Saddle Ranch Chop House

Well a long time ago, in . . .this very restaurant . . .I came by at night for some fun with friends. Apparently the bouncers think you 're too drunk to go in when you drop your phone as you try to pull it out of your pocket and it gets stuck. Bad first experience and I haven 't returned until today for lunch. Today was also my first time dining here and it was bad from the start. Here 's the conclusion before the story begins: I won 't return and won 't recommend this place. We had reservations at 1:00 made a week prior for a large group, about 25 people. We arrived about 20 minutes before the reservation about 12:40 and told the hostess we had reservations. First she started questioning us like we were lying. Really? Literally the first thing we said was we have reservations for 1:00 . Once she confirmed that we had a reservation, she told us we had to wait until 1:00 to be seated. I looked around and thought Really? The place is empty there are 3 other tables being used and we have to wait like it 's a busy saturday night? there was no reason to make us wait but whatever. I wanted to try a bit of this and that, so I ordered the combo plate that was sure to make an impression. Considering this place is called Saddle Ranch: Chop House , one would expect great BBQ, house-made sauce, and great sides. We didn 't get any of that. My combo included the BBQ ribs and tri tip. The plate definitely looked good, but did not taste anywhere near the appearance. Hey look, 1 star for the appearance of the food! The ribs were dry, over cooked, greasy, and bland. I ripped an piece of bark off the edge that ran down the entire bone of a rib and it was like eating stale bread. There were 4 slices of tri tip, two of which were ridiculously chewy and two ridiculously dry. Somehow these were all cooked at different lengths of time. The sauce was basically a bottled store bought sauce. Too tangy for the type of bbq you get. For the sides I chose the loaded mashed potatoes and sweet potato fries. The loaded fries are a joke, just a mound of their mashed potatoes topped with cheese and some bacon. Nothing loaded about it. Plus the potatoes were bland. The sweet potato fries were over cooked, some fried to the point they had a texture like crackers. At one point I remembered the menu said the table gets a basket of biscuits and cornbread. I asked the waitress for it and she said I 'll have to check, we might be running low . At no point did she ever bring the bread baskets, nor did she ever return to say they were out or what the situation was. She did not even mention anything about the bread while taking orders or introducing herself. Why advertise something you don 't have and why hide the fact you don 't have them? And how can a place like this be low on them? Someone drop the ball on ordering the frozen dough balls? To top it all off, the waitress did in fact inform us that the food might take a while because there was only ONE chef working. Which, was evident when everyone 's plates came out over a span of 10 minutes. Now, I understand we were a large group but really, management knew about this reservation more than a week in advance and did not make arrangements to bring in additional cooks for the hour or two? They just opened a Saddle Ranch in Santa Clarita and I was looking forward to visit. Now I don 't have to.

This place is soooo frustrating. We waited 30 min for a table yet could spot well over 10 empty tables. Being understaffed on a Friday night is just unacceptable. Our waitress was very friendly but when we were clearly finished, napkins on plates, leaning back, waiting for her to come over she didn't. I'd say I waited 20 minutes for a check and we paid and got out of there. Touristy (I was one of them) and not worth it, but I will say the portions are huge for average tasting food. We had guac, chicken caesar wrap, cheeseburger, a bbq chicken salad and the pancake combo. Again, average at best.

BULL RIDING 1) show ID 2) sign a waver 3) pay $4 4) jump on bull 5) ride and fall off First time attempting to ride the bull after a full day at Universal Studios. Want as easy as I thought it would be. You literally feel like you were going to fling right off and eventually you do.

The service here was excellent. Our waitress was a superstar: She came out with a smile and took our order willingly. She checked up on us from time to time. The food was yummy. I would come again.

I've been here many times. Great food. You can eat indoors or out. Portions are big, so its wise to share with someone, or even get an appetizer for yourself if you want. Huge beer selection, huge mix drinks. Plenty of screens for sports. Bull ride is always fun. Friendly staff and live music. Good all around vibe.