Cattlemen's Steakhouse Port Jefferson Review

About a month ago, I was going through my mail and found a coupon for a new steakhouse in Port Jefferson called Cattlemen's.  I remember visiting a similarly named steakhouse in Kissimmee, Florida and I thought highly of the food.  It turns out the place in Florida is CattleMAN's, not CattleMEN's.  Oh well...

I have been searching for reviews ever since and have not been able to find ONE.  Well, here it is... what I believe to be the first ever online review of Cattlemen's Steakhouse in Port Jefferson.  They do have another location in Lindenhurst which has gotten mixed reviews.

This restaurant is located at the end of a strip mall on 112 in Port Jefferson.  Over the past 10 years, this location has been a Spare Rib, Singing Canary, Rib City / Big City (that's a long story), and now Cattlemen's.  For some reason, restaurants just do not last long in this location.

The discount steakhouse to beat in the area is J&R's.  They always offer a consistent value and good quality food.  Coupons are always available on their website.  It is not considered a "prime steakhouse" but it is a casual family steakhouse at a good price.

We arrived at about 3:30 on a Saturday afternoon and the place was pretty dead, with only a couple of patrons in there.  The setup at Cattlemen's is pretty much the same as Rib City.  The big differences are the additions of a couple of cheesy cowboy themed decorations.  The hostess and waitresses wear cowgirl hats and tight jeans.  No complaints there....

We were seated in the "party room" which is usually either too drafty or too hot.  Today, the temperature was decent.  Our server was Anna.

The menu had the typical offerings from burgers to steaks to ribs.  Prices were inline with what I expected.  My girlfriend ordered the cheeseburger and I ordered the "Steak and Cake" which was a combination of a 14 oz. Porterhouse Steak and a jumbo crabcake.  I ordered the steak medium and marinated, which Anna recommended.  "All of her customers like it."  The entrees were served with two sides, but no bread basket or salad.

The food arrived in good time and had decent presentation on blue oval plates.  The cheeseburger had a backyard BBQ flavor and was cooked perfectly.  However, the bun was a little too "supermarket like".  I prefer the bun to be grilled and firm.  The steak was mostly perfectly cooked except for a small chunk of it which was more medium-well than medium.  The flavor, texture and quality was about the same as the J&R steak I typically get.  That means it is very fatty and salty.  There is usually a nice chunk of fat and nerve left behind on the plate, and this was no different.  The marinade was very good, but not quite as good as J&Rs.  I even ordered some on the side for a direct comparison.  The marinade from J&Rs is very chunky, with bits of whatever on the bottom.  Cattleman's marinade had much smaller bits and had a stronger soy sauce flavor.

I was pretty disappointed with the crabcake which just tasted "too fishy".  I am far from a crabcake connoisseur, having only had a few in my day, but this one just did not excite me. It was firm, dry and blah...

The sides were pretty good - sweet potato with cinnamon butter, onion straws, steak fries, and cole slaw.  No complaints there.

The men's bathroom was clean but needs some maintenance.  The door to the stall did not lock properly, the "hot water" was lukewarm at best and the faucet was not mounted tightly to the sink.

Prices:

Cheesburger - $9
Steak and Cake: $17
Soda: $2

We forgot the $5 coupon at home. :(

Bottom line:

Decent food for a decent price. 6 out of 10.  I would probably try again with a good coupon if I was in the area.  I don't think I would crave it, like I did for Rib City's ribs.