Butterfield Stage Co Steak House

all you can eat salad bar, complimentary bread, and great atmosphere. over priced but worth a visit. try the tender unique beef ribs. mushroom are savory tooo

Let me prefice this by saying that I do not do reviews of pretty much anything. This restaurant in particular struck me so strongly that I decided to write this review to provide other travelers with honest information about Butterfield.
The atmosphere is rustic and actually nostalgic in many ways. This is the positive. It is a restaurant you want to like.
What you will immediately notice when you get the menu is the very high prices. I even asked the waitress the steak size to validate the New York city pricing. Usually you get what you pay for so I took a chance on the 27 dollar porterhouse. In short, it was the worst steak I ever had in my life. It tasted worse than college dorm room cooking with chuck steak. Tough and tasteless, this steak takes the all time award in my book. The potato was meteocre and side of vegetables average.
And, yes I did read the reviews on here before going. The majority of times I find many of reviewers too particular. And nearly all times I disagree with harsh reviews. But everything here is just as poor as explained folks. I would put the food at fast food quality at luxury restaurant pricing. Trust me when I say, do not go here.
The buffet had nearly nothing, salad, dressing, croutons, one cheese, and I think one vegetable. There was a man walking around the restaurant wearing a trench coat reminding me of one of the characters in the movie Devils Rejects.
Overall, my meal cost more than my accommodation for the evening in Holbrook. Holbrook is in the middle of nowhere and for a steak of less quality than Sizzler, this dive needs to be avoided at all costs. If properly managed and with a new cook it really could be a nice place to visit.

How much you like Butterfield will depend on what you order. The wait service was really good, but the dishes were split. I was really happy (three pieces of fried chicken) but my wife (barbequed chicken) was less thrilled. Her meal was grilled chicken with barbeque sauce.
Both meals came with a salad bar, which was lackluster. But if you’re grading a steak house on its salad bar, you need to have your head checked.
The meals came with some cooked veggies. The veggies were a bit over-​cooked and bland.
I ordered the baked potato with mine and it was perfect. Really, truly, fantastic. The only improvement would have been rolling it in salt before baking.
The food reminded me of meals that my grandmother used to cook. That’s both a pleasant trip down memory lane but also made the meals feel dated. The food did feel, a bit, like it came from a 1960s cook book.
The restaurant is very dark. There aren’t many windows and the lighting is kept dim. But the booths, at least ours, had a nifty regional information.
Overall, I’d recommend it but go there for the steak or fried chicken.

Stayed at the hotel nearby. Food was below average and the price was way too high for the quality of food we received. Would not recommend unless you like paying a small fortune for food more tragic than the ending of the Titanic.

Don’t bother here. Very expensive for the quantity and quality of food and service. If in Holbrook AZ, choose from some of the other options.

Well we did try to go eat here tonight… But we couldn’t figure out how to get in. One door said «push or step down» and we couldn’t get it open and the other door said «please use other door.» Neighborhood surrounding was questionable. We ended up at Mesa Italian Restaurant… Surprisingly impressed. Wasn’t my first choice given the images on Unilocal

The best thing about this place is the western kitch and the homemade rolls. Be prepared for a weak salad bar, poor quality steak that was cooked yesterday, frozen veggies, and a bill larger than you should pay for food of that quality. The staff was friendly and I enjoyed the ambiance. That was about it.

Really wanted to like this place. It has all of the hokey things we enjoy, from the wonky western décor to the classic country tunes. This place had it all, including super friendly staff. We felt like we were heading into dinner with a home run. And then came the food.
Tragically, the $ 26 Ribeye would even make the manager of a Golden Corral blush with shame. The flavor & texture of the steaks were poor & tough. On a plus side, the bread roll muffins were huge & delicious.

we went there 2013. it was ok, but it was also expensive. if the quality is really good, i would like to pay for it. the mood was no good too. there was a singer? or staff? im not sure. he was singing one song and the right after that, he had been smoking and drinking something at the outside. while eating there were none except us. even thou other ppl entered, they just left. we ordered steaks for men and some and it was just ok. Ruth’s Chris Steak House is better. About the price, we paid like ave $ 35−45ish? for each… or more. the portion was small thou.

Warm and friendly environment. Three basic options for house wines so we chose the burgundy which was fine. We split the filet mignon and with the split plate charge ($ 4.95) we received an additional salad and baked potato– which we felt very fair. The salad arrived; slightly on the small side but fresh and crisp romain. The filet arrived and was a perfect medium; tender, juicy and lean. The baked potato and mashed potatoes were tasty and nicely prepared. We would have liked dessert but the options were limited so we opted out. Overall a good experience-​especially for a small town! We will certainly return if the opportunity presents itself.

The worst steak I’ve EVER had. Tasted like it was bought in bulk, frozen and then microwaved to serve. Yes, it’s that bad. For $ 25 it’s almost criminal.

What a pleasant surprise, it was like walking into a Tarantino movie, music and all. It was the right amount of kitsch without trying to hard. We were staying at the Wigwam Motel, and we decided to walk over to the restaurant. Server was sweet and efficient. We each ordered a drink and an entrée which included the salad bar. My ribeye was by far the best choice at our table, it was cooked to perfection. Finished off with a large slice of chocolate cake. A few misses here and there, but still a positive experience overall.

Very expensive for an average restaurant in the middle of nowhere. I was very surprised to pay $ 26 for a steak dinner. Cows are everywhere here and the town is pretty run down. The steak dinner was same as always and pretty good. Went here because it was the only restaurant I found nearby on Unilocal

Could have gone to any Dennys and gotten a better meal for half the price. Paid $ 24 for one drink and a plate with the smallest chicken breast I’ve ever seen, which was overcooked and drown in unremarkable bbq sauce.
They play really old Country and Western music way too loud. The foreigners probably love this kind of musty «authenticity», but it’s not for everyone. The folks are very friendly, that’s where the second star came from.
I’ll rave about a great restaurant if the first time is worth my time. But I won’t give a bad rating to a restaurant until I’ve tried it twice. This was strike two. There we’ll not be a strike three.

Take it for what it is! Order the filet mignon medium and sour cream for your baked potato. You will be all set!
Love the random décor and friendly, hard working staff.

The one thing I can say is the service was great. The food was okay, but double what the cost should be for a steak dinner anywhere else. The style is old country western. It’s clean. Baked potato was half done and cold, but the steak was good. Limited items on salad bar. It was empty while we were there, but could easily accommodate a large group.

Food here was mediocre for the prices, but the ambiance was entertaining in its cowboy country style. Was clean and waitress was friendly. Don’t order the TBone, chicken nuggets, or salad here. Cut of meat was terrible, no filet on TBone and more fat on it than aunt jemima. Flavor was ok. Fries were good. Chicken nuggets were fried to well done… Not good. Mozzarella sticks were good.
For the prices at this middle of no where steak house, one would expect at least slightly higher quality. Then again, it’s a middle of no where steak house!

Not great; not horrible. Pricey with a fairly helpful staff. Worth a try if you happen to be in the area. Had a steak that was just OK. This place isn’t Morton’s to be sure!

— Neat western décor inside.
— A better restaurant of Holbrook…
— High prices, especially for a little town like this. Tourism be damned…
— Salads suck…
— Big dining room
— Gravel parking lot
— Crappy beer selection. All domestic big names, nothing special or good… I saw a sign for a brewery in Albuquerque, why not ship in some of that?
— Damn near empty, like the town…
— Not international like another reviewer claimed. Only language ability was the manager who spoke Serbian…

Quick Tip: This place is hilariously random. I love it.
Full Review:
While my mother and I ate at Butterfield Steak House, I couldn’t stop finding fun things that I wanted to add to my review. We cracked up constantly when we would discover a new quirk about this place.
We had spent the day driving and visiting the Petrified Forest/​Painted Desert so when it came time to eat, the stars were already out. I did a Unilocal search of Holbrook and given the late hour we didn’t have many options. Despite the mediocre ratings and reviews of this restaurant we decided to give a chance. One reason for us giving it a chance was the hilarious decorative silhouettes in the windows. The restaurant was a strange mixture of big-​city upscale and southwestern small-​town casual.
We were seated by our server into a booth. The restaurant is decorated like a picnic combined with a sports bar and a french restaurant. The menu was my favorite part of the restaurant by far. It is littered with information about the restaurant and the area. The menu items are as varied as any I have seen. In the middle of nowhere Arizona you can order MP crab legs, Teriyaki Steak, shrimp scampi, take a run at the measly salad bar, slurp up some spaghetti, pep up with some espresso or drink up with the only bottle of champagne on the menu… a $ 229 bottle of Dom. On top of all that, we could have ordered in ANY language and according to the menu, our server would have taken our order and served our meal speaking that language.
While waiting for our food we read the literature that was provided everywhere we looked. We sat a booth next to the salad bar and were able to read the wood-​carved plaques on the walls. The plaques described murders/​deaths of the past. All historically linked to the area, the original owner’s life or the restaurant itself. We also read our menus and the placemats.
Service was great. We were never left wanting and our water was refilled very quickly. My mom ordered the shrimp scampi and I ordered the chicken. Both were good. The food wasn’t anything spectacular but it was good and well presented.
Around the bathroom we enjoyed reading the old tyme signage including my favorite that read, «Smokers will be pummeled with punishing blows all over their bodies.»
I don’t know. Maybe my mom and I were just tired so we were more easily entertained. Maybe this place is a hidden gem of Americana. Maybe I was reaching for reasons to enjoy my experience. Whatever the reason, we couldn’t stop laughing and next time we make a cross-​country voyage we will try to eat at Butterfield Stage Co Steak House.
Star Rating for Overall Experience: 4
Star Rating for Service: 5
Star Rating for Food: 3