Dinner tonight makes me solidly want to give a half star (as in 4 and a half stars). As a college student of the 90s, I learned that Cattle Baron was THE place to take your parents, or your date. Like many of our 90s icons, Cattle Baron has taken a bit of a fall from grace. However, I have to say that the 90s are alive and well in Portales, NM. I walked in to the friendly starched whites and bolo ties of the Clinton years. The 20" TVs of yesteryear have been replaced with flat screens, yet, the pastel colors and the consistent architecture lives on. And, free wifi - welcome to the 21st Century, I guess. I sat in the bar (in part so I could use my laptop to catch up on Yelp reviews). The service was a little slow, I never got bread, for example. But, I do not fault the bartender - she had about 6 - 8 tables, plus a crew of regulars at the bar. I didn't really appreciate the stack of dirty plates on the table next to me, but again, it's not because she wasn't trying. The food was good. The steak was a tick overcooked (but not enough to complain). My baked potato did not come with butter, but they fixed it quick. Overall, I would come back. read more

The Cattle Baron does have good food. I do find it a little pricey for the area, but they do have great steak. What I enjoy going to the Cattle Baron for is their salad bar. It has amazing fresh items with a really good selection. I especially love that they have this big hunk of cheese there that you can slice cheese off of. It is a great place if you are going for a special night or if you have company in town to have a good dinner. read more

Thank you Makayla for making my mom's birthday so special! You were a breath of fresh air and have such a great personality! Had a wonderful experience! read more

Since moving here, this has been the only restaurant that I haven't hated. In fact I really enjoy it! I am absolutely in love with their bread, if I could figure out how to make it I would probably be the happiest person alive. Though the last time I went I did get a burned piece, so I are as much as I could then I got another one. I've been there several times and the steak is okay, and I had a really good burger last time. But what's really great is the banana pudding! Just be careful, I'm slightly lactose intolerant, and didn't think about it and ate a bunch of pudding one time then got sick. So take it in doses! A recommendation, try to sit in the main area, like by the salad bar. One time my dad and I were put in the little addition in the back and we hated it. It was far too hot and had a funny smell to it. So from now on we're only going to sit by the salad bar! read more

Traveling through Portales NM on business. Saw this place online and it looked like a good option in a town without many choices. Well I was hoping that a local steakhouse would be a good experience. Sad to say but a national chain would have been better. Salad bar is nice. I was eating my salad when my dinner came out. My wine had not even arrived yet. Ordered a ribeye, medium. Cut into the middle to check and it was fine. This was absolutely the toughest ribeye I have ever had though. When I got to the one end, it was not remotely medium. The end was bleeding. The baked potato was dry. For what I paid, I expected better. If by some odd chance I happen to come through Portales again I won't stop here. Doubtful I would try any of their other locations either. read more

So the salad bar has a great selection and is unlimited which is nice but to be honest no one goes to a steak place for the salad I had the 10oz ribeye and for 25$ I could have bought the family pack of ribeyes from Walmart! Disappointed to say the least read more

Cattle Baron - Ribeye and loaded baked potato - Steakhouses Near Me - Portales, New Mexico

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I just had the best meal here. From the time I walked in the staff was superb. Everything from the salad bar to the fresh hot bread was fantastic. I had the ribeye OMG cooked perfectly tasted fantastic. read more

Was excited to go here. Heard a lot about it. We noticed right away there were a lot of flies in the restaurant. My 11 year old found a dead fly in her salad. Not exactly sure what part of the salad bar it was in but there are several flies around it. Just really grossed us out for the rest of the evening. read more

UPDATED: I received and read Mr. Padilla's DM, I actually didn't call or email him like he has asked however, I went back in since he told me he would get to the bottom of things, (this was just 3 weeks ago that I went back, I decided to give them a little more then a few months to fix what they needed) I have to say I am very happy that Mr Padilla read and actually did rectify everything I felt was so horrible!.. I ordered my steak (Medium Rare) the waitress actually waited to make sure it was correct and it was! So even though it took me 4 months to go back and 3 weeks to update my review I wanted to make sure that Mr. Padilla knew I did read his email and I would have called or wrote him but I am not out for any type of compensation I would just like to go have a meal and get what I pay for. Many thanks to you Mr. Padilla and a pat on the back the steak was well marinated and the potatoes were edible and actually very good! So again thank you for fixing and looking out for those of us who just want to enjoy a good steak now and then! You've done your job if you ask me and went above and beyond by fixing a lot of what I saw go wrong my first visit! Thank you and have a wonderful holiday! read more

Not the Cattle Baron I remember. Flies all over the salad bar. Lettuce was brown. Baked potato looked to be part rotten. Mac n cheese for the little looked and tasted like box Kraft. My daughter almost broke a tooth on what appeared to be a piece of broken crockery in her salad. Of course they had no idea where it came from. I mean really? At what used to be a nice steakhouse. Disappointed is an understatement. No quality control. We won't be going again. read more

We tried the Cattle Baron for our Anniversary this year and had a really good experience. The wait staff was attentive and happy to give a free dessert for our big day. The thing that will keep me coming back to this place is the salad bar. I have never seen one this big and with so many great options, including three different types of chilies. AWESOME! The salad bar also has homemade soup on the end, SO YUMMY. I tried the cream of chicken soup. The entrees were simple but tasty. We both enjoyed the prime rib with potatoes for a side. Both of our cuts of meat were perfectly cooked and the prime rib was awesomely seasoned. We will definitely visit the Cattle Baron again. read more

Well...Hmmmm had dinner there Saturday night let's just say beyond dissatisfied and disappointed...Ordered the Chopsteak and received what easily resembled a hockey puck.. Chopped Steak was so burnt couldn't even cut through it so awful. To top things off we found a dead fly in my wife's pudding off the salad bar... This place is a joke prices are far and way pass ridiculous for the quality of food you get. I'd honestly give this place no stars if it were possible. Me and my family will never ever go there again sad day! read more

I absolutely love Cattle Baron and the manager there is great! It is definitely pricier than some of the other restaurants in town, but don't let that deter you from trying them. They also have a full service bar and make great martinis. You will not be disappointed! PERSONAL FAVORITES: - Lemon Drop Martini - Salad Bar - Green Chile Won tons (appetizer) - Honey Mustard Pork chops (they have a lunch portion and dinner portion of this) - Cheesecake (made from scratch!) read more

Server and service was great, the prime rib wasn't bad. Handcut sweet potatoes fries were excellent. I would like to give it 3.5 stars but went with 4 because of the service. read more

Their prices are ridiculous. I could buy a steak from walmart for half the price, season it better, and probably cook it better. Also, one of my old roommates (whom I didn't really like) used to work here and was discriminated against every single day because he was gay. He finally lost it after several months of torment by one of the owner's sons and punched him square in the face. Not the best way to solve the situation, but I have to admit I was kind of impressed. read more

Great service from our server Marshall!! Thank you for everything and all your great service!! The food was awesome steaks are great!! Anyone coming to visit Clovis NM or Portales NM has to come visit this restraunt!! read more

No one has reviewed this place in a whole so here you go. I just moved here from Dc. I've been to Ruth Chris and Morton's. So it's in in the same class as those but as far as a steak house it is very good the Ribeye isn't dry aged and mine was not seasoned at all. But with all that said the steak was very good. It came with a salad bar which was also very good. I may have only given it a 4 but cleanliness is lacking decor is lacking. Those are they only bad things though. So in summery food very good has room for improvement. Well worth the money though.. read more

Thank you Cattle Baron for being so understanding for our family dinner on January 20th, 2013. We were supposed to have 18 but only 10 made it and you were very accomodating. Server could have been a little more on spot (had to ask to refresh drinks), but all the food, including the salad bar, was great! Thank you again for a memorable evening with our family! read more

One of my very favorite restaurants. Whether you order off the menu or get the salad bar (which is the best in the area, in my opinion), you can't go wrong. Love the ambiance and the service can't be beat. read more

We came to the conclusion that the only reason this place is still around, is because it's so dang expensive and there is no competition. This is not your regular steakhouse. When we first were being seated, we followed the hostess to 3 empty booths, all three were filled with crumbs. She had us sit at a table, while she went in the back to get a sanitizer rag to wipe down a booth. After a not-so-great wipe down, she put our menus on the table and said, "Here." Then she moved to the other dirty booths to wipe down. We sat down and waited....we had waited 10 minutes for a waitress, no one even looked in our direction for us to get someone's attention. Our hostess came back and asked if we had been helped, which was painfully obvious because we had an empty table, no bread, no waters. So she took our drink order and we waited for even longer to be brought our drinks. Our hostess, ended up being our waitress for the night. My steak was over-cooked, for a steakhouse, you would think they would know how to make a steak properly. I asked for my mashed potatoes with gravy on the side, there was slopped gravy all over my plate onto my steak. My boyfriends salad (from the salad bar) had the longest black hair in it, mind you he has a shaved head and I am blonde. When the waitress came back to pick up our plates, she asked if there was anything wrong, I told her there was a hair in his food and she just snatched the plate and carried on. No apology. To top it all off, our beers were warm. They are lousy and a very poor ran business. Disaster was written all over the managers face. Maybe it was a bad night for them, but as this was a first experience here, we will not be coming back, so we will never know if it was an off night, or poor restaurant. Cleanliness was also an issue. Not just because the tables were not wiped down, but because I was crunching food from my table to the salad bar with every step, the salad bar needed to be wiped down, window guards needed a good cleaning, just a very dusty feeling all around. My advice, don't waste your time or money. read more

I've always eaten here about 2-3 times a week. I have always had a problem finding anything on the menu that I could eat. It all tends to be extremely fatty and if not fatty then what they put over it makes it too fatty. There are too many deep fried items. They just changed the menu and cut out a lot of items and raised prices. I normally eat in the bar but now if I want the best waitress Megan, I have to go to the family dining area. I don't like eating in the family area and am sorely disappointed that they took their best waitress and put her on that side. The bartender, Chelsea is amazing as well. read more

Wish there was a no stars option. The steak had a ton of fat on it and the chicken alfredo was cold and not to mention the chicken was rubbery. If you come, get the salad bar only. That's the only thing they keep fresh. read more

The food is at best ok for the price. The service is hit and miss depending the server. Over all the place is way to high priced. The drinks are expensive, which I'm sure is because they are one of like 2 or 3 places to get a mixed drink. They aren't even that great. If you can't cook go, if you can save your money and DIY. read more

Eh yeah not really sure where to start. Went here with a group after a long day and got sat right away. The place is a bit run down, dark, and dank but still looked forward to a good meal. Most of us had a steak of some form since there are a lot of cows around here and most of us, sad to say, we're pretty disappointed. I had the filet to really get a grip on how good their steaks were and to be honest, although it was cooked perfectly ill give them that, it really and truly lacked ANY seasoning. I mean for heavens sake i put my own salt and pepper on top. Le sigh. Every steak meal came with the gigantic salad bar which wasn't too bad but I did question the cleanliness. I know there aren't many choices to eat here so if I loved here I would probably come back, but because I don't, I won't lol. read more

Every time I eat here I leave happily. The salad bar is excellent and the steaks are always cooked perfectly for me. The staff does a great job working together all the way around. Always an enjoyable experience. read more

Super disappointed that my favorite waitress isn't serving in the bar area.. I always prefer to sit in there and am a regular customer but for some reason she has not been working in there recently.. service and orders are not as good as it was.. may need to rethink where I eat 4-5 times a week at the minimum.. VERY disapointed as I had begun to tell people how the food and service had improved.. not sure what is going on with the management but it sucks. read more

Steaks good, salad bar has variety, place could use a face lift, service was ok, bathrooms clean and stocked. parking for handicap could be better. read more

My family and I celebrated my birthday by eating at a once great place to eat we walked in and stood in the lobby waiting for an employee to come and greet us and then seat us at a table but after three groups of employees walked up to the hostess station without greeting us or even asking if they could help us I told one of my family members that we hadn't been acknowledged by any of the employees including a manager with long hair by this time we had been waiting close to 15 minutes eventually we stood right up next to the hostess station hoping to get someone's attention and then finally the manager with long hair walked up and asked if he could help us and we told him that we were waiting to be seated Yay we finally got to sit down at a table and our server was great but when we got our food one steak was very overcooked it was ordered medium but came well done and the baked potato had a hair in it GROSS!!! I'm telling you right now I will never celebrate my birthday in this establishment again Oh and by the way this is the second year in a row I had a bad experience at Cattle Baron I guess I should have learned my lesson the first time read more

Really enjoy this steak house. Very large salad bar with a great selection. Delicious steaks and prime. Vincent was our server and he is amazing! Wonderful night out and a great choice of restaurant for a perfect dinner. Will be going back. My friend had the Chicken Oscar and I will be getting that next time. read more

A sad experience . . . . 25 years ago Cattle Baron was "THE PLACE" for an elegant dinner when you wanted to impress a date or an out-of-town guest. Though a good drive from Clovis, this is where you'd find many Cannon AFB officers and airmen as well as ranchers and other locals on a Friday or Saturday night. Your table would have immaculate table cloths and cloth napkins. The flatware and glasses spotless. The bar there would be packed and the good cheer palpable. I returned here a couple of weeks ago after a business trip to Albuquerque left me me time to re-visit Clovis and Cannon AFB where I was stationed in the early 90's. My afternoon call to the Cattle Baron to see if reservations were needed for that Friday evening evinced--I think--a snort of disbelief from the front desk. "Reservations--nah, you don't that, come on in!" When I arrived there about 6:30 pm I was surprised at how small it was--memory had it much larger. But it was when I entered that the passage of time was evident--worn and soiled with grease prints on the glass separators between the booths and peeling paint in the rest room. It was obvious that the owners haven't invested much recently in upkeep. Nevertheless, the restaurant was full. The waitstaff, however, were friendly, knowledgable, and capable. The filet mignon was as juicy and flavorful as I remembered. The complimentary hot bread was very good. The cocktail sauce in the shrimp cocktail was maxed out with horseradish and was quite tasty. Nevertheless the soiled, worn-down interior doesn't invite you to linger--and I didn't. I would hope that management will spend a little money to restore what was once a very, very good restaurant to the standards of a quarter century ago! read more

I was told this was the "steak house" in town and informed one of the better places to eat. I was sadly misinformed. Upon entering, I didn't know where the kitchen ended, bar started, or where the restaurant seating was placed. I chose to sit at the bar as I wanted to watch sports and eat. I asked about the prime rib and was informed it was a top seller. I ordered MR Prime Rib (medium rare) with the salad bar. The salad options were extensive, however I was uncomfortable moving through the space because it felt like I was in the kitchen. I walked from the salad bar back to the bar and felt myself get dirty looks. I think I may have walked through the server's station, but who could know? Am I supposed to walk back out by the hostess stand and foyer to get to the bar seating?? The sauteed mushrooms I ordered were delicious. However, the MR Prime Rib came out GRAY on one side and pink on the other. It was barely warm, which wouldn't be a problem if it was genuinely medium rare. It was very clear that nobody had ordered it that day and the chef simply gave me the end piece that was already exposed. I was so grossed out by the GRAY tone of the meat, I picked apart what I could but couldn't stick out the rest. After the meal, I very kindly informed the server that it was not her fault but she should let the chef know that it was not MR and was less than appealing to serve it. I don't know what happened with the food but the server did not charge me for my glass of wine. There was no mention of anything by a Manager, which is what typically would have happened in a restaurant. If someone complains, a manager generally comes to the table. I chose not to return again for dinner, once was enough. read more

This place is probably the fanciest place in Portales. They have pretty good food. The only drawback is the high prices. If you have to stop in Portales and don't know where to eat, I would suggest this place. read more

Lots of improvements in the past year, management seems to have changed a bit. Burgers are great, lunch salads are too, and prime rib is always awesome. Marshall and Delaney are great servers! read more

Great service,and the salad bar was awesome.The steaks are overpriced and not very good at all.You would think in a place like this that the steaks would be great.My sweet potato fries were also not cooked all the way.Also,everything we tried was incredibly bland.Maybe sometime I will give it a second try and order something different,but not very likely.Good place to go get a bloody Mary or something on a Sunday though lol read more

I give this restaurant 2 stars simply for having a good salad bar. I can buy a WALMART steak, marinate it, cook it and enjoy for half the price. This place is way overpriced and unfortunately is the only "real" steak place around. While some of the menu items are decent I have left feeling full but broke on every visit. The staff is very friendly and attentive. read more

We went to Cattle Baron for a friend's birthday and there were only 16 of us in the restaurant. We should have known the night was going to be bad when they had been out of straws since 11:30am while there is a dollar store across the street. It took 55 minutes to get our appetizer which was the sampler and it was not good. 4 of us ordered burgers ranging from medium rare to medium well and all 4 were well done and dry and the fries were cold. When we complained, the server didn't really care. She just said oh, I'm sorry and walked away. The manager came out and had the same attitude and didn't seem to care. When we finally got our checks after being there for 2 hours, we only ended up paying for our drinks and the appetizer. read more

One of my favorite places in Portales is Cattle Baron! The food is always hot and better than average. The steak is wonderful and the salad bar will make even a salad hater want to try salad. The veggies are colorful and it is a full salad bar with all sorts of things from salad, to sweets, to pastas. The atmosphere is nice and not overly bright. The bar area is small but nice and enjoyable. read more

The Cattle Baron #1 did not disappoint! I am a vegetarian, and the salad bar was amazing. Their made from scratch cheese sticks were presented well with a zesty marinara sauce for dipping. Their children's selections were of the basic variety, but the portions were perfect for my three year old. He picked the chicken strips and ate every bite. No left-overs means he enjoyed them tremendously. I noticed some new faces manager wise, but all places go through changes at one point or another. Our service was excellent; just the right amount of attention and genuine friendliness. I recommend this establishment due to the variety of fare and overall dining experience. read more