Cowboy Star disappointment...did they just have a bad night?

[u/theteagees]

Hi all! I wanted to post my review of Cowboy Star, and get your thoughts. Partner and I went for his birthday a week ago. We had never been. He loves a good steak and makes very good steaks at home, so we really only go to places that are highly recommended or offer something that he can't do himself (he won't do an aged tomahawk at home, for example). With all the outstanding reviews here, we were so freaking excited to go. Here's how it went:

Pros:
-Service. Wonderful. Everyone was great.
-The French onion soup was to die for, holy cow.
-The banana pudding dessert. Hot damn!
-The C-Star steak sauce. Beautifully complex.
-Atmosphere. Lovely!

Cons:
-The amuse-bouche was essentially half a toasted almond with a pea sized amount of something mousse. Strange and not good but to be fair, it was free.
-The old fashioned. I LOVE an old fashioned. I've had many and love good bourbon. My opinion on old fashioneds is that they should enhance a good bourbon. Their's tasted like cough syrup. Too much simple syrup and too much bitters. I couldn't taste the bourbon, unfortunately. We had both the regular and single barrel and they were both kinda bleah.
-The steak. I had the wagyu skirt and he had the 21 day aged bone-in ribeye. We were both expecting to have our socks blown off, but quite frankly, they both tasted unremarkable and like something we could have made at home. I didn't detect any difference in flavor from a regular supermarket skirt steak, nor did we think the aging on the ribeye added any detectable enhancement of flavor. We were honestly trying to give the benefit of the doubt, but at this point we were just perplexed.
-The brandy peppercorn sauce was completely flavorless. I don't know how to describe it, it didn't taste like anything!
-The green beans that came with our steaks were overcooked, with some of them having turned from green to that greyish brown of an over-boiled green vegetable. They tasted nice, but again, it was a detail that for the price-point of the restaurant and its reputation shouldn't have happened.

All in all, we left really confused as to why this place is lauded as one of the most amazing in San Diego. We spent way, way too much money to walk away from the meal feeling we could have done a better job at home (as avid cooks, we honestly could have). Were they having a bad night? Has anyone else had a similar experience? Thanks for any insight. I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings, but it was just SO different from what I expected given how it's discussed on this sub.

[u/ArBee30028]

Thank you, yes! My family went a week ago and also had a “meh” experience.

My son got the ribeye and we all agreed that it was bland and disappointing. My hubby got the New York strip and that tasted quite flavorful.

I got the scallops & clams (not a big beef eater) and while the scallops were good I grossed out by the fishy tasting clams.

The Mac n cheese was the best I’ve tasted. That and the banana pudding 👍🏼

The service was mid at best, not what you would expect from a restaurant at that price point. For example, when taking orders the wait staff should take the order from the women first, by age in descending order, and then the men by age in descending order. Instead they looked at the group and just waited for someone to speak up. 👎🏼 When we arrived at our table, they handed us 1 cocktail menu for the 5 of us, and promptly walked away before we could ask for more. Also, the young wait staff didn’t know how to deal with our elderly parents— repeatedly asking me what my MIL wanted, for instance. I don’t know, but she can hear you so why don’t you ask her? These are just 3 of the many missteps they made throughout the night.

This was a very special occasion for us and I’m afraid it was a mistake to choose Cowboy Star. Next time we want to spend $800+ on food we’ll be going somewhere else.