“I participated in a campaign on behalf of Dad Central Consulting for LongHorn Steakhouse. I received a gift card to facilitate my review and a promotional item as a thank-you for participating.”
Since my 7 year-old daughter’s birthday is the same week as Father’s Day and now that we’ve moved to Virginia just shy of a year ago, this Father’s Day is now squished in somewhere between DD’s birthday party preparation and the last week of school chaos. With all the recitals and school events coming to a head, I have to admit that our last week or so has been pretty much a piecing together of whatever we can scrape from the fridge for dinners.
Being first generation Chinese American with parents who were not familiar with Western ‘Holidays’ (i.e. Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, etc), as a kid I didn’t really celebrate Father’s Day with my dad growing up (aside from the school craft/art project each year in Elementary school). That being said, that doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate the day now that I’m a dad of two girls. It is not hullabaloo-ed as much as Mother’s Day in our little family, BUT a reason to eat well is never ignored! And we ate well this week as I was fortunate to have been chosen by dad central to review LongHorn Steakhouse 🙂
I am absolutely honest in my review. We have never dined at LongHorn, although we are familiar with their brand – we thought they would be more like a “Olive Garden” for steaks – but was pleasantly surprised. We went to the LongHorn in Chantilly VA, the restaurant was pretty new and nicely decorated – it didn’t feel drab or too stereotypical country/western either (no “Hi Ho Silver Away! feeling). We did not need reservations (it was a Tuesday at 6:30pm when we arrived), the waitstaff was efficient and it was VERY kid friendly. From the hostess to the busboys and waiter, they interacted with our kids and were very patient and accommodating (a pile of napkins, extra EXTRA butter for my girls who LOVES butter, etc).
RIB-eye happiness! Perfect ‘medium’ steak, well seasoned, browned outside & juicy inside. Loaded baked potato – I actually appreciate that it wasnt a GIANT potato. Little S had a grilled cheese sandwich.
The winner with the girls – lobster and shrimp cheese dip! Yes, that is cheese dripping from her chin…
Little S had the grilled cheese sandwich – all kids meals come with fruit which is nice. My wife ordered a T-Bone steak – part of it was a little dry but it was seasoned really well and her asparagus was cooked perfectly.
Overall, the experience was real good, the food was what you would expect in a good steakhouse, it wasn’t too fancy, but was nice enough for a special occasion. The prices are fair – not expensive and not all ala cart! Your entrée comes with a side salad and a choice of side dish! I honestly enjoyed my dining experience there more that I had at Outback steakhouse. I would go again when I have a hankering for steak or when I don’t feel like firing up our grill.
THE shrimp and lobster dip that the kids loved! I think it may also be the fact that the chips were the thin kind which also won them over :o)
Yup! This is a kid’s entree salad with grilled chicken. The chicken was flavorful and not dry! Some things that really stood out – THE BREAD came out piping hot and with soft spreadable butter! When we asked for more the waiter said that we had to wait a few minutes since the bread was still baking – there is just something about freshly baked bread…mmmm!
As part of our review package, we received this nifty set of LongHorn steak knives – made of carbon steel with serrated edges. We havent opened ours yet, BUT used the knives when we were at the restaurant. I like my steak knives with some heft in them and this felt like a real knife – I was surprised to see that a set of four was only $30! They felt sturdy and good quality, so I thought it would cost more.
The beautiful bread 🙂 Picture does not do it justice
Rib eye heaven! Juicy, well seasoned, marbleized goodness!
Dessert Trio – the cheesecake was ‘meh’, but the chocolate dessert and the apple crumble with vanilla bean ice cream were delicious!
More Links:
– LongHorn Steakhouse Grilling Fact Sheet
– LongHorn website– find one near you!
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