Pace’s Steakhouse

Read an article in Newsday that this place closed down a couple of days ago.

My girlfriend and I went to Paces two months ago. It was very good; the bartender and waiter, helping serve the bartender, were excellent. Food was delicious– linguine with white clam sauce and cognac shrimp. Not inexpensive but worth the price.
We went back Valentine’s day. We were surprised it wasn’t busier, and excited to get he clams again. Ordered Linguine and clam sauce and was told,” You have to order from special menu, no special orders.” We left.
Valentine menu. We left.
Went back this past Wed, Feb 19^th. The bartender was very nice, but we ordered wine and were told, «Sorry, we ran out of some wines on Valentine’s day and we don’t have that». Ordered (yep, you guessed it) Linguine and clam sauce. It was not the same recipe, it was in a smaller dish, it lacked some herbs and tomatoes, and it seemed drier, it definitely had less clams. So, all the wait didn’t pay off. But all hope was not lost, we just needed to add cheese, after asking for grated cheese, we were told, «We are out of grated cheese.» We really wanted Paces to be one of our places, but the cost catapults it into an expensive restaurant, and the details bring it down. It is in the details.

Nothing really new to say about Pace’s based on the last outing. This time I had the Tomahawk Ribeye. It’s a decent ribeye (maybe not $ 52 worth of decent) but if you appreciate a flare for the extreme this 18″ rib bone will tickle your fancy.
That’s all I got to say about that.

I’ve tried this place twice and it is a wannabe steakhouse. They do not purchase aged beef… it is lacking the pungent flavor. This is why they push marinated steaks which is the sign of a weakling. And they ask for the big bucks. Forget it.

Coming here for years however with a change in management not sure if that will remain to be the case. Dickens weekend is prolly their busiest weekend, a time when the new manager decided to shake up their service methods, huge mistake. One waiter per table equates to show drink refills, food plates slow to clear and new utensils forgotten about. When talking about this with the new manager we were brushed off and told he worked in Midtown so this would work. Lower the prices of you are going to lack in service!

Quite possibly the worst dining experience i have ever had. Let me start by saying, my boyfriend and i are by no means wealthy, and that really should not matter in the grand scheme here but in this case i feel it does. Friday was my birthday and he made reservations for us. We arrived a little late due to rush hour traffic so we were sent to the bar when we arrived while a «table was arranged» which i don’t get and ill explain why in a moment. Anyhow after about 5 mins at the bar we are ushered to an area right by the bar where a musician is setting up to begin to play. I don’t understand, we made reservations and you seat us in the bar area near live music? what?! Maybe if i walked in off the street but he made reservations more than a week in advance. Anyway so he asks to seat us in the dining room, and after they «check» the wind up accommodating that request. When we get in the dining room… its dead empty like… two other tables are seated… Fine whatever.
We are approached by the waiter who informs us that he and another waitress will be handling our table for the night. So 2 servers for the table everyone is with me on that right? We already had drinks so he goes over the menu with us and leaves us to decide. The second waitress comes back like minutes later to «take out order» and off course we need to ask for more time. Well damn us for that cuz they like NEVER CAME BACK. Other tables around us are being seated. We are watching wine getting poured, appetizers being served. Finally we said if someone doesn’t come to us before we finish our drink were leaving. I was already turned off and the menu wasn’t really all that enticing as it was Nothing but starches prepared in different ways for sides OR sauteed spinach Nothing really healthy or accommodating someone like me on a specific diet. Of course they come over as I’m about to stand and we figure we might as well order because going anywhere else that time on a Friday were probably not going to be seated. I ordered a ½ roasted chicken and a side of spinach. My boyfriend ordered a steak with spinach and mash. My chicken was the most disgusting thing i have ever tasted in my entire life i almost wasn’t sure it was real. it was like rubber to cut and it tasted the same. At this point i can see across the table my boyfriend is just heartbroken. He tried so hard to plan this really nice extravagant birthday for me. he saved his money to take me out and we cant even get a waiter there’s TWO of them and not ONE has come to the table to ask how our food is! I start getting upset and I’m crying because its just terrible and while I’m in the bathroom he gets the check and we leave. As we are exiting I’m getting my coat and the lady at the front desk sees me crying clearly and not one person asks how our meal is or if all was OK. Seriously the WORST food and service i have ever had. Oh and we left a 5 dollar tip for both of those shitty waiters. I don’t know if it was because we looked like we weren’t rich? or because my boyfriend is 25? did they think we didn’t deserve good service for those reasons? Who knows! Happy Birthday to me the bill was SO expensive for such a terrible evening! I cried the whole way home because i felt so bad and he was so heartbroken. Oh and i was starving still so i had to go to bed hungry. PS we went to apple-​bees the next night with some friends and lemme just tell you, that food was better even tho its crap and hey the service! It was amazing compared to Paces!!!

I went here with my Husband this past Friday night for the first time. Even with a day of reservation, calling and saying we’d be 15mins late and a screwed up reservation time/​# of people on the restaurants end we didn’t have a wait to sit down, although it seemed we were shoved in the corner (quick take out the table!). Looking past this we ordered our drinks, I got a nice warm glass of their house pinot grigio which tasted like water upon me saying something they kindly swapped it out for a chardonnay, which was better but not great. I thought it was odd they didn’t have a glass wine list or really didn’t offer one, my husband had a Heinkein as always. To start we had the baked clams (which were huge!) they had a lot of flavor but also a lot of breading. We also had the ahi tuna which was so cold and fresh. For our dinner I had the Petite Filet Mignon which was perfectly cooked and just enough. My husband had the Filet Mignon And Lobster Tail which was also cooked perfectly. We then had two sides, creamed spinach and mashed potatoes, I wished our waiter would’ve told us the sides could be shared between two people. We were so full we skipped dessert, I’d come back here if I was in the mood for a good steak it really was the highlight of our meal.

Great Place for drinks. Very friendly staff.
Great bar snacks
One of the best places in Port !

Pretty good steakhouse for Suffolk, prefer Vintage instead…

Service was awesome! Lamb was cooked perfect.

I came here for Valentines Day with my boyfriend. The place seemed very nice, but I looked at the menu and was amazed at how high the prices were. I ended up getting fish. The fish was over-​cooked, dry, and ridiculously small for 40 bucks. The presentation of the meal looked like a child put it together. I looked over at the table next to me and the guy got a steak that was literally placed on top of two crappy looking onion rings… it blew my mind. Can you try to make your crappy food at least look the least bit appealing?! My boyfriend had gotten a different fish dish and it was better than mine, but still bland and unmemorable. We both disliked the experience. Lets just say I could have went to APPLEBEE’S and had better food for half the price.

As far as steakhouses go I’d recommend looking elsewhere. My wife and I were at Paces in Port Jefferson last Saturday and were seated at a table for two about 6 inches from another table for 2 (which would have been nice if the 4 of us were together). This was discouraging because the place was not that crowded.
The food was pricey, but that’s what you would expect from a steakhouse. However, the quality and quantity of the food was marginal at best. I ordered the «House Specialty» marinated porterhouse steak which was grizzly and small. The six dollar potato was small and the waiter was stingy with the butter (even after we had asked for more — what’s with that?). The bar drinks were pedestrian, but we came for the steaks, not not the drinks so I’ll give them a pass on that.
The service was OK, but when they disassembled a large table next to us and rolled it out, the ambiance took a hit, IMHO.
All in all I’d recommend that you go someplace else, the bill with tip was $ 155 for two of us and you can do better than Paces of Port Jeff.

You get what you pay for! Best Steak House with a touch of class. Fabulous menu, great atmosphere, excellent service. No matter what you order is absolutely delicious. The manager pleases everybody and makes sure you are satisfied with the food, etc. The garlic mashed potato is to die for, so is the mac and cheese. The best I’ve ever had. A very special place, with an awesome bar.
As the Chairperson for «A Taste of Port Jefferson», Pace’s has been a participant for the past 5 years.

Came here awhile ago. Had reservations and were seated right away at a table in the dining area. Place was very nice, nice hum of people talking, nothing too loud along with really nice service. As it is a steak house, I really should’ve gotten a steak, but I wanted pasta. So I had the penne with sautéed shrimp, white wine, sun dried tomatoes in pesto cream sauce. Was GOOD, but nothing great, excellent or extraordinary. I guess I really should’ve ordered a steak haha. But we also ordered bake clams for apps and it was really good. I would recommend it.
Overall would probably visit again, its just a bit pricey, but would def get a steak next time.

I went to dinner with my wife at the Port Jefferson location. We ordered the stuffed mushrooms for an appetizer, and they were the best I’ve ever had. I ordered the bone-​in ribeye medium for dinner. The outside was seared to perfection and the inside was cooked exactly as I ordered it. We split a mammoth baked potato and an order of creamed spinach which also tasted great. Be prepared to spend some dough though. We had one drink each and the bill was $ 146. Pace’s, in my opinion, is easily the best restaurant down port.

5 of 6 entrees were good, but 1, a porterhouse steak that was ordered medium rare, came med well and then black and blue. I am very disappointed as i was so looking forward to a nice steak.

Fortunately I was able to try a little bit of everything. I ordered the ribeye, my wife ordered the marinated porterhouse, and a friend ordered the «surf and turf,» which came with the non-​marinated filet. First of all — the ribeye was perfectly cooked from end to end. Exactly spot on medium from the fat cap all the way to the bone. That is amazing. A bit more crust on the top and bottom would have sent this baby into the 10-​spot, but it is certainly a solid hunk of meat. The marinated cuts soak for three days in what I guess is a sweet garlic-​soy concoction. It was really nice for the first few bites, but after a while it is a bit much. Stick with the standard preparation, even though they offer «Oscar» style (with crab meat), and «Tuscan» style (with Gorgonzola melted on top). The filet side of the porterhouse was tender and juicy, as was the strip side. The non-​marinated filet that came with the surf and turf (soif & toif) was perfectly cooked, but it lacked seasoning. I’m not sure if they use a different cut for surf and turf than they do for the petite filet, but that could be why there was a lack of flavor intensity. But if you go for the standard beef cut to test the meddle of the meat (aka the ribeye) you will not be disappointed. There were clean bones all around the table, as five of us ordered the ribeye.
For a full steakhouse review based on 10 categories and a 100-​point scoring system, go to my site

I am a big steakhouse fan. pace for me is just ok. just another fancy steahouse with just average food.

Note: this review is not for dinner. I went for happy hour on a weekday. Happy hour at Pace’s really means no specials… so…it was more of an hour where you drink right after work and pay full price. Not too happy.
We were shutled to one of the bar tables and didn’t get any attention for a quite awhile. This would be fine if I didn’t see all the attentive waiters in their little suits in the main dining area… who were not working (since it was around 6 and no real diners were there). When we finally did get service, he was very polite. We got a bread basket (not sure if you normally get this in bar area, or if it was because we were ordering off the «lounge menu»). It was great, especially the butter! I think it was some type of garlic infused butter.
I got the sliders –very dry and annoyingly high (i just took off the top buns so I could fit it in my mouth).
I would not recommend here for your «classic» happy hour.

2.5 rounded up to 3. As far as steakhouses go, prices are average but so is the food.
Pace is a small and intimate setting, unless you are lucky like we were and a drunk, rowdy group gets sat next to you. Loud! Service was spotty. Had to request bread as we witnessed all surrounding tables being served a basket. Our waiter might have been new, but he seemed unsure with some questions and wasn’t very attentive. Fortunately another female waitress checked in on us from time to time and saved his bacon. When you go to a Steakhouse you pay for presentation as well and Pace’s lacks that.
Food was ok. Shared the hot platter for 2 ($ 26). One large baked clam each, 3 clams casino each and a full portion of fried calamari. All passed the test. Calamari was very tender. You also receive a house salad with your entrée and was fresh, but way too heavy on the vinegar. My date looked like she was eating sour patch kids with her facial expressions.
I ordered the norm, the filet mignon ($ 36). Theirs does not stack up with the rest. Ordered it medium and it was served charred. Maybe because a chef was hanging out at his family’s table behind us during peak dining hours. I don’t know? Just throwing it out there. A filet should cut like butter with a knife and not wrestled with. The small table shook every time I cut a new piece because it was very tough. No house steak sauce offered, another negative. Sometimes you don’t want sauce so you can taste the beef, but I could’ve used it in this case. Was served with a polenta cake (sorry I don’t like polenta) and 2 fried onion rings. She had the rib eye ($ 41) and enjoyed it.
The only thing that «wowed» me were the home fries ($ 5.50). They were seasoned perfectly with so much flavor. But, let’s be honest home fries could have easily complimented 2 eggs over easy at a diner. It shouldn’t be your best memory of a $ 200 meal. Escarole and beans ($ 6.50) were ok. Seasoned with red pepper flakes, but we left most of that side behind. Wasn’t anything special.
Located in one of my favorite towns Port Jefferson, so if you do decide to come to Pace make sure to make a day of it. Don’t just visit Port Jeff for the steaks. But, if you really want an awesome steak and experience, don’t pass go, ok you better collect $ 200 and go directly to Tellers in Islip. That’s the best in Suffolk county for my money. Pace falls way short.