After spending most of the day at the car dealership trying to get some issues resolved, the last thing I wanted to do was cook dinner. After taking a quick dip in the hot tub we decided to to pack the mini van with the tribe and go out for dinner. The Lone Star Texas Grill in Ancaster opened a couple months back, replacing “The Outback” (will miss the burgers) which was situated in the very same location in the Meadowlands, Ancaster. Kieana had been there a few weeks back and enjoyed her experience so we thought we’d give them a try.

I suppose any restaurant you visit at dinner time on a Friday night will be busy, so having to wait the extra half hour to be seated was not an issue. There were 5 of us in our party, so we had the wait a little longer to get a table big enough for us. When we were finally seated we soon realize that 2 tables for 2 pushed together and a chair added at the top would make for quite a challenge, as we settled in. It’s a good thing Kieana had to leave so we didn’t have to put up with such little space.

In all my years eating out I’ve never come across a more friendly and “genuinely having fun” staff. From the time you’re greeted at the door to the time they open the door for you and thank you for visiting, you’ll only encounter staff who gives the impression that they love what they’re doing. The person responsible for hiring and training the staff at the Lone Star Grill In Ancaster… you did your company proud. There are two staff members who really stood out this night who I will mention later in this review post.

The Interior.

As mentioned before this used to be The Outback restaurant only a few short few months ago, which Lone Star Texas Grill took over and re-transformed. Not sure how they achieved it, but it looks much bigger inside and very welcoming. Like a typical themed bar/restaurant you’ll find a lot of things hanging on the walls etc with the Texas and cowboy theme. Even the staff are dressed in jeans, plaid shirts and some even wore cowboy/girl boots. As we waited to be seated I looked up and noticed that even the light fixtures were replica chuck wagon wheels with light bulbs fixed into them.

There’s a huge bar area that’s very bright and full of activity, as people were either having a drink before dinner or just hanging out watching the various sports events on the many huge plasma screens over the bar.

The dining room seemed well spaced out until you had to actually sit at your table. As mentioned above it can get very crowded and I could never understand why restaurants insist on creating massive menus (size, not offerings). The very same menu could easily be printed and displayed in a small book-like form which would be so much easier to handle. The tables were already small, not to mention the typical stuff that the table already had on it… now try to open a massive size menu. Restaurant owners please consider the space people are working with when creating your menu. Yes, they do look very attractive in their massive size, but they’re not practical.

The food!

You’re greeted with a large basket of fresh made tortilla chips with a very tasty salsa as your drink order is taken and you’re given time to browse the menu. I believe this is refilled as required, since we were asked if we wanted more but we declined since we wanted to save room for dinner.

We placed our order, drinks refilled and waited for about 30 minutes or so for the food to arrive. Yes it was a bit long, but it was Friday night and though it was getting close to 9 pm the dining room was still packed. I had gone to their website earlier in the day to check out their menu so I pretty much knew what I wanted to try. Plus at the website you have the choice to join their mailing list (email) and get a coupon for a free starter. Which I did and it was emailed to me seconds later. I could order anything (1 per table though) off the starter menu that was under $11 I think.

With the coupon we ordered the “Wild Fire Wings” (A full pound of wings, regular or dusted, tossed in our Original BBQ or Texas Butter sauce, served with fries, carrot & celery sticks and ranch dressing.). We had ours done regular and tossed in Texas Butter sauce. The wings itself were a nice size and done perfectly, but that butter sauce was a mistake. There was a hint of butter, but everything was over-powered with a vinegar sort of linguring taste. Seems we never got fries with ours! Maybe this is the typical way bar wings are done and I’m sure it’s probably a hit with other customers, but as someone who’s enjoyed wings all over North America these could be improved on.

Indy ordered the “Little Cowboy Steak” off the kids menu (Grilled 7oz sirloin steak with cowboy seasonings served with steamed vegetables & Mexican rice or fries.). The steak itself was done to perfection and you could tell that decent beef was used. However the steamed vegetables were rather flat and lacked any sort of flavour according to Indy. The fries seemed to be fresh cut, but not sure if it’s because of the time we waited (probably sitting back in the kitchen) or the fact that the restaurant itself was a bit cold inside, the fries were cold and limp. A combination of filling up with the chips and salsa and the fact that the fries and vegetables were a turn-off, but Indy left most of what was served to her on her plate. Cost $9.99

Tehya is very similar to me and will try different things off the menu at the restaurants we visit. I don’t recall she’s ever ordered the same thing and any 2 restaurants we’ve ever been to. Rather than order off the actual dinner menu, she decided on a chili from the starter menu. She got the Texas Red Chili (Traditional Texas-style chili with beans and seasoned lean ground beef topped with Cheddar cheese, diced green onions and served with garlic toast.). This is a MUST try when you visit. Don’t think it’s going to be packed with a punch of spices and heat that will cause heart burn. No, this is well balanced and full of chili goodness. Yes, she insisted I try it and she came pretty close to losing her dinner to me. The toasted bread was wonderful when dipped into the warm chili and the cheese topping made everything all gooey and rich. This was the hit of the night! Cost – $7.99

Caron had the Ranchers Sirloin (8 oz.) (A juicy, boneless cut with great flavour and texture. All of our steaks are served with crispy onion rings, seasonal vegetables and choice of Chuck Wagon Side.) with the fries as her choice of side. Again the steak was done to perfection, but it was a bit dry and could really use some au jus. As with Indy’s order, the vegetables were boring and the fries cold as well. She claimed that she wasn’t really impressed. The free refills of coke helped it all go down Cost : $18.99

I ordered the Baja Tequila Shrimp (Skillet-seared shrimp tossed with peppers, onions, tomatoes, garlic, our own Ranchero sauce and flambéed with tequila. Served over Mexican rice and seasonal vegetables.) and was really hoping/expecting to be thrilled with promise of something exciting. I was disappointed from the very first bite I took. However I love shrimp and these were also done as I like, so I did picked away at the shrimp and some of the rice. Same story with the seasonal vegetables as with Indy and Caron. I didn’t even touch that part of my plate. I though that if I asked for some hot sauce it would help add some flair to the dish that was missing. Our server got me a couple hot sauce options (see pic below), but that didn’t help. Vinegar based hotsauce (like the wings) that should not be classified as hot sauce… maybe it should be called flavoured vinegar. After really trying to eat this, I gave up.

Our server asked me if everything was ok after seeing that I didn’t eat much off the plate and though I normally would complain and cause a fuss I decided to keep quiet this night. She again asked and I felt I should say something (I was not hoping or trying to get any sort of response), so I mentioned that it was very hard to eat and that besides the shrimp everything else was “blah”. She apologized, asked if I’d like to get something else, which I declined. Moments later she came back with her manager who again apologized to me, offered to buy my dinner and asked if they could get me something else. THIS IS WHAT CUSTOMER SERVICE SHOULD BE ABOUT!  I didn’t have to complain.. they noticed that I didn’t eat my dinner and they took the necessary steps to find out why and gave me options. I again declined, but I did get a cup of coffee. BTW, it was one of the best cup of coffee I’ve ever had.

The manager explained that the dish I ordered was a usual hit in the restaurant and could not understand why it was a miss with me. She apologized again, which was very sincere and went a long way in making this customer feel better.

With the manager covering my meal and the coupon we had for the free starter, our bill came to just under $60 with a 15% tip for our server. Please note that this didn’t include any booze or dessert. (remember to go to their website for the free coupon)

Final thoughts…

I/We probably won’t be going back to the Lone Star Texas Grill anytime soon, but if we did it would be to try those amazing looking fajita platters I’d see making it’s way past our table to other guests. Looked and smelled amazing. To our server “Tequila” (Amber) you did an amazing job and I especially like the fact that you took my situation immediately to your manager (This after trying to resolve it first) . This shows that you care about your customers and you’re willing to make them happy before they leave with a negative view of your restaurant. “Dasiy” (Dana) you and your staff are a credit to Lone Star Grill and I love the professional and friendly way you took the time to make me happy. I didn’t ask or expect anything in return when I didn’t like my dinner, but you went the extra step to cover what I would have spent and you offered me something else off the menu. Thanks!

I will be emailing your head office to give them my positive thoughts about the two of you.

In case you’re reading this review and wondering why there are 2 names for each person I mentioned (Amber – Tequila and Dana – Daisy), it’s because each employee is given (probably chooses?) a fun name to work under. I did mention above that this staff were all having fun.

* Did you notice the portion size with Caron’s meal as compared to Indy’s? And check the price difference.. it’s cheaper to order off the kids menu?

Address | Contact | Time Opened

14 Martindale Cres.
Meadowlands Power Centre
Ancaster, ON, L9K1J9

T: 905-648-7147
F: 905-648-5348

Mon-Thurs 11:30am – 11:00pm
Fri-Sat 11:30am – Midnight
Sun 11:30am – 10:00pm

They have a neat tortilla making machine at the back of the restaurant within everyones view..super cool:

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