Lone Star Papanui

Came to Lone Star after another place failed us with a dinner. Got a Gerhard Burger with fries. The burger was nice, could have been hotter temperature wise, but was ok. Fries good as expected. Staff opened with apologies for a limited menu, which was very considerate. Over all a pleasant experience.

It's the Lone Star, so you know what you're going to get; it's replaced Cobb&co as NZ's standard and steady un-threatening meal out. Which is pretty sad, actually, as Lone Star used to be exciting, semi-exotic flavors, all with the bonus of being meals bigger than your head. But this place hasn't changed and updated while the world and restaurants around it has. Lone Star needs a shakeup. Desperately. There's not a single dish that isn't done better elsewhere. The ribs taste plain, boiled then finished on a grill, and retirement on the sweet sauce for flavour while the competitors are using genuine smokers. The chicken seems dry and old fashioned, compared to the juicy, fast, smoky and spicy chicken available not 1 minute' s walk away. The nachos are plain, under-flavored, under-sauced and a bit boring, compared to the feast with chips at the Mexican place. And so on, and so on. If you come with your friends, you'll get friendly service, okay food, big servings, and many drinks. But if you're looking for the Lone Star of the past, move on. It's not here any more and NZ has moved on.

We inguired about the ribs, said we were not overly hungry. We were led to believe the rib we chose were singles, small and fine...we therefore chose to order 12, not 6. These HUGE ribs were way way more than we wanted. We were ill advised and after specifically saying we were not overly hungry. On leaving, we were charged for 2 Meals. Not impressed. We managed to eat 6, and took the rest home. Seriously, stop with the sooper sizing over the top style. We were not impressed.

Had a great night at Lone Star Northlands. Paige was amazing, our daughter was putting her through her paces with multiple special requests, and she handled them with skill and finesse. Nice job Paige, hope to see you soon.

Wow! That is all I can say. I came in last week for dinner with my family and it was already quite busy, was seated quickly and in a nice part of the restaurant. The service my family and I received from both Fran Meg was impeccable. We were treated like the only table in the place, even though it was getting pretty full. Honestly the best dinner outing we've had in quite a long time!!