What Not to Order at LongHorn Steakhouse

LongHorn Steakhouse grills a genuinely good steak for the money — but like every big chain menu, it has a few items that food writers, kitchen insiders, and everyday diners consistently say to skip. These are the most commonly cited misses at LongHorn Steakhouse in 2026, based on published reviews and customer feedback — not our opinions, just the patterns that keep showing up.

1. Any Steak Ordered Well-Done (Especially Flo’s Filet)

The number one kitchen-staff tip: never order a lean cut well-done. Flo’s Filet is prized for buttery tenderness, not marbling — cook it past medium and the moisture escapes, leaving a dense, leathery puck. If you need your steak well-done, order the Renegade Sirloin or a ribeye, where marbling survives the extra heat.

Medium-rare to medium is the sweet spot at LongHorn. Their fire-grilling does its best work there.

2. LongHorn Salmon

Tasting Table’s review team flagged the salmon as the single menu item to avoid: the bourbon-marinated fillet arrived dry and tough, with none of the promised sweet-savory flavor. Customer reviews echo the complaint — excessively salty, overcooked, and inconsistent from location to location. At a steakhouse, the fish is the riskiest bet on the board.

Want seafood? The Redrock Grilled Shrimp combo gets far better marks.

3. Loaded Potato Soup

It looks like a safe starter, but this soup is a meal’s worth of heaviness before your steak arrives. A single bowl carries around 970mg of sodium, and reviewers describe firm potato chunks and bacon bits that make for a lot of chewing in what’s supposed to be a smooth dish. Order it and you risk being too full for the main event.

4. Shrimp & Lobster Chowder

Read the name, then manage your expectations. Reviewers found mostly corn, potatoes, and bell peppers in the bowl, with small rubbery shrimp and little to no actual lobster — more of an essence-of-lobster situation. If you want soup, the chili is the safer, cheaper pick.

5. Steakhouse Mac & Cheese

Reviews range from “tolerable at best” to a gummy, overly saucy mess at its worst. As a steak side, it also duplicates what the kitchen does worse than the dedicated sides — the Crispy Brussels Sprouts or a Loaded Baked Potato are better uses of the side slot.

6. Fire-Grilled T-Bone (Order Flo’s Filet Instead)

In side-by-side taste tests, the T-bone came off underwhelming next to the rest of the lineup. You get a filet and a strip in one cut — but at around $30+, reviewers say Flo’s Filet (roughly $25–28) delivers the better bite for less money. The T-bone isn’t bad; it’s just outmatched.

7. The Renegade Sirloin — Order It Right or Skip It

This is the most polarizing item on the menu. It’s the cheapest steak at LongHorn, and when it’s on, it’s a legit value. But customer reviews report the widest inconsistency of any cut: sometimes juicy and well-seasoned, often overcooked, chewy, or aggressively salted. If you order it, ask for medium-rare and check the temp when it arrives — that one step fixes most complaints.

Honorable Mentions: High-Calorie Traps

Not “bad” food, but order these knowing what you’re getting into:

• Big Sky Burger: half-pound beef plus prime rib and Swiss — around 79 grams of fat. At a steakhouse, that’s steak money for a burger.
• Blue Ridge Wedge Salad: looks virtuous, lands at roughly 46 grams of fat under blue cheese sauce and bacon.
• Texas Tonion: the blooming-onion appetizer clocks in around 1,180 calories before your entrée shows up.
• Plain steamed broccoli and seasoned rice pilaf: reviewers call the broccoli limp and unseasoned and the pilaf bland — the Brussels sprouts or asparagus cost barely more.
• Baby Back Ribs (without a request): order them “extra caramelized on the grill” so the sauce chars instead of tasting warmed-through.

5 Rules for Ordering Right at LongHorn

1. Stay in the steak lane. Fire-grilled beef is what this kitchen does best — steaks, combos, and the parmesan-crusted chicken.
2. Cook it medium-rare to medium. Especially filet and sirloin. Well-done ruins lean cuts.
3. Skip the heavy soup starter. Save room for the steak; the honey wheat bread is free anyway.
4. Ask how the ribs are finished. “Extra caramelized” is the insider request.
5. When in doubt, order the filet. Our best things to eat at LongHorn guide ranks Flo’s Filet at the top for a reason.

Ready to order the good stuff? Browse the full LongHorn Steakhouse menu with 2026 prices — and see the menu with pictures so you know exactly what you’re getting.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the worst thing to order at LongHorn Steakhouse?

Based on published reviews, the LongHorn Salmon is the most consistently criticized item — dry, overcooked, and salty. The Loaded Potato Soup and Shrimp & Lobster Chowder are the most-cited appetizer misses.

Why shouldn’t you order salmon at a steakhouse?

Steakhouses optimize their kitchens for beef: high-heat grills, beef-focused seasoning, and fast steak turnover. Fish gets less attention and, at LongHorn specifically, reviewers report it arrives overcooked and inconsistent across locations.

Is it bad to order a steak well-done at LongHorn?

For lean cuts like Flo’s Filet, yes — well-done cooking drives out the moisture that makes filet tender, leaving it dense and leathery. If you prefer well-done, choose a marbled cut like ribeye or the Renegade Sirloin instead.

What should you not order at a steakhouse in general?

The pattern holds across chains: skip the fish, skip heavy soup starters that fill you up before the steak, don’t order lean cuts well-done, and be wary of the fattiest burgers and salads that cost steak money without delivering steak.

What is the best thing to order at LongHorn instead?

Flo’s Filet (6oz) is the consensus top pick — buttery, consistent, and fairly priced. The Outlaw Ribeye wins for flavor maximalists. See our full ranking of the best things to eat at LongHorn.

Related: LongHorn Steakhouse Menu With Prices (2026) · Find a LongHorn Near You · Cheapest Steak at LongHorn