Nancy and I were in the mood for steaks. Both of us had been traveling and preferred not to cook. We didn’t want anything fancy, just a nice slab of beef. We decided on the Texas Roadhouse, on Route 29 in Charlottesville, not far from our house.
Nancy had eaten there once before. She said it was noisy, but the food was okay. I don’t mind noisy if the food is good, and I was curious, so we gave it a shot.
The Texas Roadhouse is a baseball-cap-on-backwards kind of a place. They play country music at the highest volume possible, and from time to time, several of the wait staff will gather for no particular reason, holler out something and then let out a big “Ya-hooo!” I guess that’s the Texas way of greeting folks.
Texas Roadhouse is a large chain restaurant that specializes in steaks and promotes a Texas theme. They are headquartered in Louisville. The chain operates some 560 restaurants worldwide.
We didn’t have reservations, but were seated quickly at a table where a bucket of unshelled peanuts awaited our arrival. Nancy had a few. I passed. Our waitress came promptly, took our orders and we had drinks and salads with minutes. Nancy had a glass of a nice Cabernet and it was only $5.99. I had a house bourbon and ginger ale and it was just $4.75. I was taking a liking to this place, noise or otherwise. At most other restaurants, the bar tab would be nearly double that amount.
They also brought us four yeast rolls that were hot and sweet – delicious, I thought, especially with their cinnamon flavored butter spread.
I ordered the 16-ounce cut of prime rib and it was butter-knife tender and a perfect medium rare. My only objection is they put a spoonful or two of au jus over it and I didn’t care for that taste. But the roast beef was very good. The Caesar Salad was crisp and delicious, served in a chilled bowl. The steak fries were tasty, but only about a half serving, which was good for my waistline, but not nearly as many as you would get elsewhere. This surprised me because I would think it better to fill patrons up on inexpensive fries rather than pricier beef.
Nancy ordered a rib eye, medium, and it was served mostly medium rare. I know from experience that it’s hard to cook a rib eye to order, since it’s like two cuts of beef in one. The filet part will always be pinker than the other part since it is not as dense and cooks slower.
We ran into a little problem at the end when I said, “We’re done”, hoping the waitress would clear the table. Instead, she immediately brought us the check, not asking about more drinks or dessert. Also, when inspecting and marveling at the low bar tab, I noticed they charged us $20.95 for the 14-ounce rib eye when the price ticket on the steak in the meat cooler said $19.95. I think the waitress didn’t know how to enter that order, a special cut, not on the computer, but still… if it says $19.95, it ought to be $19.95. After that, the waitress was unfriendly and never did completely clear our table.
Bottom line? The food was good and well priced. We’ll probably go back when we’re in the mood for really loud music and if good service is not particularly important.
I really feel for restaurants these days. It is becoming more and more difficult to find and keep good help.