Roadhouse Review

Decor at my own End-Of-The-Roadhouse

*ROADHOUSE: Not to be confused with "Roodhouse," an old railroad town in central Illinois.  My computer gadget dictionary says a roadhouse is "a tavern, inn, or club on a country road. This "roadhouse" is on a busy commercial thoroughfare in a big city. No, you can't sleep there (so it's not a genuine tavern or inn), and you can't play poker or golf there, (so it's definitely not a club). But there's a bar and good food --- everybody I know thinks it's a pretty hot-dam place to eat.

 My friends from Texas will probably groan about this one: a dining review for a franchise steakhouse.  But until we get sick of it (not likely to happen, since we dine out so seldomly in our poverty-stricken retirement), it's a hard place for us to pass up if we're in Springfield at the right time of day with hungry bellies tugging at us.

THE TEXAS ROADHOUSE REVIEW

The Texas Roadhouse Steakhouse is a hoot! It's definitely not a quiet dining experience, so be forewarned. Personally, I have a low tolerance for noise of any kind (probably from my early years of working audio/quality control at Capitol Records), so I just mostly ignore the hooplah and keep on eating.

If you come in celebrating a birthday, five or ten of the servers will escort you and your party to your table with staccato hand-clapping loud as gun-fire. Then they will loudly announce your big day to the entire restaurant, ending with a resounding Texas YEE-HAW! that nearly brings down the critter heads hanging on the walls.

We've also been there when the whole wait-staff line dances, when a certain song comes on. Their hand-clapping makes the palms of my own hands sting!

Needless to say, this place is popular with families and fun-seekers alike. But you'd better get there when it opens, at 4 p.m., or you're likely to find yourself waiting for a table. The service (despite many side-tracking performances) is fast and friendly. And the food is not only good, but also abundant for the price.

I always get the Chicken Fried Sirloin with mashed potatoes and gravy and a side Caesar salad. The salad is ample, and it comes with delicious bread rolls (all ya can eat, pard-ner!), so by the time I get to the main course, I'm stuffed and end up taking half or more home with me. The next day, when I chop the leftovers up for lunch, it fills an entire dinner plate.

Seriously, you don't go away from Texas Roadhouse hungry OR empty-handed.

Yes, I KNOW CFSteak is BAD! Oh, the gravy! Oh, the crunchy, fried-chickeny coating! Oh, the bliss! I don't eat like this at all, most of the time --- so a little comfort food in a high-energy setting, once in a while...when I really need it, work wonders!