YEE: Summer Steak-cation at LongHorn Steakhouse Pearland

How much do I love being a Unilocal elite… let me count the ways. Or better yet, let me tell you about the four-​course meal that I had the other night on Unilocal.Yes, four (4) courses: appetizers, soup, steak, and desserts. From the moment I sat down, I was greeted with food and drinks. Seriously not a bad thing since I just got off from work. This event was more intimate compared to other elite events I’ve attended (get your mind out from that gutter!). It was also an educational event as well since we learned about the cuts of steaks, etc.
So back to the land of never being hungry… our dinner party sampled their corn fritters, fried green tomatoes, brew pub pretzel sticks and wild west shrimp. Since I can’t have any shrimp, I cannot talk about it at all. However, I really enjoyed their corn fritters. It was very delish and have a great corn taste instead of being doughy.
I also really enjoyed their chicken tortilla soup. By the time I was done with my soup, I only had room for a bite or two of my steak. Yes, they had that much food!
The desserts were good, but also rich. My favorite was the blueberry lemon butter cake. It had just the right amount of lemon and blueberry to make this chocoholic-​girl say «no» to the chocolate cake and yes to this one.
Overall, really good! I had a great time meeting new folks and forcing Victoria M. to drive all the way over to Pearland for a lovely meal :)

Wow, Longhorn steakhouse really outdid themselves!
Let me first start by saying I haven’t eaten at a Longhorn in years… I love steaks but once I got a taste of a steak at fine dining steakhouse I was hooked and stopped going to the more mid-​casual restaurants.
I choose to go to the Pearland event due to it wasn’t far from my house and my I am familiar with the area because I have family over there. My cousin told me she went to this location once and wasn’t keen on the smell so she didn’t stay for the food. So I was determined to check it out.
I must agree upon walking in the smell of the establishment is not that welcoming and takes awhile to get used too, its like a mix of Chuck e Cheese and hospice (sorry), But once my nose got used to it, I was all good.
First let me say the entire team at Longhorn treated us like Rock stars and held no punches when it came to the food.
Appetizers
Fried Green Tomatoes-​I don’t know how I missed these but I didn’t get a bite
Sweet Corn Fritters-​So creamy and crunchy, like a hushpuppies meets creamed corn, really tasty.
Brew Pub Pretzel Sticks-​OMGAAHHH these were little sticks of pleasure, they were soft and fresh but the Beer cheese sauce on the side was drinkable and damn right should be outlawed.
Wild West Shrimp-​Really tasty almost their take on Bang Bang shrimp like bonefish have but I think better. I like that they weren’t covered in Mayo.
Salad/​Soup Course
I choose the Beefsteak Tomato and Bacon Salad-​The Tomato’s were fresh and the lettuce was cold and crisp while the bacon was cooked perfectly on top. The croutons were a little sweet to me for such a rustic salad but other than that It was delicious.
Steak
I choose the Smoky Garlic Outlaw ribeye– It was good, I will say the Smoky garlic title was a little misleading. It had baby roma tomatoes on top with a garlic sauce that was more reminiscent of a marinade. I was expecting a hearty smoked garlic maybe butter or crust on the steak to really make me taste the smokiness. I will say it was cooked to my perfect temperature and for a causal dining place the quality was great.
Side
I ordered the Macaroni and cheese-​Mind blowing!!! It had mixed cheeses and a intense smoky flavor with more cheese on top. It was rich but not indulgent, well balanced and perfectly done.
Dessert-​Chocolate Stampede-​If you like chocolate this one is for you, rich, decadent brownie/​cake with caramel, vanilla ice cream and whip cream. I am not a big chocolate fan so it was over the top for me but definitely good.
Blueberry Lemon Butter cake-​TO DIE FOR!!! The cake was so moist and lemony and not too sweet. then it had this creamy frosting on top that was perfectly creamy with fresh blueberries on top of a cream anglaise. This cake stole my heart!!!
This experience was incredible and definitely put Longhorn back on my line up of food places to frequent, and once again with a team like that you taste the love in your food.

5 Stars All The Way! This was such an awesome event! I was able to meet Elites that I have never met before that are current friends and those that were not!
The wait staff and management were very attentive and personable. The history of the restaurant was given along with a class in steaks! I listened well which earned me a $ 25 gift card! I was really winning! There was a nice Elite crowd, however the food was flowing with little wait in between courses. The appetizers came out fresh, hot, and delicious. Everything was wonderful. I ordered the Smokey Garlic Outlaw Ribeye, cooked medium… this thing was juicy and cooked to perfection. The desserts were decadent! Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves including staff!
This event was extraordinary! I am grateful that I was chosen! Glad it was in an area not too far from the house! Dang it feels good to be Elite!

This is only my second YEE which is kind of sad seeing as how I’ve had Elite status for the past four years. At any rate, I was happy to have an event close to home. I’ve been wanting to try Longhorn Steakhouse for quite some time, especially when this location opened up a few years back.
I know the invite said to come hungry, but I had no idea just how much food we would be eating! Like Vlad mentioned, we were treated like royalty. I thought we would get to try an appetizer, entrée, and dessert. I was pleasantly surprised when the staff brought out every appetizer on the menu. My favorite were the corn fritters followed by the fried green tomatoes. The pretzel sticks were a little too salty for my taste, but they were really soft which I liked. I opted for a Saint Arnold’s Lawnmower for my beverage. The margaritas looked good, but I wasn’t in the mood for liquor.
I had the mixed green salad with Italian dressing. It was good, but I should have asked for the dressing on the side. It was a tad too much dressing for my taste. For my steak I went with the Renegade Sirloin. I ordered it well done which I normally prefer, but it was slightly overdone. I think medium-​well would have been better, but that’s okay. I still enjoyed it! It had a really good flavor. At first, I was kind of disappointed in how small it is compared to the other steaks (8 oz compared to the 18 oz ribeyes), but it worked out since I was able to save a little bit of belly room for dessert. I think the next time I visit, I will try the NY Strip. Mo (our server) talked me into getting the asparagus. It was lightly seasoned, and absolutely delicious! I was really leaning towards the loaded baked potato or mashed potatoes since steak and taters go hand in hand, but I just really wanted to try the asparagus. Dessert was really good too! My favorite was the blueberry lemon butter cake. I liked that it was served warm.
The staff was very friendly and I enjoyed learning about the history of Longhorn Steakhouse as well as the different cuts of steak. It was definitely helpful since I don’t eat steak that often. I really wanted to try the salmon to be honest, but I wasn’t about to pass up the opportunity to try one of the steaks!
I’m glad to see that I’m not the only one that isn’t on Twitter or Instagram. I’m starting to realize that all of the contests at the YEEs are on Twitter or Instagram. As cool as the prizes are, I just don’t have a desire to join. But I still walked out with some cool Unilocal swag as well as the free appetizer with the purchase of an entrée so I can’t complain. Plus I met a lot of cool and friendly Unilocalers which just made the experience so much more enjoyable. Thank you Farrah and the Longhorn staff for putting on a great event!

Another great event in the books!
While trekking out to the Land of Pears isn’t usually tops on my agenda, I made an exception for Ms. Sandy H (as well as to help open up spots for the upcoming Memorial location event). Long drive aside, the evening was full of good times and good food.
We had around 25 attendees dutifully taken care of by 2 waitstaff (Mo and Jennifer) and manager/​host (Mi). Anyone who wasn’t already an expert at steak became better educated by then end of the evening due to a fun quiz where the answers were provided during the course of the meal.
We were treated to a wide variety of their regular as well as peak season menu items.
Corn fritters: everyone seemed to enjoy these. They were fried well and had a nice corn flavor. They were a tad too doughy for me but still good.
Fried green tomatoes: good crunchy fry, tomato maintained integrity
Wild West shrimp: done well, but nothing memorable
Brew pub pretzel sticks: soft and a bit of chew, great beer cheese and bacon mustard dipping sauces
Chicken tortilla soup: I didn’t have this but everyone seemed to enjoy it thoroughly. I was told it was spicy.
Beefsteak tomato and bacon salad: nice and fresh, lightly dressed, cornbread croutons
Hickory salt crusted NY strip 10oz med-​rare: nice and beefy
Smoky garlic Outlaw ribeye 18oz med-​rare: the cooked tomatoes on top were too acidic, but the rest of the steak was juicy and flavorful. It was also huge… I made 3 meals out of this!
Mac & cheese: ooey gooey and rich
Steamed asparagus: fresh and healthy :)
As usual it was nice to catch up with some familiar faces and meet new ones. A few of us loitered outside chatting until after closing — also a typical thing. Thanks as always to Farrah for all her hard work!

This is my second YEE and I can’t wait to attend more! I love the abundance of food, great service, amazing company and just a great time to spend with fellow Unilocalers! Thank you so much to LongHorn Steakhouse Pearland and Farrah for organizing! I think LongHorn definitely put their best foot forward, and especially loved how this was also an educational event! I love history, and enjoyed learning how LongHorn Steakhouse was founded in hotlanta Georgia as well as the different cuts/​characteristics of meat.
We started the night off with a spread of appetizers, and as many have mentioned my favorite was the Brew Pub Pretzel Sticks. These were served warm and when you bit into them they were soft and chewy, OH and to make it yummier these were paired with a Sam Adam’s beer cheese sauce and bacon mustard (I didn’t taste the bacon much but the mustard was on the sweeter side) and how can you go wrong with sweet and salty! I also liked the fried green tomatoes which were perfectly fried and went well with the ricotta or goat? cheese, iono it was yums. I also really liked the corn fritters as they kinda reminded me of hushpuppies. Oh and I pretty much also destroyed half an order of Wild West Shrimp as luckily one of the girls at our table was allergic to shellfish, boo for her, but yay for me!
Next we had a choice of salad or soup and not wanting to waste my stomach on greens I opted for the Grilled Chicken Tortilla Soup. I actually really enjoyed this soup as it was very flavorful and had a hint of spice and overall had a good flavor profile. Also, if y’all do come here for the salads, they really don’t skimp, especially with those beef tomatoes, they were beefy!
Now on to the main entrée-​MEAT, we had quite a selection from the original Outlaw Ribeye, Hickory Salt Crusted NY Strip, Renegade Sirloin, Parmesan Crusted Chicken and even a Salmon! Ok, so honestly I usually go with the salmon as I am a sucker for seafood but being at a STEAKHOUSE I had to go big or go home. I ended up choosing the Smoky Garlic Outlaw Ribeye as it is one of their featured Summer Peak Season and Grilled Taste of Summer Chef’s Showcase menu items! Holy moly my ribeye was quite large but tasted delicious! My only comment was it was a bit overdone as instead of getting a warm red with a hint of pink, mine was more like warm and a touch of pink. The smoky garlic topping was like a reduced tomato and garlic sauce but I couldn’t taste too much of the garlic. However, paired with the mac and cheese, ohh so delicious. I loved the spiral noodles and how cheesy it was, just wished mine had more of a crisp golden finish.
To finish the night we were given an order of the Chocolate Stampede and the Peak Season Menu Blueberry Lemon Butter Cake. OK, now this is what you call portion distortion, and confirms the fact that everything really is bigger and better in Texas! Chocolate lovers rejoice as this is extremely chocolatey: you get chocolate cake with a chocolate mouse covered in whipped cream, drizzled with fudge and paired with some vanilla ice cream. For those who don’t like chocolate as much, the blueberry lemon butter cake was moist and buttery served with a warmed/​thick lemon sauce and not overly sweet!
Overall, I had a great first time at LongHorn Steakhouse Pearland and will be sure to come back, if not for the steak then definitely for the Chocolate Stampede! Thanks again for your generosity and Farrah for a great night!

This was my second YEE. I agree with everyone in terms of great food, opportunity to meet Unilocalers, and an amazing way to spend a Monday evening.
The only negative factor worth also mentioning was the senior staff of Longhorn’s constantly asking us to take pictures of the food, which definitely took away from the experience.
Overall my YEE are only getting better, and I can’t wait until the next event.

This might have been the most fun I’ve had on a Monday! We dined like kings. We came, we saw, we conquered! Some of my fellow Unilocal elite members have spoken about all the dishes that were available so I won’t cover everything. I’ve been to Longhorn on several occasions in different states and this location is a 5 minute drive from my place.
For my alcoholic beverage of choice, I went with their special margarita which was recommended by our server Mo. Quality margarita and they even left you some leftover in the mixer so it was really more than one drink. My favorite appetizer were the corn fritters. Not something I have every day but perfectly fried and the breading complemented the sweet corn well. For the salad/​soup option, I went with the tomato and bacon salad which came with home-​made cornbread croutons. Wow! Can’t say I’ve ever had cornbread croutons but they are as good as they sound and the highlight of the salad hands down. One of the ladies who was taking care of us said once you pop, you can’t stop and she was certainly right!
For my main entrée, I went with the renegade steak with mac and cheese. With a name like renegade, how could I say no? For all my fellow rule breakers, outlaws, and rebels… this is the dish for you! I ordered my steak medium but felt like it was cooked more medium well than I would’ve liked. However, the mac and cheese was fantastic and had pieces of ham along with a mix of cheeses.
We wrapped things up with two desserts, both of which were solid but nothing that stood out in my option. But what did stand out was the experience. This was my first Unilocal Elite event and it was a pleasure meeting such a nice group of fellow Unilocalers. Truly a great group! The staff at Longhorn was similarly fantastic. The manager was really friendly and definitely informative in teaching us about different cuts of steak and the grilling process. Our waiter Mo was also friendly and made us feel right at home. I also appreciated the free appetizer coupon so I will definitely be back again! Thank you Longhorn and thank you Unilocal

I attended my first YEE last night at this location. I felt so welcome and special as soon as I walked into our seating area. Since this was my first event, I was a tad nervous. However, my fellow Unilocalers eased my anxiety about being a newbie.
The manager of the restaurant welcomed us and gave us a rundown of what we were about to experience. She was lively and quite friendly. She made sure she kept us engaged and entertained with trivia and contests.
We started the night with some pretty good appetizers. I like variety and I got it last night. I sampled Wild West Shrimp, corn fritters, and fried green tomatoes. Who knew a steakhouse was capable of making fried green tomatoes? To my surprise they were fried to perfection! I enjoyed a couple of corn fritters and few shrimp, too. My next course was a garden salad, but I wanted to kick myself for not selecting the Beefsteak tomatoes and Bacon salad. I oohed as my fellow Unilocaler enjoyed his salad. He actually had cornbread croutons on his salad and they looked so good. My main course was the Citrus grilled salmon with steamed broccoli. I know Longhorn is a steakhouse, but my poor tummy can’t process red meat. However, don’t let my love for salmon mislead you. The Salmon was lightly grilled and a far cry from being considered as «dry». It was flavorful and I didn’t have one ounce of guilt about eating it.
My last course was the Chocolate Stampede dessert. I am a lover of all things chocolate and this dessert did not disappoint. I waited for the other Unilocalers to have their share as I knew this was when I was about to reveal my true self and take over the dish. Don’t be ashamed of me… I was on my best behavior. It was so darn good that I really wanted more, but I didn’t want to seem greedy.
I washed all of this down with a Perfect Margarita in a glass dipped in Watermelon Sugar!!! OMG :-)
I liked the fact that there was no shame in using my phone to snap pics and tweet throughout the meal. I am excited about upcoming Unilocal events. I’m a little disappointed that I didn’t have a chance to connect with my Unilocal friends as I didn’t want to come off as creepy. However, next time I am introducing myself to my peeps!!! You know who you are!!!
Many thanks to Unilocal,Farrah, and the Longhorn crew for making me feel «elite»!

I guess I will be the first to write a review on the event! Overall I think it went well. There was no shortage of food, which was great. My favorite of the four appetizers were the pretzels. They were so soft and doughy and the sauce was delicious. I also liked the spice tortilla soup. I personally didn’t think it was too spicy. I ordered the hickory salted NY strip and it was great. Very salty, but duh, it was a salted steak! I left before they got to the desserts, but I hope they were good.
Now, I hate to bring this up but I have to be honest. I thought some of us Unilocalers we’re kinda rude. I thought that the manager lady was trying really hard and I heard some unkind remarks about the food that were pretty blatantly loud. People, it’s free food! Take it.

What a great event!
This was my first YEE and wow! I did not expect it to be so great. First off, elites are so fun and easy to talk to. It was like meeting up with friends, even though I hadn’t met any of them prior.
LongHorn Steakhouse held nothing back. They were very generous with the food. Each table of ~4 people shared four appetizers: fried green tomatoes, pretzel sticks, hand-​battered popcorn shrimp, and my favorite, the corn fritters. These amazing apps were followed by a four course meal. Everything was their regular serving size… so TEXAS-​SIZED.
The garlic outlaw ribeye comes with these cooked down grape tomatoes. I am not a fan of cooked tomatoes, so I don’t know if they add anything to the steak. The meat was cooked perfectly. The roasted corn on the cob side was like elote. So good!
For dessert, we had the blueberry lemon butter cake and chocolate stampede. That chocolate stampeeddeee… I loved it! It has a layer of chocolate mousse on chocolate cake, so it’s not too rich in chocolate flavor. I thought it was a great balance without it being too heavy after a spectacular meal.
It was a night of great company and food! Even with a steak and LongHorn Steakhouse lesson!

Totally AWESOME night! This was my first Elite event and I am SO glad I’m in the ‘club’! The appetizers were great — presentation was awesome. I thought the corn fritters were the best, well seasoned, fried perfectly and the sauce for them was great. The fried green tomatoes — meh, but I’ve never been a fan of them. The fried shrimp were tasty too — the sauce that came with them could have been a different flavor, however, I didn’t find it too appealing.
Onto the main course — the intro salad was great, then the smoky garlic 18 oz bone in rib eye, oh my WORD!!! Grilled to medium perfection and close your eyes and swoon on the first bite, slap your mama DIVINE!!! That was what every steak lays down at night and dreams of growing up to BE! (sorry but I love a good steak and dagnabit — that was a damn good one) The desserts were well presented (I’m allergic to chocolate) I had the seasonal blueberry cake and yowsa! Delish again! I left satisfied and STUFFED! The trivia games and Instagram photo posting games were fun as well, I learned a bit about steak in the process. Well done Longhorn! I was already a customer, but I got to try some new things and I’m willing to be a repeat customer more frequently now. I was impressed :-) And that, my friends, is not easily done.

What a night, what a NIGHT! It was definitely a fun one and I mean that.
First, let me say this is my first time eating at Longhorn Steakhouse and this event made my comfort for this restaurant grow a bit more.
The manager was friendly and really showed that she cared for the restaurant. It was really cool to learn about the different steaks and things I swear I didn’t know about this type of meats. The quiz was challenging, but fun to try. It made me feel as if I was in summer class.
Now, I didn’t drink alcohol because I don’t drink and drive; its such a dangerous thing to do. I ordered a water with lemon instead.
The server we had for the left side of the table was, Mo; she was very cool, laid-​back, sweet, and such a pretty girl. I really liked how she made me feel comfortable at the restaurant. I mean, I wasn’t nervous or anything.
I’m actually glad I sat in the middle of the table because I sat around some really cool Elite Unilocalers. They really made the night shine on a little bit more. Everyone seemed to be themselves.
The game played tonight centered around photogenic social media lovers; every meal that was placed out you had to take a sexy picture of the food and if the managers loved it you got yourself a brand new gift card. I wasn’t big on playing the game since I’m old school meaning I don’t own an Instagram nor a Twitter account and plus I find it inappropriate to play on your phones while you are dining. Wow, I am such old school. I prefer talking while I’m out eating.
Now, the food! Lets talk about the real reason I attended this event, ahahahaha. Now, if you know me, I am not a big fan of steak at all. My thing is why come to a steak restaurant and not eat steak? OK, common sense right unless you don’t prefer it like I used to not in the past. I ordered the Hickory Salted NY strip lightly salted since I can’t handle high blood pressure. I actually loved the taste; though, I asked for BBQ sauce (since that’s how I eat all of my steaks) and it added an even more of a kick. The mashed potatoes were OK; I’m not sure if they used red potatoes or not. They extra whipped them; it was difficult to taste chunks of potatoes. It was loaded in sour cream at my request and as Paula Deen would say, «BUUUUUUUUTTTTTTTEEEEEERRR, Yall.»
The salad and soup options were Mixed Green, Beefsteak Tomato and Bacon, and Chicken Tortilla soup. Although, I really wanted to taste the soup; I didn’t since the manager kept on saying it was spicy and if you know me, you will know I can’t not bare the spice. I settled and chose the beefsteak tomato salad without bacon. It was such a light and fresh savor that I wasn’t looking for, but it was certainly enjoying. I just kept thinking I need to grow these type of tomatoes in my garden.
My thought is Longhorn Steakhouse is known for two things: the steak and tomatoes. The usage of tomatoes here is a great deal. I’ve never been to a restaurant where tomatoes are incorporated into almost every meal. The genus Solanaceae family would be so proud! That being said, those fried green tomatoes were sumptuous; such a divine taste. Fried until crispy, topped with rich goat cheese, those babies were gladly to be placed in my mouth!
Those pretzel breadsticks were soft bread and extremely lovely to have in my mouth also. If only bread didn’t convert into glucose in the stomach; my life would consist of an endless supply of soft yummy bread. I would eat and gain no weight, but that’s not how life works.
Last, but not least the dessert which was incredibly sweet. My favorite was the Blueberry Lemon Butter cake; this is the exact cake I wanted for my birthday, but my mum never could find. It was light, refreshing, semi healthy since it had blueberries and lemons in it. It was a moist cake. Also, the Chocolate Stampede was very rich and sweet with a side of vanilla ice cream.
It was neat to receive a free appetizer card, so next time I can dine in with my boyfriend or so and sample either those soft sticks or them green tomatoes with that Citrus Salmon.
I can’t say anything negative about this experience. I can say that it was very nice seeing my Unilocal friends who I haven’t seen in long time or a few months, and it was even nicer meeting new Unilocalers that either just became Elite or live in Pearland that I’ve just never seen at the other Elite events because distance always falls short.
I’d like to thank Farrah once again for planning this outstanding Elite event for all her hard work for putting this together and it resulting in success. You are such a terrific community manager for Unilocal Houston. Thank you!