Ewwwww. Long time Open Flame patron here. But this weekend might have been the straw that broke the camel's back. Has there been a change in management up there? Crazy-bad service on Friday night - and it's not like the place was overly busy. Order a drink 3 times before I finally received it. When our meal was *finally* delivered the Texas toast fell on the floor. I pointed it out (because I couldn't reach it) as I thought they might want to pick it up. Naw - just got walked on the rest of the night. I saw waitstaff look right at it as they stepped on, or over, it. They at least delivered steak to me like I ordered.
We tried TR in Ames over the Christmas break. We happened by it and it didn't look all that busy so we wandered in. There was a wait for a table, but we got seats at the bar. We watched two bartenders work their tails off serving all the drinks and waiting on the people eating at the bar. The manager - well, I assume he was the manager since his shirt was slightly different than the rest of the staff - chewed out one of the bartenders in front of everyone sitting there. Something about she didn't clean up the night before to his liking. She actually took it really well, even though I thought he handled the situation really poorly. She actually apologized to us for having to listen to it.
The food was bad. Burnt sweet potato. Over done prime rib (I ordered med-rare and received well done/shoe leather). Tasteless beef. Lack of sour cream/butter for potato. Dirty silverware.
We should know better than to go to these places. We buy a quarter of high-quility, aged beef from family on a regular basis. Eating at a discount steak place is as bad as buying ground beef from WalMart. Only did that once! Wow, I feel sorry for people who think this is how beef tastes.
With all that said, I've eaten at Outback and Timber Lodge when I'm traveling as that's what is near the hotel. Honestly, I can't complain about anything I've ever been served at either.
