Barkley's changed hands and reopened in July of 2011 after being closed for 7 months. The new owners have owned and operated restaurants since 1985. Their concept is Comtempory Classics. Taking the classic dishes and updating them. Caesar Salad (made tableside) Pepper Steak Flambe` (also tableside including cooking the steak) Prawn Fondue, house made Tiramisu, Chocolate Fondue and, of course, the flame broiled steaks. Come in and try us out.

First, the ambiance: hello 1985! The look of the restaurant is terribly dated and the furniture/carpet is dingy. Granted, this isn't the most important detail (and doesn't affect the quality of the food) but when you bill yourself as a top-shelf steakhouse, you should aim higher than looking like a Smitty's. If the food was exceptional I'd be more than happy to overlook this but sadly, this was not the case.

Speaking of food: I'll give them credit, my steak was well-cooked and very enjoyable. Maybe not the best I've had but far from the worst. HOWEVER, that was the one bright spot in an otherwise abysmal meal. The sides must have been sitting under a heat lamp all night, my meal came with some sort of potato dish that had the taste and consistency of Styrofoam and was dried out. Inexcusable. How hard is it to mash potatoes?

And let's not overlook the service. First, when a restaurant is empty, it's puzzling that you would seat a party of two at a table for six next to the door to the kitchen. This only set the stage for an evening of being ignored between bouts of condescension and out-and-out indifference. When my girlfriend asked our server to recommend a wine, he waved at the menu and said "you can pick whatever, they're all good." Sorry, what?

For the money we paid, I expected a far better meal and a server that wasn't busy gossiping with the busboy in the back.

This mirrors the only other review we saw for this place. Actually tried to find another restaurant downtown for steak and it was no longer there. So, we reverted to the closest to the hotel, Barkley's. Walked right in on a Friday night, very few customers at 8:30 pm. Nice atmosphere, somewhat elegant but casual comfortable, excellent service staff who were attentive and professional. Downside, the food sucks. I sent my ribeye back because it was obviously overcooked and it returned rare. I'm not that picky about my steak as long as its between medium and medium rare, but for a $32 steak they should have someone cooking that knows what they are doing. The rare steak tasted of lighter fluid from whatever they were using to cook, and it was a poor quality of cut (very grissly, thin cut) and my friend's seafood dinner was so salty she had trouble eating it. Really too bad this place loses it in the kitchen. You'd think that would be the first thing to get right.