Texas Roadhouse

The reviews on Urbanspoon don't lie. Texas Roadhouse is indeed a very good place to eat, and I envision myself returning here again. My friend Tommy and I decided to give Texas Roadhouse a try on a recent weekday evening. We used the call-ahead seating and were immediately seated, though I will say they were not quite packed that night and had a few open seats. Nonetheless, I can imagine that on the weekends they really pack 'em in!

We were promptly greeted and escorted to our seats. Abby, our server, asked if it was our first time. Since it was, she explained a bit about their menu, some of the options, and the emphasis they have on making things in-house. It was very helpful. She quickly took our drink order and then promptly too our order for a few appetizers. In the meantime a bread basket arrived. I could swear that Abby said they were made in-house, but perhpas she meant "baked in-house" because on our way out, we saw someone loading up baking pans with the frozen rolls. No matter, they were fresh and very good, served with a cinnamon butter. Absolutely delicious.

I love trying various appetizers in a new place, and getting each restaurant's "spin" on some of the standards. For our first appetizer we ordered the Rattlesnake Bites -- rounds of jalapeno peppers mixed with jack cheese, then battered and deep fried. They were surprisingly good. They were served with a cajun horseradish dipping sauce. Both the bites and the sauce were good, but I did see a few areas for improvement. Over time as the bites sat, a bit of grease pooled at the bottom, on the waxed paper--I'd suggest they use a napkin or the like to soak that up. Also, the cajun horseradish sauce was good, but cold and a bit "stiff" -- it would have been better if freshly portioned and more at room temperature, or at least stirred a bit. And, by the way, we were served 10 pieces, but were so entranced that we ate three before I could even take a picture!

We also had the Fried Pickles, pickle slices that were deep fried and served with a ranch type sauce. These were good as well but suffered from to much salt. When you serve something as acidic as pickles, you need to cut back on the salt just a bit. They overdid it here. Also, it had the same grease-pooling issue as the Rattlesnake Bites, something that could be fixed by something absorbent like a napkin in the bottom of the dish. But still, they were pretty good overall. 

We both had salads for one of the sides for our main dish. The salad was light and refreshing. The waitress checked to make sure we were fine with eggs, tomatoes, and croutons on our salad. We were, but it was nice that she checked first.

For my main course, I ordered the Texas Size Combo--I had the Pulled Pork with a side of ribs. All I can say is... Wow!  The pulled pork and ribs both had a nics smoky flavor. The ribs were literally fall-off-the-bone delicious. There was no fat to be seen, and when I attempted to cut them, the bone just fell out, nice and clean. They were excellent and well cooked. The pulled pork was equally great. And I had a side of baked beans--they were excellent--nice and tender yet not mushy, with a hint of smoke and BBQ, just very good. I loved this combo!

My friend Tommy had the Country Fried Chicken, a breast of chicken that was battered, hand fried, and served topped with country gravy. The chicken was very tender and the gravy was very good. For a side he had the mashed potatoes topped with the same gravy. They were also excellent. It was all very good.

As we were at the end of our meal, the manager stopped by to enquire how things were. She also gave us a smal bag of peanuts and a coupon for next time, since it was our first visit. I thought that was a very nice touch.

From good food to good service, I was impressed with Texas Roadhouse. I liked this place a lot, and I will be back, you can count on it!