AS A FREE SERVICE to the dining public, Word on the Street is happy to bring you our first and only installment of “At The Plate…The Sights, Sounds and Tastes of the New Restaurant Taking the Area by Storm, Texas Roadhouse.”
My goodness, with the early rush of customers, you’d think we’d finally gotten our Olive Garden! After opening just last week, this Willie Nelson western themed national chain has gotten out of the gate real fast. From open to close, every day… they’re busy!
Amateur Facebook critics, not to be confused with Word on the Street’s acclaimed “At the Plate…,” have been quite positive regarding all aspects of the experience. So naturally we wanted to see for ourselves.
The photo above illustrates the level of patronage this new Marquette Township restaurant has experienced so far. We found an open parking space notable enough to take a picture of it. There haven’t been many.
For Starters
The place opened at 3 and that’s when my party, the two of us, got there. I’d heard so much about interminable wait times, I wanted to try and beat the rush. I hate waiting. There was already a line with about 30 people also trying to beat the rush, but they got us in quickly.
We had tried to figure out the online Waitlist thing, to get a virtual spot in the que, but were unsuccessful. That might be on us.
Side Note:
Before we continue the critique, let’s address the issue of Texas Roadhouse being a national chain as opposed to a “local” establishment. If you choose not to support a business because some of the profits might be going somewhere else, that’s fine. None of us like to see money leave town, however, many area businesses have absentee or corporate ownership, yet they still invest in this community and employ people who live here. Chains aren’t the boogeyman. And this Texas Roadhouse includes both corporate and local ownership.
Back to the Review
Okay… that being said, some chains, like the one we’re reviewing today, offer a distinctly different experience than that corner restaurant where everybody knows your name. It was almost a little too structured for me. From start to finish, we were attended to by no fewer than eight different employees. I haven’t felt that inundated with service since I got stitches… okay, one stitch, at the emergency room, 20 years ago.
The waiting area is convenient, although my party preferred to pass the time at the bar. As part of the assignment, we had to get the total experience, right? Beers weren’t cheap, but the bartender was nice and efficient, and they have a u-shaped bar, which I love! The music was good and there are plenty of big screens for watching games. Plus, there’s a nice booth area around the bar as well.
We got our table in a timely fashion, but again, this was 3:30 on a Tuesday afternoon. It’s a big place, with comfortable booths throughout. The layout is such that it’s broken up into a number of different sections, so you can be there at the same time as someone you’d rather not see, and you don’t see them. Points for that!
We were seated in the Willie Nelson tribute corner. Apparently Willie is a good friend of the founder and one of the restaurant’s biggest fans. If it’s good for Willie, it’s good for us!
Hungry Yet?
Our server, Isaac, was friendly, professional, and I believe he sincerely enjoyed waiting on us. I think he really wants to be our friend! It’s probably corporate policy that servers have to check on their tables a certain number of times throughout the meal, and I’m quite sure Isaac made the grade. It’s all good. He was there when we needed him… not there when we didn’t.
The menu was about what you’d expect from the chain genre, which is a large part of their appeal. You have a pretty good idea of what you’re going to get. The Roadhouse prices were a pleasant surprise, as we’ve heard from others who’ve already had their first impressions. There’s even an early-bird selection for those who don’t mind force-feeding themselves a steak at 4:30 to save a couple bucks. (Seinfeld… Season 7, Episode 14… The Cadillac.)
Full disclosure… I’m not really much of a foodie. I care just as much about the atmosphere as the food. That being said, the food was excellent. Zero complaints. The salad was better than what I make at home, which means it had everything I want in a salad. For the entrée, I had the chicken (don’t judge) while my partner had the steak. Both very tasty and cooked as requested. The complementary rolls were a nice touch, but free carbs are not what I need. And portions were already ample enough that dessert would have just tipped the scales even further in the wrong direction.
Checkout was a breeze using the fancy device that allowed us to pay at our table without negotiating a crowd at the cash register. More points.
Wow… Sounds Great!
Geez… you’d think I liked the place. Well, I did. But it wouldn’t be me and this wouldn’t be a thorough critique unless I could find something to complain about. So here you go…
It may have been a little chilly when we first got there, but again, they had just opened for the day. It probably warmed up as the evening went on. I hope so. My credentialed partner knows the temperature of every bar and restaurant in town. And I’m sure she’s not the only one. (Credentials available upon request. Fees may be applied.)
In the “get off my lawn” category, the music was a little loud. And our fellow patrons weren’t exactly the head-banger types. One of the managers I spoke with said they’re sensitive to that, but they also want to create a fun, party type atmosphere. Okay. That’s probably what Willie would want anyway.
Anything else?
As I suggested earlier, it seemed almost a little too assembly line-ish. But I guess when you have the crowds they’ve been getting, you need a certain amount of control and organization. Once we were seated, that was no longer a concern.
I guess my only other complaint would be the wait times, but that’s not their fault. It’s not like they’re short of tables. They’ve got 62 of ’em. I imagine once the new-place-in-town period is over it’ll settle down a little, but by then the tourists will be in town. I doubt they’ll suffer the fate Yogi Berra ascribed to another popular restaurant… “Nobody goes there anymore, it’s too crowded.”
If I’m giving them a letter grade it would be an A-. (The minus is because I don’t want them to get too cocky.) In addition to the good food and reasonable prices, the building itself is well-appointed, comfortable, and not a bad place to spend an hour or more. They also have an outdoor area we’ll be able to enjoy come summer… or maybe next week. And I’ll give them extra credit for having a crew that appeared to be very well trained and ready for business on day one. Or day nine, as it were.
Hope you enjoyed “At The Plate…The Sights, Sounds and Tastes of the New Restaurant Taking the Area by Storm, Texas Roadhouse,” as much as I enjoyed doing the research for it. It’s a tough job, but somebody’s got to do it, as long as it’s on the company’s dime.