Frequent Diners Unhappy with Dakota's
My wife and I recently visited the Dakota's in Simi Valley. We have eaten at the restaurant a handful of times. Each visit is either hit or miss. This visit was different. We noticed they had removed the sandwiches from their dinner menu. Their prices were higher compared to other steak restaurants in the area. I ordered a $24 Blackened Rib Eye steak. It looked more like a 2-day expired steak out of Vons meat case. Taste was average. Definitely not worth the price. I also ordered a side salad for around three dollars. I would not have served the lettuce to a rabbit. It was yellow and poor quality. We had nice servers but they were understaffed and these people were running around with their heads cut off. Our bill totalled just under $60 with tip.

We were upset that we wasted an opportunity to eat out at such a poorly operated establishment. I spoke to another couple at the restaurant whom I knew. They expressed similar feelings towards the restaurant and their experience. I eat out 3-4 times a week and have over 8 years experience in the wholesale grocery industry. I consider myself a good judge of business. This place will suffer severe loss of business from the Simi Valley community. I have lived here my whole life. People will not stand for sub par meals. They work too hard for their money. My solution to this problem was easy. The next evening we ate at the Cheesecake Factory with some of our friends. We waited a while, but the food is always perfect and the service warranted a $22 tip from our $90 bill. Great meal. Sorry Dakota's. You have lost a customer that has given you more than enough chances.

On a side note the parking lot at Dakota's appears to be filled with more motorhomes and toys of the owner rather than parking.    [17 Nov 2003 11:09:12]

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     ­Josh Lorencz   jo8278 at aol dot com

Sorry to Read That Review!
Dakota's is GREAT! The service is always friendly. The food is really good and the specialty drinks taste great with a PUNCH! I love to eat in or order out! Even the view of the sunset is wonderful. Simi needs nice restauraunts like this. Everything I have ordered has been good. The chocolaty deserts too. Only problem I ever had was a missing candle on the table..and that wasn't really a problem!    [07 Jan 2004 12:00:56]

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Recommended Dishes: Barbecue Chicken salad, Appetizer plate, Steaks are good too, Shredded onions

     ­Anonymous   

I Somehow Get the Impression That . . .
. . . maybe Josh works for the competition. Never had a bad meal there, although the wait was a little excessive. Compared to the Cheesecake Factory there was no wait. Although, I love the Cheesecake Factory too. Dakota's biggest problem is being established in a community that's not know to have much of "fine" anything but views, space, and land. Guess time will tell.    [05 Mar 2004 15:17:13]

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Recommended Dishes: Can't go wrong with their menu

     ­Scott   

Overpriced
I think looking at Dakotas from the Freeway..it looks great.. but the view, with the window coverings as they are, you dont see much of a view. The food is overpriced for Simi Valley; I am not a fan of a la carte. I find the dining area a little noisy, due to no partitions.

Since there is no other real good alternative, I will go back about once a year.    [12 Apr 2004 18:55:20]

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Recommended Dishes: Prime Rib

     ­Jim   

What Happened?
The service & the food was absolutely incredible, I had not dined there in years but to my surprise they must have had management change they did a complete 180 from years ago. My Filet was to die for and my wife's lobster was the best I've ever had. Linda our server was incredible. She was attentive to all the details from keeping our glasses full and replenishing our wine when needed. Thank you for making our anniversary spectacular.    [24 Aug 2004 12:48:36]

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Recommended Dishes: Filet, Lobster

     ­Jim D.   

Ugh
If you don't want steak don't eat at Dakota's. Chicken was horrible, salad was old and yellow, they have fancy names for their entrees, but they are gross. Husband asked for "honey mustard" and the waiter snootily said, "do you mean honey Dijon?" Then brought out honey mustard. Fancy named mashed potatoes out of a box. Ugh and a double ugh.    [07 Dec 2005 19:37:37]

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Recommended Dishes: water

     ­Anonymous   

Change for the Worse
Service on 1/15/06 left a LOT to be desired. Mall location and restaurant interior are not as nice as previous spot on Stow St. Too crowded and noisy. Prices had gone up a little. Food was good, but had to keep reminding server of what was ordered, even drinks, and did not get everything. Will not go back. Ever.    [16 Jan 2006 13:13:41]

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     ­Anonymous   

Dined at Dakota's several times at the old location. Always crowded and noisy, but the steaks and prime rib were pretty good. Went to the new location at the mall. What a disappointment! Service was bad, my steak was sub par and the prices were ridiculously high! Never again!    [13 Sep 2006 16:31:57]

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     ­Ed   

A Great Find
Came over from Northridge . . . sat in Lauren's section and got tremendous attentive service. Look, five stars it ain't, but the steaks are terrific, the desserts to die for . . . below Ruth's Chris, but below them in price, too. But so much closer to Ruth's Chris than to Outback (hate Outback, overrated). Worth a drive. Go . . . now. Ask for Lauren.    [13 Jul 2007 20:02:13]

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     ­Anonymous   

Overpriced, Underwhelming
We occasionally dined at the old Dakota's on Stow Street, and were always assured of a good meal, reasonable prices, and attentive service from experienced wait staff.

It had been awhile since Dakota's moved to its present location in the Simi Town Center, so we decided to give it a try.

It's not the same place anymore. And I don't just mean the location.

First of all, the prices are outrageous. The least expensive item on the menu is a salad without any protein source -- just vegetables -- and just under $15!

If you want meat (and face it, that's what we go to Dakota's to get), you will pay a minimum of $20 for it. Just the meat. There are some entrées that you can order with your choice of two side dishes, but they are all in the over-$20 range.

If you want to order side dishes a la carte, you can pay up to $10 or more for a side that feeds one person.

Three of us in our party of four ordered salads, because we couldn't justify paying $25-$40 for a serving of meat.

My Cobb salad was passable, except that the turkey was uniform cubes of the processed-and-formed variety, and there is really no excuse for that in a $15 salad. But at least I could find the turkey! My husband couldn't find the chicken in his BBQ Chopped Chicken Salad! Turns out it was shredded and hanging on to the nest of crispy onions at the top of the salad.

As for the other couple dining with us, he ordered a combination platter with baby back ribs and tri-tip, and she ordered the steak salad with balsamic vinaigrette on the side -- and front of her blouse when a wait staffer spilled the dressing while placing it on the table.

Which brings us to the service. All wait staff are young and relatively inexperienced. Service appears to be a team, rather than one server. There were some problems with the service, but I can't fault it, except that I expect more from an upscale restaurant.

Our order-taker was pleasant and got everything right. There was the problem with our female companion wearing her balsamic vinaigrette on her cotton blouse, but management and other wait staff came over immediately and wiped up some of the mess (our female diner pointed out to our server/spiller that he was about to place her salad plate on a pool of dressing and asked him to wipe it first). Management brought over a bowl of salt water and a clean napkin so our friend could clean her blouse, and also offered to reimburse for any dry cleaning. Fair enough. She did have to ask for another serving of dressing, because after the spill there was really nothing left in the gravy boat it was served in, and the plate it was resting on was messy and goopy from the original spill.

Later on, two of us asked for refills on iced tea. A staffer whisked away our glasses, and 15 or so minutes later, were we served our refills with apologies. Apparently, a staffer served our "refills" to the table behind ours by mistake (hope they got clean glasses)! We were "comped" for the refills because of the error.

All in all, considering the food, prices and service, I don't think Dakota's will be seeing us again anytime soon.    [16 Sep 2007 15:27:04]

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     ­Anonymous