I had never been to any Ted's locations, so I didn't know what to expect. I was anticipating a good steakhouse experience, given the price points (which don't bother me if the food and service is great, or even good). I sure wish I had something better to report . . .
My husband and I went out to lunch with our 5 year old on a Tuesday.
The first thing I noticed was the 90.3 health score. I'm not sure how a restaurant that has been open about 6 weeks can get a score lower than a fast food restaurant.
The hostess was very peppy and efficient, but it's clear she does have (or like?) children. She spoke to my son with a condescending tone, "You need to sit down before I can give you the Wikki Stix." He was still scooting across the booth. I just chalk it up to inexperience with kids, so it wasn't too bad.
Once seated, I noted that Ted's is nicely decorated (nice paneling and tile foot) and reminded me somewhat of the myriad steakhouses I used to visit when we lived in NYC.
Jordan was our server. We ordered unsweet tea with lemon and a soft drink for my son. I had to ask him for lemon when he served our drinks. Then 10 minutes later, my husband reiterated our request (with successful results).
Both my husband and I ordered the chopped salad as an appetizer. It was average and I would not recommend it. My husband ordered the bison steak and said that it was pretty good, though the cut seemed a little thin. Maybe that's how it's always done, I don't know. His fries were soggy and greasy.
I ordered the Red Rock chicken sandwich, with a side of tomatoes. The sandwich was okay, but I don't recommend the Z-sauce. The tomatoes were pink, crunchy, and devoid of flavor - inedible. That really surprised me.
The worst thing was the chicken noodle soup (of the day). Granted this is not a soup and salad place, so maybe we should have steered our son toward a slider or chicken fingers. By the time my husband had finished his meal, my slow-eating son had only eaten his oyster crackers, some fries and about 3 spoonfuls of soup. He wanted to know if "maybe they don't put chicken in their soup on Tuesdays". I searched - no chicken. Then I tasted it since he usually finishes soup. It was vile. My husband sampled it and made a wretch of face. Gummy noodles, no chicken, and super-gross flavor - I do not recommend it even if it were free and you were really hungry.
We noticed a manager (maybe?) checking on other patrons, but we were overlooked.
Jordan was inattentive given how few people were dining for lunch. I wonder if he just got home from college and hasn't had much time to learn the ropes. He asked how everything was when we were done. My husband said he enjoyed his, but that I didn't think the tomatoes were good at all and that the soup was also not good. *Crickets* (no response) On the plus side, Jordan surprised me when he brought the to-go cup for my husband, he also brought one for me. Unfortunately that didn't make up for the long intervals between visits to our table.
Bottom line: If you are looking to spend $80+ on a meal, without wine/alcohol, and you think that for that price you will get good food and good service, you will likely be very disappointed.