Review Mac's Steakhouse - Rotorua

We enjoyed our lunch of open-faced steak sandwich with fries and salad with garlic shrimp and black bean couscous. It would have been a 5 rating, but the salad had too much dressing, and the oil pooled in the bottom of the bowl. It was a great day to be near the fireplace but also in the open air.

Excellent food but mediocre service. We loved all the food we ordered - Salmon with Risotto, Braised Beef Cheek and Fillet Mignon Steak. The Braised Beef Cheek was exceptionally good. Sadly the service staff were not so friendly and seemed impatient when we asked for service. It is a nice place to dine in only if you’re not bothered by the service staff who pulled a long face most of the time. Unlike Ambrosia Restaurant where the staff served you with a smile.

We love the ribs on there menu, it is yummy, soft and tasty. The place is quite busy but it wont take that long for your order. This place can be found in Eat street. We love Seafood chowder and Ribs 🫰 Parking is not a problem after 6pm, it is free.

Darryl was our server and was great, we thought he did an ace job. Food was delicious and speedy considering how busy the place can get. Plenty of free parking nearby after 6pm.

We were on the hunt for a decent steak or lamb meal (one that wasn't the same old shanks with mash). My partner had the surf and turf, I had the lamb rack. The lamb was perfectly cooked, beautifully flavoured with mustard and a mint puree. Nice to have vege too. Drinks were spot on, service was excellent, would come back for the lamb!!! 🤤

The price of the daily special is attractive. Steak and lamb are all good. Lovely staffs.

Went there with family and friends for my 50th birthday. Service was awesome, food first class, loved the heating all over the restaurant.

The food is great. The BBQ ribs and the lamb were really delicious. We love the risotto as well. The price was reasonable. Recommended.

Just solid pub food! Great steak and chips! Awesome atmosphere with a whole street full of food places to walk down and choose from. Nice wall with a fire in it at the end of the table for ambiance and heat

Read the reviews and was a little nervous but needn't have worried the ribs were amazing my husband devoured them. And I had the chicken breast which was tender and so full of flavour.

Hearty delicious meals at a great price. We were abit worried about the quality of the steak because the prices were low but what we were served was beautifully cooked & superb value for money. We eat out regularly & were very impressed with the food, prices & service. Highly recommend!

My husband and i dined here lastnight. The gentleman at the entry made us feel welcomed so we stopped here. He was very polite and considerate of us and our baby. Placing us inside by the heat-pump. The food was amazing. We ordered surf and turf and ribs that melted in your mouth. And other sides. The service was immaculate. And we felt very comfortable dining with our baby. Although they didn't have a baby changing room. The waiters and bar tenders were really lovely too. Would 100% be coming back

We had seefood pasta delicious and the pork rib and chips werw good as well. Nice setting. Friendly and super clean restaurant.

I am going to be completely honest... Don't waste your time or money 1/5 stars, wish I could give less <br/><br/>Had terrible night out with family. Thought "all<br/> day menu" was available but was told it was<br/> not available and given the dinner menu<br/> which was very deceiving.<br/><br/> Waiter didn't really care, was busy texting on<br/> phone. Waited a long time for food... worst is we were going to leave and only then did<br/> they hurry up with the food.. seems like money is more important than service...<br/><br/>to top it off When finally brought food, meat<br/> was cold and food was undercooked, fat was hard on outside of steak. I'm mean for nearly$40 per meal is expect decent service and food. It was cold, like perhaps had just been sitting there and no one bothered to<br/> bring it to us.<br/><br/>Do not eat here..<br/>Don't Waste your hard earned money<br/>On unexcusable service and poor quality food and please let everyone else know so you don't have to experience what we did<br/><br/><br/>

Was hassled pretty much within 5 minutes of sitting down if we were ready to place a food order. We said we were going to have some drinks first then order food later, only to be hassled by another server if we wanted to order food. Another 5 minutes pass and the second server asks us yet again. When we were ready to eat and order the food the server didn't pay any attention. I asked for the special dozen mussels with plain ciabatta bread instead of garlic (dairy allergy). The server was looking in the distance repeated that I wanted the mussels then asked if I wanted the half dozen or dozen. I repeated myself again and mentioned the no dairy. Husband ordered steak with sauce etc a d the server again didn't pay attention amd asked what sauce he wanted. When the food came, the bread with my mussels wasn't the plain ciabatta but a slice of toast sandwich bread. Most of the mussels were not cleaned properly and still had bits of beard all over and in them. Had the try and pull bits of hair out which made them impossible to eat. When we went to pay, the person at the register asked how our meal was, I said "not ok" and was not asked anything more. Had to walk out before I said something I would regret. Eat street is a complete rip off, there are much better places outside of this area of you know where to look.

everything was bad after changing ownership. steak was dry, pork belly was burnt. no water was given when we sat down, we had to ask for it! would not come back again!

New Years Eve 2019/2020 walk in.Prompt front of house for seating.  Spacious enough that you weren't sitting ontop of the people seated next to you.  Staff were hard to identify as there was not particular look or uniform about them at all.  Waitstaff actually unable to tell us the specials that were listed on the board outside.  Duck and Salmon entree's where the highlight ! Would recommend.  Unfortunately Blue T Bone was medium to rare and Medium Rare Eye Fillet was medium at best.  Staff did not check to see if our meal was satisfactory. Only gets 3 stars cause of the entree's.

My wife and I visited today. We had the Chicken salad and the Beef salad. Both meals were very nicely cooked and presented. Each was tasty and different from the other. The drinks and service were as good as it gets.

Worst service ever!! No proper assistance provided, rude behaviour of staff!! Not at all recommended.. experience not worth it, spent $150 but all waste!!

The only good thing from this place was the staff, they were really nice people! However, the food is overpriced and not good. We ordered sirloin steak, lack of flavour and the onion rings are honestly the worst I have had in my life. I'll never come back!

We went there for a steak meal. Atmosphere and interior was nice. But we waited for a long time for the food. Steak was cold. Salad looked dull... It was quite disappointing. There were lots of people. I guess it is busy because of the good location and tourists. Price was quite reasonable.

Steak was served almost cold. And I talk to waitress she just make excuses such as it was served 20 Mins ago (in fact 10 mins maximum), and the plates r preheated but the fact is plates r not hot at all only the spot of where steak sits warm at the bottom. Salad was not delivered until I asked and only delivered 1 portion( should be 2 ). Caesar salad- not fresh veggies. Chickens dry. <br/>Services was poor. Waiter clears everything including glasses of water rite after we finish without asking us. We were sitting here all the time talking. Like WTH? <br/>Below average. <br/>Certainly not come back again. Never

Marketed as a family steakhouse, we simply dropped in to have a few drinks; that unique NZ soft drink L&P and $5 happy hour beverages with options including house beers and wines from 5pm to 6.30pm. The meals being brought out around us looked hearty and I noticed that their $25 lamb shank special was particularly popular.

Ordered 3x catch of the day fish and 1x lamb ribs with some friends. Service was slow like waiting for paint to dry. Fish was fresh however cooked soggy and inconsistent between the 3 ordered. Lastly the lamb was 6 of the tiniest ribs I have ever seen. Very disappointed for the price $35pp. After finishing the meal we all concluded that we needed to have an additional dinner due to the small portion size. Save yourself the $$.

Staff looked miserable.  Waited 50 minutes between entrée and main.  Food was below average.  It was nice to sit outside beside a fire however we won't go back due to the food and service.

This place is terrible we had to wait 1 hour 40 min ignored, we only got our meal when we asked<br/>And said we were leaving, food was plated up like its was thrown on there. These people should not be allowed to have a restaurant.

Had a very bad experience here and will never go back. Service was poor. We had to ask barman for a table, seated ourselves, gave drinks order to waitress & after waiting 10 minutes went to bar & were told our order had not been put in. Ordered food & were then told of 40 minute wait. Eventually got our meal after 55 minutes. A rare eye fillet steak was very tough & stringy. The pork belly was even worse & was une stable. Very stringy. The risotto side was glunky. We didn't eat our meals and complained to waiter who was very apologetic & offered us new meals & free deserts but we declined. To be fair they did not charge us for our drinks & entree. Not a good dining experience. Saw other diners walk out tired of waiting.

Absolutely disgusted by this place. When we walked in we weren't greeted or welcomed with staff walking past us and ignoring us. We actually had to ask where we could sit and if we could have some menus. Once we were finally seated we were told there would be a 20 minute wait which we were completely fine with but then our steaks (both meant to be cooked medium rare) didn't get brought out for a good 45-50 minutes. We were nearly ready to walk out but decided not to because we were starving when the food finally came. My partners steak was cooked fine but mine was far more than medium rare, no pink in the middle whatsoever. My partner called the waiter back and told him my steak was over done to which the waiter replied "no that's medium rare" which we disputed and he took my meal away. When we finally went to pay the manager, who didn't seem to care at all, told us the chef agreed that it was over cooked but it was not well done (we never said it was well done just that it was over cooked) and gave us a small discount off a meal I hardly touched. Absolutely disgusted by the service and the piss poor attempt at food. Would never go back and wouldn't even recommend this place to my worst enemy.

Absolutely terrible experience. Worst eatery we've ever experienced during our 10 day trip in NZ. Food was terrible. Service even worse. Inexperienced waiter. Never visit this hole again. Do not recommend to others. Avoid at all cost.

Amazing amazing amazing garlic bread!!! The best I have EVER had. I would come here again just to eat this!!!! Just can't rave enough. Food was very good, atmosphere is nice. Its a little on the expensive side, for the portions, but taste is good.

Very friendly service and a nice enough location. Food was just okay, nothing to complain about but also nothing special. They seem to be trying hard but the food needs to improve to push my rating higher.

Devine so Devine ended up eating here thrice in one weekend obsessed with there beautifully cooked sirloin steak New York strips cooked to medium rare perfection how ever you have a steak should be eaten half way (medium or medium rare) complemented by crispy fluffy chips garlic vinegar aioli fried yolky egg and beautiful crunchy crusted garlic buttery goodness of bread it's sunflower and pumpkin seeds! Absolutely amazing! Beautiful service from the main face whims name I wish I remembered as every time I visited he new what my partner and I loved along side the fire!

I'm surprised at the bad reviews. I only saw the reviews after we dined here.<br/>I love the street where this restaurant is located. It's filled with a lot of options for lunch and dinner. Atticus Finch next door was super busy. I ordered the lamb wrap. My dining companions had a chicken burger and the other a steak sandwich.<br/>Everyone was very happy with their food. Apparently the steak on the steak sandwich was very tender.<br/>My lamb wrap had hummus in it and roasted veggies. The lamb was cooked to mefium and was very tasty.

The food was simply bad. Very disappointed.... Even though there wasn't many people (about 3 tables of 2), it took 30 mins to get our food. Will not go back again

Dinner for four on the Saturday night of the long weekend.  Restaurant was busy but not full.<br/><br/>Greeted at the door by the person who appeared to be in charge. He was friendly enough.  He warned us to get our orders in quick otherwise there may have been a wait.  He predicted people would be starting to come in.<br/><br/>We elected to sit outside and there was only two or three other tables occupied there.  It was cold and our table didn't have a heater, so we had to move (off our own back) when one became available.  Anyway, the waiter mentioned above promised us service shortly and some water.  The service came a while later and no water came until we went in and asked!<br/><br/>It took way too long to take our drinks order and even longer to get them served to our table.  This is a crime in restaurants as the first thing that should be done is get the drinks on the table!<br/><br/>We gave our dinner ordered and it took well over an hour to get the orders out. Unacceptable wait.  When they did arrive, they weren't sure which one was the gluten free one (three people got the same order).  There was not cutlery until we pointed that out, and they went away and got them.<br/><br/>It appeared the kitchen was not able to cope with the demand of the busy but not full restaurant.<br/><br/>The meals themselves were not bad in taste, but not particularly large either!  My steak was an average size, with a small amount of kumara mash under it, and several spinach leaves under that!  Other than the sauce, that was it.<br/><br/>The overall experience was not particularly good, and I would not recommend it based on that night.  Wouldn't go back.

I had a steak craving and we had a choice of two restaurants serving steaks – we picked the one closer to our apartment. Well prepared meat, staff knowledgable about local beers and a dinner overall. My sauce was a bit disappointing though.

After coming here a few years ago and having an awesome meal we couldn't wait to come back but what a significantly different experience we had last night. We arrived at 7 pm and ordered pretty much straight away the place wasn't busy yet the staff didn't really know what was happening it took over an hour for our meals to come and my kids meals were so disappointing a handful of chips and 2 chicken strips for $12 they were still hungry my partners and my meals were ok but nothing to get excited about for the high price you pay ($30_$37) we didn't stick around for dessert we won't be back.

I -- in a party of 15 -- have mixed feelings about this place. The ambiance is stark and clinical with the fluorescent type lighting; however, this was offset a little by a duo who were performing some songs at the entrance.<br/><br/>With regard to the food, there is little to complain about; all of the dishes were of good standard as was the presentation. I was impressed by the dessert of mixed-flavoured ice cream, and the coffee (together with the biscotti) were excellent.<br/><br/>Service was efficient, if a little perfunctory. Prices are knocking on the door of 'High'.<br/><br/>If the owners were to attend to the issue of the harsh white-lighting, it would really improve the atmosphere. 3.5 Stars

Fantastic food - cooked how you ask for it.<br/>Fresh and hot<br/>Fabulous flavours<br/>Staff excellent particularly Leigh (Not sure of spelling) - she was great<br/>Good value<br/>Fast service - but you don;t feel rushed at any time<br/>Will definately be going back

We had the most fantastically delicious meal at your restaurant last night. The staff were absolutely positive, friendly, helpful and professional. The food was just divine. Every time we come to Rotorua, we will be coming to dine with you!! Our most favourite restaurant!

2nd time in Rotorua, 1st time at Mike's<br/>PROS<br/>Service: very attentive and my server always had a smile<br/>Attitude: customer comes first<br/>Delivery: what they promised and it came when i expected it<br/>value: the lam rump roast was perfect<br/><br/>CON:<br/>no specials or chef's pick of the day<br/>I gave them the 10% discount card from the tourism book. they said they would accept it. at payment time, no 10% was given - poor interaction between server and manager<br/><br/>I would go again

Have just returned from Europe and decided we needed a holiday from holiday :) The Rotorua is our favourite place to relax and we go there at least 7 times a year, however, have dined at Mac's Steaks for the first time. And WOW !!!! Outstanding Service!!! Haven't been served like that at any of the European restaurants :( Well done guys!!! Keep it up :) <br/>The meal was delicious!!! We definitely will be back!!!

Seems some people only review places if they have had a bad experience? <br/>We dined at Mac's Steaks a few nights ago and I must say it was much more then we expected. Not your typical 'steak-house', the meals were to die for! The eye-fillet meal my partner had just melted in her mouth and no words for the sauce, just divine. I had the lamb rump meal and the flavours and tenderness of the lamb were just amazing. Good service and excellent food means we will definitely be telling our friends.

We dined as a family and found the entire experience very unsatisfactory.<br/>There were tables that arrived after us that were being served before us.<br/>After waiting over 45mins for our meals to arrive i asked a waiter who spoke very little English where our meals were, he had no idea what i was asking!<br/>We had to ask twice for a bottle of water for the table.<br/>Upon expressing our dissatisfaction the Duty Manager was argumentative and rude.<br/>Our three year old sons meal was the last to come out, even after the adult food had arrived. I am unable to comment on the actual food as we all left due to the poor service, the fact it was after 9pm we were actually served even though we arrived by 7.30pm - far too late for a child to be served dinner, and the attitude of the Duty Manager.<br/>Will certainly not be dining here again nor will we be recommending to anyone.

Very dissatisfied with the service we received. Waited over an hour for food and then we had to ask where it was. Other tables that had come in after us were served before us. When we complained the duty manager was very argumentative and made us feel like it was our problem. They could have advised us of a wait when being seated. Couldn't tell you what the food was like because we left due to the duty managers attitude. Would never go there again or recommend to anyone.

Had the most amazing service at Mac's Steak house. The food was incredible and our waiter Brook was great. <br/>I had the rack of lamb and it was cooked to perfection. My boyfriend had the T-bone and it was also the most amazing taste!<br/>Brook knew all about the wine we selected and even told us where we could go to buy it ourselves. <br/>Better service when you leave Auckland by the looks! Well done guys, keep it up!!!

I have been a regular at Mac's Steaks for some time now, we dined there for the first time since their new renovations last night, wow looking great. A modern and fresh look that matches great food and service. <br/><br/>I had a portobello eye fillet that melted in my mouth and the jus was awesome, thanks to the chef who shared the secret on how it was made, my wife who is not a big steak fan loves dining at Mac's too because of the variety on the menu had the salmon which was exactly how she requested it to be cooked, perfect size meals which left us with just enough room for a chocolate dream, you got to try this!<br/><br/>Great attentive service as usual, good effort guys, see you next time.

I have loved Macs many times in the past as a travlling rep and would not hesitate to take customers there. First time back overnight in Rotorua for a while and I find they have done a refit and paintjob along with a new menu. Looks great.<br/>Pity the food is not as great. Good service and I ordered the eye fillet with blue cheese and a portobello mushroom. Question - where is the mushroom....and the blue cheese....and the steak?? Very little amount of food on the plate for a $38 main dish - and the side salad may as well not have been there it was so small and drowned in what tasted like a jar of ETA mayonnaise. It did taste excellent but I went to McDonalds on the way back to the motel for something to fill me up. Sorry but they have lost a fan.

given the name i expected average service and average food but have to say both food and service were exceptional. one of the few places on this planet that have a name outside that understates the quality within.

My most horrible experience at a steakhouse.<br/>On arrival the waitress was very nice and seated us within 2 minutes. Ten minutes later we ordered our starter and main meal. Starter arrived 10 minutes later. Half an hour later I asked a gentleman to find out where is our food - he came back and said because we want our steak well-done its taking longer. Half an hour after him another waitress came to apologize to us - they gave our order to someone else but they will have our order ready within 5 minutes. They offered complimentary drinks(with ice in) that was delivered ten minutes later. We arrived at Macs Steaks at 19h05 and at 20h30 I told my wife I'm leaving. She asked me to wait 5 more minutes and at exactly 20h35 our food arrived.<br/>When we went to pay our bill the cashier asked how was our meal and I told her it was the most horrible experience. We had an argument, the cashier lost her cool and we parted agreeing never to patronize that establishment again.

Me and my partner had tea there on Sun and we got starters,mains and deserts and all the food was superb i recommend to anyone and can't wait to go back primo guys and the service was great