The Flame Steakhouse

My wife and I found The Flame to be a great experience and will return. Our waiter, Brien, was attentive, sociable, and quick to fulfill our requests. The food was excellent. Both our steaks, New York Strip and the Filet Mignon, were some of the best cooked steaks we’ve had.
I highly recommend the restaurant to anyone looking for great food. I really don’t have anything negative to say about the place.

In NC for the weekend we asked around where to go to dinner. We had tried to go to the steakhouse by our hotel and received terrible service so we walked out. The hotel suggested here.
We almost left because we waited a while for our server to arrive, but we were very thankful we stayed once he got there. As a past server I understand there are times when you might take a while to get to a table (restroom breaks etc) Since our server wasn’t one of the many people who just walked by us while we waited we assumed this was the case for him. It wasn’t his fault his colleagues didn’t greet us.
Our server was fantastic. He was prompt with drink refills, helped us make decisions on what to order and prebussed the table just as he should.
My fiancé ordered the 8 oz Sashimi Tuna. He could not believe how much tuna it was. He raved about the flavor and didn’t even use the sauce that came with it. He also ordered the brocolini as a side. I had never tried it so I took a bite too. It was fantastic!
I had been dreaming about a steak all day, but when I looked at the menu and saw grits I had to change mind. It had been years since I had good southern grits. I ordered the grits and grilled shrimp. They were amazing. The shrimp was so tender and tasty.
We both ordered the salad bar and we’re impressed with how fresh it was. There was even a giant block of fresh cheddar cheese that was soft and had the perfect amount of sharpness. The ranch was what I call «good ranch»…you know, the best ranch!
They also had a wide selection of beer and wine for anyone who is interested.
We love to visit local non chain restaurants and this is def one we would come back to.

Another great dinner at the flame. Went for a birthday and it did not disappoint! No restaurant around can touch their salad bar and their steaks. I order my steak mid-​rare and it’s cooked right every time! Love their consistency!

We were meeting a friend playing golf at Pinehurst and Sanford seemed like a nice midpoint from Raleigh. We looked around on Unilocal and settled on The Flame — so glad we did. My wife had shrimp, our friend had the sirloin tips and I had the grilled scallops along with a trip to the salad bar. All three of us were quite filled up by the time dinner was eaten — no room for dessert. All agreed that this is a good place to eat the next time we’re in the area. And the salad bar is one of the best I’ve experienced lately — wish I’d have had room for a second trip!

Awesome atmosphere! Great service! The food. well let’s just say we left full! This is a great place for a romantic date. We had our daughter and it was still very appropriate for her to dine in as well. This was our first visit but it won’t be our last!

Very romantic place, I didn’t get it but the prim rib looked amazing, Salad bar was very nice,

Mediocre at best. $ 5 spaghetti o’s? Really? And the spaghetti ohs came out boiling hot and in a very deep bowl so they never cooled down and it burned my son’s mouth. We had to put ice cubes in to cool it down. The cook behind the grill was spraying the chicken with some kind of aerosol spray. It was just odd. The food was nothing special. It didn’t taste especially fresh and for the prices, I expected to be more impressed!

The food is great, the service is awesome and I miss everyone. I will be sooooo happy when you guys reopen! I’ll be there on the 1^st!

I’ll be glad when this place reopens. It’s not the greatest steakhouse in the world, but it is pretty good. The service is friendly enough and the food is correctly cooked. It would be nice if they had a better beverage selection. For Sanford, it’s not too bad a location.

We wanted to eat at a place we’ve never been so we tried the Flame Steakhouse. The staff was friendly and we thought the food was good. Our waiter was very nice and attentive. We liked the atmosphere… it’s a nice place with afforable prices. We’ll definitely go back!

I eat here occasionally and while the food is not trendy and I do prefer a more cosmopolitan salad bar, I find the steaks excellent and the service to be top notch. Prices are reasonable
Excellent service

I’ll be honest that we were sceptical about eating here based on the negative reviews but then read reviews on the other popular review apps. And we are glad we did, the food was fantastic! I had a great, thick New York strip steak.
Also the salad bar is way better than most chain restaurants. I ate paleo eggs, nuts, and plenty of veggies (oil and vinegar dressing). Also I ordered sautéed spinach and onions in olive oil by request.
The only reason for not giving 5 stars was because the server was a little slow for bussing the table and had to be asked for refilling water multiple times.
Overall either much has been fixed or the other reviews were overly negative. Good overall experience.

My previous rating was the highest unfiltered Unilocal review for this restaurant. I thought I did a reasonable job of explaining that this steakhouse isn’t comparable to national expensive chains and that it did a good job for being something of a step down. Despite that, the owner sent me a defensive message on Unilocal basically calling me a snob and claiming that they are the best restaurant in town. Before getting that note, I would have come back and just not ordered the salad bar. Now, I see that they don’t actually care about gaining new customers. They are happy just having their regulars. The note also revealed that the owner posted his own 5 star review, so who knows if any of the good reviews are real.

We loved the food, presentation and service! We will be back soon.

Great steaks. Open upscale atmosphere for small town Sanford. Huge salad bar. Best steak in Sanford. Warning: you may still get stuck sitting next to the local redneck family in camouflage.

First I want to say I like the new decore. Enjoy the new salad bar layout and as always the choices on the salad bar are great and fresh. As always the staff is very friendly. With that said —
I was confused when we ordered — wanted the appetizer which was grilled asparagus served with dinner. Was told no. I wasn’t asking for it to be one of my choices for a side dish — just wanted it served with dinner. Still told no. Was willing to pay the full price. Still told no. Had to be served prior to dinner… Really? So, we got past that (still confused, but whatever). Sad to say we had to send it back — grilled asparagus was burnt and looked like mini french fries.
Literally sat and watched our food prepared by the chef and sat up under the heat lamp for quit some time even though different servers walked by numerous of times. (was not busy — we were one of MAYBE 3 parties there) Apparently other servers can’t pick up someone else’s table’s plates? Anyhow — was served. Food was good — undercooked, but the chef made a new plate for me and was dead on the 2^nd time. Appreciated the fact they made an entire new plate and didn’t reheat my side dishes.
Was treated to dessert due to all the troubles we had. That was nice of the staff.

Great place to eat in a small town with few competing choices. Want a bigger steak than listed on the menu? Just ask. Great service, great owners. Go eat well and have fun!