LongHorn Steakhouse

We have always had great experiences at this steakhouse, so we decided to visit again on our 28th wedding anniversary. My wife orders from the gluten-free menu. Me- the regular menu. My wife orders the salmon, sweet potato (plain), and a salad with balsamic vinegarett on the side. The salad comes out drenched in dressing. Okay, but she did request the dressing on the side. No biggy. The salmon shows up next to a sweet potato loaded with butter, overflowing onto the plate. Plain was how she ordered it, so they brought her a plain sweet potato a few minutes later. To be clear- we are not complainers by any means, but now we've got two things wrong, and I haven't got my food yet. I ordered a massive ribeye medium-rare. The steak I received? How do I put this- maybe steak aficionados will understand. The more rare you order a steak usually indicates the thickness of the cut. Less done equals a thicker steak so you can cook the outside and achieve the doneness you're looking for. That's why well-done steaks are thinner- you can get them cooked well-done and not dry them out. But a ribeye that's all of 1/4" thick that's medium-rare? And stringy and grisly? Ugh. A steak that thin (at $30+ ) can barely hit the grill before you have to pull it. The beauty of a ribeye is the fat cooking into the meat for perfect flavoring! A 1/4" steak might get a minute on each side, if that, before it gets pulled. Out of the first 5 bites, 4 bites ended up in a napkin as it was too stringy to chew up and swallow. There was a butter sauce on top, and even that had a weird, bitter aftertaste. And I am a huge fan of butter even though I have to keep an eye on my intake! I make a better ribeye in a cast iron skillet, followed up by putting it in the oven for a few minutes. I made one last week that was ten times better, but past experiences at this restaurant were really good, so we gave it a shot. It feels like they're maybe under different management, as the women's bathroom had water all over the floor and was the most unclean my wife had ever seen there. Cleanliness is huge to her, and me too. Also, refills. We've never had to ask for refills before, but by the time we were finally asked if we needed anything, we were ready to go. So this once great favorite of ours is now on the "buy a steak and make it yourself" list. Not being mean, but for the price you pay- I expected better. Much better. Her salmon was on the dry side, too. Just realized I hadn't commented on that. My loaded potato was good, the bread was good, and the side salad (mine) was good, too. But the big ticket items- not so much. This place was once voted best restaurant in Mount Juliet- I hope it gets back to that. I'd love to visit it at its best.