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| - I was up for steak tonight but rather than drive across town to my standby favorite Texas Roadhouse, I decided to give Montana Mike's a try based on the reviews here. Big mistake. Upon entering, I was "greeted" by a young woman with hair dyed a bizarre shade of red and a personality of a wet mop. She led me to my table as if it was an inconvenience. As I was seated in view of her, I can attest to the fact that she treated every customer with the same indifference and never changed the sour expression on her face. I sat at my table. And sat. And sat. And sat. I was getting myself ready to leave when another young woman with a personality came and asked if I had been attended to. I said no and she took my order and told me the name of my actual server, who was apparently off somewhere else. He eventually arrived with my drink and salad. The salad and the blue cheese dressing were okay. Having finished I awaited my mushroom appetizer. And waited. And waited. Finally the pleasant young lady, not my server, arrived with both my appetizer and entrée, apologizing for their simultaneous arrival. Seems my server dropped the ball. Rather than eat cold steak, I let the mushrooms sit and dove into my entrée, an 8 ounce sirloin. Disappointing. In all my years eating at the Texas Roadhouse, I never got a bad piece of meat. This was a bad piece of meat. Though it looked cooked to perfection color wise, it was tough and gristly and tepid. I managed to find a few edible pieces. The loaded potato was quite good. I then tried the appetizer which by now had gone cold. Too bad, it tasted like it might have once been good. Now it was merely cold and soggy and accompanied by the same off-tasting ranch dressing commented upon by others. All I wanted at this point was to get out of there, tempted as I was to ask to see the manager. I'm a foodie and I watch many of competitions like Top Chef. I learned from them that in the restaurant business, one cannot excuse even one experience of poor service and substandard food. All say the same thing; good service and good food is a must every time because first impressions are lasting. My first impression of Montana Mike's, from the red-haired sourpuss to the poor service and disappointing food, was a negative one and I shall not return.
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