Prime Steakhouse

My wife and I have frequented the Prime Steakhouse a number of times, with all of our previous visits being very good experiences. Based on those experiences, we elected to go there for an early dinner (we had a reservation) to celebrate the sale of our home in another state.\r \r We both ordered our dinners and appetizers, with me ordering the bisque and a NY Strip (medium), two of my favorites at this restaurant. I am sorry to say this visit was very disappointing for a number of reasons:\r \r 1) The bisque had lumps in it (flour or cornstarch, not the seafood).\r \r 2) When served, my steak was unevenly cut (very thick on one end, half the thickness on the other end), which I would not expect in this type of restaurant.\r \r 3) I started to enjoy my dinner, only to find that half of the steak (the thick end) was cooked perfectly, but the other half was extremely well done. So well done, that it was tough and almost tasteless – therefore I elected not to eat it.\r \r More troubling, was how the manager/owner (Randy) handled the situation after being made aware of the problem by the server (the server did an excellent job, and was very apologetic and said she would let the owner know). \r \r 4) Randy passed our table six or more times after being told of the problem with my meal, but never stopping to say anything about the steak, or apologizing for the situation! Only when we were passing him on our way out of the restaurant did he say, “Thanks for letting me know about the problem with your meal, I need to know those things.” ??????\r \r From previous conversations with Randy, I know he has been in the business a long time and therefore is an experienced professional. Even so, I think he did a very poor job of handling the problem with my meal that evening. Quality control seemed to be lacking that evening, starting with cut of the steak and the preparation of both the bisque and the steak. \r \r Believe me when I say I know “things” happen, even in the best businesses and operations, but when they do, the key is how you handle it with the customer, and what you do to try to make it right. This is where I think Randy and the Prime Steakhouse failed terribly.\r \r Sorry to say this, but the owners and operators of Outback Steakhouses have trained their managers in how to deal with such an incident, always coming to address the issue quickly, and offering to make it “right” in some way. Based on our recent experience at Prime Steakhouse, it may be time for a “refresher” on how to deal with such a situation, as not to leave a “bad taste” (no pun intended), with a customer regarding their dining experience.\r \r Hopully our most recent experience was a one time event, since all previous expereinces were very good! more

I took my husband to PRIME on Richland Avenue in Aiken SC in order to celebrate his graduation from the criminal justice academy. I was excited to be dining out somewhere that is not a chain, cookie cutter restaurant. This place had perfect atmosphere, lighting, artwork on the brick walls, white linen tablecloths, great music playing at a decent volume so that me and my husband could actually hear one another speak. Best of all, no sports playing on a TV in every corner. I thought,” Finally! A date night restaurant we can go to on those rare occasions we are willing and able to splurge on a dinner together!"" But to my dismay the food part started off badly. We both wanted steak. Problem is that you have to accept the sides given with no substitutions. The sides that came automatically with our steaks were onion rings, mixed vegetables like squash, zucchini, string beans and onions and a small but good portion of mashed potatoes. I personally loved the sides and would have chosen them if given a choice but my husband really dislikes this particular vegetable medley type and he also hates onion rings. He could have ordered and paid for different sides separately but the price was already very high and he knew I did not really have a whole lot of money to spend. So he decided to just go with the flow. I really wished my husband could have had the sides he desired, it would have made up for a lot. First the bowl of limp, bland, unappetizing, iceberg lettuce salad came out along with hard, chewy, cold bread with frozen butter that could not even be spread onto the bread but we choked a small bit of the bread down and continued to try and keep an open mind...Maybe the steak would be so amazing that it would make up for all these things. My filet mignon was perfect! Ordered Med-rare...it came out med-rare. My husband ordered his steak Rare...It was also cooked to perfection....that is if he had ordered his med-rare. He was disappointed but still ate it and said it was alright. We were just going to pay and leave without saying a word but the owner caught us just outside the door and asked our opinion. My husband asked if he wanted honesty. The owner said yes...This was not true, my husband barely got his calm complaint about the salad out of his mouth before the owner interrupted and told us how he has owned 30 steak houses and he can assure us that his salad is authentic, New York style steak house salad. So, my husband knew right away that this man has no interest in hearing from his customers unless they only have good things to say. He did not bother to continue and we just walked away. The look he gave us was incredulous. I can hear in my mind his version of us when and if he retold this story. He would probably have my husband wearing overalls and have me described as being barefoot and pregnant. I think he believed he was schooling two ignorant Southerners on the way things are done in New York...As if we are supposed to be impressed or just say thank you and leave happy. Such a shame, I truly loved the atmosphere and would love to see a small business such as this succeed. But the fact that we went on a Friday evening around 7pm and the place was practically empty, showed me that PRIME will probably not last long. Our search for a place in Aiken that we can call,” Our Place"" continues. Anybody that knows of a great date night restaurant please reply to this comment and let me know about it.\r more