Frankie Rowland's Steakhouse - Salem

Review summary

1. T

   Tiffany

   Richmond

   1 review

   5.0

   1 review

   Dined 1 day ago

   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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2. J

   Jesse

   Tampa

   2 reviews

   2.0

   2 reviews

   Dined 2 days ago

   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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3. V

   Victoria

   VIP

   Richmond

   23 reviews

   5.0

   23 reviews

   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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4. M

   Manuel

   VIP

   Richmond

   27 reviews

   4.0

   27 reviews

   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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5. I

   Irene

   VIP

   Richmond

   65 reviews

   5.0

   65 reviews

   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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6. D

   Darryl

   Richmond

   8 reviews

   5.0

   8 reviews

   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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7. M

   Mary

   VIP

   Austin

   18 reviews

   4.0

   18 reviews

   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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8. d

   daniel

   Richmond

   3 reviews

   5.0

   3 reviews

   Dined on 24 January 2025

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

   Very nice pleasant upscale restauraunt. you wont be disapointed
   

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9. M

   Melissa

   Washington DC

   1 review

   2.0

   1 review

   Dined on 16 January 2025

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

   We were there with an elderly couple celebrating an 85th birthday and had reserved the perfect table which the restaurant honored. After arriving, we whispered to our waiter that our guests had physical issues with sitting for too long and we wanted our orders in asap with not the usual delay. After getting our drinks, we ordered immediately within 5 or 10 minutes at most of arrival, but despite assurances from our waiter, then sat for over an hour waiting for dinner. We didn’t order salads or apps so we just sat there talking, waiting and I could tell that my friend next to me was uncomfortable as her back issues began to manifest themselves. Our steaks finally arrived, all overdone. The 85 year old birthday guest sighed at his as it was medium to medium well and we alerted the manager/assistant manager who had then taken over our table (perhaps b/c the original server was consumed with a big party in a private room). She brought him another steak but of course we had all finished well before and he had already eaten his sides. I had asked for the remainder creamed spinach to be boxed but that never materialized. Bottom line, I was extremely disappointed for this once in a lifetime event for my friend,
   

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10. K

    Kenneth

    Richmond

    6 reviews

    5.0

    6 reviews

    Dined on 16 January 2025

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

    Frankie Rowlands in Salem is always a delightful place to have dinner. Great food and impeccable service.
    

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