Ranch House Restaurant Review »
Whenever my parents come to town, my father invariably wants steak. This has become something of a problem recently, as the Hereford Barn has closed down, and even several of the chain restaurants (Lone Star, Longhorn) have started closing too. So I started looking about to find somewhere new to try.
I finally settled on the Ranch House after reading some favorable reviews on the Internet. I'm always a little leery about somewhere that I've never even seen, but I figured if we didn't like it, we could always turn around and go somewhere else.
Once inside, it's like you're transported back to a different time. The dimly-lit interior could be from the 1950s (I'm guessing here). The menu is relatively simple, with mostly steaks, and a bit of chicken and some seafood as well. Steaks come with onion rings, salad, and your choice of baked potato or vegetable medley.
It is clear that the place makes their living cooking steaks, as there really isn't a lot of thought to the rest of the menu, so we decided to go that route. One of the more intriguing options is the "Dinner for 2", which gives you a 22 ounce (sirloin) steak and all the fixings for two people, for a very reasonable price. I also had a sirloin, the 10-ounce Ranch House Special.
The salads came out first - very quickly, I might add. I chose the homemade blue cheese dressing, and it was awesome. Easily the best blue cheese dressing I can ever remember having. That really isn't saying much, as I can't remember ever having any other blue cheese dressing before, but it was really good. I'd suggest going just for the dressing.
The steaks came out shortly after - really fast, in fact. It seems that the fast cooking time is a direct relationship to the thickness of the steaks (they are very thin). This isn't necessarily a bad thing, as a thin piece of meat can be good. And it wasn't bad, exactly, but it didn't have a lot of flavor, either. In fact, the steak from Upstream was better. Odd.
Even the service was excellent. It was just that the steak wasn't that great.
Comments (7)
The Ranch House of Charlotte is where my friends and I ate on our prom night. I did not enjoy the experience whatsoever. It was one of the worst experiences of my life. The food is way too overpriced. Our bill came up to $80.00, and it was just for two people!!!!! They charged us a $12.00 tip!!!! The worst thing was that we arrived there at 6:30 and didn't recieve our food until 8:15. Out of the two and a half hours we were there, my boyfriend had no tea for an hour and a half. He had to ask for a refill 3 times, and after about an hour he asked for a bigger cup. It took about 30 minutes for them to actually get the cup to him. It was our prom night, so therefore everyone was very dressed up and formal. We had to walk through the steamy, greasy kitchen to get to our table. Of course some of us had to use the restroom while we were there, and we had to walk back through the kitchen to get to the bathrooms, which were smaller than my home restroom. They were very very small. This was a horrible experience, and I would never reccommend anyone eat there. The food was not that great, and it was definitely not worth the $80.00 we had to pay for it. The service was some of the worst service I have ever gotten, and when we were ready to pay, we had to wait in a small hallway for our tickets about 15 minutes because they hadn't even got them ready! It was a terrible experience and I will never eat there again, I do not reccommend anyone else eat there either. It really was bad. The tip was outrageous... I can understand that many teenagers do not leave tips, but if the service was anything near being good I could understand somewhat the amount of our tip... but the service was TERRIBLE and NOT WORTH IT at all.
Posted by Stephanie Gibson on May 6, 2007 7:48 PM
Hi Stephanie -
Thanks for your note! I'm sorry about your experience. Though mine wasn't as bad as yours, I don't think we'll be visiting the Ranch House again anytime soon.
With that in mind, an $80 tab for two people isn't out of the question for some places. There are plenty of places you can go to spend less than that, but for a nicer dinner, that's not unheard of around Charlotte.
You can easily spend that - and more - at somewhere like Upstream and you may not be much happier. Well, you may be happier, as it sounds like your experience was pretty bad.
If you're looking for good steak, you may want to try the Omaha Steak House. Though it's in a hotel, the steak is actually really good. Your bill will probably be pretty good sized, as their steaks aren't cheap (about $20-30 each), but if you don't eat appetizers or soups, then you'll be able to get out for less than you spent at the Ranch House. And your experience will definitely be better.
If you aren't looking for a "nice" place to eat, then there are loads of places around Charlotte to eat, but I have to say that I don't know too many of them over on the West side of town. I'd check out the East side, which has places like The Penguin and Cocina Latina. Neither is very fancy, but both have great food and are easy on the wallet!
Posted by Chad Everett on May 11, 2007 2:06 PM
Chad,
You write like you are 12 years old...."It was awesome" ??? Just how stupid are you? Why don't you include some useful information in your review with more discriptive language. And you say that the steak at Upstream was better....wow, no kidding moron. Upstream is considered at least a 4 star restaurant with a notable chef. The Ranch House is just an old, old, Charlotte steak house like the Beef and Bottle on South Blvd. No chef, no haute cuisine, no frills (unlike Upstream), just steak...get an clue idiot.
Posted by Angela on August 20, 2007 10:06 AM
Hi Angela -
Interesting that you point out that I write like I am 12, but you can't seem to spell or correctly use grammar. But that's not really the point, is it?
What I found interesting is that a restaurant like the Ranch House, which specializes in steak, and has done so for decades (apparently) can't do it well.
Meanwhile, a restaurant like Upstream, which specializes in seafood, doesn't do seafood all that well, but does steak exceedingly well. I thought people might find that interesting. If you don't, go somewhere else - to eat or to read. It's easier than you might think!
Nonetheless, thanks for stopping by. If you have something useful to add, feel free to do so! Sometimes, surprisingly, people just like to have good food - without the frills. For folks like yourself, feel free to go elsewhere. I'll take the road less traveled. It's more interesting.
Posted by Chad Everett on August 20, 2007 10:13 AM
I have read the comments and I am extremely surprised. I have lived in Charlotte all my life and have been to The Ranch House many times. I have never had a bad experience. Of course, Chad, I have never had the sirloin. The Prime Rib has always been one of the best in Charlotte and that is what we go to this establishment for. It is always (in my experiences) good. The home-made blue cheese dressing IS the best around, and if you did not have a shrimp cocktail with their homemade cocktail sauce, you did miss out on another experience. As far as prom girls, you must have been in the smaller private dining rooms in the back. Yes you do have to walk through the kitch to get to them, but they also have a bathroom in them, or at least the ones we have been in did. And $12 on an $80 is only 15%, which IS the standard tip amount for goups. As far as the bill beint $80 for two....you must have done appetizers and dessert also. Now I know not every restaurant experience is perfect, but if you were unhappy with the service, why didn't you ask for the manager. The manager, no matter what restaurant you go to, ALWAYS wants to know if your experience is not a pleasant one. I happen to also know that the watresses at the Ranch House do not quit...someone has to practically die for a servers position to come open, and it usually goes to the people who have been taking water and menus to the table for years themself. The Ranch House is one of the oldest restaurants in Charlotte, and is, in my opinion, one of the best.....
Posted by Tammy Abernethy on May 2, 2008 10:12 AM
Hi Tammy -
Thanks for your note - I must agree that the blue cheese dressing was really quite good. Different, but good, and while I didn't try the prime rib, I could definitely see it being good as well. I used to work at a place that reminded me of the Ranch House, and the had prime rib that was quite good - something about those old-school restaurants, I guess!
Posted by Chad Everett on May 5, 2008 3:34 PM
I recently had an overnight in Charlotte during a trip from the UK. I asked the hotel staff where I should go to experience a traditional US steakhouse. Without hesitation they pointed me to The Ranch House, and how glad was I that they did. The experience was exactly what I was looking for. We arrived quite late in the evening so the place was fairly quiet. I wondered at first if we were too late. Quite the contrary, we were welcomed by the hostess and offered a choice of table or booth. Shown the drinks menu from which we chose a variety of beers during our stay, all served ice cold in chilled glasses. Originally turning down a starter so as not to spoil the steak we were drawn to the Port Wine Cheese Spread and plenty of crackers, so tasty I'm now hunting down recipes. My colleague went for the Surf n Turf with a 10oz Black Angus Sirloin and 8oz lobster tail while I went for the 20oz Porterhouse, only $1 more than the T-Bone and worth every penny Both steaks were cooked to our exact requirements and were extremely good. Salad accompanyment with the speciality of the house - the blue cheese dressing, better than anything out of a bottle. I can't believe that anyone could have a bad experience at the Ranch House. I will certainly make a bee line for it the next time I get a stop-over in Charlotte.
Posted by Neil West on May 10, 2008 2:06 PM