Walking into LongHorn Steakhouse with high expectations for a satisfying steak dinner? While this popular chain serves up some decent cuts of beef at reasonable prices, not everything on their menu deserves a spot on your plate. From chewy steaks to disappointing sides and lackluster seafood, several menu items consistently leave customers frustrated and reaching for their wallets with regret. Smart diners know which dishes to avoid before they even sit down.
Renegade sirloin arrives tough and chewy
The Renegade Sirloin might seem like a great deal at $15.99 for a 6-ounce steak, but this budget-friendly option often turns dinner into a jaw workout. Despite being seasoned with LongHorn’s signature Prairie Dust blend, the sirloin consistently arrives at tables with a texture that makes diners feel like they’re chewing on shoe leather. Even when cooked properly, this lean cut lacks the tenderness most people expect from a steakhouse meal.
The seasoning creates its own set of problems, with customers reporting either an overwhelming salty taste or a complete absence of the promised spice blend. Some diners describe an unpleasant aftertaste that lingers long after the meal ends. Customer complaints frequently mention burnt edges and pools of oily butter surrounding the steak. When a meal requires this much effort to chew, it defeats the purpose of dining out for an enjoyable experience.
Flo’s filet disappoints despite premium pricing
Ordering a filet mignon at any steakhouse comes with certain expectations of tenderness and quality, especially when paying nearly $30 for the privilege. Unfortunately, Flo’s Filet at LongHorn frequently fails to deliver on these basic promises. Customers regularly compare the texture to shoe leather, with some questioning whether they actually received a filet cut at all. The inconsistency proves particularly frustrating when diners expect restaurant-quality preparation.
Reviews consistently mention tough, gristly meat that requires excessive cutting and chewing to consume. Multiple customers report leaving significant portions on their plates simply because the meat proved impossible to chew comfortably. Some diners receive overcooked, dry pieces while others get undercooked centers. For a premium-priced cut, this level of inconsistency makes the dish a risky gamble that rarely pays off with satisfaction.
LongHorn salmon tastes dry and flavorless
Visiting a steakhouse for seafood already requires some faith, but LongHorn’s salmon dish consistently proves why sticking to beef makes more sense. Despite menu descriptions promising a bourbon marinade and hand-cut preparation, the reality often involves dry, tasteless fish that lacks the flaky texture good salmon should provide. The supposed marinade either goes missing entirely or creates an overpowering salty taste that masks any natural fish taste.
Diners frequently struggle to cut through the tough exterior, describing the experience as jabbing a fork into leather rather than enjoying tender seafood. Customer reviews mention greasy, overcooked pieces that bear little resemblance to properly prepared salmon. When a restaurant specializes in beef, their seafood offerings often suffer from lack of expertise and attention. The inconsistent preparation makes this dish a poor choice for anyone seeking a lighter alternative to red meat.
Texas Tonion lacks taste and proper execution
LongHorn’s answer to the popular blooming onion concept falls short in almost every meaningful way. The Texas Tonion features individually fried onion petals that should create a perfect balance of crispy coating and sweet onion interior. Instead, diners encounter thick, heavy batter that overwhelms the delicate onion underneath. The excessive breading creates a greasy, unpleasant texture that makes each bite feel more like eating fried dough than enjoying a vegetable appetizer.
The accompanying dipping sauce adds insult to injury with its bland, uninspiring taste that fails to complement the already problematic onion petals. Multiple reviews describe overcooked edges that scrape against gums and an overwhelming saltiness that masks any onion sweetness. When an appetizer requires this much work to enjoy and delivers so little satisfaction, choosing a different starter makes much more sense for beginning the meal on a positive note.
Steakhouse mac and cheese disappoints consistently
Mac and cheese seems like a foolproof side dish, but LongHorn manages to create multiple ways for this comfort food to disappoint. The promised Parmesan breadcrumb topping frequently goes missing, leaving diners with a plain pasta dish that lacks visual appeal and textural contrast. When the topping does appear, it often arrives as hard, dried bits that suggest the dish sat under heat lamps too long before reaching the table.
The bacon pieces add their own problems, arriving soft and chewy rather than providing the crispy contrast that would improve the dish’s texture. Customer experiences describe either overpowering smokiness that masks the cheese or dried-out noodles with congealed sauce. The four-cheese blend mentioned in the description fails to create any noticeable complexity, leaving diners with either bland pasta or an overly salty mess. For a side dish that should complement the main course, this version creates more disappointment than satisfaction.
Shrimp and lobster chowder contains mostly vegetables
The name “Shrimp and Lobster Chowder” creates expectations of a seafood-rich soup with chunks of tender shellfish in creamy broth. Reality delivers something closer to corn chowder with occasional rubbery shrimp pieces scattered throughout. The promised lobster often exists more in name than actual presence, leaving diners searching through corn, potatoes, and bell peppers for any substantial seafood content.
When seafood pieces do appear, they typically arrive with a tough, chewy texture that suggests poor preparation or extended heating. Reviews consistently mention excessive saltiness and watery consistency that lacks the rich, substantial feel good chowder should provide. The unbalanced ingredients create a soup that tastes more like vegetable medley than premium seafood chowder. For the price point, diners deserve actual lobster and properly prepared shrimp, not essence of seafood mixed with corn.
LH Burger tastes like frozen patty preparation
Steakhouses serving burgers already face skepticism, and LongHorn’s LH Burger does little to prove the doubters wrong. The half-pound patty frequently arrives with perfectly uniform edges that suggest pre-formed, frozen preparation rather than fresh ground beef shaped to order. The meat itself lacks any distinctive beefy taste, instead delivering a bland, overly salted experience that drowns under excessive onions and basic toppings.
The promised juiciness rarely materializes, with many customers receiving dry, overcooked patties that crumble rather than hold together properly. Customer complaints frequently mention the suspicious uniformity and processed taste that suggests shortcuts in preparation. The basic toppings – lettuce, tomato, pickles, onion, and burger sauce – fail to elevate the mediocre foundation. When a restaurant specializes in beef, their burger should showcase that expertise rather than highlighting its limitations with obvious cost-cutting measures.
Grilled lamb chops arrive overcooked and bland
Lamb chops require careful attention to achieve the perfect balance of doneness and seasoning, making them a challenging dish for restaurants to execute consistently. LongHorn’s version frequently arrives at tables either completely burned or dangerously undercooked, suggesting kitchen staff lack experience with this particular protein. The thin cut of the chops makes proper cooking even more difficult, often resulting in dry, tough meat that lacks lamb’s distinctive richness.
Even when cooked to appropriate doneness, the chops often taste bland and underseasoned, with marinades that fail to penetrate the meat or enhance its natural characteristics. Customer reviews describe tasteless meat that barely resembles lamb and pricing that doesn’t match the disappointing reality. The inconsistent preparation makes ordering this dish feel like gambling with dinner money. When restaurants struggle with basic execution on specialty items, diners should stick to menu items the kitchen handles with more confidence and skill.
Chop steak resembles expensive hamburger meat
The Chop Steak represents ground beef molded into steak shape, creating confusion about what diners actually receive for their money. This dish essentially serves as an expensive hamburger without the bun, lacking any resemblance to actual steak cuts. The crumbly texture and muted taste make the meal feel like a misguided attempt to transform basic ground beef into something more sophisticated than its humble origins allow.
The promised mushrooms and onions often arrive unbalanced, with too many mushrooms and insufficient sautéed onions to improve the overall texture and taste. Reviews mention gravy that tastes either too salty or completely bland, failing to enhance the already problematic ground beef foundation. When visiting a steakhouse, diners expect actual steak cuts with proper texture and beefy taste. This dish delivers neither, instead offering glorified salisbury steak at premium prices that don’t reflect the basic ingredients and simple preparation involved.
LongHorn Steakhouse serves some decent steaks, but knowing which menu items to avoid saves both money and disappointment. Stick to their better-executed ribeyes and skip the problem dishes that consistently leave customers writing negative reviews. A successful steakhouse dinner depends as much on what doesn’t get ordered as what does.
