Frankie Rowland's Steakhouse - Salem

Review summary

1. S

   Sherry VIP

   Greensboro7 reviews

   5.0

   Dined on 1 March 2025

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 4
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   Excellent service - Steak was over cooked for mid rare but flavor was good so we didn’t send it back - seafood trio was excellent as well as the pineapple Martini and Jolly rancher martini - crème brûlée was good - not great. Dirty Banana Martini for dessert was excellent. Sides were very good as well. Creamed spinach spot on - Brussels sprouts excellent. Stuffed mushroom appetizer was also excellent.
   

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2. D

   Dave

   Richmond4 reviews

   4.0

   Dined on 24 February 2025

   1. Overall 4
   2. Food 4
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 4

   Service was excellent. Steak had great flavor but was a little on the chewy side. Lobster tails could have had a firmer texture.
   

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3. M

   Mark VIP

   Raleigh4 reviews

   5.0

   Dined on 21 February 2025

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   Outstanding dinning experience. Mg favorite place to eat when in town!
   

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4. T

   Tiffany

   Richmond1 review

   5.0

   Dined on 16 February 2025

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   As always the steak is fantastic perfectly cooked! The martinis are amazing as well!
   

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5. J

   Jesse

   Tampa2 reviews

   2.0

   Dined on 15 February 2025

   1. Overall 2
   2. Food 4
   3. Service 1
   4. Ambience 4

   TL;DR Our expectations were not met in the least, other than the food was good. This will be long but the let down for us was worse. Last year we came to Frankie's at the recommendation that it's the best steakhouse anywhere around, specifically the Salem location. And it was one of the best overall meals we had ever had. Needless to say, we were excited for this year. We had to the whole meal planned already and the sweatpants we would wear after for our food coma. Our reservation was later, 9:15, so that it wouldn't be as busy since it was Valentine's Day. My wife and I have well over a decade in restaurants so I try to play the angles the best I can. To start off everything was great. Hostesses were nice, sat in a normal time and the "floating" staff they have to greet you at the table was great. Our waitress was really nice, informative and we're smooth sailing. We ordered the whole meal right away, no apps, no drinks, just bring us the meat and seafood special please and thank you. Again, we're there later, so we order at around 9:20. We see our waitress maybe one more time before the food comes an hour later. Thankfully they were staffed well so we had other people to ask about our food. My steak was overdone by a couple temps but everything else was perfect. After attacking our food like the starving hyenas we were, we once again made friends with the other staff to get our boxes, our check, and to order our dessert to go. Waiting for your food is one thing, but when you see other tables get their food in about 20 minutes it becomes very frustrating and especially with minimal to no contact from our waitress. Adding salt to the wound is the price tag over $300+ for a single meal (albeit a very special one), which we certainly knew going in, but just expect a much better experience to go along with that dollar amount.
   

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6. V

   Victoria VIP

   Richmond24 reviews

   5.0

   Dined on 8 February 2025

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 4
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   Good food and drink as always. Restaurant was busy and full of life. Service as good as always. It is always a reliable dinner spot! Crab cakes were perfect, I think they’re the best crab cakes around.
   

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7. M

   Manuel VIP

   Richmond27 reviews

   4.0

   Dined on 5 February 2025

   1. Overall 4
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   Very nice upscale Steakhouse located inside a relatively new construction small hotel in the City of Salem, Virginia. Elegant decor and ambiance. Excellent customer service, from the manager to the host, and to the servers, providing value to justify its high prices. This is the second of two Frankie Rowland's Steakhouses, the first one located in Downtown, Roanoke, of which I reviewed a while ago and gave it Five Stars. Everything about this restaurant was perfect except my 14oz Filet, which I ordered medium rare, came out burnt and overcooked on top and around the edges. Making this area very uncomfortable to enjoy because of its dry and burnt nature of being too well done and spoiling the otherwise wonderful dining experience. Hopefully, the manager and owner of the restaurant will take action after reading this review to prevent this from happening again to me or other customers. And to maintain the 5 Star reputation of the original Frankie Rowland's Steakhouse.
   

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8. I

   Irene VIP

   Richmond65 reviews

   5.0

   Dined on 4 February 2025

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   As hoped, the food was superb. We both enjoyed the bread, 7oz fillets and shared vegetables. The creme brule was also excellent. The molten chocolate was OK but a little dry. Lovely restaurant but as anticipated, a bit pricey. We were there to celebrate my birthday.
   

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9. D

   Darryl

   Richmond8 reviews

   5.0

   Dined on 31 January 2025

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   Everything was great. The servers are very attentive without being annoying. The food was excellent. Drinks were fantastic! This is definitely a great restaurant for a special occasion, or just an any day meal!!
   

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10. M

    Mary VIP

    Austin19 reviews

    4.0

    Dined on 25 January 2025

    1. Overall 4
    2. Food 4
    3. Service 2
    4. Ambience 4

    Unfortunately, we had to wait over an hour for our food to arrive. The restaurant apparently was busy with a fairly large party in a private room. However, if you visit a high-end restaurant as FR's purports to be, you expect better service. After about an hour a server brought me an empty plate. "It's hot," she said. By the time our steak arrived the plate was cold. The food was quite good and the atmosphere was pleasant. If the service had been up to expectations, we would plan to return.
    

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