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I recently dined on a ten-ounce filet mignon of restaurant quality for $13.60 plus tax — and if tax was included, the total cost came out to $14.42 — and you can potentially take advantage of this offer if you act fast, thanks in part to the current 2019 Novel Coronavirus pandemic.
How to Save Up to 55 Percent on Restaurant Quality Steaks — Or Possibly More — But Hurry
First, remember that most restaurants throughout the United States have been forced to close their dining rooms to patrons and conjure up creative and inventive ways to weather out the 2019 Novel Coronavirus pandemic — such as offer take out service and delivery service as two of many examples.
Second, many of them are offering deals and sales to entice customers to patronize them…
…and LongHorn Steakhouse — which rarely has great deals — is no exception; but there are several offers which are currently valid.
1. Optional Step: Purchase a Gift Card From LongHorn Steakhouse
This step is not part of the deal; but I thought I would write about it anyway because I did not realize that I erred — the restaurant was okay with the error and happily accepted it — but you can still benefit from this step anyway.
Although I gave some useful advice pertaining to eight reasons to be careful about buying gift cards during the 2019 Novel Coronavirus pandemic to protect you if you decide to purchase a gift card — yes, you do still have to be careful — with every purchase of $50.00 worth of gift cards at LongHorn Steakhouse, you receive an eBonus card worth ten dollars which can be used between Monday, April 13, 2020 and Wednesday, July 15, 2020. The eBonus card cannot be used between Monday, May 4, 2020 and Sunday, May 10, 2020; and it cannot be used between Monday, June 15, 2020 and Sunday, June 21, 2020.
I did not immediately realize that the eBonus card will not be valid until Monday, April 13, 2020; and when I used it with the other offers which are highlighted in this article, I purchased a a ten-ounce filet mignon of restaurant quality for $3.60 plus tax — and if tax was included, the total cost came out to $3.82.
I am not advising that you go purchase a ten-ounce filet mignon of restaurant quality for $3.60; but you can potentially save money on the purchase of that same filet mignon by using the eBonus card of ten dollars towards that purchase and pay as little as $6.00 plus tax for it.
This gift card offer is only available through Sunday, April 12, 2020.
2. Purchase Your Steak From LongHorn SteakShop
As one of the creative ways to weather out the 2019 Novel Coronavirus pandemic, LongHorn Steakhouse opened up LongHorn SteakShop, through which you can purchase raw beef while supplies last at prices that rival — or even undercut — similar beef cuts at supermarkets and grocery stores, whose shelves in the meat department have recently been empty anyway.
Choose from eight cuts of beef which are of restaurant quality at reasonable prices:
- 6 ounce Renegade Sirloin — $6.00 normally $11.49
- 8 ounce Renegade Sirloin — $8.00 normally $14.49
- 12 ounce Ribeye — $14.00 normally $19.99
- 6 ounce Flo’s Filet — $12.00 normally $19.79
- 8 ounce Flo’s Filet — $14.00 normally $23.29
- 10 ounce Flo’s Filet — $16.00 normally $28.49
- 18 ounce Bone-In Outlaw Ribeye — $16.00 normally $24.49
- 12 ounce New York Strip — $14.00 normally $19.99
You can also choose from the following three side dishes — each of which costs one dollar:
- Mashed potatoes
- Fresh broccoli
- Seasoned rice pilaf
3. Save 15 Percent on Online To Go Order
A coupon with which you can save 15 percent on your order is currently in effect through Sunday, April 12, 2020 — but even if you do not have the coupon, you can likely use promotion code LH44 to activate the discount of 15 percent.
If you use the coupon on the 6 ounce Renegade Sirloin, for example, you will pay $5.10 for it after applying the discount of 15 percent — which is slightly greater than 55 percent off of the regular price of $11.49 when the steak is prepared, cooked, and served in the dining area of the restaurant…
…and if the 6 ounce Renegade Sirloin is still available after Sunday, April 12, 2020, you may be able to use that eBonus card of ten dollars — which you get at no extra charge with every $50.00 you pay for LongHorn Steakhouse gift cards — and potentially purchase the 6 ounce Renegade Sirloin for free with less than four dollars left over on the eBonus card for side dishes or whatever else you want.
A potential discount of up to 100 percent is usually not a bad thing.
4. Pick up the Order at the Restaurant
Simply drive — or even walk, if that is possible — up to the restaurant location at which you placed your order and pick it up.
The cold raw steak and its accoutrements will be waiting for you and handed to you in a bag.
You can pay when you place your order; or you can pay in person when you pick up your order.
Taste Test
I decided to do the unpopular task of trying out a steak of restaurant quality where I am based; so I purchased the 10 ounce Flo’s Filet for $14.42, which included tax and is approximately 52.25 percent of the usual cost.
The steak came in a microwaveable plastic container — but do not microwave it to cook it, as I cannot think of a better way to ruin a steak.
Every order from LongHorn SteakShop comes with fresh warm honey wheat bread and butter, which was good — but be sure to eat the bread before your steak is cooked, as it will not stay warm for long.
Also with each order, you will get a plastic container of seasoning — more than enough to season the steak — and plastic cutlery.
Although the filet mignon was not graded Prime by the United States Department of Agriculture, it was a very nice cut of beef.
The best way to cook the filet mignon is arguably with a searing hot pan; but I decided to grill it outside.
I use good old fashioned charcoal with no lighter fluid. I do not use gas or propane for my outdoor grill.
The steak was positioned off to the side of the glowing charcoals so that it may cook slowly but still have a nice char and sear to it while remaining tender.
The steak was served with mashed potatoes and broccoli.
I cut into the steak, which I typically like between the temperature of medium and well done…
…but do not let how done the steak was cooked fool you: it was quite tender and even slightly juicy — and there was not a globule of fat or piece of cartilage or gristle or bone anywhere to be found. This filet mignon was very good to excellent and far surpassed the quality of a similar cut which is typically found in a supermarket or grocery store. The seasoning added a nice depth of flavor to this filet mignon.
I enjoyed the side dishes as well — especially as I used some of the mashed potatoes to sop up what juices were left behind from this cut of beef.
Summary
Other restaurants have similar “shopping” experiences; but I have not tried them at this time. For example, you can purchase select restaurant food and supplies from Ruby Tuesday through their Ruby’s Pantry — such as 36 hamburgers graded Choice by the United States Department of Agriculture at seven ounces each for $66.24, which comes out to $1.84 per hamburger excluding tax.
Check to see if your favorite restaurant may have a similar option available to you.
My past experiences of dining at LongHorn Steakhouse are usually wildly hit or miss. Sometimes the beef approaches Prime quality; and other times, it is so bad that I have no choice but to ask the server for a different steak — and my request has never been denied…
…but I have to say that the LongHorn SteakShop was a delightful — I cannot believe I used that word — experience which I look forward to replicating whenever possible. I hope that LongHorn SteakShop may somehow become a permanent option as yet another choice for customers long after the 2019 Novel Coronavirus pandemic subsides.
I highly recommend purchasing a raw cut of beef from the LongHorn SteakShop — especially if you can take advantage of the aforementioned discounts and offers.
Sometimes necessity really is the mother of invention…
All photographs ©2020 by Brian Cohen.
