Lansky & Brats

Been here multiple times and this time the service was horrible. Waiter was trying but failed. We ordered three different bottles of wine off there menu and he could not find any of them. The whole time he never brought us a glass of water we had to ask someone else for it. Finally went and got the owner and made excuses that the list was out of date. Owner said he had 9000 bottles. I guess he just could not find any. (You would think if his list was that good he would update it.) The food was very good so kudos to the chef. The place does need to cleaned up.

The bar area is a cool place to hang out with friends. It’s hit or miss, sometimes really busy and other times not as much. Increased their price of cocktails recently to $ 12-​$ 13 from $ 10, but still worth it due to the size of drinks. The restaurant side needs to be updated. The food is great. Can’t go wrong with ordering a steak. Cooked to perfection!

Absolutely horrendous and never again… dingy, dusty bottles, lamp, and furninshings. The wine list had been scribbled on by a small child and stamped out with red SOLD on many of the bottles. I order a Grey Goose Vodka soda, «well» vodka was given and I was charged the cost of GG. Ladies bathroom used as storage for bar chairs. The butter looked like mush, chives were old & brown. The Lansky brats were burned and the meat looked like congealed meat. The salad had fake bacon bits and the lobster bisque had raw flour pockets in it and the lobster tasted burned and rubbery. .my husband ordered the prawn with pesto sauce. The prawn was swimming in green goo. DISGUSTING… the waiter was professional and apologetic, however. They kindly removed the brats as a favor (we didn’t ask for this). This was our anniversary dinner. It was so bad it became comical. We spent $ 122.00 for a good laugh

Had the 6 oz filet, flash-​fried spinach, ATM potatoes, and Cakebread Cellars cab. I ordered my steak medium and it came tender, browned just right, and a pink tinge in the center. The ATM potatoes were light, fluffy, and slightly over seasoned.
My flash-​fried spinach was interesting, with each bite reminiscent of seaweed. I would definitely be back if the restaurant would not overprice their wine. The bottle of cab set us back $ 220, while just 2 months ago, the same bottle cost us $ 120.

I have only been here once in 2012. The only thing I remember is we entered on the side door. My grandma took me there because she was on a business trip and met up with a friend. As we entered we were seated in this bar seperated from the other side of the restaurant.
I remember dim lights. Mood for business/​date night. The only people I saw were men at the bar and seated in couches, smoking. I guess that’s why they seperated the area, one smoking and non smoking. Didn’t like the fact that I smelled the scent since my grandma’s friend was doing the same.
I didn’t know what to order, I didn’t really have the menu in front of me and on my hand. I remember the owner who was a friend of my grandma’s friend. He served me what’s best in the restaurant. I forgot what it was called. It was a fish dish with a sauce and a side of 2 asparagus. I loved the fish and the sauce. And he said it was on the house because he knew my grandma’s friend and that she is a nice person. Any one friends with her is on the house. Why, thank you!
He also said if I came back he’d show me around the kitchen to see what it was like owning a restaurant, because at that time I took culinary arts in another state.
It was really nice of him. Funny thing is our waitress had to watch me because my grandma’s friend told me to stay because I wouldn’t know «business» and she and her friend went to the other side to meet with a client. It looked like I was the same age as the waitress 21+. She didn’t really watch me, she was just by the bar talking to the bartender. It’s ok. They thought at first I was 16. Lol anyway, after they met with their client, they came back.
My grandma’s friend gave the waitress $ 20-​$ 40+ tip.
I’ll give it a 5 star for the food and service by the owner. And I’d like to come back and be seated on the other side of the restaurant– the non smoking area.

A friend and I visited this place for a very early dinner and enjoyed our experience.
We ordered the stuffed portabella mushroom for an appetizer and it was magical. The cheese and crab harmonized beautifully together with the cream sauce. My only issue with the dish is I would love to have had a toasted cracker of some sort for a texture component. I highly recommend this dish if you are a fan of mushrooms.
I ordered the bone in ribeye for my entrée. The waiter recommended the mashed potatoes as a side and stated that one order would suffice for two people. My steak was cooked perfectly and was super tender. The mashed potatoes are amazing and the best I have ever had. I high recommend them.
For dessert, we split the bananas foster which were amazing as well. I just wish they were prepared table side.
The service was great and the waiter really knew the dishes and components well.
My only issues with the restaurant are the lighting in the dining area is overly dark and this place is expensive. Make sure you bring your wallet. Expect to pay around $ 100 per person.
All in all, my experience was great and will definitely return

Service was extremely slow. Female waitress looked unhappy & annoyed. Place had an old, musky smell & feel. Overall, a very boring, dull ambiance. Food was mediocre at best… ordered lobster bisque, way too salty! Ribeye steak was ok but had a burnt aftertaste. Prices are way too high for quality of food. Won’t be back.

Tried this place for lunch one day and I was extremely disappointed. They have tried to copy other famous steakhouses from the 1990’s, but they have failed at even capturing that nostalgia. The interior is old and extremely tacky with a horrible layout and dirty carpet. They have clearly failed at changing with the times and making this steakhouse modern and contemporary.
The service was spotty and the waiter had to keep going back to the kitchen to ask the cooks questions while we were ordering. Once the food came out it was overcooked and very bland. My friend ordered a side large prawn with his steak that was overcooked and rubbery. Once we got the check we realized that the «add-​on» prawn was actually more expensive than his steak. Since when is an «add-​on» more than the entrée?
Needless to say we won’t be coming back, if you’d like a steak try Patio on Guerra, La Pampa or La Recova.

Finally a real big city steak house in the Valley. Had a world class bone in fillet, and the wine list is superb. I really hope this place makes it because it is outstanding. My waiter Sam was very attentive and knowledgable, and the service was very good. I’ll definitely be back.

First time I’ve eaten here and WILL NEVER go back. The service was awful. First of all, our waiter was much too sick to be handling food. He even told us he had the flu! Each time he talked to us he had a coughing fit and nonstop sniffling. On top of this, he was very impersonal and rude. We were having a birthday dinner for my dad so we tried to ignore this and have a good time.
Then the appetizers came. We ordered the crab on mushrooms and the jalapeño brats. They both arrived lukewarm and tasted bland. We expressed our concerns to the waiter and he did absolutely nothing to make up for it. He just took the plate away without a word.
The only reason I am not giving this place 1 star is because the steak tasted good. Don’t waste your money here. After paying for a $ 75 per person meal, we didn’t even get so much as a «thank you, come again» as we left our table.

For a) McAllen and b) the north side of McAllen, this place is a decent option. Santa Fe on the southside is clearly a competitor, and they each have their similarities and differences. Reasons Lansky isnt a four star: lack of consistency. I’ve had a good filet here, I’ve had very good service here, and I’ve had ‘meh’ filet, and lacking service. For the business traveler, I recommend eating in the bar. There is a comfortable seating area if there is not room at the bar proper. Clearly a group of ‘regulars’ that frequents the bar; this is a good sign overall, but staff should also be accomodating to the ‘irregulars.’ Reasons it is not a two-​star: when the kitchen is on its game, the steak is prepared very well, and again it is convenient for those on the north side who do not want to drive all the way to the other side of town. I would not necessarily call this place «expensive» compared to similar establishments in other cities.

This place was very expensive, but it was our anniversary so we were ok with it. Until the food came and after eating a few bites realized that I could make all of this better at home myself. Seriously the chefs $ 9 all the luv mashed potatoes are nothing but mashed potatoes with ranch dressing (the waiter told me). Let me tell you that you can get the exact same meal at Outback Steakhouse for ¼ of the price. I won’t waste my time or money here again.

Not impressed at all! Over priced, service was poor, orders were mixed up. Very disappointed with desserts and tea was watered down. Would not recommend.

As good as any of the other big city, top shelf steak houses. Why? They use the same ingredients.
We went to L&B for my daughter’s 10^th birthday. We all ordered filets, from medium rare to medium. The steaks were great. Sides, salads (wedges), and wine were all good. The stand out of the night were the raw oysters. Apparently, L&B gets some oysters from Massachusetts (Ducks Bay) and they are excellent.
Bottom line: Very good meal.

Excellent food and service. Don’t forget to order a veggie. A $ 40 steak does not include a carrot or piece of broccoli. They would have had five stars from me if it weren’t for the syringe in the parking lot by the entrance.

This was our first visit and were initially pleased by the friendly staff.
We ordered Calamari to start, definitely stay away from the Calamari.
Chewy and not very tasty. For main course we chose the Sea Bass and Ahi dinners. Sea Bass was excellent, Ahi was not fresh, so not up to par with the Sea Bass. Dinner service was excellent, no rush and still attentive.
Now the reason for Two Stars. When the check arrived we had been charged $ 16.00 more for our bottle of wine. The waiter apologized and corrected the bill.
Captain C R
Flower Mound, TX

I’ve had several wonderful meals at Lansky & Brat’s and really enjoy the food, atmosphere and service.
If you like fine wine and great selection, they have one of the best cellars in the valley. Dinner in the wine room can be quite an experience but be sure you’re dressed warmly!
Their wine authority is Erick Acosta and he is very knowledgable about wine and many of the vineyards in Napa and Sonoma.
It’s also a restaurant you can enjoy conversation in. Very nice acoustics.

I’ve never ate here, but have had drinks in the bar a few times. The sommelier, Eric, is a nice guy. They do have a fantastic wine selection, albeit pricey. I believe they get their steaks from Allen Brothers in Chicago, which I think has the best steak on the planet. I look forward to another review once I actually get a chance to dine here!

Best steakhouse in McAllen. Go for the cowboy Ribeye for two for a real treat.

When doing initial research for this place, the only thing that came up was that Eva Longoria and Tony Parker dined here. Judging from that, I assumed it would be a pricey, but classy affair and I wasn’t wrong.
We pulled up and parked (I’m so used to valet in fancy restaurants that it kinda threw me off) in the lot with plenty of nice cars to let us know what kind of place we were going into. We were greeted and seated at our booth which was nicely enclosed. Since McAllen still has a bit of that «small town feel», my in-​laws saw plenty of people that they knew throughout the meal, though we were pretty secluded.
We started off ordering wine – a white and a red. My hubby and I stuck with the red, my FIL had both and my MIL had just the white. When our waiter didn’t bother to replace her red wine glass with one for the white wine, my inner snob cringed a little bit. However, later in the meal when he poured the white wine for my FIL, he grabbed the proper glass.
My hubby and I decided to split a bowl of the lobster bisque after ensuring that it didn’t have any fish or fish oil (another allergic reaction is not what we wanted on our night out), but it was disappointing. It was a little on the bland side and tasted like it could’ve come out of a jar. A nice jar albeit, but a jar nonetheless. The clam chowder that the in-​laws got wasn’t the New England style, but they seemed thrilled with it and gobbled it up immediately. The shrimp cocktails were huge and generously paired with a sauce which contained even more shrimp!
I ended up with the mahi mahi. Though the menu said nothing about a citrus flavoring, my entire fish was covered with two large slices of oranges, and some type of purée that was incredibly citrus-​y. After I pushed all that aside, I got to enjoy an incredibly moist mahi mahi that was perfectly cooked. Also worth noting, they got the risotto perfect. If you’ve ever cooked risotto, you know how impossible it is to get it at that perfect consistency where it isn’t mushy and it isn’t still hard.
My hubby’s Kobe fillet was a little off. When we mentioned it to the waiter, he didn’t even bat an eye before whisking it away and bringing back another Kobe steak, but a different cut. After discussing it with the head chef, evidently they figured out that it had something to do with the blood of the steak and how they marinated it. Regardless of this little snafu, they more than made up for it was the most amazingly tender steak I’ve ever had. It was phenomenal and we couldn’t stop raving about it all night long.
As for desserts, we ended up with a plain ol’ crème brûlée that was nothing spectacular. The port that we got was a great way to finish off the night and the sommalier was incredibly helpful throughout our evening.
I thoroughly enjoyed my meal here, but with all the little things that were off during the night, I couldn’t justify giving them a whole 5 stars. However, I’m sure we’ll be back next time we’re in town, so maybe they can earn that last one at our next visit!