With our last several of issues, we began a series where we spotlight restaurants that are now offering a specific low carb menu. We've spotlighted TGI Friday's, Ruby Tuesday, Schlotzsky's Deli, O'Charley's, and Don Pablo's... Watch for other restaurants to be featured here in the future.

Thursday evening, April 22nd, Neil and I visited our local Longhorn Steakhouse at 2710 Towne Drive, in Beavercreek, Ohio.

An earlier visit that week with a business associate (when I just grabbed a salad) had afforded me the opportunity to see that their new menu included low carb options. So we were anxious to see how they stacked up. I'm pleased to say that there was nothing about the evening that fell short of perfection.

They don't proclaim "Low Carb!" anywhere on their menu... rather, they simply offer low carb options including low carb wraps made with proprietary soft tortillas with 4 net grams of carbs that are tasty and warm.

The staff appears knowledgeable about the low carb lifestyle, and manager Bill Schweinitz even told us he was doing the South Beach diet and was doing well. They answered every ingredient and nutrition info question we threw at them and worked hard to make our experience a pleasant one.

Our waiter, Matt Pesler, was one of the most helpful we've found since we began reviewing restaurants. And let me say that their terrific attitude began before they knew we were reviewing. All restaurants could take a lesson from this team.

Now, what about the food? Well, we did mention perfection, didn't we? We started with a salad, which was generous in size, very fresh and crisp, and upon request they topped it with slices of fresh, crisp peppered bacon... a delight for a low carber.

We both got Ranch dressing and theirs is exceptional — smooth and creamy. See photo below of our salad: (click to enlarge)
                     

For dinner, I could not resist the manager's suggestion of the Flo's Filet paired with a broiled cold-water lobster tail and drawn butter. I was hesitant to go for lobster in a steak place, as I've had some real disappointments doing that, but I was told this would be different... it was. The lobster tail was perfectly cooked, lightly seasoned, sweet and delicious. It was better than I'd ever had in a Red Lobster. And the filet (which I ordered medium rare) was cooked just right and was fork tender. They paired this with broccoli and gave me cheese on request. See photos below: (click to enlarge)
                    
                      
Neil opted for the 11-oz New York Strip with sautéed mushrooms. It, too, came cooked perfectly in just the right amount of butter. The mushrooms were generous, well seasoned, and buttery. See photo below: (click to enlarge)
                     

Longhorn offers a plethora of low carb options, which include all their steaks, salmon, chicken, prime rib, and pork chops. Every sandwich is offered as a low carb wrap. And they have lots of lower carb sides too: Side salads, slaw, fresh asparagus, fresh broccoli (with or without cheese), sliced tomato, sauteed mushrooms, and mixed veggies. They even have Michelob Ultra if you want a beer with your dinner.

Their newest dish is low carb too:
Their Portabella Chicken is a pan-seared boneless chicken breast topped with a grilled portabella mushroom, fresh asparagus, bell pepper sauce and melted Provolone cheese. We heard raves about this and will have to try it soon.

All in all we were very impressed and will visit often. You should too! Visit their website to find a location near you. (Note: The website does not, as of this writing, mention the new low carb options.)

         

Review content copyright © May 2004  Lora Ruffner and Low Carb Luxury.   Inset food photos
copyright © 2004  Neil Beaty and Low Carb Luxury.

Longhorn Steakhouse logo copyright © 2004 LongHorn Steakhouse and RARE Hospitality
International, Inc. 8215 Roswell Road Building 600; Atlanta, GA 30350