Went to Maxwell and Dunne's Friday night with my wife and Mr. and Mrs. Wine Wizard. I think it is in Plainview.

A new member "Muzikman" mentioned this place a few times in the offline section, since he is starting work there soon.

It was not a bad night - just a real strange night.

My Honest Impression Points:

Place was pretty empty for a Friday...very empty, but the parking lot was packed? a hundred car spaces filled. Hmmm...where is everyone?

When you walk into a good steakhouse on LI on a friday night - you wait, even with reservations. It was raining, but there were 40 tables and 6 of them were filled. Again, where is everyone?


Good Time - being with friends and nice wine makes THAT part easy.

Strange Place (kind of a Badda Bing feel without the strippers)

Seperate area for private parties with the pool table etc.

They have some racing club upstairs (Aha! that is where everyone was), and god knows what else in the back rooms.

The whole building used to be a catering hall.

Not a couples place (unless you leave the wife and bring the girlfriend ala Good Fellas )

Separate indoor room for Cigars which was cool to see. Maybe 5 people in there.

Waived the corkage on 2 bottles - I brought a delicous burgundy and a Karl Lawrence Cab.

Could be great for offlines because of the 2 points above

Wine list was pretty awful

Sides were very good

Quantities were excellent

Prices are too high for the food quality and atmosphere. The menu is priced as if you are in a MAJOR Steakhouse, and you are not.

My strip steak was very average. The rest loved the filet mignon, so maybe they just got the right thing - who knows?

The seafood items were very good - Lobster tail and crabmeat cocktail were terrific.

Dessert portions were big, but the apple crisp was a mess with more raisins than apple.

Wait staff came off as wise guys or nephews of wise guys pretending to be waiters.

It was just strange looking at how the place operates. We still had a lot of fun, because we were just out and no one bothered us.

There is no way this steakhouse makes money, but like I said there are a lot of "other things" going on in there and where the "real money" comes from - I don't want to know.

In a final scene out of the bizarro world, we pay the check and one guy takes it. We are out in the parking lot and the other "waiter" who was serving us runs out after us as we are saying goodbye to each other asking us if we paid our check! I said, "Ummm, the other waiter took it" Like a table of two 40 year old couples were running out on a check? Did we just leave "Scores"? and there were only 3 tables left eating when we left! They hand the only table leaving at the time a $330 bill and they don't know if we paid it.

Too funny. We were laughing our ass off when he left. Classy move huh? Makes me want to go back there real soon.

So, I appreciate the tip by Muzikman and I wish you good luck there. I'll go back with my buddies next time and bring some wine and a cigar.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Hunter,

hilarious..LOL

i guess i can pass for now....

Sounds worse than Ruth's Chris!!!

I guess muzikman has his work cut out for him.

Me too! Me too!

Hunter,
Excellent review. Yes, this place is bizarre. The dinning room is cavernous and has a "Shinning" feel to it. I kept looking over my shoulder for Jack Nicholson and his axe.
Either the chairs were too low or the table too high because I felt I was eating in a childs high chair. All of this of course enhanced the jokes and laughter and made it a memorable night with wine and good friends.
Food was "good", the portions generous.
We made sure to leave a good tip in fear of being "wacked" in the parking lot.

quote:

We made sure to leave a good tip in fear of being "wacked" in the parking lot.

LOL!

It sounds like the type of place you'd visit after you've had too much of the "rat race". no?

I agree.

It is a great new steakhouse to check out.

"Check? What check? Fuggedaboutit! Dere ain't gonna be no check!"


Ever see the Sopranos episode where the waiter comes out into the parking lot to complain about his tip?

quote:

Originally posted by Hunter:
It is a great new steakhouse to check out.

If I ever make it out to LI, we'll have to go there.

Peace,
Slider

quote:

Originally posted by mwagner7700:

quote:

Originally posted by Hunter:
It is a great new steakhouse to check out.

If I ever make it out to LI, we'll have to go there.

Peace,
Slider

Was MWagner just possessed by Ben Milano? Great Ceasar's Ghost, what is going on.

quote:

Was MWagner just possessed by Ben Milano? Great Ceasar's Ghost, what is going on.

Warmer...warmer...

This is my favorite steak rest. on Long Island.
This is where I take all of those politicians who I carry around like nickels and dimes.

They serve the best veal in Long Island here.

quote:

Originally posted by Jcocktosten:
what is going on.

Clue 1

Clue 2

Then...

Mistake 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 (yes... all 5 forums).

Then he disappears. Then...

Clue 3. And Clue 4. And finally Clue 5.

Can you put 2 and 2 together?

I hope Hunter appreciates all the work I had to go through to get these clues and arrange them so they make sense.

A little free time? That was friggin' beautiful.

Mwagner = Sherlock?

I knew the secret... so I can't take credit. It was just the time spent hunting for all those original posts.

[in my Wayne Campbell voice]

Well done my friend.

Truly Excellent

Where is Muzikman?

Starting a really cool website that we should check out.

I appreciate the honest review. Although you are way off on a number of issues but you are certainly entitled to your opinion.

BTW - the wine list is being totally revamped as is the wine by the glass list and several other aspects of the place. Since we are the only place on Long Island that offers an atmosphere where people can smoke without being hassled by the wonderful NY State laws, we do have a very loyal clientele who love all aspects of the place including the food, service, cigars offerings, service, wine and the Race Palace upstairs.

We soon will be offering Wine Seminars, Wine Tastings, Cigar Tasting Events and numerous other wine and cigar related activities. I personally would rather have attentive service than be hurried through other so-called restaurants such as Ruth's, Majors, etc. Plus, I rather eat in a more relaxed, quiet environment where I cna actually hear my guests speak. If it was slow on the night you came down, it does happen. I suggest you stop down again after we had a chance to make soem revisions. Hopefully your experience will be better than the one you said you had.

As to those who follow my posts from 3-4 years ago, as someone said already - you definitely have some time on yoru hands. Things happen, life throws changes at you and you make adjustments.


I wish all of you the best of luck and hope you have a great remainder of 2006

quote:

I suggest you stop down again after we had a chance to make soem revisions. Hopefully your experience will be better than the one you said you had.

Well, my review wasn't totally negative. I liked the seafood and the portions were good. The main problem was the price to food quality or QPR. The ala carte $45 steak items are not appropriate there IMO.

The place has a weird feel, but I like open places like that and it wasn't anything that bothered us. I hate crowds too. I mentioned the offline potential, because it is open, airy and has rooms for leisure.

But, there is some $hit going on there. Watch your back Muzikman, and if you see cop cars - Run!

LOL - there is nothing wierd going on at all. Upstairs is the Race Palace which is owned and operated by NY State. We just supply food and beverages to the patrons, that's all. I have no idea what other things you keep referring to.

We serve hundreds of meals each day (weekends) with lunch and dinner also being served everyday. As for prices, obviously this isn't the Outback or Applebees nor should it be looked at that way. There are other similar steakhouse within a given radius and all of them, that consider themselves a NY style steakhouse, all have similar if not higher prices. Try going to Peter Lugers in Great Neck and see how much you pay for a rib eye steak ($48) and a baked potato ($9). Ruth's Chris is just as high. And let's not even talk about Smith and Wollensky's, Keans Chop House, The Palm, Morton's or any other NY houses.

We offer our customers a great environment to dine, drink and enjoy a great cigar after dinner. We have an experienced, respectful and smart wait staff along with great bartenders. We also have over 125 bottles on our wine list and the by the glass list will soon offer over 35 selections.

As I indicated in my earlier post both of these menus will be revamped within the next month or so and changes will be taking place to the lists. It takes time to revise an entire wine list and make those changes. I hope to see you and your group back again soon.

All the best