Niagara Falls Dining Review: The Western Door, a Seneca Steakhouse

The Western Door: A Seneca Steakhouse, offers guests the best in fine dining. The Seneca Niagara Casino designed The Western Door to be an upscale restaurant that caters to diners' gourmet appetites. Service at The Western Door is excellent, with a number of different staff members dedicated to meet the dining needs of each guest. The Western Door is the kind of restaurant that you visit when you have a good night at the casino. This is also the restaurant to take a date who you want to impress, and the place where many regulars come to celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, and other important occasions.

The Western Door Dining Experience

Dining at The Western Door is more of an experience than an event. The dining atmosphere is relaxed, with a classy lounge area and bar located near the entrance. Guests can have a drink or sit in the lounge while waiting to be seated. A large painting of Niagara Falls decorates the back wall of the lounge area. The Western Door does not have a specific dress code, but this is the type of restaurant where casual dress will look out of place.

The Western Door signature breads and dips are served to each table to begin the dining experience. Water glasses are filled upon seating, and drink orders are taken. The Western Door has a large selection of Finger Lakes wines, as well as other wine, beer, and liquor selections.

Appetizers at The Western Door are large, and could easily be shared by two. Appetizers include a pleasing variety of seafood appetizers, soups, and salads. The Western Door has Clams/Oysters ($7/9), Chilled Gulf Shrimp ($13), Western Door Clams Casino ($9), and a variety of other appetizers on the menu. The French Onion Soup($7) is very good, and the Western Door Caesar and Spinach Salads ($8) are presented attractively on large plates.

The menu at the Western Door features the best quality beef and seafood. The Western Door has USDA Chairmans Reserve Prime and Choice Cuts for beef selections. The high quality steaks add to the dining experience at The Western Door, and the Western Door Filet Mignon ($28/37)is so tender that it can be cut with a butter knife. The 8 ounce Kobe Filet is one of the high end menu options, listed at $58. Other excellent menu choices at The Western Door include the Buffalo Strip Loin ($28), a 24 ounce Cast Iron Porterhouse ($38), and the 14 ounce New York Strip Steak ($28).

Seafood lovers might want to try the Alaskan King Crab Legs ($36), Wild Salmon ($24), or the delicious Chilean Sea Bass ($28) at The Western Door. All of the seafood is freshly prepared for each order. Other menu choices at The Western Door include Rack of Lamb ($35), Veal Oscar ($28), and Prime Rib of Beef ($24/32).

Side dishes are very large at The Western Door, and it is common for parties to order a few and share. Many of the side dishes are presented in large bowls, to be passed to each dining guest at the table. Steamed Broccoli, Fresh Asparagus, Sweet Potato Finger Stacks, and Garlic Mashed Potatoes ($6 each) are a few of the popular side dishes at The Western Door.

The desserts are showcased near the back of the restaurant. The dessert menu includes many different sweet desserts, as well as house specialty desserts. In over ten visits to The Western Door, I have never been able to make room for dessert, though it comes highly recommended from other guests.

Recommendation

On the last visit to The Western Door, I dined with a party of four. The Veal Oscar was declared by one member of my party as, "delicious, and large enough to satisfy any appetite." I ordered my favorite Filet Mignon in the 8 ounce size, and it came prepared as a perfect medium, tender and pink in the middle. The steaks and beef at The Western Door are only lightly seasoned, allowing diners to taste flavor of the high quality beef.

The Western Door is the perfect place to enjoy a higher end dinner. The prices are consistent with other fine dining restaurants, and you get all the quality and service expected from a first class restaurant at The Western Door. The Western Door accepts Seneca Niagara Casino Players Club points as payment, and this is one of the popular ways for regular players to pay the bill. Points from different guests may also bee "pooled" towards the bill.

Reservations are highly recommended, especially for larger parties. Reservations may be taken by the Western Door Host, at the front of the restaurant for later return times, or by phoning 1-877-8SENECA.