Review No. 185: Texas Roadhouse
650 Amity Rd.
Conway, AR 72032
(501) 585-7720
The Situation
He Said: Reviving “Eat It, Conway” after nearly a three-year hiatus was a bit daunting. Where to begin? We didn’t have a list of restaurants that had opened in the city since the beginning of the pandemic, and didn’t know if there was enough interest to make the blog go again. But that didn’t stop us from rushing in where angels fear to tread. We knew that Texas Roadhouse on Amity Road was one of the first new places to open up, and we knew that the parking lot was crowded here every time we drove by so we figured, it’s as good a place as any to start with.
There’s something fitting in making this international chain (with more than 600 locations) our first post-COVID post. Texas Roadhouse’s founder W. Kent Taylor (who opened the first Texas Road House in Clarkesville, Indiana in 1993) demonstrated his own community-minded attitude by donating his entire salary and bonus (some $800,000) to help support his employees during the COVID-19 disruptions of 2020. The corporation is a major sponsor of Habitat for Humanity as well as Special Olympics, so this is the kind of business that Conway might be happy to welcome to the community. If, that is, it lived up to its mission statement: “Legendary Food, Legendary Service.” We pulled into their parking lot on the afternoon of December 30 to find out.
She Said: During Betwixtmas when I wasn’t engaged in daily calorie counting seemed the best time to try Texas Road House, so I suggested it as our re-entry debut venue. Given that they do post calories on their menu, it wouldn’t be a bad place to wedge in from time to time, though given that some of their desserts are almost as many calories as my daily allowable intake, I think I’ll go there for main courses only.
Ambience:
He Said: It’s much the same as any other popular family-friendly sports bar. We did get a booth and were not on top of other people, which is always a big plus. There are TVs hanging about with sports on them, and Texas Road House also has cartoon-like caricatures of country singers on the walls, including Willie Nelson, who is apparently an investor in the company.
She Said: I would call the ambience Western Sports Bar, with stained shiplap walls and, as you say, lots of TVs and popular country singers caricatures on the walls, it’s definitely an imagination of western Americana. It was very busy, but it wasn’t so loud we couldn’t hear ourselves talk, like some places. It did seem popular with family with wee’uns, and I could see that it would be a place one might be comfortable taking littles, as it was loud enough that if your kiddo was contributing to the noise level, no one was going to notice—or judge.
Drinks
He Said: They had soft drinks on the menu, so I ordered a Dr. Pepper, which tasted just like a Dr. Pepper. I later noticed that the menu also listed Heineken 0.0, the non-alcoholic beer, which I would probably order next time.
She Said: We had been waiting awhile when we sat down, so I quickly perused the drink menu and chose a mango margarita on the rocks. It was quite large, and very tasty, fruity, not too sweet. I would have that again—if I weren’t watching calories.
Food
He Said: Like some other large chains, Texas Road House is thoughtful enough to include a calorie count for each item on the menu. Since I do need to be careful of my fat intake, I could use the calorie count as a guide, and since I don’t eat red meat, coming to a place whose specialty is steaks is a bit of a challenge. But they did have several chicken options on the menu, and I ended up picking the lowest calorie choice (at around 270), the seared herb crusted chicken, which was a boneless chicken breast that was seasoned with a good blend of herbs and spices. It came with a caramelized lemon slice that added a bit of sweet tartness to the flavor. The dish looked a little dry to me when it arrived, and I was having second thoughts about whether I should have ordered the barbecue chicken (which had almost as few calories), but when I tasted mine, especially after I added the lemon, I was pleasantly surprised to find it wasn’t dry at all. I would apply the “m” word to it but She Said can’t stand that word, so in deference to her I’ll simply state that it was undry, and quite flavorful.
My entree came with two sides, and I chose green beans and seasoned rice. The beans were pretty average—green beans at chain restaurants tend to have a kind of sameness to them. They were fine. The seasoned rice, though, was actually the star of the meal. I don’t know what its seasoning was exactly—it may have been cooked in a broth and spiced with a variety of herbs, but it made a perfect complement to the chicken and I would definitely order it again. Turns out the rice was also the fattiest part of the meal, and came in at 350 calories.
There are a few desserts available here, but they tend to be sinfully caloric and we were already full so we opted not to indulge.
She Said: He Said neglected to mention what we were both raving about within minutes of being seated, and that was the hot buns with honey-cinnamon butter the waitress leaves you with the second she seats you. I could live on those glorious buns alone!
I struggled to decide, because when we were driving to the restaurant, having never been before, I imagined ordering some kind of fried chicken plate dinner and calling it good; however, there wasn’t a lot of fried chicken on offer, surprisingly. I like dark meat, and what I found was a chicken breast with cream gravy—dear reader, such gravy is very often a delivery device for black pepper, which I despise as a bully spice that takes over the flavor of anything it’s applied to. Foiled in my initial plans, I hunted through the large menu, considering perhaps a burger, maybe even a salad, until I decided to try a steak. Let Texas Road House lead with its strengths!
I ordered the 6 ounce filet, very rare, with steak fries and a Caesar salad. I really liked that one of the sides can be a first course, and this salad was very good, rich with dressing and lots of shaved parmesan. The steak fries were also very satisfying as they were crispy on the outside and tender and flaky within. I paired mine with mayonnaise as I am wont to do, and that made them even more delicious. The steak was good. It was thinner than many filets I have eaten in steakhouses, and I was worried it would be overdone, as I do mean I like mine VERY rare, but it was dark pink in the middle and nicely seared on the grill. This meal wasn’t overly caloric, either, although if you add in all my hot buns with honey-cinnamon butter, I’d probably have to take back that assessment.
Service
He Said: When we arrived we were parked with a slew of other people in a kind of side room with a bowl game on the TV to wait our turn for a table, and in about half an hour (She Said can give you the precise time) we were called. On getting to our table, we were immediately served warm loaves of fresh bread with creamy honey-cinnamon butter. Never having eaten at a Texas Road House before, we were pleasantly surprised by this signature welcome, and would probably go back just for the bread and butter. So the food and the service upon first entering the restaurant were legendary.
Our server certainly did all she could to impress us with the service beyond that point. We got our drinks fairly quickly, and though the entrees did take a while, it was understandable because the place had been so swamped immediately upon opening. Anyway, she did check on us quite often to make sure we didn’t need anything—and brought us some extra honey butter when we ran out.
She Said: The service was impeccable; our server was friendly, helpful and attentive, and other management checked on us as well.
What We Got and What We Paid: One 18 oz. mango margarita, one Dr. Pepper, one 6-oz. Dallas steak with steak fries and a Caesar salad, one herb-crusted chicken with green beans and rice, all for $51.10, plus tip.
Elapsed Time from Our Arrival to Food Arrival:
We arrived at 3:12 p.m. to get in line outside, at 3:49 p.m. we were seated, at 4:01 p.m. my salad came, and at 4:17 our food arrived.
Rating:
He Said: I’ll give it a thumbs up. It is certainly in the upper echelon of family chain steakhouses with a western theme. You can probably find some that are less expensive, but those may not have the same quality of legendary food or service.
She Said: I also would eat here again. I got mostly what I expected, sans the fried chicken dinner entrée I imagined, with very good service, and tasty food… honestly, I’d return for the rolls and butter alone.
Is Texas Roadhouse good at what it’s good for? Abso-Texas-lutely! A comfortable, welcoming, western steakhouse, good for families and appetites of various sizes, while offering good food and hospitable roll service.