Well, I admit, I supported a chain this week. I ate at the Western Sizzlin on S. Meridian near I-40. As many of you may know local restauranteur Mackie McNear owns many Western Sizzlins as well as Mackie McNears Steakhouses. I know the guy personally, but I must say, you can't beat his food for the prices. It's been a few years since I've last ate at one, but I wish I would have eaten here more often.

For the price (starting at about 6 bucks and topping off around 16), you get one of the best cuts of steak in town. This place knows how to cook a steak. They marinate and seer their steaks so good, you don't need steak sauce (nor should you ever). For some reason you needed any, they even give you a cup of their marinade/juice that the steaks were cooked in. The portions are very generous, you get your choice of potato (and if you get baked potato, you get the baked potato bar) which has fresh ingredients. They don't use imitation bacon bits, chives, or cheese like many other places these days. You get as much bread as you want, and they have about 10 different kinds to choose from. For another $2.99 you get their all you can eat salad bar which features many great items.

I had the 8oz sirloin for like $7.99 and it was excellent. I highly recommend this place at any of their locations. I've eaten at several and the food is always consistent no matter the location or how long its been.

I hear their commercials on The Sports Animal often - mostly featuring Craig Humphreys with Mackie. The contributions by Mackie for the past several months have sounded like clips from previous work - and the continuity of the ads was sorely lacking. Did he have a stroke or something that necessitated the format of recent ads or is this someone's idea of creativity?

I really don't care much for that style restaurant but I have to admit the food is very good. Actually my service has always been very good, too. I just don't like the line deal.

I have lunch there often and I agree for the $$ you can not beat it in this city. I get the buffet with the $2 steak comes to $7.99. There is plenty to make a meal out of on the buffet only so the days I don't feel like having the steak it costs me $5.99 for a decent salad bar and a hot entree item as well...pretty damn good in my book.

Went there for lunch yesterday and have to admit it was pretty good. I haven't been in years and it still looks the same as it did twenty years though. It was one of the few places that my mom could afford on a teacher's salary when I was a kid.

I agree CCOKC, the food you can't beat for the money, the decor is very geriatric.

I hear their commercials on The Sports Animal often - mostly featuring Craig Humphreys with Mackie. The contributions by Mackie for the past several months have sounded like clips from previous work - and the continuity of the ads was sorely lacking. Did he have a stroke or something that necessitated the format of recent ads or is this someone's idea of creativity?

The price is great & I always think the food is great. Let's not get rude about the owner.

Rude? That's an assumption. Can I not hear a difference in his voice and be concerned about his health? The fact that you are responding months after my post shows that you can't know what I'm talking about... the continuity of the ads have since recovered and they stopped piecing together clips. I genuinely enjoy the folksy nature of his presentation and the disjointed ads were a tip-off that something was wrong. But thanks for weighing in with your rebuke. :doh:

Well since you brought it up again, I'll weigh in. I used to go there for lunch fairly often, but a few months ago, I noticed they reduced the size of the lunch special steaks without reducing the price. With the economy starting to tank as it was, I could live with that, but at the same time, the quality of the cooking went sharply downhill as well.

Not only was I getting a smaller quantity of food for the same amount of money, it was being cooked poorly. Inevitably, it was burned on the outside, and undercooked (or sometimes way overcooked) on the inside. We finally just stopped going there even though there is a Mackie's incredibly conveniently located near my job. Too bad...

I don't tend to bother with go and sit lunch of late. However, several associates have said I should include this place in the rotation should I again decide to do so.