Finding a great steak is something of a jihad for me. I will invade small nations to find the right steak. But sometimes, scouting missions just don't end well.
Silverado Steakhouse is located in the South Point Resort and Casino, about 8 miles South of the Las Vegas strip. It's not worth the drive from the strip to get the food, and if you happen to be a guest at the South Point and happen to be a steak fan, be prepared to add $30 to the cost of your evening for the taxi ride to areas with better steak dinners. Resorts like to hold their guests and their money hostage, and the South Point is no exception.
The service is good but not great; the ambiance is old style Western steakhouse, with leather-lined seating and paintings of Western scenes on the walls. Because the hotel guests are virtual captives due to the distance from other offerings, reservations would be highly advisable, lest you find yourself waiting hours for these guests to finish mediocre steak at inflated prices. The wait staff is attentive without being intrusive, although the poor English of one server left my dinner companion a sparkling water drink without ice until a request was repeated.
I had high hopes for great steak after getting a very good Caesar salad. My companion had her house salad tossed in a bowl, tableside. However, once our food arrived, these high hopes were dashed. While my bone-in rib eye was properly cooked, it was flavorless, surprisingly tough, and a large piece of gristle apparently made of bulletproof kevlar ran through the middle of my steak. The presentation and portion size was excellent, but ultimately, the steak was a bland, tough disappointment, made more disappointing by the high-end price of the steak. Really, this is a $25 steak, not a $43 one. I've had better steaks for less money.
Likewise, my companion's Ahi tuna was a disappointment. It was over-blackened and dry. Looking at it from across the table, I thought she had gotten a piece of coal, not blackened fish.
Ultimately, high prices are what does this steak place in. The food is okay, but not great. The prices say the food should be much better than it really is. Since Las Vegas is something of a steak mecca, visit another steak mosque and don't make the pilgrimage to Silverado. And if you find yourself trapped at the Silverado, just remember that the hotel has a shuttle (with a lousy schedule) and taxi, allowing you to escape to a better steak place.