Toby Keith’s I Love This Bar & Grill — Dallas

We’ve walked past this joint in Vegas plenty of times, actually ate at the one at Winstar Casino once (it was OK), and had about average expectations for the Dallas incarnation, which is housed within the walls of the old AMC Grand 24. We finally ventured to this locale after purchasing a Groupon some time back; we picked Saturday lunch to finally cash it in. We were seated promptly and got our drinks quickly.

My wife chose the Delmonico Steak Sandwich and I ordered the Sweet Bourbon Salmon. We were told the sandwich took a little longer, but in the end the wait wasn’t too bad — we appreciated the heads up. While we waited we were served cornbread and flavored butter. The bread wasn’t warm, but was edible. I thought it served its purpose while my wife thought it was a bit too sweet.

<figcaption class="wp-caption-text">The Delmonico Steak Sandwich</figcaption></figure>

Our first bite into our entrees was enough to discard any negative expectations we might have had about the menu. The sandwich steak was cooked to order and packed with flavor. The steak is cut into smaller parts to fill the sandwich, so watch out it doesn’t spill over the bread, which my wife also pointed out was fresh and delicious.

The salmon was grilled maybe half a minute too long, but a couple of crunchy bites didn’t damage the rest of the man-sized fillet. To my taste, salmon is best when it’s juicy and seared hot from the first bite to the last, and the Sweet Bourbon did not disappoint and was enjoyable from beginning to end.

The Delmonico Sandwich came with a generous serving of fries, the salmon comes with two sides, mixed vegetables and rice. Our server said we could switch our sides if we wanted and I substituted the rice for sweet potato tots, which I’ve never had before, but will now always order again (you know how the Sonic Tater Tots stand our over any other burger side? This is the sweet potato equivalent).

The restaurant retains the tall theater ceilings, tall walls decorated with HD TVs tuned in to every sport available at that moment. Patrons are free to explore the establishment and discover the stage, the well-stocked bar and arcade games.

We will visit Toby Keith’s again, Groupon or not. If you sign up for their VIP club, you get a free meal for your birthday… I’ll update my review then.

Also uploaded to Yelp!: bit.ly/10AOmgL

Written on December 29, 2012