1. Sullivan's Steakhouse

Sullivan's
What are you folks thinking, this is not a good steakhouse. The steak is not the best cut. They never get the "wellness" correct. I had heard some many raves about this place and I tried it twice (thinking that the first time was an anomaly), both times it just plain SUCKED (sorry for the strong language, but I really felt ripped off). Do yourself a favor go to Ruth Chris.

Great birthday dinner!
We had a GREAT time at Sullivan's for my father's 70th birthday dinner. This is a great place for a group of people to dine. The music was perfect (from the 50's/60's) and it was just loud enough to get everyone "in the mood". The service was fantastic and everyone loved their entrees. One of my favorite wines was on special that evening and we received a complimentary dessert for my father. A great experience, you won't be disappointed!

Excellent Food, Service, and Atmosphere
In Raleigh they don't typically open for lunch but the hostess (Ms. Henderson) accommodated us anyway. David was our waiter and the service and food were impeccable. They even personalized our menus for a special occasion. The food was outstanding but that is what I've come to expect from Sullivan's.

Looked like Morton's tasted like Golden Coral
The ambience was very nice. The servers and especially the bar staff are very friendly and dare I say very attractive. I would entertain clients for a cocktail in the bar but probably not for dinner again unless it was a last resort. I dinned with a customer and we both ordered the 8 oz. fillet. I ordered med rare (as God intends steak to be eaten haha) My client medium. When the steak's arrived my client dug in first. My medium rare was now his as the server mistakenly place the wrong plates in front of us. At this point switching and possibly creating a scene was not advantageous to my business needs and I was forced to eat an overcooked steak and my client and undercooked one. As for the steak it was average at best. The meat for some reason had been doused with pepper. My thought was either it was bad meat or just simply that the staff had either no direction or no business being in a kitchen. The flavor was what I have heard outback or longhorn or hell even golden corral must be like and the presentation was just as elegant...awful. I had a side of a bake potato. The fixings of bacon, sour cream and butter where good but were not left on the table and the potatoes themselves were small and slightly over cooked and very salty unlike most real steak houses. I honestly think you could get 3 of Sullivan's potatoes into one at Morton’s Ruth Chris’s or any of the other large high end chains. The wine list is decent but our servers knowledge of wines seemed to be less than. My customer had the wedge salad and though I did not taste it I was not impressed with what I saw. It was small and the lettuce appeared wilted. Further my customer ordered dressing on the side of their salad and it came covered with blue cheese an inch thick. In this case my customer, like the incident with the steak I assume, did not say anything so as to not cause a stir but a noticeable grimace could be seen on my customer’s face. When all is said and done I have not lived in Raleigh for all that long (about 3 months now) but if Sullivan's is considered a top tiered restaurant and all was basing my quality of life in the city on was food...I am pretty sure I’d be on the next plane out of town! One Star = food, One Star = ambiance, bar and staff at bar..

I will NEVER eat at sullivan's steakhouse ever again. Our server was very friendly, but the food sucked!!!! The salad wasn't anything special, it took thirty minutes for our appetizers, and the tuna steak they brought me almost made me throw up. I can get a better cut of tuna at the grocery store. When I pay over $400 to take 5 people out to eat, I expect to be impressed.