our service ranged from good-above average. Â Our server was good, given that she had many tables to take care of in opposing ends of the room. Â Food was good, in line with a chain steakhouse. Â Just a bad first impression took it down, and they say you rarely get a second chance to make a first impression.
I was visiting my son who is in the Navy stationed at Great Lakes. We really enjoyed this restaurant. We had really great service and food was excellent as well. Both my wife and I had steak and while I won't say it was the best I ever had...I would say it was far better than average and at a really good price. Tried to go back a second time with our sailor but a blizzard combined with unbelievable traffic forced us to settle for a nearby Outback. I like Outback...but Lonestar steak was better.
Review Source:This restaurant was a disappointment.
Although everyone else got their food in a reasonable amount of time, considering how busy the restaurant was, the waitress forgot mine. She apologized, but I still didn't get my dinner until everyone else in my group was ready to leave. The food was alright, nothing special, but nothing to complain about either.
Ummm... ya... what's the big deal? Went here longing for a good steak dinner but left unimpressed.
Looks like they converted an old office into a restaurant, complete with panel ceilings. Not much for decor in the place. I wouldn't suggest it for a date night.
Bread was delivered to the table, cold (unlike Black Angus) but soft. The butter was hard, not the spreadable whipped stuff (like Outback). That sort of set the tone. Next up: appetizer - French fries with cheese and bacon and a side of Texas ranch dip. The bacon was almost tasteless. But, hey, what's not to like about fried potatoes and a ton of melty cheese? I ordered a wedge salad with my dinner. If you've never seen or had one it basically looks like someone cut a hunk of lettuce off of the head and sprinkles a few things on top. Pretty easy. I love 'em. Here, it was rather tasteless - tomatoes, blue cheese and all. I didn't bother to eat more than a few bites.
The saving grace? My dinner: steak medallions with shrimp on top. THEY GOT THIS RIGHT! Hallelujah! Tender, garlicky goodness. My boyfriend's steak, however, was blah. As was my loaded sweet potato.
Overall: service was good, the food OK but nothing to rave about. Next time I'm craving steak I'm prrrrrobably going elsewhere.
I wish I would have tried this place again sooner. Their garlic lover's medallions are so juicy and wonderful. They have their 2 meals for $20 deal and these wonderful bites of heaven are included. YUMMMM! The rice they are served on is also super tasty. Then you get an appetizer and two sides too. I usually get a salad and their augratin potatoes. Can I just tell you.........the potatoes are ridiculously good. One hint-don't go here if you're dieting because you will fail. :-) And if all the food isn't enough, you also get free peanuts.
I don't remember what I ordered years ago when I came here for the first time, but I wasn't impressed. But since I've been back the last few times, it has quickly become one of my faves.
Went for  lunch after my lil bro's Navy basic training graduation. Place was busy.
There were 6 in our party and we didn't have to wait at all. Waitress we had was prompt and efficient, but she made it clear that we needed to do what she said in order for it to be that way.
Food was as expected. Nothing to write home about, but would eat again.
Towards the end of the dinner the waitress interacted with us a bit more but I didn't care for her extreme urging to not go to the Willis (Sears) tower.
We went anyways the next day to the Willis Tower and had a great time ;)
This Lone Star is pretty good, as long as you stick with some standard favorites, namely the burgers (they are outstanding, especially the Bubba Burger).
Service is sometimes great and sometimes horrible. Just depends on the day.
Avoid Friday and Saturday nights, as with most restaurants in Gurnee, you'll be waiting a while. I take my family of 4 usually on Saturday or Sundays for lunch and we get seated immediately and the restaurant is not busy at all. Great for an easy family meal.
The bread and butter and peanuts are nice to have right when you sit down, but not near as good as Texas Roadhouse (closest on in Kenosha, I believe).
I will note that almost every time we go something is not quite right. And it's usually with our kid's meal. One time the grilled cheese was served to us as literally two pieces of bread with a slice of American cheese in the middle, and when we gave that meal a second chance at another visit, it came totally burnt on one side. The mac & cheese is usually a good safe bet, but the serving my boy got today had an aftertaste like it was cooked in dishwater. Usually my boy is happy with just the bread and butter for lunch...luckily.
There is a nice long bar with some tube TV's for folks looking for a place to unwind. It's usually not busy unless folks are having drinks there waiting for a seat. Several beers are on tap.
Lone Star is not too bad, but not great. Â I've eaten here a number of times, and it's one of the best restaurants in Gurnee Mills, although that's not saying much.
If you eat here, definitely get a steak (or burger at lunch). Â Do not waste your time with chicken, pasta, fish, or pork. Â They are all afterthoughts at Lone Star and it shows. Â Steak is the way to go.
You get a lot of food at Lone Star, which is nice. Â Steaks come with a side (baked potato, fries, sweet potato, etc) and a salad. Â The sweet potatoes are good, but the other sides are average. Â Their salads are pretty low quality, though.
As far as the steaks, they are good, but nothing special. Â The best steak, by far, is the bacon-wrapped filet. Â The NY Strip is also decent, but I'd recommend staying away from the Sirloin or the T-Bone.
Skip the desserts. Â None are any good except for the chocolate cake, but that one is way too much food, so it's only good if you are splitting it.
Like I said, not a great restaurant, but not horrible.
I'm going to finish this review later :)
--------------------------------------------------Â-
Edited 05-30-09 3:20pm
The morning after meeting my MS*, I was famished...so we went to Gurnee Mall because I've been wanting to check out Ruby Tuesday's (they showed the commercials in SD, but there was no Ruby Tuesday's in a 1000/mi radius which I thought was bobo)
The security guard at the mall said Ruby Tuesday's was closed (since it was Easter Sunday) and so my MS suggested Lone Star Steakhouse...since I hadn't been there before, I was game.
It ended up that our server (John) grew up with my MS (small world), and he was super nice, not intrusive and quick to cater to our every whim. The food is similar to Sizzler/Black Angus- I ordered the medallion steak wrapped in bacon and it was okay. Not the best food I've ever eaten, but not the worst, either.
The blended margarita was okay, too.
Three stars for food that didn't make me sick and excellent service *two thumbs up*
*MS = manslave ;D
While visiting Great America on a rainy day with family and friends, we all decided to escape the rain, leave the park for awhile and have a relaxing meal and cocktails. Â Mind you, there is a glut of retaurants near Great America. Â For some reason or other, we ended up at Lone Star Steakhouse. Â We were seated quickly, which is about the only good thing I can say about the experience. Â The service was totally wretched. Â Our server was just not "with it" -- very incompetent and not very nice. Â It took forever to get drinks, our meals came not as we ordered them. Â She also committed what to me is the biggest server faux pas -- she never returned to check on our meals. Â There were problems that might have been fixed, but there was no opportunity. Â One member of my party finally sought out the manager. Â We told her of the problems and she was visibly embarrassed (and our server was standing behind her the whole time). Â She apologized profusely and comp-ed our entire check (which we did not expect, but certainly appreciated). Â Basically, no one in my party finished their meals. Â In fact, all except my sister (she had a meal of "sides" -- baked potato and steamed veggies) ate half or less. Â The food was just not very good and was didn't come out the way it was ordered.
I appreciated the manager's concern (and the comp), but I truly would never visit ANY Lone Star Steakhouse again. Â Sadly, this one really terrible experience will cause me to avoid this chain at all costs.
I stopped by after a day of shopping at Gurnee Mills (it's shares the same parking lot) for some beef. The downhome Texas decor was laughable , but luckily I don't put much stock into ambiance. The service was up to snuff , but unremarkable , adequate. I ordered the prime rib (a personal favorite) , and I ordered the burger for my son. We got soup with our food but for the life of me I cannot remember what kind of soup , or the soup standing out either way, good or bad. I do remember the prime rib though (my favorite , remember) and it was mediocre at best. My son ate his burger , but he didn't exactly glow and savor every bite. I cannot bash this place , but it doesn't exactly get my seal of approval either. I can say that this place is a notch above a Chili's , and on par with Applebees or Ruby Tuesdays. If it's this or Mc Donalds , then Lone Star is your place.
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