With the holidays behind me, I felt like an all-American dining experience, so a steak-loving friend and I ventured into Lonestar Steakhouse. We were led past the bar and I was glad to be seated on the upper platform of the restaurant. The leather booth seat was cozy and welcoming.

My dining companion began with a regular-sized margarita called a Texas Rita. It was so weak that the sweetness was almost unbearable – definitely not worth the money. For his second drink he ordered an Amber Bock on tap, which was well worth the happy-hour price of $2. If you’re going to order a drink, I would suggest spending a little more and having one of the specialty margaritas made with different types of alcohol.

We vacillated over an appetizer, not wanting something as heavy as cheese fries or intense as the Texas Rose, a whole deep-fried onion, so, with a little help from our waitress, we settled on wildfire shrimp.

There was a stall in our dining experience, however, when the appetizer took almost 20 minutes. This concerned me because usually this means that after one bite the salad will arrive, then after two more bites the entrees and instead of a dining experience I end up with a table full of plates. Not to worry, though – for the first time I can remember, our waitress kept her composure, apologized for the delay, then kept the food coming at a comfortable pace instead of trying to make double time. Kudos to her.

The shrimp was certainly appetizing and worth the wait. The spicy garlic sauce was flavorful but not too spicy, and if you wanted to spice it up you could eat one of the cherry peppers that came with the dish. The ranch dressing as a dip for this flavorful dish was horribly disappointing, however. It was not a good fit at all for my taste (and as you’ll see later on, sauces are a weakness at Lonestar).

For dinner I ordered the sweet bourbon salmon. If you’ve read this column before, you know that salmon is a comfort food for me. Yet this dish left me confused. I couldn’t tell if it was poor product selection, or (you guessed it) the sauce, but something wasn’t right. It lacked flavor, except for a slight bitter taste,. I almost asked for more sauce on the side, but wasn’t sure if the sauce was actually the problem, and decided not to take a chance. The veggies were also bland in flavor, but this is where the ranch dip came in handy.

My dining companion decided on what was hailed as the most popular steak, the New York strip. It was cooked just as he ordered, medium-rare – charred on the outside and juicy-moist on the inside, creating a hearty, natural steak flavor that was delicious at a fundamental level. He even noted that steak sauce was not necessary and after a taste I agreed, wishing I had ordered steak instead.

Lonestar offers a few desserts, from key lime pie to a brownie blast, but we were just too full to try one. I don’t know about you, but I’m usually good for either an appetizer or dessert, but both would do me in, especially after the holidays. Maybe I should have gone with that good American staple, the enormous dinner salad, but what fun would that have been?

Lonestar Steakhouse

2425 Scottsville Road € 796-8880

Hours: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sun.-Thur.; 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Fri.-Sat.

Specialties: Steaks

Cuisine: American

Price range for dinner:

$8.95 to $21.95

Libation situation: Full bar

Smoking: Yes