J & R Steak House

We went to this restaurant in Islip NY for dinner. Normally the food is good but we did not go there for over a year. This time-​a Tuesday night, we ordered the special surf and turf 8 ounce steak with lobster tail. I ordered the filet mignon medium well and it was charred black. My husband’s steak was cold and burned as well and he ordered it medium. My son ordered the porterhouse it was missing a piece of the filet part and it arrived charred as well and he ordered it medium. The mash potatoes were cold, French onion soup was not hot, and the chili was not hot. We sent the porterhouse back and we sent the soup back for more heating. The broccoli with cheese was Not Hot either.
Very disappointed and we will not return there. We were offered one free dessert as partial compensation.
Save your money and BBQ your own steaks at home folks! At least they will be hot and cooked the way you like them!
The waitress was very nice though.

Excellent food ! We enjoy having a selection of soup or salad that comes included with your meal. There food always delicious and hits the spot and the prices are very affordable & is worth it for all that you get!

This used to be our go to place on Friday nights but no more… The happy hour now is a joke, watery drinks, don’t even bother.
Seems like the bartenders have been told to give you half shot drinks and even when you pay the full price of a martini $ 13 there is no liquor in it.
There are many of the places that have better food and drinks.
To bad, since to help is very nice

What’s not good about this place. Been coming here for 3 years and has always been good. My steak was not particularly as well as I wanted but it was fine. Shrimps were great, appetizers were ehh. I would still continue to come. My only problem was the Cesar salad. The dressing was not as good as I wanted. In the end I guess it was ok. I would recommend coming here if you want a good dinner or lunch.

To start, I have eaten at both the Calverton and Patchogue locations of J&R’s over the past several years and they were both about 3 start restaurants. Tonight we went to the Islip location with a group of seven people and we all were «very» disappointed.
It started with room temperature, mediocre, fried — calamari, mac & cheese balls, mozzarella sticks and «processed» chicken fingers as appetizers. Ugh! OK, it was a bad start but we were hoping it would get better. We then had to keep waiting for our waitress who never took the order for our main course and we then had to wait a long time after eating our appetizers.
Next came what they «called» their soup or salad course. My mother always said you could tell how good a restaurant was by the salad they serve. Well ours was chunks of yellow iceberg lettuce with a ¼ slice of pink colored tomato. Yuck. Then there was my mother in-​law «lobster» bisque. It was a weird color and had chunks of imitation crab meat in it. Not lobster, not crab but, mystery fish chunk soup.
For the main course, three of us got different types steaks, all were chewy and with a lot of grizzle. Mine was also supposed to have been marinated but had no taste. Bring on the steak sauce!
Now since it was my Father-in-law’s Birthday we all decided to ordered dessert. Sadly it was a mistake. After looking at the menu we all were looking forward to getting the Tartufo. Then we were told by our waitress that they haven’t sold Tartufo in over a year even though the restaurant has reprinted the menu twice during that time. Are you kidding me! So she then suggested the «Homemade» cheesecake, and hot brownie sundae. Well the cheese cake may have been made there but tested like it was made with a mix of some sort and the brownie in the sundae was room temperature and hard as a rock! At that point, we had enough and had to complain. The waitress tasted the brownie and agreed with us that it was cold and stale and took it off our bill.
If all of this was not enough, we also had to deal with the service — long wait times to order, never being asked if we needed refills and they were very slow to remove dirty plates from the table between courses. It took over 2 hours to finish dinner.
I am shocked at the good Unilocal reviews I have seen for this Islip J&R’s location. I can’t believe people think their food is excellent. Remember other people on Unilocal are looking for honest reviews and it is not fair to everyone if you over rate a restaurant.
I have to give them one star for terrible quality food and slow service. Unfortunately none of us will be returning to this location.

Went to the Medford location last night for a Porterhouse steak. Huge disappointment. The waitress went by my table three times and after a fifteen minute wait, finally came to take the order. With only four tables she was waiting on, it wasn’t like she was really busy. I ordered the steak medium rare. It came out rare and therefor cold. I waited another fifteen minutes for her to come by my table again and by that time I asked for a take out bag for my meal. A cold raw steak at $ 25 is not my idea of an enjoyable meal. If you are a steakhouse, then get it right!

Very good steak and lobster for the price! 3 adults and my son ate here and the bill came out to $ 120 including tip!

Was hankering for a steak, and picked Jr’s cause it didn’t look crowded and was close to home. Reasonably priced varied menu of steak, ribs, chicken, and seafood, lots of daily specials. Shortly after sitting was delivered a decent size bowl of cold pasta salad with raw veggies and a sliced pickle. Good start. Was hoping for some hot bread and butter but that never came or was offered. All dinner entrees come with one side and soup or salad. I had a cup of French onion soup oozing with melted mozzarella with a deep broth flavor, yummy. My entrée was the 12 oz medium prime rib served with au ju gravy for dipping, this dish exceeded my expectations. The steak was seasoned, had some yummy fat, and the portion was way bigger than 12 oz! We were too full for dessert, so overall good meal, not great.

Ordered the porterhouse medium rare with creamed spinach. Steak came back medium and really burnt around the edges. The seasoning was good enough to bite my tongue and finish the steak along with the creamed spinach. I’m not one to complain unless the service or food was awful. I want to return for their daily specials but taking my time trying to forget about my burnt steak.

J & R Steakhouse will always remind me of my college years in Stony Brook, where any meal above $ 10 is consider a luxury so when you eat a steak for $ 25, it better be the best thing you ever had– In college standard. J&R had never disappointed throughout college years and even well after that. Fast forward 11 years, nothing much has changed; $ 25 is still a luxury (when you have a family), I’m still in college (at least in my mind) except J&R in Stony Brook is closed down (sob)
OH well, there’s always one in Islip!
Parking: No need to worry about it, they have a big lot right in front of the restaurant.
3 reasons why I love J&R
1. It’s a not «dress up» kind of place. I don’t like to dress up and I always feel a little out of place when going to steakhouses without at least a shirt/​chinos combo. But at J&R, I feel right at home, I can go in with shorts and tees and there’s no one there to judge me, can you imagine shoving down big juicy steak down your throat and not having to worry about loosening up your belt? Imagine no more!
2. Clean and excellent service– J&R looks new, the place looks clean and there are no peanut shells on the floor– how excellent! And servers are always smiling and happy (at least from what I see that day) and they treat you like family! And heck, I didn’t even have to ask to get my water refilled! WHAT?
3. Steak is the main event, the cheap kind– I have had some good steaks before at a premium price but seriously who can afford that? (You ballers!) While I do love a great steak at a premium price, I love good steak at an affordable price more! I mean sure it is different but at ¼ of the price, this is awesome for what it is! The steaks at J&R are super juicy; they sear their steak very well so it keeps all the moisture inside. I actually made the mistake of going Medium so some pieces were a bit overdone but I know if I went for Medium-​Rare, it would have been PERFECT! I don’t know what rub/​marinate they use but it was super flavorful, DO NOT PICK UP THAT STEAK SAUCE! Btw make sure to go with the marinated steak not the plain one, you won’t regret it!
Damage to wallet– minimum– $ 29 for a 32oz Porterhouse and a side, yes please! Btw that garlic oil soaked broccoli legit!
Overall: J&R will always have a place in my heart, got to remember your roots! It is honestly one of the best affordable steakhouse I’ve been to for a long time! It’s a bit of travel if you are in Queens but hey, true foodie travels for good food right?

Came here for lunch. Food was exceptional not mind blowing but best bang for your buck. I ordered the lobster roll while my S/​O ordered the 24oz Prime rib with garlic mash on the side. Each meal came with option of soup or salad and choice of 1 side. Food was good, the prime rib was succulent and delicious. Lobster roll was edible but nothing special; probably would not order it again. Had the strawberry cheesecake for dessert it was great. Will be back again however very far drive from our home.

Wednesday night — J and R…
24 oz. boneless prime rib dinner special is $ 18.90. Free appetizer coupons are available anywhere and the dinner comes with soup or salad plus a side. The meal is great. It’s not upscale steakhouse quality but prime rib is now north of $ 50 at most of those places with nothing included other than your knife and fork.
We start with my free appetizer which tonight is fried calamari. Not the best ever, but just fine. It’s followed by J and R’s absolutely addictive lobster bisque — sweet and creamy. My prime rib then comes to the table. It’s perfectly rare, delicious, and takes up the whole plate.
Everything we eat is really good and as I leave (with large doggy bag in hand) all I can think about is what a terrific value this is.

Returned for a meat fix last Saturday night. JR’s specials are outstanding for value and quality on whats being featured. Our appys consisted of both Coconut Shrimp and Fried Calamari. Shrimp was great .no so for Calamari. would not order that again. 3 of us ordered the special 32 oz. marinated Porterhouse… beautiful piece of meat that was delicious. I specifically asked for Rare and got MR… sent back and was told that I wanted Black & Blue not rare… didnt know it was an option. Rare is rare is rare??? Anyway my replacement was perfect and I downed it vigerously. One 24 oz Prime Rib for Bonnie G. ordered MR came out as such and was perfect!
Dont come here and try to compare it to a high priced steak house where the same steak would cost $ 60. The steaks we had were great and cost $ 26.95!!! The satisfaction ratio to cost here is great and certainly worth the visit.
The left over Prime Rib was so thick I sliced it in half and cooked it for breakfast on Sunday morning with fried eggs. woo hoo!!! So they made me happy for both dinner and breakfast… cant ask for more than that.

Ordered the Steak Tidbits Deluxe Burger and was taken aback by the portion size. It was $ 9.90, the cheapest meal on the menu, so I was expecting a regular, if not smaller, burger. When the waiter brought my plate, I can confidently say that one burger can be shared between 2 people, or three. I shared my burger with my mom and sister because I couldn’t finish it on my own. A side of tomato, lettuce, coleslaw, and home fries comes with the meal. The rest of my family ordered steaks– which were too dry in my opinion. Service was mediocre. ³⁄₅

I was kind of surprised at the quality of the steak. It was actually quite good. Cooked to order, flavorful, actually one of the better ones I’ve had on Long Island. Particularly when you factor in the price, dirt cheap compared to where I live (Manhattan).
I wasn’t quite as enamored with the onion soup, or the broccoli with cheddar sauce, but they weren’t bad certainly. Just not the revelation the steak was. But when dinner for two costs you 60 something dollars including tip, you don’t moan too long.
Definitely noisy, a family place for certain, and no ambiance whatsoever, but what the hell do you expect at that price?

My wife and twin girls (4yrs old) went there on a Saturday night. They don’t take reservations so we had to wait about 35 minutes before being seated. We had a table in the back and our waitress arrived a few minutes after we were seated. The menu is simple and comfy with a good selection of steaks, ribs, chicken and fish. They also have a very affordable kids menu. My kids split a prime rib and fries, perfect size for them. My wife had the filet mignon and I had the 8 ounce skirt steak. The steaks were absolutely perfect, seasoning was on the money and über tender. The wine list is nothing special and we split a bottle of Mondavi Cabernet, nothing great, but acceptable. I ordered some sauteed onions and green beans. We wound up the night with ice cream, warm apple pie and a brownie sundae. Total price — $ 98.00
The place is very loud. So if u r looking for a quiet dinner, this ain’t the place to go. If u r also a wine guru, this also isn’t the place. But if u r looking for a good meal, reasonable prices and extremely friendly and attentive service, then this IS the place you should go.

My boyfriend & I usually go to the Stony Brook J&R steakhouse, but since they closed that location down. We ended up driving all the way to Islip.
Came here Saturday night and it was really packed. My boyfriend ordered the cowboy steak & I got the dinner special with skirt steak & crab legs. Each came with either a soup or salad & a side.
We received our soup and devoured it as soon as it got here.
We did not get the pasta salad that we saw on every other table. Ended up asking for it because our waitress forgot about us.
The cowboy steak was so-​so. Taste wise was good because we had both of our steaks marinated. Also, they gave my boyfriend a bad cut of the steak. But can’t really complain for the price of the food.
My skirt steak was alright. It is much more smaller than I remember. I asked for it medium rare but it came out medium well. I am never ordering seafood at a steak place again. The crab legs weren’t fresh & the melted butter tasted like it had a mix of cream cheese in it. Yuck. (Sticking with Popei’s for the best crab legs ever!)
Service really sucked. Not once did our waitress ask us how we were doing or if we needed anything. Meanwhile I see her checking up on the tables next to us. She’s lucky that we are generous tippers and gave a little more than 15%.
Our dishes from the soup and garbage piled but yet noone helped us take it off the crammed table. The busboys seemed like they were staring into space when they walked by a couple of times and didn’t bother taking it away till the very end of our meal.
Probably would never come back here again.

Went here over the weekend. We were sat near the bar, because they mentioned it was buy one appetizer get one for free, which I think is great.
So I ended up order muscles with garlic white sauce, buffalo wings as appetizers and they both were decent for a steahouse. Entre was Porterhouse steak, we asked for medium rare and was given medium well done as we actually already mentioned to make sure it was medium rare. So we asked the waiter to bring it back. We got the steak again within 1– minutes, this time it was too rare and I basically lost my appetite. Everything else was great besides the steak itself.

Got a table fast, waiter is super attentive, had out appetizer on the table before our order was taken.
Loaded nachos were great, smothered in a steak chili, jalapeños, tomatoes and cheese, served with sides of sour cream and salsa.
Caesar salad was good, great croutons, a little to much dressing, not much else to say about it.
For dinner had the double Romanian marinated steak with steamed broccoli with a garlic sauce.

Steaks /​Burgers
I was really in the mood for a steak– and on my way home, so I popped into J&R figuring it would be quicker and cheaper than one of the big steak palaces on the island. To that end, it met me expectations.
The place was hopping and looked pretty new — but a little too sterile I think… not «steak-​housie» at all.
I found a spot at the bar and the bartender was nice enough but when she wiped down my little spot on the bar, the rag she used was disgusting and stunk — you know that germ laden thing was used all day to wipe up god knows what. I moved my spot because I didn’t want any funk on me.
The bar itself was also too newish looking — like something some cheap landlord would put in his house with a bar top that looked like formica. Nasty.
Beers were cold and the bartender was very pleasant.
The menu is good sized with plenty of choices. I went with the J&R signature steak cooked medium with steak fries, veggies and sauteed mushrooms as an additional side. The steak came in a tad over cooked, but not too far over. Fries were good, veggies looked disgusting like they had been in the water all day– and a disappointing mix of the usual suspects. Mushrooms didn’t make an appearance until I asked for them but were fine once they arrived.
There is a soup or salad offer to start so I went with the salad– the lettuce was still very wet — they really could drain it better but at least they washed it!
Overall adequate, but definitely not top of the line steaks– Outback has better offerings.
Prices are cheap enough– the whole thing cost me like $ 23 but I have also had $ 23 steaks elsewhere that were mind blowing.
Parking all around.