Newbie Elite Event: Meat and Greet at Longhorn Steakhouse

Rarely am I so impressed from a chain streak restaurant! But Longhorn outdid themselves!
Bread was on the table when we arrived.
Then came the appetizers which were succulent! I’m not sure I could pick a favorite. The Crab & Artichoke Dip had the perfect blend of crab and artichoke. The Sweet Corn Fritters had just the right amount of crunch. The Spicy Chicken Bites had great flavor and spiciness. The Wild West Shrimp was plentiful and served with hot cherry peppers!
I then ordered the Beefsteak Tomato & Bacon Salad! Triple yum!!! Just the right portion. It was served romaine lettuce, sliced tomato, tomato vinaigrette, whole slices of bacon and topped with mozzarella cheese!!!
My 18oz Outlaw ribeye and loaded baked potato were grilled to perfection! Just the way I ordered them! (The steak didn’t even need the delicious at-​the-​table made steak sauce.) Served with a wonderful red wine.
For desert it was Chocolate Stampede (Chocolate Moose cake with ice cream) and (my personal favorite) Blueberry Lemon Butter cake! YUM!
Our servers were fantastic. Attentive and willing to answer any question. They never let my tea glass go empty!
I will definitely be back!

Nice job Adam at putting this event together! I have to admit I had no idea what to expect at my first elite event, I was more than pleasantly surprised! What a great Monday evening after a long day at work. Longhorn really went all out for us. I don’t think I’ve ever had anyone present and explain the different cuts of meat as nicely as the management did for us. All portions were very generous, I left comfortably filled! Of all 3 appetizers sampled I was surprised at how delicious the corn fritters were. Don’t get me wrong, the Spicy Chicken bites and Wild West shrimp were also delicious! My mixed green salad was above average and the ranch dressing was definitely high quality. I can’t say enough about the filet, extremely tender and flavorful and cooked to perfection! Up there with higher end steakhouses that charge twice as much for their steaks. And then the dessert… I was thinking I would love the Blueberry Lemon Butter Cake (and I did) but the Chocolate Stampede did it for me! I definitely will be back with my wife!

This was a fantastic event. Thanks Adam, Thanks Unilocal,and Thanks to Longhorn. Every bit about this was great. I met new people whom I really enjoyed talking to. I ate great food at a place I did not expect to eat great food at and I had a great time.
I sadly had to leave before the event was finished. While walking out I was smiling because of the great time I had but a bit disappointed I did not get to talk to everyone.
What I did confirm is that I am a fan of Unilocal,especially of the folks in KC and I am a fan of Longhorn Steakhouse.
Looking forward to more.

Being a new kid on the block, I was thrilled when I got the invite from Adam S. for a Newbie Elite Event. I anticipated an informal gathering, filled with mingling and hors d’oeuvres, but was pleasantly surprised to find we were being treated to a full course meal.
I had never been to a Longhorn Steakhouse, so it was nice to get to sample a variety of menu options. For appetizers, we shared Spicy Chicken Bites (the sauce was great and perfectly tangy), Wild West Shrimp, Crab & Artichoke Dip, and Sweet Corn Fritters. All were tasty and perfect to share. Fellow Unilocaler, Sam A. and I were the only individuals at our table, so we were spoiled with the amount of food we got. Perks of being infamously 5 minutes late?
I then opted for the standard house salad with bleu cheese dressing (only complaint is I wish it would have come on the side, since I prefer to only use a little) and the salmon for my entrée. SERIOUS props to the staff for being accommodating and providing a vegetarian option last minute. I normally plan to just eat what I can, so it was a wonderful touch that they were willing to make an adjustment for me.
Special thanks to the management and staff at Longhorn Steakhouse and a huge shout out to Adam S. for pulling off a wonderful event! Can’t wait to attend future events and meet more KC Unilocalers!

This was my first official Unilocal Newbie Elite event and it certainly didn’t disappoint!
At first, I cringed at the thought of driving a good 35 – 40 minutes to this location, but after the fabulous meal I experienced with fellow Unilocalers, I will gladly come back to this location and bring my family next time!
The night started with some meeting and greeting, and some intros by the management team from LongHorn. These guys were über professional and tops all the way! You can certainly tell that they care about this franchise and how to run it well. They briefly explained the history of the company (started in Atlanta) and how thankfully, LongHorn made their debut in Kansas City in 1999.
The evening progressed with round one of appetizers, including some new seasonal selections from the menu. (New!) Crispy Sweet Corn Fritters! Crab & Artichoke Dip! Spicy Chicken Bites! Wild West Shrimp! The dip was served with yummy perfectly toasted pita and the shrimp with spicy sliced pepper rounds. Yummmmm!
Our servers, by the way, were top notch all the way as well. I wish I could have this service everywhere I went as we were certainly spoiled tonight. Kudos for the excellent staff!
Round two was a choice of soup or two salads. I chose the Beefsteak Tomato Salad. It must have been appealing because everyone at my table picked it too! Picture this… A bed of romaine topped with huge slices of beefsteak tomato, criss crossed with crispy bacon, sprinkled with some shredded mozzarella and topped with a bacon vinaigrette. In case you were wondering… YES it was dee-​lish!
Main course! We were presented earlier with fresh steaks before preparation to have a peek at our choices, and although the 18 oz Outlaw Ribeye looked gorgeous with all of it’s swirling and mesmerizing marbling, I decided on the more conservative route of Flo’s Filet, an 8 oz filet. It did not disappoint! My sweet potato with butter and brown sugar (is there any other way?) made it even more perfect.
Finally, our lovely wait staff paraded to our table with two heaping portions of dessert. WOW. What an entrance! Somehow after my first three courses, I was still able to finish the night with a sampling of both the Chocolate Stampede and the Blueberry Butter Lemon Cake. Now, I may be the only person on the planet who likes, but not loves, chocolate, so my favorite was the butter cake. A huge, warm buttery chunk of goodness, dripping in a lemon curd type of topping running over the sides with sweet blueberries floating on top. This may be my new favorite dessert… on earth. FOREVER. Two of my faves… tart lemon and sweet blueberries. Mmmmm.
Sprinkled throughout the night, were stories from new Unilocal friends, and more than a few grins and giggles. ;) Thanks again Adam S. for being an excellent host and organizer of this event! Another shout out to LongHorn Steakhouse and the great management team and the excellent wait staff who made us feel very welcomed tonight.

My first elite event and it won’t be my last. The staff here is wonderful, they know their stuff. I always considered Longhorn run of the mill franchise but was corrected tonight. this place is a legit restaurant that takes their fare seriously.
We were loaded with apps, my fav was the sweet corn fritter. then came the beefsteak tomato and bacon salad. amazing. the portabella sirloin was done to perfection. and we finished with a 6 chocolate cake. now I’m almost to full to type anymore.
I want to give a shout out to the managers and the wait staff. they were attentive to their clients. they also enjoy what they do.

I felt quite pampered at this event. These guys are definitely setting the bar high for other Unilocal Event Venues.
I appreciated the wide variety of items brought to the table. Having never had been to a LongHorn Steakhouse, I really was impressed by the level of quality and showmanship of the the experience. The steaks were perfectly cooked and the general manager was so attentive to the quality of the food and steaks. Bonnie was probably the best waitress I have had in quite some time. My favorite besides the steak was the spicy chicken bites, perfect mix of spicy, sweet, and a tiny bit tangy… The quality of chicken and the breaking was spot on. The salad plates were so big that it was a meal in itself. I wasn’t sure what the bread in the croutons was but it was sweet and buttery. They picked out the best wines for us to try as well. The lemon butter blueberry cake was my favorite of the desserts too.
I will definitely be craving these items again. It was really incredible to see so many people in the company care about the company and the event. Pretty exciting night. Big thanks to everyone here, LongHorn, and Adam.

What a way to welcome the n00bz to the Unilocal Elite squad, and meet up with a few seasoned veterans! Great job, Adam!
The night was a ton of fun — I can’t think of a better end to a long Monday than shoving vast quantities of tender beef in my mouth… followed by cake!
The meal started with a sampling of the new appetizers from the Longhorn Happy Hour menu, followed by little lecture on cuts of beef. After that, it was vittles-​a-​plenty, as we were served portion after generous portion of appetizers, salads, steaks, sides, and finally desserts! I had the beefsteak and bacon salad, which was huge, followed by a filet and a sweet potato. Topped with a pinot noir, made for a perfect meal! The meat was so tender and buttery that there was no need for the tasty table-​made steak sauce they cooked us up.
And then the desserts — oh man, gonna have to have more «In it to Thin it» Unilocal events after the mountain of triple chocolate cake, ice cream, and lemon butter cakes I ate.
The service was so friendly, portions overflowing, and conversation lively. Shout outs to new Unilocalers Abby D, Matt N and Mike A, and to Unilocal über elite Dan H, our photographer for the night!
Thanks again to Adam S… you’re doing such an epic job as our CM, and thanks for the opportunity to pig out, celebrate our newest Unilocalers, and enjoy some of what makes KC such an awesome place to live.

It has been a very long time since I’ve been to a Unilocal Elite Event which was back on 10÷12÷13. It was a small group of Unilocal elites in the Longhorn Steakhouse. Big thanks to Adam S., Longhorn Steakhouse and anybody else that helped set up this event up.
There were four appetizers, choice of soup or salad, steak, and dessert. The appetizers were delicious and the two I liked were the Spicy Chicken Bites and the Wild West Shrimp. I chose the Grilled Chicken Tortilla soup and it was delicious. I was told it was pretty spicy, but it wasn’t really spicy to me. For the steak, I chose the Outlaw Steak (18 oz) which I had the first time I went to a Longhorn Steakhouse. It definitely was good by itself without the steak sauce they mixed at our table. The Steakhouse Mac & Cheese was good, too. Finally, the two dessert items came out which were the Chocolate Stampede and the Blueberry Lemon Butter Cake. In my opinion, the Blueberry Lemon Butter Cake was better between the two.
The staff were very accommodating and friendly to our group. I’m sure everybody was surprised that I had a huge camera but that was what I typically brought to YEEs. I definitely didn’t take as many pictures as I usually do but that’s okay! It was nice meeting everybody I talked with and hopefully I’ll be at more YEEs in the future.
Awesome!

Longhorn Steakhouse really «showed what they could do» tonight. If this is representative of what they do for their regular customers, I will be back quite often.
All the appetizers were exceptional — but I find true quality when things I normally don’t like end up being fantastic — in this case it was the corn fritters. I almost didn’t even try them, but wow — were they sweet, crunchy and delicious!
For me, the highlight overall was the beefsteak tomato and bacon salad. It was ginormous! Enough that you could probably make it a meal. (I was told you could add chicken to it, and that would make it a definite meal.)
We were told a bit about Longhorn, shown how beautiful their steaks were (never frozen… ;)), and also introduced to their specialty steak sauce. They made the sauce in front of us, the rosemary/​garlic mixture smelled heavenly, and I was glad all at my table said — hot sauce added, oh yes!
My filet was cooked perfectly (unless you can’t conceive that «black and blue» is perfect) and I highly recommend the sweet potato.
Stacy was absolutely fantastic — she explained the items, described which were part of the regular menu vs. specialties for the season. And she was always there just when you needed her — no more, no less.
As to the Unilocal event — it was so much fun meeting everyone — and I look forward to more events as well as meeting everyone again! It was also cool to see how much variety of life and experience exists in this newbie elite group! Doctors, lawyers, Indian chiefs!
But in one more shout out to Longhorn, Adam made a point of saying — ummm — this is your first event, but please realize they aren’t all this complete, this fantastic, this much food — so Adam acknowledged just how much «pull out the stops» Longhorn did — so, again kudos to both Longhorn and Unilocal