The Longhorn Steakhouse
400 Bald Hill Road
Warwick Mall, Warwick
by Bob Mariani
If you love cowboy memorabilia, as I do, The Longhorn Steakhouse is a feast for the eyes as well as the stomach. The walls at this rustically designed eatery are covered with wonderful (and authentic) photos and artwork depicting the frontier days of the American West. There are saddles and road signs and saddle blankets everywhere. And the staff here are the kind of friendly folk you’d want to have on a cross-country trail drive with you. Most people come to the Longhorn for the beef and it’s here in just about every shape and form imaginable. And just about every dish is easily big enough for two.
To see what some of the alternatives to beef were like we began with a featured appetizer, the spicy Firecracker Chicken Wraps ($6.99), eight crispy, fried flour tortillas filled with grilled chicken tidbits in a spicy salsa accompanied by a cool avocado-lime dipping sauce. The tortilla dough was really tender and very light with a hint of sweetness to offset the tangy chicken/salsa. (They also offer Firecracker Shrimp wraps at $6.99.)
Our other appetizer was the Grilled Spicy Shrimp ($7.99) on skewers. The shrimp were plump and juicy and came with two dipping sauces— a red relish "cocktail" sauce and a mild avocado-lime sauce. The side was an interesting "polenta French fry" which presented an interesting gritty texture and could only have been enhanced by being a bit less salty.
Other starters included things like lightly-battered Jumbo Spanish Onion Petals ($6.29); Buffalo Wings (a full pound just $6.99!) with bleu cheese dressing; and Texas Cheese Fries ($6.79) smothered in chili, melted cheeses, hickory-smoked bacon and jalapeno slices.
From the "Dinner Specials" menu, my wife chose the Fireside T-bone ($20.99), a tender, 16-oz. bone-in slab of meat topped with a slice of grilled onion and doused with herb-shallot butter sauce. I think this classic would turn even the most serious vegan into a raving carnivore. Juicy and tender, it’s just everything you want a steak to be.
I went with the half-rack of Baby Back Ribs ($13.49) and never even needed to use my knife. A fork or a finger was enough to pull the juicy, tender meat off the bone. The deliciously sweet BBQ sauce was lavishly slathered over the whole rack and there was an extra cup of it for dipping. I usually prefer a little more smoky-ness in my BBQ but this was such good meat, I really did not miss it.
Other entrées at Longhorn are the Bacon-Wrapped 9.oz Filet Mignon ($18.99); the Bleu Cheese Crusted Filet served atop a marinated, grilled portabella mushroom; ($19.49); a 12 oz. or 16 oz. Rib Eye; Flo’s Filet & Grilled Shrimp ($20.49); an 11 oz. Chopped Ground Sirloin smothered with grilled onions and mushrooms ($11.29); and The Longhorn ($21.49), a 20 oz. char-grilled special "giant USDA Choice porterhouse with a N.Y. Strip and large filet in one thick, delicious cut."
In addition to ribs and chops and BBQ-ed chicken entrées, The Longhorn also serves salmon grilled with their "secret marinade" ($12.99); Texas Gulf Shrimp, breaded and fried, ($13.79); and Flo’s Filet & Longhorn Salmon ($19.99).
As you might expect, the desserts here are as big and flamboyant as a Texas hoe-down with items like the Chocolate Stampede ($6.40), two peaks of chocolate cake packed with six types of chocolate, plus fudge sauce and whipped cream; Key Lime Pie ($4.29) served with raspberry and kiwi-lime sauces; Walnut Fudge Brownie ($4.29) and the Caramel Apple Goldrush ($5.99), baked cinnamon apples with butter and brown sugar with vanilla ice cream.
We shared their newest addition, the Cookie Dough Cheesecake ($5.49), an eight-inch-high slice of creamy cheesecake marbled with chocolate chip cookie dough accompanied by a crumbly chocolate chip cookie.
If you enjoy rich, lavish Western style steakhouse dining, The Longhorn is definitely going to feel like "home on the range" to you. Part of growing national network, there’s only one Longhorn Steakhouse here in Rhode Island at the moment, and they’re open for lunch and dinner every day. Their wine list is short but you’re bound to find the right match for the basic, hearty fare served here at this beef-lover’s oasis deep in the heart of the Warwick Mall. For more information call 737-6943 or visit their
website.Bob Mariani is a Southeastern New England freelance author. Besides his "Your Table is Ready" restaurant reviews found here, he also writes jazz articles on allaboutjazz.com.
