I’m probably not the first person to say their expectations weren’t all that high coming in. Yes, I will admit we usually dine at “finer” dining restaurants than Texas Roadhouse, so it may not be completely fair for my expectations to be not all that high, but I have to say, this was an excellent dining experience. It started with the outstanding service. Sydney was our server and she was absolutely fantastic. She greeted us VERY quickly, took our drink order, and you could tell instantly she has it together. She remembers the details. She’s very bright and personable, and it was a lot of fun having her as our server, as she helped guide us to a great experience. I bet she’d be great as a bartender because of her personality combined with her skill. I already knew there weren’t many gluten-free options, but Sydney was patient and thorough in checking on possible modifications to items not listed as gluten-friendly. She was just plain great. We were able to enjoy the potato skins as an appetizer, leave the seasoning salt off my wife’s steak (she’s the GF one), and even though the only really safe potato option for GF is the baked potato, that’s what my wife would’ve wanted anyway. So it all worked out just fine from that perspective.
As far as the food quality is concerned, my expectation were definitely exceeded. I found my steak to be done to just about the exactly correct temperature/doneness, at medium well. And the flavor was great! I’ve been to fancier restaurants where I felt the steak was just not all that flavorful, but it really was very good here at Texas Roadhouse. We both went with the Dallas Ribeye, so I can’t speak for the strip or filet medallions, but those looked very good as well from what I could see for other diners. The portion sizes are huge - and that’s not a complaint by any means - and you get two sides with your entree. I really liked the steak fries. And the salad wasn’t bad at all either. Yes I know everyone talks about the rolls, and yes they were fresh and soft and fluffy and the cinnamon butter was soft and spreadable, I just don’t happen to be a fan of sweeter rolls, but I can see others enjoying them.
Ambiance - well, I kind of expected peanuts on the floor and all that. It was just a little busy and a bit noisy but it was right in the middle of lunch on St. Patrick’s day and all the more reason to give Sydney credit for keeping up with us - we’re not exactly low maintenance diners. And we chose to eat in the middle bar high top, which means possible semi-sharing (one long table, so someone could potentially sit right next to you), and right in the middle of the action. But we were still able to have a conversation. And you don’t come here for an intimate dining experience anyway. Plenty of TVs, plenty of beers, even some lighter options if you don’t want steak.
Yes, we came here only because we had a gift card, but I’d still return based on the great experience we just had.