Newsletters
Food
Review by Terri Peters
2023-12-01T16:01:14Z
- I visited Texas Roadhouse, a steak-house chain known for its steaks, rolls, and sides.
- The steaks were OK, but this wasn't my favorite chain-restaurant experience.
- Our bill was $165, and based on the high price for our party of four, I'm not sure I'd visit again.
NEW LOOK
Sign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. Read preview
Thanks for signing up!
Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you're on the go.
Advertisem*nt
It'd been awhile since I visited Texas Roadhouse.
The steak-house chain has over 600 locations across 49 US states and 10 countries. It's known for its steaks, vibrant Western-style atmosphere, and fresh-baked rolls with honey butter.
I've been on a chain-restaurant kick recently, checking out spots including Bahama Breeze and LongHorn Steakhouse. So on a recent date night with my husband and two friends, we tried Texas Roadhouse.
Advertisem*nt
Texas Roadhouse has a decent-size menu.
The chain is known for its many cuts of steaks and sides, but it also has chicken dishes, seafood, ribs, salads, and starters.
The side selections included salads, mac and cheese, applesauce, mixed vegetables, chili, and even a baked potato.
The drink menu was filled with co*cktails, beer, and wine.
Advertisem*nt
We kicked off our adults-only night with beer, wine, and co*cktails.
My best friend and I each ordered a Cactus Water co*cktail inspired by ranch water. It's made with tequila and club soda.
At $7 each, we were pleased with everything about the drink, from its summertime flavors to the delicious Tajin rim.
Our husbands ordered a $9 glass of cabernet and a $7 Corona beer.
The prices seemed fair at under $40 for a round of drinks, and our evening was off to a great start.
Advertisem*nt
While we waited, we were given a warm plate of the chain's famous rolls.
We had high hopes for the beloved fresh rolls and cinnamon-honey butter at Texas Roadhouse, but I left wondering why they're such a fan favorite.
The complimentary rolls were warm and tasted fresh, but we didn't get the hype or why they had so many copycat recipes online.
The rolls were on par with any bread service I'd had at a chain restaurant.
That said, any restaurant that brings out free hot rolls and butter is OK by me — we enjoyed nibbling on them while we waited for our meal.
Advertisem*nt
Advertisem*nt
The salads were pretty tasty and came out before our entrées.
One of the best parts of my meal was a Caesar salad I ordered as one of the two sides included with my entrée.
The romaine lettuce was crisp and tasted fresh, and the dressing was delicious. I also liked the Parmesan cheese and croutons on top.
My best friend ordered the house salad and enjoyed it. It consisted of fresh-tasting greens, tomatoes, hard-boiled eggs, cheese, and croutons.
Her only complaint was that she couldn't order a vinaigrette, which seemed like the perfect complement to the light mix. Our server told her the closest thing they had was Italian dressing.
Advertisem*nt
I ordered a 6-ounce filet and was most impressed by the sauce I got with it.
For my meal, I got a 6-ounce Dallas filet for $23. I got it with a baked potato with butter, my second side dish.
I also requested a side of Texas Roadhouse's peppercorn sauce, which may have been the most flavorful part of my meal.
As far as steaks go, the filet at Texas Roadhouse felt fairly pedestrian. I thought the medium-rare cook I requested leaned closer to the medium side.
While I love a good baked potato, this one didn't quite reach the steak-house quality (salt-covered, biteworthy potato skin) I'd had at other restaurants.
Advertisem*nt
My husband ordered ribs, which were tender and delicious.
My husband went with an $18 half slab of ribs for his main course. In addition to a salad, he selected a side of mixed vegetables.
He found the ribs tender and delicious enough to keep returning for additional bites.
The vegetables had a brown tint and seemed oversteamed. Perhaps mixed veggies are a poor side choice at Texas Roadhouse, but at least he tried to get some broccoli and carrots into his diet.
Advertisem*nt
The grilled sirloin didn't look especially appetizing.
My friend's husband chose a $13 sirloin steak with sides of corn and applesauce.
He also got a portobello-mushroom sauce for his steak. At first glance, we all felt the meal looked like something you might find in a school cafeteria.
He said the meal was good, even if he wouldn't order it a second time.
Advertisem*nt
The MVP of the night was the grilled pork chop.
The $14 grilled pork chop my best friend ordered was the star of the meal.
Served with the same peppercorn sauce I requested with my steak, the pork chop looked beautiful with its grill marks and was cooked to the perfect temperature.
My friend joked the pork chop was so delicious she might order a few through Texas Roadhouse's curbside pickup for a family dinner.
Her other side was a baked sweet potato, but like my baked potato, it fell short of her expectations.
Still, we all agreed the pork chop was the true MVP of the experience.
Advertisem*nt
Advertisem*nt
Based on our experience, I’m not sure we’d return to Texas Roadhouse.
The total for our meal was $165, about the same as it cost my family of four to dine out at other chain restaurants.
For the price, we got two rounds of drinks, an appetizer, four entrées, and a dessert. We especially enjoyed our dessert and drinks.
Overall, though, Texas Roadhouse was far from my favorite chain restaurant. We've had much better meals at other chains, and my husband and I agreed we'd prefer higher-quality food if we're going to rack up a $165 bill for dinner.
With so many great chain restaurants out there, Texas Roadhouse just didn't feel like a place I'd be in a hurry to dine at again.
Read next
Advertisem*nt
