Masterson’s Steakhouse

I give this restaurant 0 stars. Reason is we sat for 20 minutes could even get a glass of water, so I can’t really rate their food but their service sucks. Left the place.

Food is above average but service is slow. They are not staffed to handle even if they are only half full. But regardless we enjoyed our food. Appetizers were great. Had the fried avocado which was addicting. Wedge salad was fresh and salmon was good. Second night I had a special which was out of this world. Servers get to taste the specials and are good at recommending and sharing their thoughts. Four stars because food carried the lack of service. Just don’t be in a hurry if you go here.

We were disappointed to say the least. My husband ordered the steak which he said was good but it was the only thing warm on his plate. I ordered the salmon but it along with the vegetables and some other strange square mushy thing that I still have no idea what it was, were covered with the worst tasting sauce I’ve ever had. I hardly ate any of it but what of it I did woke me up at 6:30 the next morning coming back up. Don’t waste your time or your money here. If you are staying at the hotel, take the extra 10 minutes to drive somewhere else.

This review is for Masterson’s Steakhouse within and including the Lakeway Resort and Spa. We were not at all happy with the food. I suppose we should have known something was up with us being the only diners on a Friday night at 9:00 Pm and the hotel was fully booked. There were 4 of us. My husband had the Lamb chops which they overcooked twice, the third try they did cook them properly at MR. It was good but not the best lamb and it was served with 3 new potatoes cut in half and no veggie for $ 46. The other meals were between $ 25-​$ 35. Too steep for the quality and lack of veggie. My friend and myself both had the bacon wrapped shrimp which were a bit rubbery but had a nice flavor. Again only potatoes were served but I believe they were made from frozen potatoes. They were mushy and had a very odd flavoring. My friend’s husband is completely Gluten intolerant. They didn’t have a gluten free menu but the wait staff said they would guide him to appropriate choices. He ordered Beef BBQ Brisket and it was very odd. Not slices of beef that pull apart but a pile of beef chips (small shreds) that looked moist but were dry and had and odd flavor. Breakfast was through Room service, 2 breakfasts for $ 58 + 21% gratuity. My friends ordered Migas and scrambled eggs, potatoes with biscuits. When one orders eggs at a 4 star resort you assume it will be as nature intended, served in a shell. But these eggs tasted powdered with a faint chemical taste and the breakfast potatoes were previously frozen. Our gluten intolerant friend immediately felt ill and had to stay in the room all day. We did find out that the eggs aren’t powdered but are liquid from a carton. They must have gluten and additives because they had a slight chemical taste and he became very ill after breakfast. The biscuits and butter were very good. We left the following evening and had dinner in Lakeway at «The League Grill and Tavern». Excellent food. We risked a hamburger by the pool the next day for lunch. One, they don’t offer cheddar cheese only American or Swiss. American cheese is sub standard for a 4 Star resort. I was dry and tasteless. The bottom line is if you charge $$$ for food at a 4 star resort it absolutely should be real, fresh food not processed foods. If you want to serve processed foods you need to lower the prices. Lakeway chef, you can’t do both!
The service was friendly in all areas of the resort but I believe the pool staff and housekeeping is short staffed. We had to wait too long for service by the pool and the hallways were dirty and needed a vacuum. I realize they haven’t been very busy in the last 8 years due to the drought and they might be understaffed. My family has been vacationing at the Lakeway Resort since the 1970’s. It’s sad to see it in decline. It’s a beautiful property with great pools, golfing, the lake, boating, the Spa; but for $ 400 a night (including tax & resort fee) it needs a polish, more staff, good but simple food at a better price point and some live music nightly. That’s the Lakeway Resort I remember!

We love the lake view, but the meals should be improved. Don’t try the vegetarian pasta. I can’t describe how terrible it’s.

The best thing we ate was literally, the butter for the complimentary bread.
The only reason why this even makes two stars, is because the ambiance and décor was actually pretty cool, and obviously the views out into the pool and lake deserve a star on its own.
We were warmly greeted out front, and were quickly escorted to a TV to catch the NBA Finals Game (at our request).
The whole first quarter and middle of the second played out before my bf got the Caesar salad he ordered, and my soup of the day, beef and vegetable soup.
Caesar– I didn’t taste it, but it literally took 30 minutes to get to the table.
Beef & Vegetable Soup– Presentation was nice, as it was given to me in a cute little bowl with a top, which our server took off and unveiled a pretty hearty soup serving. However, when I ate it, I felt like I was eating something out of a Campbell’s Soup can… The soup was thin, but there were plenty of veggies to chomp on. The meat was cooked nicely but I think the flavor overall was lacking.
Bruschetta– We actually got this appetizer first, and I loved the color on the bread, which was also pretty tasty, but the spread was a bit different and interesting. There was bleu cheese, cilantro, pumpkin seeds– I mean, it wasn’t bad, but it also wasn’t a mix that I’d particularly prefer on my bruschetta.
Stuffed Shrimp– my BF asked a bartender from the swim up bar of the Lakeway Resort & Spa what his favorite entrée was, and this was it. It came out after about another 30 minutes, and it was lukewarm.
The flavor and size of the shrimp was very tasty actually, but at that point I think we were both so frustrated at how long it took to get to us, that we were over it.
Another factor that contributed to our dissatisfaction was the fact that we could see there were literally like only 3 other tables near us, and all of us were in different parts of our respective meals– yet the time it took to get our food made it seem like it was the biggest dinner rush, ever.
I think they may be in charge of room service at the resort we were staying at, and it may have also been busier in their outside patio, but as a customer, I’m just thinking that I’m paying a pretty penny to get subpar service and mediocre food. It’s not a good combo.
8 oz. Filet Mignon– It came out beautifully, but it also came out 30 minutes too late, and almost cold. The cook was perfect, flavors were there, but I just felt like there was no heart behind the food that was put out tonight.
Like I said earlier, for the price we’re paying, I’m expecting nothing but greatness– especially since they’re set up for it– you have amazing pool views overlooking the iconic Texas lake, and the décor is there– it’s time to raise the expectations and quality of the food to match.
Service was great though. All very polite servers with great Texas smiles. That’s why this place gets the other star.

Awful… their meat was gamey… but probably had been sitting out for hours… the filet I actually spit it out. The flat iron steak was cold, the vegetarian pasta was not edible. Only thing good was a ceasar salad and bread and butter. Goodluck if you are eating here. Because it’s all overpriced and all gross.

Absolutely the worst restaurant at any hotel/​resort EVER — I wish it were possible to submit a Unilocal rating of ZERO stars. Actually for any restaurant, Masterson’s could qualify as one of the worst (yes this includes fast food joints). Each of my 3 meals were a complete disaster (had to throw away most of the 2^nd dinner). Had a horrible breakfast (e.g. powdered scrambled eggs in my $ 16 breakfast tacos) on my last day there. That’s 3 strikes — Masterson’s, you’re out!!!
Breakfast:
* STEAK AND EGG TACOS — «New York Strip, Scrambled Eggs Aged Cheddar, sour Cream and Pico de Gallo, Breakfast Potatoes» ($ 16): This «sounds» good, right? It’s too bad the chef can’t even follow what the menu says. This plate comes with 2 tacos and a side of breakfast potatoes (aka home fries). The breakfast potatoes were actually seasoned well, but tasted like they were made a few hours ago (or even the day before). Each taco contained powdered scrambled eggs (that’s right, for $ 16 they won’t even make you fresh scrambled eggs) and 2 strips of unseasoned, dry, well-​done NY steak. To make things worse and add to the blandness, it did not come with cheddar cheese, sour cream, nor pico de gallo (which I tried during dinner and totally sucked). Luckily I had the foresight to request a couple of side bowls of salsa to try and dip the tacos in, but that really didn’t help (although their homemade salsa is decent). Did not even come with any ketchup (hello, you’re serving me breakfast potatoes!). Only ate about 15% of the entire plate… yes it was THAT bad!
* BANANA NUT FRENCH TOAST ($ 12): The one pick I thought would be safe (how do you screw up French toast?)… when you wish you had the banana nut bread French toast from Denny’s instead, for less than half the price, you know you’ve hit rock bottom.
Dinner:
* Full order of SMOKED NEW BRAUNFELS JALAPENO RING SAUSAGE ($ 18): Yes the name sounds really good, right? However, there is nothing «ring» about this sausage. This basically came as 4 dry hot links, like the standard sausage links you get from the grocery store. They were dry, not very spicy, and pretty salty. The meat that’s used to make the sausage is too lean, so no juice nor flavor. Actually the best thing about this dish is the cole slaw that came on the side. I barely made it through eating one sausage and didn’t touch the rest — what a waste of $ 18! Their menu even spikes this out as a «House Specialty» — the hot links that I get from Costco are MUCH better microwaved!
* JUMBO LUMP BLUE CRAB CAKES ($ 16): Yes that’s right, you get 2 little crab «mini pancakes» for $ 8 a piece. There is no «lump» crab meat at all in these… the shreds of crab were grounded/​mixed down so fine into individual threads. It’s like the meat you get out of a can — just a bunch of thin strings. The cakes were SO salty, I could barely make it through one. In fact, I had to force myself to finish one just to justify my decision to order this. And I typically like saltier foods, so if I’m unable to stomach this, it must be really darn salty! However, the tomato jalapeño jam that came with it was pretty good. But the overall value for this appetizer is absolutely horrible.
* PORTABELLA FRIES ($ 12): Another terrible concoction. You get 6 strips of portabella mushroom in a breaded deep-​fried batter. They were fried way too long so the bread batter became a hard, salty shell encapsulating the mushroom. Could barely eat one of the strips. However, the Cajun aioli that came with it was pretty good — too bad I didn’t get a chance to use hardly any of it! Another horrible value appetizer (hope you are noticing the trend here)
* HILL COUNTRY TORTILLA SOUP ($ 6): What a huge disappointment — I mean, how do you manage to screw up tortilla soup? Well, Masterson’s sure knows how to. The tortilla shell that is served with the soup was stale, so I couldn’t even eat that. Menu description says it contains «fajita-​marinated diced chicken breast» but the chicken meat had absolutely no flavor at all. The thick soup itself barely had any flavor so after mixing it with the tortilla strips, it became an overall bland dish. Since I barely ate the sausage, crab cakes, and portabella fries, I had to pretty much try to finish the soup as there was nothing else left to eat (and I didn’t even finish the soup).
SUMMARY: Probably the worst dinner I’ve had in years, if not ever. I only ate about 20% of the food. You know it’s bad when you wish there were a McDonald’s around the corner after you’ve spent around $ 60 for a meal. You figure out of 4 different menu items, at least 1 would bound to be decent, right? WRONG (0 out of 5 stars)
I would easily go to any fast-​food restaurant over Masterson’s. It’s really sad when a chef can’t even cook the way dishes are described on the menu, let alone make them any good. Menu makes things sound good, but poorly executed with cheap ingredients and no flavor. Horrible appetizers!

The food while priced like a an upscale eatery of downtown Austin, reminisces more of dressed up cafeteria food. The service is abundant due to no one being here. Unfortunately it still takes upwards of ten minutes or more to ever see your server after the initial sit down. If you feel like coming to mastersons I would suggest instead thatyou stay at home, burn a steak and light fifty dollars on fire.

Stayed at the attached hotel for 6 days, a hotel that is so far outside of Austin’s limits that going anywhere else is prohibitive. This restaurant is really sub-​par, with lack-​luster food, very expensive prices and a wait staff that is very friendly, but disappears for long periods of time. Walking in their main door has a kitchen smell reminiscent of my elementary school cafeteria. Ewww.
I ate many items off their menu, eating there 2 – 3 times a day, and had just about everything except the steaks (I did have the salad with steak on it, so I think that counts. Really basic eats. For example, caesar salads were $ 7 for very white, limp romaine that was drenched in dressing — and when you add shrimp, you get 4 for lunch, 6 for dinner — for a $ 7 up-​charge. Unreal.
Breakfasts were not good, but finally staying on a day that had enough guests to warrant it (their words, not mine), the buffet was decent, hence the 2^nd star.
I would not recommend at all due to the prices and the overall disappointment with almost all the food items.

This was the only restaurant I ate at while staying at the resort. The first night I had their Quail with grits and brussels sprouts with a extra side of their bacon macaroni & cheese; it was extremely delicious! For the appetizer that night I had their oysters and crab cakes! Their crab cake are more meat based than bread based in my opinion, but really delicious. The next day, for lunch I had lobster bisque and their beef burger on a sweet roll w/​house chips! Again, it was all perfect! Finally, that evening for dinner I had another cup of their lobster bisque for an appetizer and I ordered lobster linguine for the entrée. The pasta came with dinner rolls too. All of my meals were a hearty helping! I will note that the food takes a while to prep so make sure you’re not in a rush. Overall ⁵⁄₅ for my dining experience. Highly recommend.

My sweet boyfriend spent a lot of money for what he thought would be a wonderful Valentine’s Day dinner. WRONG — IT WAS HORRIBLE. First clue should have been the empty bar. Empty! We were literally the only couple in this huge, nice bar. Was taken to the dining room at our reservation time — second clue: maybe four other couples in there. No tablecloths. Instead, cheap dining tables painted brown on the tops. We had to order from a set menu, which we didn’t know. My appetizer was ONE very small mushroom cap stuffed with cream cheese (or something) with a blade of grass sticking up out of it with a slab of gray patte. He got two tiny fried oysters. Dinner was a tiny square of tasteless halibut on plain dry rice — nothing else. We picked the «triple-​decker chocolate cake» for dessert which turned out to be a Little Debbie snack cake with chocolate sauce and a raspberry. Something chewy in the middle that we did not recognize. Will NEVER return there, and will tell my story fall and wide to prevent anyone else having such a ridiculous, laughable experience at such a high price.

Had a fish taco here. The worst taco ever. Lettuce was dry, salsa was cold, tortilla was hard. Given such a good location they should probably get a new chef. The place had a good ambience, was hardly crowded. Friendly staff, even the manager came and checked on me.

Awful. Way too expensive for the quality of the food.
Steak was cooked well.
Sides were not good.
Salad was decent.

Don’t bother! Go off site to get a decant meal. Portions were tiny compared to their big price. Waitress seemed to want to be somewhere else. We won’t be back.

This is almost the perfect restaurant! I had a special order and bread pudding for dessert, dinner rolls with butter. Everything except portions was perfection.

I’ve been here every time that I visit Lakeway– which is frequently. It is expensive and has a captive audience. I’m okay with that part. The food is above average quality. They have many delicious and high-​quality items albeit a bit pricey, we’ll call that «resort-​pricey». All of that is as expected and not disappointing. The breakfast buffet is especially good. You should try that– so long as you’re not in a hurry.
The downfall is the service. It is always very, very slow. When I’m paying resort-​pricey, I do expect to be able to get served in a timely manner, get water in the glasses, have items delivered in under 30 minutes. Last time I was there, initially there was no hostess. After locating her, we were seated. After placing an order, I could not get a glass of water to save my life. The server failed us, so I took the water glasses inside to the bar. The bartender was on the phone and pointedly ignored me for several minutes. So, I tried to fill them myself from the pitchers at the bar– all empty. The table next to us had to go look for the server (same server that we had) to «find out what was going on.» The restaurant was not full or even busy. The two servers I observed just move slow as molasses, do not seem to be trained in any service manner, seemed to struggle to produce a bill, etc. Because of these servers, it can take well over an hour to have a meal. Although this is a resort, we are not all on island time, you know? The time before last, my kids were afraid that the pools would be closed before we got a check for the breakfast buffet. Once again, we have to go hunt someone down. At times, I have given up on getting served and have gone to the hostess, described what we ate just to get a ticket produced. We need to be released back into the world. You could expire at this place before getting service.
For prices, it should not be a do-​it-​yourself experience such as finding water, finding the hostess, and finding the server. Unfortunately, because I know I’m in for a long wait each time, I usually try to avoid this restaurant. My kids call this «the slow restaurant».
I’m not in the business of telling people how to operate their business but I do know something about restaurant operations. There should be a floor manager ON the floor AT ALL TIMES. This ensures the servers are doing their jobs and keeps the guests happy. Just an idea.

We had a $ 30 breakfast voucher from the hotel to use either in the restaurant or room service. We opted for the restaurant. Decent hotel buffet breakfast. Nothing out of the ordinary though. The view of course was the best part, overlooking lake Travis, you can never go wrong. No turkey meat substitutes which was a little surprising being a nice place and in Austin but some places are slow at making the transition to serving healthier options. Oh, and no milk alternatives either, ie: soy, almond. Staff was friendly but not overbearing, I like that! We sat on the back patio and the weather was fantastic, nice breeze and a little bit of sun was the perfect combination.

This was our 4^th time trying Mastersons and we had a really good experience. So far we have had mediocre service but the food was decent and the view/​location is perfect for us.
This visit was the best so far, we had a new waitress service us; Sam was excellent, the food was fantastic… keep it up Mastersons, we think you’ve got it now!

The Lakeway Resort and Spa has many things going for it, and that does not include their restaurant. My husband decided to venture there for breakfast one morning (there is really no one else around who does breakfast). Anyway, the prices would be fine if you got food worth the quality it is. I am not paying 15 bucks for bacon and eggs that look like the free continental breakfast eggs and bacon…
We were informed that for a steal of a deal (12 dollars a person) that there was a buffet. Standard scrambled eggs, weird looking bacon, what looked to be under-​cooked sausage, dry pastries, yogurt, two kinds of cereal, oatmeal, and some eggs Benedict. The eggs Benedict actually looked pretty decent, but I wasn’t paying 12 bucks on that risk. Instead I went for biscuits and gravy on their sides menu for 7 bucks. Seemed like a safe and cheap bet in case they sucked. My husband liked them more than I did. (but I think he was just really hungry) There was no sausage meat in the gravy and I needed a jackhammer to cut open my biscuit.
Furthermore, they charged us 12 bucks each a plate and it took forever to get that check fixed. It also took a long time for us to have our order taken, water filled, us seated, get the check… yata yata yata because there was only one waiter staffed! I think they assume everyone is going to get the buffet, but they assumed wrong.
Overall, I hope Masterson’s does a better job or lunch or dinner. Not that I will be back to find out.