Don Pepe Steak House

My wife and I went for dinner on Monday night I had the filet mignon tips and shrimp the shrimp were a little over cooked while the filet mignon was very tender she had the chicken cutlets in garlic sauce she enjoyed it and had some for lunch the next day at work prices are very reasonable and service is great worth a try

Had a nice dinner there last weekend, clam casino was really good and stuffed lobster. Only downside was it was very noisy during peak time I need to shout out in order for my boyfriend to hear what I was saying. But overall it is a nice restaraunt with good food.

I have been coming to all the Don Pepe’s for decades.
You expect to to get a lot of good food at good prices which I can attest they deliver all of their establishments. My dates tend to enjoy the seafood place but I am a steak man. There seem to have been changes in the kitchen in the last few years. I do enjoy a nice big steak done properly with all the wonderful Don Pepe’s additions I enjoy so much. I had the pork chops done medium and the were great ! I was here a few weeks ago for the sirloin asked for medium rare. It came out very well done ! I came back and ordered a steak again which I requested done rare (I don’t like rare). It came out WELL DONE ! This is a steak place ! I have read several reviews having the same experience.
I have been to other steak houses where if you ask for a nice cut of steak done well the chef will be insulted. I am thinking this chef is a vegetarian !

Pretty large portion sizes for the price. That being said, the steaks are large but just ok. They are underseasoned and far too often the cook times miss the mark, be it over or undercooked.
The fried calamari is greasy and heavy.
The garlic shrimp are drowning in butter.
The fried potatoes are crisp and a very good version.
The Asparagus Vinaigrette was a so-​so version of white asparagus overdressed and limp served a little too chilled and a smallish portion for the price.
Consistently inconsistent in food and service.

Not good. Ordered a rare filet that came back more well done than my friend’s «medium rare» and a «sorry».
Even if it was cooked well this place is the pits. I’ll never be back.

Seems there are mixed reviews but we had an excellent dinner here. Surf and Turf was cooked perfectly and of high quality. Chips, Yellow Rice, and vegetables went great on the side. Had the dessert Crème Brule special with fresh raspberries. Very good. Large space and the tables are spread out nicely. Wait staff was great. Strange thing. The manager I’m assuming could literally care less if you are there. We stood there for 15 mins before he came to the stand and I asked him to seat us. Overall excellent.

We made the very unfortunate mistake of coming on New Year’s Eve. Place was an absolute madhouse. The fact that more tables were crammed in there was obvious as the waiter could barely pass between the seat and had to squeeze through, disrupting patrons in the process. The food was great, the portions large and the wait time reasonable. The sangria is something I would NOT recommend though. I’m not sure if it was because it was rushed but it was not in the least bit good. I’d like to try this place out on a normal business day to get a better experience.

In the area on business last week and had dinner here one evening. I had the Filet Mignon Medallions with Mushroom Sauce. It was cooked perfectly (Medium Rare as requested) and full of flavor. This is a smaller portion than most of the other steaks on the menu and that was fine. It is still two decent size small filets so it was still very filling. The others at my table had Porterhouse Steaks and those were enormous! Everyone at the table seemed very happy with their choices. This place definitely does steak right!

I will not return here again.
Stay away from this place. The only good thing about this is the prices. The wait staff was very rude and almost seemed offended that I asked questions about the menu. I had the 18 ounce filet mignon and it was just a piece of meat that was not flavored or seasoned at all. I ordered it medium and it came out rare. The atmosphere was not good either and the décor was very dated.

last minute selection for dinner and glad I did. I’ve seen mixed reviews but tonight was very good. To start the server was very good and never rushed us or seemed to in our face. For an appetizer we chose the cheese assortment that was very good, I love the Manchego. For dinner I selected the Angus Rib-​eye and my guest selected the pork chops. I must say the Rib-​eye steak was one of the best I’ve had in quite some time and was cooked the way I asked and tasted delicious! My guest was very pleased with the Chops. Definitely going back for that Rib-​eye!

Good affordable Steak!

The Pros: The steaks are quite good. Extra large premium cuts. The Porterhouse seems to be the signature cut. The rack of lamb is excellent as well. The service is acceptable.
The Cons: Décor is dated. Circa 1980’s. Plating is unimpressive. Essentially a slab of meat on a plain white plate. Reservations are apparently meaningless. Made reservation for 7PM. and wasn’t seated until 7:45PM.
All in all, not bad. I would consider giving it another go at some point.

My wife and I had our wedding rehearsal dinner in the restaurant’s party room back in 2007. That night went well.
This time around was the worst dining experience I’ve had in a long time.
We had reservations for New Year’s Eve for 9 people for a 6:30 dinner.
Problems started before we got in the door. The parking lot was completely full, so the valet instructed us to park across the street in an office parking lot.
We could barely get inside with the crowd of people waiting. Despite having a reservation, we were told that there was at least an hour wait. Clearly, the concept of a reservation is lost on Don Pepe, because despite not having the capacity to seat all of the people with reservations, they were continuing to accept walk-​in patrons, and in many cases, seating small walk-​in parties before larger parties with reservations. Numerous parties left upon hearing of the wait, with others giving up after waiting longer than what they were originally told.
The hostess, who was clearly overwhelmed with angry patrons waiting for a table, had a nasty attitude to boot, and was snippy in answering anyone’s queries about when they would be seated. Hint: People will get angry when they make reservations and then have to deal with long waits and nasty attitudes. If you can’t handle that reality, you’re not fit to be a hostess.
The manager/​owner (not sure which role he filled) was equally snippy and unwilling to answer questions, which didn’t help matters any.
We were finally seated at 8:25. Yes, 5 minutes short of TWO hours, for a party with two diabetics and a 2 year old.
Luckily, the back of the house worked hard to try to salvage the night from the nightmare in the front of the house. The wait staff were moving furiously to keep up with an overcrowded room, and the kitchen was in overdrive.
The food was «okay», but not remarkable. I ordered a sirloin that came out perfectly cooked, but was a touch on the bland side. It definitely could have used more seasoning. The rice and potatoes for the table were good, but again, nothing exceptional. Several others in the party had the same thoughts… good quality cuts of meat, and well prepared, but could have used more seasoning.
Reservations are a fairly simple concept, but are completely ignored here. Doing so on NYE is completely unacceptable, especially for a holiday where large families tend to get together. Screwing up NYE reservations will leave large groups high and dry with no options to change plans at the last minute. Completely and utterly incomprehensible that such a simple concept could be screwed up so badly.
I’ll never give them a cent of my business again.

The steak and chips were great, but the odor in the environment, since you walk in, is totally unpleasant, Please just remove the disgusting smell of chlorine…

Okay so right away I just have to say I thought everything was OK, BUT the NY Strip steak done at med-​rare was to die for! Huge slab of meat — tasted like heaven. It came with green beans and delicious potatoes. Now onto the other items…
Fried Calamari — tasted too «fried» but the marinara sauce was nice
Spanish Sausage– tasted like fried hot dogs — I liked it
Clams Casino — not bad, but definitely lacked something
Garlic Shrimp — GROSS just tasted like butter and the shrimp tasted like chlorine
Marinated Portobello Mushrooms — I’m a tad biased because I just love anything balsamic, but this was good
Stuffed Spanish Peppers — I enjoyed this item. They were stuffed with a ricotta type cheese
Spaghetti and Penne Vodka — both alright — nothing to rave about
House salad — again it was decent
The desserts were mediocre too
I would say if you’re in the mood for a great steak definitely come here otherwise dine somewhere else.

Took my mother in-​law out for Mother’s Day here. I know to some people that’s a bad idea, but this place is awesome.
Keep this in mind… If you’re going to go on a «special» night that is celebrated by others, there might be a delay in service.
We took that all into consideration, and thought the risk was worth it.
In the end, we were all satisfied and stuffed. The only thing that annoyed us about going there on Mother’s Day, was what they put in their menus.
«For today appetizers are .50 cents more, Entrees are $ 1 more»
See the picture!
Maybe they had to hire extra staff or something… but as a costumer, I don’t want to hear that you need to make extra money because of a certain day.
What if you went to a restaurant to eat, and the hostess asks your group if anyone is celebrating a birthday and then charges your group extra for it? So what if it was Mother’s Day? Don’t tell me the hundreds of people that ate there that one day didn’t make you enough money.

Short and sweetly as I go quietly into my Friday night…
THE STEAK IS RIDOONKULOUS… And I had to snag a taste off of someone else’s plate to experience it.
It has been a while since I enjoyed a steak. It was about as good as I have had anywhere (Frankie & Johnny’s, Palm, ect.). So good in fact that I packed up my chicken with garlic and stringbeans and went home. :(
Cant ever go wrong with Shrimp & Garlic sauce (don’t forget to dunk the crusty bread). Its VERY NIIICE… Typical of what you would find in the Iron-​bound section without the Marisciaras.
There is also a nice broiled seafood platter that I almost lost a limb over while trying to taste a scallop off of my daughter’s plate (You would think the kid grew up in a prison).
I haven’t been here a bunch and likewise have not tried a great variety of the menu.
Anyhoo… While I have not had it all, what I DID have…
DADDY LIKED!

If you have some extra coin laying around that you feel like dropping on a good meal, by all means head over to this place.
I’m a steak lover so of course I went with the biggest porterhouse they have that is listed as «market price.» This thing was so big that it legitimately fed myself, my girlfriend, and made myself a hearty portion of steak and eggs the next morning.
Bottom line… Excellent Beef. Expensive. Great Sangria. Service, eh.

In a nutshell:
Food was excellent and this felt like a ‘fancy’ dinner.
Details:
It’s a bit more upscale of a place. although that being said, I thought it really lacked décor and style. It felt like old white sheets draped everywhere or something… Idk it wasn’t what I was expecting inside. Yet, because of the menu and the attire of the servers, it still felt upscale.
Our server was very polite and proper.
The bread was yummy.
They serve a platter of string beans and fried plantanos for your table to share with dinner.
I feel like this is a good spot for a romantic dinner.
With tip, dinner for 2 and an appetizer was around $ 100.
What I ordered:
–Camarones Ajillo — Shrimp in Garlic –umm yes please. This was honestly so good… we could not stop gobbling it up. I can’t really describe the garlic sauce but it was so tangy and good. amazing shrimp. I want to go there now just for this appetizer haha.
–Solomillo Troceado — Filet Mignon Medallians in Mushroom Sauce –very, very good. And it was so much food that I had to eat the rest the next day. The mushroom sauce was just right and the steak was cooked so nicely. my mouth is watering remembering this.
–2010 Estrella River California Merlot –I feel silly even mentioning this, but for some reason I really loved this wine. Granted, they didn’t have a wine menu when we asked for one (it was more like, do you want red or white?), but this wine hit the spot and wasn’t bitter how some merlots can be. I’m actually searching for this in my local liquor store.
The only negatives here:
–we weren’t so sure if the hostess was the hostess. she sort of hung back around the wall and didn’t address us when we walked in. and when we asked for a table she seemed almost confused and we thought she was a child waiting for her parents. Kind of comical actually but def confusing.
–And. obviously this isnt Don Pepe’s fault. but really there was a couple making out all throughout dinner AT their table. Bahaha.

Very disappointed with several aspects of this place.
1. Checking in… it’s so disorganized and people who came in after us were seated before us without reservations.
2. Our table once seated wasn’t even ready. No utensils and or napkins like all other tables.
3. The waiter seemed like he had no desire taking care of us. He was impatient and stared away at other tables when we were putting in our drink orders.
4. The apps took no time to come. I must admit the chorizo was quite tasty but be careful, you will be repeating it for the entire evening. The calamari was ok but not cooked well and their antipasto platter is not enough to feed 2 let alone four.
5. The main meal took quite some time to arrive. The steak I ordered and other people at the table as well did not come out as ordered. Mine was well done. I do have to admit that the portion size was enough for leftovers.
6. Their Sangria was ok. Not great or even close to being tops of other places.
7. They have no problem rushing you out… and they squeeze as many tables together.
*As I mentioned before their prices aren’t too bad and you do get a large meal. Dinner for 4 with alcohol (beers and Sangria), apps and entrée was $ 55 per person with tip. I would recommend going to Newark for a better experience (food and service wise).