Flat Iron Steak and Saloon

After the waiter went through the evenings specials it turns out they didn’t have it. Bummer for the wifey. Their blue cheese steak was ok. The beer was cold. Oh well. I don’t know, something about this place just seemed off to me. It was ok but only ok. The wait staff was better than their cooks.

First of all the décor in this establishment does not fit the theme that I think they are going for. Initially after looking at reviews and photos of this steakhouse it came off as an up scale restaurant to take my girlfriend for her birthday, I was wrong. When they checked her ID, they didn’t notice the date, and the cocktails had way to much simple syrup, the orange peel resembled more of a chunk someone took out with there finger nail rather than using a sharp object like a knife or potato peeler. That brings me to the next issue; the food was horrible. The food came out abnormally fast, okay I get it they are pushing out food for multiple people but hold it a little bit, at least make us think it’s fresh. The potatoes and spinach I’m sure was prepared before I even I arrived to this location waiting for some sucker to order the sides before tossing them into the microwave while the cooks play final countdown. But I digress the waiter was helpful and nice and when she noticed that I hadn’t touched but an ounce of my steak she decided to not charge me for the carcass. She did tell me that the manager was on his way down to speak with me about the whole ordeal but I was not interested in talking with someone who clearly knows what kind of an establishment they are running. The waiter also concluded by telling me I could possibly have my next meal compensated, still I was not entertained by the idea, we slowly walked out. Killer ESP was our fourth meal.
Also, if you like Chillies, TGI Fridays, and OutBack Steakhouse and don’t mind paying 20% more for your food than you’d love this place.
Edit: After looking at other reviews from 10 months ago I’ve noticed that management has taken interest in poor reviews by assuring that they would address the issues, I came here this evening leaving with the similar poor taste in my mouth, I would not recommend this restaurant to my worst enemy.

Our waitress was friendly and awesome! Lamb was a little raw but they took care of it. Thanks!

Didn’t love this place. Service was incredibly slow. Almost non existent at times. I ordered the skirt steak, thinking it would be somehow marinated. It had no flavor. Whatsoever. And my broccoli au gratin was equally bland. Very disappointing.

Came in at 11pm, dining room closed so we headed to the upstairs bar. Had a couple drinks and ordered off of the late night menu, had chicken quesadilla and a skirt steak.
Chicken quesadilla was alright… Not very tasty but not horrible.
Skirt steak is served with fries and a salad. We ordered medium rare, when the steak came out t was well done with the middle being medium well… Bartender Johnny asked if all was good, we said we didn’t really like the skirt steak since it was well done, chewy and not edible. He said, «oh well looks medium rare to me, just not as red.» And kept coming back telling us to eat our food… Very strange. We took about two bites of our meals and finished our drinks and paid out our tab and left. Only thing that was good were the fries. With all the other places in Old Town, I would never come back, I recommend heading down the street to Mackies or Hanks oyster bar for some good eats and drinks.

Over two years later– I have returned. And now that I realize what this spot is– a casual place to grab a no-​frills steak in Old Town, I can see its value in the local dining scene.
I got the prime rib again, on a Monday night around 830pm and found the meat prepared exactly to my liking. Juicy, red, and delicious. The sides of mashed potatoes and creamed spinach were both tasty, as were the Monumental IPA’s. Service was friendly and attentive. And while I wouldn’t consider $ 25 ‘budget’ for an entrée– I found the price to be completely fair. I’m glad to see they’ve survived their first two years and seem to still be going strong.

I had their groupon for brunch and decided my husbands birthday would be a good reason to use it. We arrived right when they opened (we were starving) and were seated by the hostess promptly.
The restaurant is small but not over crowded. I would describe the décor as modern cowboy and it was fun. Can I just say that their music selection was absolutely on point! They were playing classics like Billy Joel and it totally added to a fun atmosphere for brunch.
I forget our servers name but he was excellent, he gave us time to look over the menu without rushing us and our drinks were never empty.
I was excited to try their steak and waffles and my husband had their steak and eggs with the bone in rib eye. My dish was good. The waffles were not too sweet as they can sometimes be, and the steak was tender, the gravy was good as well and not too salty. My husbands steak was cooked to perfection and was very flavorful. The potatoes that came with it were delicious too.
When we saw their dessert menu we just knew we had to try a deep fried candy and we picked the snickers. It was really good! Not too greasy as one would expect a fried snickers bar and the ice cream and sauces with it were a great accompaniment. When I made the reservation online I noted that it was my husbands birthday and said nothing more, when they brought out our dessert it had a candle and happy birthday written in the sauce, I thought it was really cute and the staff wished him a happy birthday on our way out, it was nice.
Food was great and the service was excellent. This is a place I would definitely come back to.

Everyone who rated this a 3.5 is spot on. Service? Fantastic. They were great about being there with kids on a Friday night. The experience of dining there was lovely… the house salad was delicious. The fries are yummy. Nice wine selection.
And sadly, the flat iron steak was underwhelming. It just wasn’t a great cut of meat. And the lamb chop wasn’t as flavorful as lamb should be.
In the end — good, not great food with a lovely restaurant experience around it.

Thank you Tracey and Brian!
The double blackened prime rib has topped my list of the best food we ate on our 14 day trip back East! Not to mention the fried Reese’s and fried Twinkie’s! The customer service was over the top phenomenal as was the food! Thank you to Tracey and Brian for making this all possible!
Dr. & Mrs. M
Northern California

This is a solid 3.5 and might be worth another visit sometime down the road.
I had gotten the Groupon because I have a friend who lives in the Alexandria area and I thought it would be nice to get together for a nice Sunday brunch. I started with the lobster bisque — it was lacking and made me think they could use a lesson from GAR in general and Silverado specifically.
Thankfully the dishes we ordered were better. I ordered the huevos rancheros, it was my first time having this dish and therefore I have nothing to compare it but based on this experience I really like it. Hubby had the country fried steak and waffles and was happy with his decision. Our friend went with the all-​American dish and liked her’s as well. For dessert we ordered the deep-​fried Reese’s peanut-​butter cups, they were a nice treat to try and certainly a good way to satisfy a chocolate sugar craving.
Our server was nice and attentive as were the women at the entrance. Even though we were seated in the front very near the entrance the pathway was sufficient that the traffic was not disturbing. Likewise, we were able to have a nice relaxed meal filled with lots of conversation and laughs without any difficulty.

Once again I walked away less than pleased! The only saving grace was that the meal was covered by a paid GROUPON and a very pleasant waitress!
It been almost a year and half since my last visit and review, so I thought give it a try this time through a GROPON saving; Bad idea! Smh Once I had second thoughts after purchasing the deal, I tired to cancel it but couldn’t. So here I was stuck having to revisit a place that didn’t stand up to my expectations not too long ago!
A visiting friend wanted to explore Old Town, so here was the opportunity to give this place another try; this time for Brunch. I recently stopped eating Meat & Pork and my friend is allergic to shell fish so we had to pick and choose our dishes carefully. She chose the Fried Calamari appietzer and «Prime Rib Hash, Eggs, Potatoes and English Muffin». I choose the «Lobster Bisque soup and Fried Grouper Sandwich», both ended up sent back for another menu choice. SEE PHOTOS!
Where do I begin! Well, my friend thought the Fried Calamari could of been cooked longer and the Prime Rib Hash had a «strange taste»; enough that she left it on her plate! The crème fresh drizzled onto my bisque tasted sour and the soup had no flavor even with overcooked Lobster bits, YES I did say «bits»!! Smh. I sent it back and chose a Ceasar Salad. How can you go wrong there; Wilted Lettuce, 4 Croutons and a trace of Shredded Parmesan Cheese with a sprinkle of Ceasar Dressing that’s how! My Grouper entrée was the worst; over fried, less than fresh tasting, single piece of fish on a sub roll. I sent it back and choose one of the other two (2) non meat items, a Turkey Wrap without Bacon or Avocado. Again, diappointed with entrée taste (meat to filling ratio) and appearance (poorly wrapped)!
Doubt if «3 times (visits) will be a charm», especially since I given up meat & pork for the moment!

**Food = 3 Stars; Service = 5 Stars; Overall = 3.5 Stars**
Couldn’t resist getting the groupon deal ($ 20 for $ 50 worth of food) to try out the brunch here. The brunch menu is offered on Saturday and Sunday as an FYI. Came here with my boyfriend for Saturday brunch and had no issues finding parking on the street. We were initially thrown off as we walked into the restaurant, the hostess asked, «Do you have reservations?». I replied, «No, I do not. I called 30 minutes ago and the person who picked up the phone said it wasn’t necessary.» We didn’t have an issue with getting a table considering we arrived just when the restaurant opened, but everyone else who had a reservation were seated before us (even though we were first in line). Luckily it wasn’t a big deal since there wasn’t a long line or a wait for a table.
On to the food! We started off with ordering the calamari appetizer. A standard appetizer dish fried perfectly and seasoned well with salt. The calamari rings were a decent size as well! Normally there’s always calamari tentacles in most appetizer dishes but this one had all rings. I don’t mind eating either, just found it to be a well priced appetizer considering the ample amount given. Sadly, this was probably the only favorite part of my meal.
We followed the appetizer up with Delmonico Steak & Eggs and Hash & Eggs. My boyfriend enjoyed the Delmonico Steak, but I found the size to be mediocre and thinly sliced. As for the Hash & Eggs, where was the rib-​eye in my meal?! I eventually found tiny pieces of ribeye in my hash, but I was expecting bigger pieces or something creatively done with the two food items. Just felt unimpressed with the meal. The hash was also the size of my fist, this was the smallest portion I’ve ever received when ordering hash.
Asides from the average food, service was nice and the inside of the restaurant is nicely decorated. It seems as though management of the restaurant cares about the customers since someone other than staffing came around to ask how is everything. Always great to see management caring for the customers, but I probably wouldn’t return here unless there was another groupon involved.

The food was good at this casual steak restaurant but the service left much to be desired. I purchased a groupon for brunch at Flat Iron as Ive wanted to try this place for some time. We ordered the Flat Iron steak, recommended by out server, and a ribeye. The food wasnt bad at all! Steak and eggs were cooked to our liking and came with seasoned hash brown potatoes. I also ordered a mimosa, which Im particular about, but it was delicious. I can only give the experience 3 stars because there was one server for an entire level who was very nice but clearly spread thin. The layout was also not very practical with the drinks coming from an upstairs and the kitchen downstairs. The staff, including the manager, were just not in sync.
I would definitely eat here again based on the food but only with a groupon.

Groupon had a great sale, $ 25 for$ 50 for brunch at this old town steakhouse. With a deal like that, your expectations are pretty flat.
The looks of the place, one wouldn’t naturally think of it as a brunch spot. It’s a little dark (colors and décor), where I generally find that brunch places are well lit and normally very bright.
The staff was friendly while possibly a little overwhelmed by the number of people who came in at opening (doors open at 11:30).
My wife and I contemplated ordering an appetizer, but with a limited menu (not a bad thing) we decided that since I was likely going to have steak with my breakfast that we would forego their specialty appetizer. I decided to go with the strip breakfast, with 2 eggs and a side of potatoes.
I have to admit that when it came out, I was pretty underwhelmed. I understand the idea of weight before cooking, but I found it hard to beleive that what was on my place was a 10 oz strip. No problem though, I’m getting double my dollar on the value. I admit that getting my eggs scrambled was probably a bad decision, because everyone knows the best part of steak and eggs is the yummy yolk. The potatoes were forgettable. I had told my wife that I had been leaning more towards the chicken fried steak, and after the meal admitted that is the way I should have went.
The best part of the meal was having room on the cheque to order the deep fried oreos. Those were absolutely amazing. They seemed to have taken a carnival favorite up a notch.
Overall, I was happy with what I had paid, but otherwise, I doubt I will be returning.

Overall not memorable and not worth the price. I speak on behalf of myself and the three friends I was with. While the food was ok we all left feeling like we should not have had to pay that much for just ok food. I’d give 3 stars if the service was better and the prices weren’t so absurd. It took quite a while for the server to come around after we were seated and again when we were ready to order another round of drinks. The cost and lackluster service doesn’t quite match up with the price point.
Our appetizers came out promptly and our entrees came out with enough timing so we didn’t feel rushed. I had the steak fajitas which I liked despite seeming overcooked. Their fajita spread of ingredients was impressive and a nice change from the usual most of us are used to. They were filling and there was absolutely no way I could eat everything. The one thing that really irked me was the manner in which our waitress wrapped my fajitas to go. She was oddly abrasive and aggressive as she haphazardly packed my food in the to go containers in such a way that left our whole table being like «what was that about?» After her little demonstration there was literally more rice on the table than in the to go container! Certainly not what I paid for! Had that not happened we might have considered coming back. It just really rubbed our entire table the wrong way.

So came here on a, «hey let’s get a quick bite to eat before we hit up a few bars». We got sat down fairly quickly but after that tick tock tick tock… No server arrived, after say seven to eight minutes. Strike one! This is one of my biggest pet peeves, the next time you sit down at a restaurant time one minute. Or better yet time one minute quietly in your home, see what it feels like and multiply it times how long your wait was. You’ll catch why it’s a peeve. We ordered a few cocktails and those where just ok… I could tell they use good spirits but lack that true artisan taste.
We got a few apps to share as the menu didn’t wow us much! The food came out at a reasonable time but alas as we tasted all the food I had the feeling of «man we should have gotten something else or gone somewhere else». Is it sad that a grocery store can prepare a better plate of food than this place. Guess I would know and that’s the problem when you have high expectations, then womp womp womp… I wonder if they even know what farm to table means.
This was a lack luster meal and dinning experience. I don’t think this place is worth a revisit. There are so many more options in this neck of the woods.

2.5 Stars for the Dining Experience on the 1^st Floor
I’d heard/​read some good things about this place but I am thoroughly disappointed and feel I was bamboozled and that my patronage wasn’t even appreciated. The service was extremely slow, a server didn’t come to our table for over 7 minutes, not even a hello and there was a hostess and a different waitress having an in depth conversation not 10 feet from our table, they offered no help. We were not even offered the typical bread and olive oil like every other table. So we asked for bread and were given thinly sliced, junky, day old French bread that the kitchen tried to make presentable by smashing it in a panini press only to be followed at the end of the meal with a charge of $ 2 for it! WHAT!!! The waitress said the manager made her put it on… she removed it after we explained that we had only asked for the same basket of bread like everyone else in the dining room, she looked confused that we didn’t get any. Maybe someone else was suppose to bring it and our water at the beginning? *shrug*
The ahi tuna appetizer tasted like cheap grocery store sushi that instead of fresh was frozen and plated on top of an insane amount of junky iceberg lettuce. Seriously there was more lettuce than anything on the plate… see photo below. In comparison to the photos from last year of the same dish from other Unilocalers… I feel robbed, where’s that same quality, the cucumbers and microgreens, we got none?! UGH!
The spinach au gratin was runny at best, a consistency of watered down grits… Nothing crunchy about it, though I could tell there was good flavor there, just executed poorly.
OH… and Sweetwater makes better lobster bisque… The lobster in the bisque was overcooked and spongy, one could taste the tomato base they used.
OVERALL — 3
Food: 2.5 stars
Drinks: 3 stars
Service: 2.5 stars
Management did apologize and make things right, which I appreciate, I guess they may be having some changes behind the curtain. They are still worth a try, I’ve heard their bar scene (upstairs) is more where it’s at

— Good food
— Extended HH
— Strong drinks
— Service is usually good. Bar service is always better.
— Upstairs has tvs for the game. Downstairs is more of the dining experience.
— One of the co-​owners is also owner of A-​town Bar and Grill.
— Can hold a good crowd for large parties upstairs.

I liked this place so much while staying in Alexandria that I ate here twice! After scanning Unilocal for a good place in Old Town, I finally settled on Flat Iron for dinner with the family.
They have a pretty extensive menu here, so you have a lot of options to choose from. In the appetizer department we had the crab and spinach dip, calamari and parmigiana tots. The dip and the calamari were okay — but I really liked the tots with the dipping sauces. I just wish they gave you more of them.
For dinner, I had the Blue Devil Flat Iron steak cooked medium. This was an amazing steak that comes with a sauce made with aged bleu cheese and mushrooms cooked in a brandy reduction. I love steaks prepared this way, and what I had here did not disappoint. It was delicious!
My wife tried the flat iron steak, cooked medium with the chimichurri sauce and liked it so much that she ordered it again on our second visit. I tried a small taste and it was equally as good as the Blue Devil steak.
On my second visit here I tried the Tuscan-​style pizzaiola steak, which is sautéed in a tomato, oregano and garlic wine sauce. This was probably the most unique steak I’ve ever ordered and also one of the best. The blend of flavors was amazing! If you are looking for a steak option with an Italian twist, this is your choice.
The cheeseburger sliders from the «kids menu» are insane. Clearly they are crafted for children, but the two sliders they bring out are pretty big. Thick beef patties, seasoned perfectly and juicy. My son could not finish them both, so of course I swept in to sample them. I think some adults could probably order this menu item alone as their meal. It also comes with fries.
For dessert, my daughter insisted on the raspberry white chocolate cheesecake. It did not disappoint. It is pretty rich, so I would plan on sharing this one.
Aroldo was our server on both visits, and he took great care of us. Service was excellent, steaks were cooked perfectly as ordered and the taste of the food was delicious. The downstairs dining area is family friendly, so no worries if you decide to bring the kids along.
If you like classic cocktails, try the Old Town Sour (Whiskey Sour). Their take on the original is really good.
And for the record, we did not eat everything listed in this review in one meal. What do you think I am, crazy?

This place has been on my radar since I’d read about it from one of the MeetUp groups. I was so excited that we could get here early enough to snag up front parking on King Street.
The bar/​saloon was a nice climb upstairs. We grabbed a couple of stools at the bar, and met a great bartender. His patience with me secured the 5 stars for this review. Although there was a nice selection of happy hour priced drinks, I opted for a martini of some sort. Not a fan of sugary based drinks, this clever guy mixed up a very tasty cosmo. After that amazing drink, I switched to their happy hour margaritas with an extra glass of tequila, my new double dose less sugar type of libation.
The food was fantastic! We ordered probably one of every item on their happy hour menu. My fave was their roasted chicken egg rolls, second was their steak quesadillas, and steak tacos. I’m not sure if I would order the signature tots, it was missing something in the taste, and the quantity didn’t really substantiate the price.
Overall, this is definitely a fun place for libations and snacks. We’ll definitely be coming back!