Restaurant Review: Lone Star Texas Grill

           On January 3, 2013, I went to Lone Star with my best friends Kelsie, Reilly and Reilly’s dad (Mr. Whale).  My first impression when I walked in the door was casual and rugged. The light in the room was dim and the walls were made of bricks. There were a lot of country/cowboy themed pictures and objects throughout the restaurant. The restaurant was very open and clean (the washrooms where clean too).  The room was loud, but wasn`t too crowded when we got there at about 7:00 pm so we were seated right away. Bullseye (the “name” of our waitress) gave us our menus and within a minute had already placed two warm plates of nachos and salsa on are table (they give you unlimited free nachos). Everyone loved the nachos; they were toasty and warm with the perfect amount of salt. Everyone but me enjoyed the salsa, it had a nice flavor, but it was a little too spicy for my liking.  Bullseye took our drink orders (I just got water and so did my friends), and when she came back we were ready to order our meal. I got vegetable quesadillas, Kelsie got fajitas, Reilly got sweet potato fries and Mr. Whale got soft tacos.
           While we waited for our meals to come we just ate the nachos, they never stopped coming, and as soon as we were done eating a new plate would appear.   During this time a birthday celebration was going on. They placed a big hat on a man’s head and made him stand up on a chair. Next they started to sing and got the whole restaurant to join in. It was really fun because everyone got involved. Approximately 15 minutes later our food came.  Mine came with a side of Mexican rice, refried beans, guacamole, Pico de Gallo and sour cream.  I really enjoyed my food and so did everyone else. I was surprised I liked mine so much because it had mushroom.  I don`t like mushrooms at all, but there was the perfect ratio of vegetable to cheese, and the mushrooms just blended in with the other vegetables. The only thing I didn`t like that much was that my quesadillas were a little too greasy. Besides that, they tasted lovey and they went really well with the sour cream.
            I don`t think we could have had a better waitress. She was well trained and knowledgeable in every way. She knew the menu inside and out. She answered any questions we had about the menu in detail and came by many times to see if there was anything we needed. I told her about the project and she sat and talked to me for a little while. I asked her if they get any of their products locally. She said no that at least 90% of their inventory is brought in. She was telling me about how it`s her dream to own a restaurant of her own. She started telling me about how to have a successful business. She explained that you need to have your labor cost, food cost and beverage cost under control and of course have good service. She was explaining how a man named Nils Kravis is now the president of Lone Star and in the next 7 – 10 years they`re planning on building 70 – 100 Lone Stars. Bullseye was really nice and sweet and even the manager stopped by to see how we were doing. All-in-all the service was excellent.
           If I had to say something that the restaurant could improve it would be that the food could be a little less greasy and perhaps they could offer something else to be on the side of the main dish. Everyone`s came with Mexican rice, refried beans, guacamole, Pico de Gallo and sour cream and it was good, but there was nothing special about it. I had a really good experience with this restaurant and will definitely be going back.

Meun link:

http://www.lonestartexasgrill.com/Menu

Information:

Kingston:

(Ontario St & Princess St) 251 Ontario Street Kingston, ON, K7L2Z4 T: 613-548-8888 F: 613-548-3765

Mon-Thurs: 11:30am - 10:00pm Fri & Sat: 11:30am - midnight Sun: noon - 10:00pm HOLIDAY HOURS Monday December 24th - 11:30am - 7:30pm Tuesday December 25th - closed Wednesday December 26th - 4:00pm - 10:00pm Monday December 31st - 11:30am - 11:00pm Tuesday January 1st - 4:00pm- 10:00pm For reservations please contact us at 613-548-8888