Chop House, 2 strikes and you are out!!
 

Last night was our second visit to Chop within the last 10 days.
The first visit was a Friday evening and the place was completely packed. Our party of 3 was seated in the bar and it was quite noisy (yes we had reservations). The first problem was it took such a long time for our server to come to our table. We all 3 ordered "dry" martinis straight up (2 with Bombay Sapphire and 1 with Tanqueray) . When they finally came, the server placed the drinks on the table and then she was gone. We toasted to our birthday guy.. and those with the Bombay looked at each other and said the drink didn't taste right. It was very watered down. We looked for our server but she wasn't seen for at least 10 minutes. By that time we had drank about 1/2 of the martini. We mentioned to the server that the martini was sub-par. She responded that the bartender was new and took a long time making the martinis. Also the food was mediocre and just not what we had at Chop House before. I had the creamed spinach and it came with a thin layer in a bowl that had been put in the broiler, and it was slightly burnt. Overall a less than satisfactory meal. We never saw a manger in our area or we would have let them know.

Last night a group of 6 went for dinner after a show at the Savannah Center. Two in our party ordered the Chop House Chateu. Both started to eat and both removed the bite from their mouths, fat and gristle. Both of the dishes were extremely tough. One said that he thought that the steak knife was dull. One of the dishes was basically raw in the middle. We advised the server and a manager came over and asked what was wrong. To her credit she immediately had the plates removed and both of the guys ordered the Chop House Burger. Both the Chateau and Burgers were taken off the bill. Almost everyone else had completed their dinner by the time the replacement meal came out. (One of the burgers was undercooked.)

Just another disappointment from Chop House. We will not likely return there.

Went there when it first opened...got a sandwich, it was embarrassingly small for $18. Then, on top of that
it wasn't even filled...terrible. I think it's an FMK place, which would explain the sub par food.
I'll give it another shot just to be fair but if it happens again. See YA!

So if FMK is sub par.....where do you go for dinner that meets your expectations?

Our experience is if a restaurant is not meeting expectations, management will make changes or they will close.
I would give Chop House 3 or 6 months, then try again.
Happens all the time.

We are a Chop House frequent(er).
Always good food, good service.
One of the very few better eating establishments in The Villages.

Better Food Outside the Bubble
 

This is why we eat in Ocala or Orlando often. I would much rather be stuffed with good food and drink than overpay at the Chop House for a stuffy almost nothing meal. Mark’s and Ipanemo serve great meals. Heck even Pasta Faire is better than what’s in the Bubble. Orlando also has a whole slew of restaurants either chain or independent that outclass any restaurant in the Villages.

Whether it is fine dining or casual, none of the restaurants in the Villages really fill our needs. I don’t need my chair pulled out and my napkin spread by my server for a great meal. I just need good food with at least fair presentation to be happy. Diner’s need to get out and explore the area. There really are quite a few restaurants better than the Chop House.

Explore and have fun!

We have never had a bad meal at Chop House, Costal Del Mar, or Blue Fin.

Meeting one's expectations really has a lot to do with the reputation a place is trying to live up to. McDonald's meets my expectations because they aren't trying to be a Chop House or Ruth's Chris. Truly great places don't make mistakes, good servers don't deliver sup par food and drinks then make up stories about the cooks or bartenders being new or incompetent. in great places the manager checks the tables frequently to ensure His or Her guest is pleased with everything they are paying for.
Jmho.

"Happens all the time". Maybe so, but it shouldn't. 3 strikes and your off the list. Too many choices. Don't need to revisit places that don't measure up.

The problem with most of the restaurants in The Villages is the lack of competition.
The goal here is volume not quality of food or atmosphere and this is a perfect place for this, you have a captive group willing to spend money.

I'm a New Yorker where there are restaurants on almost every block, running all types of price ranges and when you have that amount of competition you better deliver what the customer is paying for, or your survival will barely last months.

I've been to all of the restaurants mentioned here this morning and what I've found the food generally fair, the service up to par, but the overcrowding to the point where it was unacceptable. If you want to enjoy a decent meal either with a significant other or a small group of friends, I suggest you leave The Villages and the surrounding area and I'm sure you'll find what you are looking for.

I miss the ethnic restaurants from Maryland. Indian, Thai, etc. So much atmosphere and great food. I know there's a Thai restaurant in Lake Sumter. It's so so. Orlando is probably the place to go for all that.

Love the Chop House

Are you sure? It is not listed on the FMK website. Bonefish is a chain of 170 restaurants.

Can you say, Monopoly?
So don’t go to the chophouse. Now where?
Another one of their restaurants?
That’s what happens when pretty much two entities own all the restaurants within the villages.
Who wins? They do.

We have eaten there in a couple of occasions and everything was spot on.
Recently however three of us had a steak dinner there and the only thing that was good was the steak.
The tuna tatar was more like soup, potatoes and vegetables were cold.
There were no mushrooms available however the server was awesome and it kind of smoothed things over a bit.
But the food was definitely sub par for a 350 dollar bill.