South Fork Texas Steakhouse

I took two business colleagues to dinner here on 4−10−13. This was the worst experience that I have had in a long time! I guess that i missed the fact that Manager was doing salad prep as we walked in or that there was never more than five tables in the entire restaurant at one time. We came here on the recommendation of one of our vendors… maybe ex vendor!
The fried Oysters were disgusting, obviously cooked in bad oil. We all ordered steak, my steak was so old that it came to me grey, even though I ordered it Medium. The Oscar topping was actually very good. The two ladies with me had to send their steaks back to be recooked, once sent it back twice! Service was slow, very slow. Drinks were either made wrong or they forgot the garnish. The server told us that he spoke to the manager about the dining issues. Manager never once stopped by, but did take $ 9.00 off our $ 270.00 check. The wine was good!

Well you are going to pay for a steak in Dallas but you won’t be disappointed. Very tasty and cooked to perfection. Atmosphere casual with a touch of elegance. Good service. Easy parking.

I ate here a couple times when it was Butcher Shop. It was good… now it’s NOT good.
We arrived at about 9 pm Saturday evening. We were greeted and asked if we had reservations… odd because it was fairly dead. We had no reservations and we were immediately seated.
It took several minutes for a waiter to greet us. We were then told that they were using a special menu, due to a convention in town. The one page menu was ok, but I found it odd again, changing the entire menu for a convention… Dallas hosts a lot of conventions.
We ordered drinks and then waited… finally, after close to 10 minutes, waiter came and seemed surprised we had no drinks… he blamed it on the bar.
But then he returned w the wrong drinks! When the error was fixed, we expressed that we didn’t like the drinks… much too sweet. They were supposed to be «spicy» margaritas… they were not! I told him I would drink it, but going to try a different one next… I never did… the waiter never asked if I wanted another drink! No exaggeration he simply never asked, even though I clearly said I would try a different one.
Those are just a couple issues… I won’t go into great detail w the rest, but here is the highlights:
the meals advertised to come w bread… basic, right? The bread was a no show.
During our visit, the food runner brought us food THREE times… that was not ours… then wandered for a few seconds… obviously clueless as to which table was which.
Food was just ok… I’ve had better steaks at Hauffbraus, at half the cost and w better service.
At the end of our meal, waiter failed to offer more drinks, coffee, desert… he just wanted to close the tab. It was obvious he had no desire to enhance our meal.
Sorry guys… but at these prices… it’s just not good. For two of us, ONE drink each, steaks, it was $ 100.
For a good steak and service try Haufbraus and if you want a little nicer atmosphere, try YO or splurge for Palm. Both within a minute walk
I was very disappointed w my entire visit here.

If I could rate less than 1 star I certainly would. I tried going here about a year ago, but when we walked in & there was NO ONE there, my friends decided to go elsewhere. I still had high hopes for the Butcher Shop/​South Fork whatever they are calling themselves today.
I went back last night. That’s 2 hours of my life I wish I could have back. The service was awful, the smokey (from the grill) restaurant was awful, & the food was downright terrible. I can’t describe how flavorless my $ 26.95 ribeye was. The mashed potatoes were so cold on my friends plate… Almost right outta the fridge cold. Not exaggerating. He ordered medium & I ordered medium well, both steaks came out very well done/​charred even. After the terrible service, & terrible food, we finally had to ask for the manager. He came over & apologized, & did bring out some more piping hot potatoes, but did not offer to bring new steaks, just comped them off our bill. We would have rather had the flavorful, juicy steak that we went in after. Both the manager, the server, & the bartender blamed the owners. Said a new location had opened in Murphy & took all the seasoned staff from the downtown location to train the new Murphy employees.
Needless to say, I won’t be back.

Delicious! Nolan gave us great service and our steaks were perfect! Texas Ribeye with oscar, OMG!
Thank you Butcher shop.

If zero stars were possible, that’s what this place earned. Food was disgusting. Ordered a steakhouse burger that was advertised as having Irish cheddar, bacon, and horseradish sauce. What arrived was a thin, gray patty on a bun with whole cloves of garlic, no bacon, no horseradish, and a chunk of cheese literally thicker than the beef itself. The so called parmesan truffle fries had neither ingredients… Just a sad pile of limp potatoes– NOTHING like what you see and read here on Unilocal or on the menu. I have had better burgers for $.39. Yes… 39 CENTS. Save your money. (For the record, the management took 50% off the burger. It’s been a few years since I left the restaurant biz, but in my experience, a full comp should have taken place as it was literally inedible. What a waste of an evening and meal in Dallas!)

We went here for lunch, and although it was obviously more a dinner establishment, lunch was very good. Service was excellent, and all staffers were friendly and welcoming. The building shows some age, but overall, a nice experience. I would be happy to return one evening for a nice steak.

Steaks are priced slightly less than a high end steakhouse, but there is a definite quality difference. My bone in ribeye was inedibly fatty. And, strangely, the meat isn’t even local Texas steak. The waiter said it comes from wherever is cheapest. Not impressed.

Great service but for the price I can get better rib-​eye steaks from Costco. Had the loaded potato and fries and crab cakes and fried oysters — none was great that I have to write home about. I was surprised the appetizers were not hot when they arrived on the table.
Will have to try another steakhouse in Dallas next time I’m in town.

This place was good, but the quality of food didn’t quite match the price. I was here recently while in Dallas on business and my table ordered the truffle fries (these were very good). I ordered a Mojito and it tasted very artificial, as if they used Sweet & Low or maybe a powdered mix to make it. It just wasn’t good. For my meal I ordered the Filet Mignon and added the Port Wine reduction & at the waiter’s urging the Peppercorn crust. It came with a loaded baked potato and I ordered a side Caesar salad with it. The wine reduction sauce was excellent and the filet was cooked to my liking however the crust had a burnt charcoal flavor to it. The side Caesar was decent, not the best I’ve had but not the worst.

The wife and I were in my old stomping grounds to visit family and have a night without the kids. I had been to this place many moons prior but didn’t remember how awesome it was.
We started with the fried potatoes with jalapeños. It came out looking great and equally met our eyes’ expectations.
Our waitress was great she explained the menu and told us all the meat is cooked on their mesquite charcoal grill. Sweet!
The wife had the 20 oz bone in ribeye and baked potato. It was awesome and huge! It is the only bone in meat on the menu. Cooked perfectly at medium the way she likes it. Only got through half before calling it quits.
I had the Prime Ribeye and baked potato. Let me tell you about what a difference «prime» makes, wow. That’s it. Wowness is all I could think about as it melted in my mouth. It took all my might to give the wife a bite!
Only thing I didn’t like was the building being so old nothing was on tap. On the flip side, the building and architecture was awesome. It is a huge open area and the wood give a warm feeling.
On my way out I asked the chef to show me the grill since it was charcoal and everything. He told me, «Next time you come in, you can grill your own steak. We have people do it all the time.» That is one of a kind for the West End. We will make it back for sure!

I hate sending food back to the kitchen. But when I’m paying $ 40 for a steak, it should be cooked right. I asked for medium rare and my steak came out rare… very rare… cold center. So I sent it back, and when I got my new steak 20 minutes later (a long wait!) my second steak was also rare. But this time I just sucked it up and tried to eat what I could of the steak, but I left about half of my 6oz filet on the plate. A sad day.
Many others at my table were delivered rare steaks. A couple of people also sent theirs back, and like me, a few of those also came back rare the second time. But the restaurant, trying to please, brought one of my table-​mates a THIRD steak right at the end of the meal and… you guessed it. At this point, it was a complete joke at our table. I told him to cut into the center, and sure enough… Rare. Almost blue.
Now that the major error is out of the way, let me talk about the rest of our experience. Our server did the best he could with our large table; it appeared the kitchen was struggling to keep up that night. He kept our wine glasses full (but not water glasses) and did what should have been a good job of pacing the drinks, salads, and entrees. Drinks and salads went well, but we probably waited an hour– maybe more– between salads and entrees. Then of course, some of our steaks were not satisfactory, so some of us continued to wait. Since we had a large group he did have some helpers, but there’s nothing like going out for a $ 150/​person meal and some server shouting over the table, «WHO HAD THE RIBEYE WITH BERNAISE???»…when you are paying that much per person, I expect the experience to be a little better in that respect.
I was so excited about the truffle fries, and made a big deal about them to the table, but when they arrived with our meal only one of the platter or fries actually looked like what I had built up in my head; covered in parmesan and herbs. All the other plates of truffle fries looked like a normal plate of fries; nothing special. Most disappointing of all is that the fries were served cold.
We also ordered a couple of sides of asparagus. I’m pretty sure this side cost $ 7, or $ 9…and it came with 3 (yes, THREE!) medium-​sized grilled asparagus. I’m just going to say it. REALLY?!
It was very clear to us that the real issue on our visit was that the kitchen was significantly understaffed for the evening. Our server mentioned that more and more reservations kept pouring in throughout the day and the owner/​manager/​hostess kept accepting them. There were certainly lots of big groups there the night we were there (if you’re looking to host a big group, they’ve got the space). But it seems that when accepting these reservations they failed to consider staffing levels.
This was honestly one of the biggest steakhouse-​fails I have experienced. The only redeeming quality was our friendly, apologetic server who did everything in his power to make our experience better despite the challenges he was working with.

In the mood for a burger experience that was a cut above fast food for lunch on Sunday, I opted to give The Butcher Shop Steakhouse a go. I’m glad I did.
Star 1: How was the service and atmosphere?
Not only is The Butcher Shop Steakhouse in the pretty cool and rustic district of West End, but the inside really is spectacular. The location is huge, and could easily accomodate a party of any size. Additionally, more formal corners and booths are complimented by a bar with televisions for games, so you really do have the best of both worlds. The staff are friendly, and the food served quickly. Good stuff all around. Star Granted.
Star 2: How were the portions relative to the cost?
Like I mentioned, I was looking for a cut above fast casual as far as burgers go. In my mind, that means anywhere between $ 10 and $ 15 for a good quality burg and fries. The Butcher Shop’s Steakhouse Burger shined here, and I got all of this for $ 10.83:
Brilliant! Star Granted.
Stars 3 and 4: How was the food?
Wow. wow wow wow. This was, by every imaginable standard, a truly excellent burger. To start things off, the ciabatta roll was amazing, but it was the patty that really stood out. Thick and perfectly cooked, the steakhouse burger was bursting with flavor that didn’t rely on the toppings, and I honestly could have taken the patty out of the burger and called it a great steak. The fresh toppings complimented everything well and the truffle parm fries were thick and crispy. What a great experience. Dual Stars Granted.
Star 5: Would you eat here every day if you could?
This one is hard to call, because I honestly have no idea how The Butcher Shop fares as far as dinner is concerned. For lunch? It was a brilliant option, and I’ll only hold out here because there are so many other great options in the area. No Star Granted.

Went here last night for a friend’s bday dinner. First up, in the West End, so overpriced for no real reason. Service was ok, but I have to say that if I’m paying $ 30 for a steak alone, I expect the service to be much better than it was.
For example, the flatware will be removed between app and main courses as they are brought to the table and that I will not be instructed to pick up my fork and knife with only the tablecloth to lay them on and to continue using them in the next course. Not trying to play the role of the snob here, but I worked in high end restaurants during my undergrad days, so I know what service should be like in a supposed nicer establishment.
That said, the waiter was friendly and he took off my tortilla soup (at least that’s what they called it) when I politely told him I didn’t care for it. My roommate happened to order it as well and returned his when he found a bone in his bowl. Frankly the tortilla soup is better at Taco Bueno if that gives you an indicator of how bad it was.
For the main course, had a ribeye and their loaded baked potato. The flavor to the steak was actually really good. That said, the presentation of the meal really was lacking. I’ve had a nicer looking meal at Texas Land and Cattle (for less $$, too). The potato was simply slathered in sour cream with a touch of bacon and chives, so really disappointing there. At this point though, it was after 9pm, so I ate half of it simply because I was starving.
Highlights of my friends’ food: Truffle fries — FANTASTIC. If I had realized what the steak was going to be like, I would have ordered a side salad and an order of truffle fries. They were great. Crab Cake app — looked good and my friends said they enjoyed, didn’t try it though. One friend had the steak burger with truffle fries. Again, had a realized what my meal was going to be, I would have order the burger. It looked fantastic as well. So much so that several people mentioned the same thing on our walk back to my friends’ apt downtown.
The only big drawback is that my roommate brought a cake as a surprise for our friend’s bday. Not only was the waiter not informed that there was a cake, he managed to bring out the dessert tray and offer a dessert to the bday boy and then when he was informed about the cake, came and ruined the surprise by grabbing the dessert tray on the table and tell everyone he’d have the cake out in a minute. Really? Didn’t think that it MIGHT be a surprise. Oh well.
In summary, not bad, not that great, better steaks at probably 100 other places around town.

Wow — great food!!!
Had lunch here on a Saturday while visiting Dallas. The place was mostly empty, from what i could tell. We sat on the nice deck and started with The Butcher Shop’s drink special: margarita, on the rocks or frozen. I am very picky about my margaritas and cannot stand when they are made from a mix — these margaritas were fabulous!!!
Our server Chris was very helpful when we were trying to decide what to order — Chris was an excellent server and very knowledgeable of the menu. We started with the crab cakes — some of the best I’ve ever had! Very light and flavorful — not one bit greasy nor «fishy.»
When we finally decided our entrees, we got a Steakhouse Burger with truffle fries and the Turkey Melt with steakhouse fries. Oh my. It was an enormous amount of food! And everything we ordered was phenomenal!
I highly recommend this place. I for sure will be back when I visit Dallas again. Check it out, and ask for Chris!

Not great, but not bad either.
There was a man handing out coupons for 10% and asked if we were looking for a place for lunch (we were just leaving the Dallas World Aquarium, and we were looking to grab a bite). My husband asked the man handing out the coupons if they had any vegetarian options and after a pause, he told me they could probably make me a pasta dish without meat (we did not know the name of the restaurant at this point). We headed over. It was only a block away from where we were.
There ended up being quite a few items on the list that I could have made meatless, but my husband spotted their stuffed potatoes and it listed that they could make it with a few different toppings, including a vegetarian. Success!
My husband got the buffet, which was Hawaiian themed for the week (day)? He had some turkey, a burger with avocado and bacon on it, some fish that he said was not very good (I don’t think fish should ever go on a buffet; too delicate) a cabbage salad, sweet and sour green beans and some awesome coconut pineapple cheesecake.
My potato wasn’t anything spectacular. A potato with some grilled veggies on top (zucchini, broccoli, carrots, onions). There was just something off about the mix of it. It had obviously been grilled before hand (grilled way too long, actually) and then just reheated and dumped on top of a potato.
Our waitress was a bit odd. It took her awhile to get over to our table, even though not many people were in the place and when she finally did, she took our food order first and then asked what we wanted to drink as an after thought. I got a beer and water. The water never arrived. No draft beer, but the beer was well chilled and I liked that the bartender poured it into a chilled glass table side. Everything was okay with the waitress until she made a comment about «how hard» it must be to be a vegetarian because meat is «so good.» Well, maybe it is for her, but I don’t eat because I don’t like it.
Dallas has much better to offer.

Let me preface this review with: rarely am I impressed with buffets (outside of Las Vegas, NV) so keep in mind my standards are low…
The Butcher Shop receives a big fat zero rating for buffets. My husband’s plate looked like something you’d subject yourself to in a hospital cafeteria. Cold fish, dry brisket, Lay’s potato chips and instant banana pudding.
My «ground in house» angus burger was dry, crumbly and overcooked. I’m sad because the two — count ‘em, TWO — bites with any sort of juiciness to them did have a pleasant seasoning.
The only good thing? The service. Which earns this place a couple of stars.

Just a hungry girl from California stumbled in on this find. We knew we were in the right place as we entered the patio. Our server asked «are you ladies hungry?»… As we quickly answered, YES! He assured us the we had «come to the right place!». … As we left I knew he was right!
We had the most succulent crab cakes ever! Very generous with the crab and not too much filler… Then we had the truffle fries… The portions were helping and the dip was amazing, I think it had horseradish in the ketchup… it open my seances to really taste the truffles. It was delicious!
We has the peppered flat iron steak, which was full of flavor… It was deuced In a sauce that was flavored to perfection!
We also tried the fried Oyster Po Boy sandwich… Yes, we steped out of the box! So glad we did. The bread that this sandwich was served on was freshly made. Fluffy and fresh… Soft inside and crispy on the outside. The fried oysters were mounted on eachouther and them topped with a tangy coleslaw which gave this opened faced sandwich a perfect balance.
This meal was a perfect end to out hunger strike. The portions was huge, the price is affordable and the service was excellent! A five star package in my book!

I stayed at hotel next door, so when I checked in after long delayed flight this place was perfect location.
Menu is short and right to the point– you get steak, period.
Room is very spacious, music is not too loud, just right if you want to have a business dinner. Also giod for a large group or even a family with small kids.
Waiter service (thomas) was very quick and friendly, though sometimes he misses couple tables and order end up some place else. But he was funny and got our support from all of the tables.
Food was very good. Liked the steak, potato… okay, everything.

I bought a coupon from Groupon for this place – $ 50 value for $ 20 so we decided to check it out on a Friday night. The weather was gorgeous so we sat outside and the patio was maybe half full at 7:30−8pm. (Such a shame that the Public Market in the West End closed down, now it seems not much is going on in the West End in the evening other than people walking through to go to HOB.) Inside, the restaurant appeared to be somewhat fuller but I did not really pay that close attention, but I would note that when the wife called for a reservation they told her it was not needed on Friday nights.
The experience started slowly. We were seated outside (there is smoking outside but luckily no one was actually doing the dirty deed). After being seated, we waited a bit for someone to come by, and then in rapid succession three separate waiters stopped by to say they would get our drink order in a minute. None of the three was ever seen again. But a fourth waitress did come by and apologized for the others being so busy (?) and she would help us. The wife got a glass of Argentinian red wine ($ 10) which she said was the best wine she ever had in her life. I got a bottle of Blue Moon ($ 4.50) from a rather limited selection.
We ordered the spinach and artichoke appetizer ($ 8) and it was ok, I’ve had better and I’ve had worse. So it was nothing special.
We moved on to order the main course. I asked about the beef – whether it was dry or wet aged. The waitress obviously did not understand the question or know the answer (hello, it’s a steakhouse!). She replied that the meat is very juicy and tender. Ok, thanks.
First came the soup and salad – comes with the meal. The wife got the soup special, some kind of beef soup and it was nothing short of stupendous. It obviously had been simmering for a long time by someone who knew what he/​she was doing. The flavors were just fabulous. My Caesar salad was well intentioned, but had WAY too many croutons and too much dressing. Plus, most of the salad was the core and not the leaves. So it was average at best.
The salad came with warm bread and butter, and the sour dough bread was fresh, hot, and all-​around excellent.
We both ordered filet mignon – the wife got the 6 oz ($ 22) and I got the special (10 oz with crab meat and shrimp, $ 40). Here is where we became converts.
Although mine was not done properly the first time, when we did start eating the meat was absolutely delicious. It was seasoned just right, and the meat was juicy and tender (the waitress did not lie). The wife said it was the best steak she ever had. I’ve had more steak in my life than her, but I had to agree that the meat was something special. It was really, really good. Both came with twice baked potatoes and mine also had asparagus (which was a bit too al dente for my taste).
Total bill was $ 105, minus the $ 50 from Groupon and we got an excellent steak meal for $ 55 plus tip (tipped on the full amount before the discount).
We both left stuffed and extremely satisfied. This place has its inconsistencies but if you can overlook them it can be a very good eating experience. At the beginning I was thinking that I would rate this place no more than a 3 at best, but as the evening wore on we were won over and I feel comfortable with a solid 4. It is not the elite steakhouses found elsewhere, but it does not have those prices either. We both would return (and are hoping for another Groupon coupon). Now if only they could do something about livening up the West End again…