Texas Roadhouse

Where: Texas Roadhouse, 1265 S State Street, Orem (right west of University Mall, follow the smell of meat...)


Who Went: Chelsey & Owen, for Owen's birthday


Number of Visits: 1


What We Ordered: Raspberry Smoothie, Hot Wings, Medium Rare Sirloin Steak, "Fall Off the Bone" Ribs


What It Cost: $35.00* (with tip)


What We Thought: 

I don't know what the deal is with Texas Roadhouse, but the lines there are insane -- longer than the wait for Toy Story Mania at Disney California Adventure, I swear. They are always SUPER busy, and like Outback Steakhouse, usually full of some pretty manly (hairy) men, which is always interesting.

When we finally got a seat (I hear you can make reservations now, which you must make if you want to go here at a normal hour!), we started chowing down on some peanuts they had there since we were so starving. We got some of their "famous" Texas Roadhouse rolls and honey butter -- Owen thought the honey butter was weird, and I thought the rolls were only so-so. I really think that their secret is to make you wait for at least an hour so that by the time you get any food, you think it is the most wonderful thing in the whole world because you've been starving (similar technique seen at Cheesecake Factory).

Since it was his birthday, we decided to get Owen a frozen raspberry lemonade. It was pretty good and very large, which was good since it was so pricey. Then we got hot wings since we looove hot wings, and they were your typical, not too spicy buffalo wings. Good amount of wing sauce, decent dipping sauce, not too dry -- but nothing that blows your mind. I got the "Fall off the Bone" babyback ribs with mashed potatoes. First off -- the potatoes were so loaded with sour cream and butter and FAT FAT FAT that you really couldn't tell that there was any potato in there, so order vegetables or something on the side! The ribs lived up to their name I guess -- they did fall off the bone, but since they were so overcooked (slow roasted for forever apparently), they were SUPER dry. The barbecue sauce they tried to coat it with did little to hide the dryness of the ribs, and I was pretty disappointed.

Owen ordered his steak medium rare. When we got it, and he cut into the steak, it was completely cooked and brown all the way through. This my friends is not medium rare. We told our server this problem, and she brought the cook out there to talk to us. The chef told us about how most people in Provo don't know how to order steak correctly, and they always complain about it being too raw, even though they ordered the meat that way. He was super nice though and cooked up another steak for Owen, and we got it on the house! Bottom line is...Texas Roadhouse = not such great food, but really good customer service.

It was also fun because I told the server that it was Owen's birthday, and she made him get up on this little horse mount and shout "Yee-Haw!" while others sang and danced around him. This was mostly for my enjoyment, and I very much enjoyed it. Plus we got a free birthday ice cream. Never a bad thing.

What You Should Do: Go if you have to. But I would recommend taking a little drive and going up to the Texas Roadhouse in Lehi -- I have heard from many that this more well-established site has much better food than our Orem version. And, learn how to order a steak and be sure to inform your server that you actually know what you're talking about, and you really do want that steak medium rare.

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