On April 18, we visited the home of the famous Texas Roadhouse Rolls. Our honest experience of Texas Roadhouse food in the Midwest is unfiltered. As well as the rolls, we picked out a few dishes to evaluate. We provide a well-rounded food review overall.

   We started with their signature rolls, with their whipped cinnamon butter. This well-loved classic is a favorite of the majority who visit Texas Roadhouse. This butter-brushed glutinous roll was the first thing we were greeted with. 

   Shan: My first impression of the roll was very soft and when pressed there was no recoil.

   Bryson: I thought it was very squishy, and doughy. I also noticed that it was square-shaped.

   Shan: The bread is sweet, I can describe the taste almost the same as Hawaiian bread.  

   Bryson: The butter was quite sweet, and seemed like it was whipped. 

   Shan: The cinnamon butter was very airy and had a subtle taste. The butter was aromatic and paired well with the sweet bread.

   Shan: Overall I did not like it because when it bit into the bread it almost stuck into your teeth and there was a lack of flavor.

   Bryson: The classic butter on the bread was adding to the sweet, doughy, buttery flavor.

   We then tried the recommended Combo appetizer platter, consisting of “Tater Skins,” “Rattlesnake Bites,” and “Hot Boneless Buffalo Wings”.

    Starting with the cheddar cheese covered and bacon sprinkled potato skins. 

   Bryson: They were pretty cheesy, lots of bacon, came with sour cream on the side, potato skin was kinda chewy, and kind of crunchy.

   Shan: Potato was not soft. Cheese is chewy, Bacon is a good savory and not crispy.

   Shan: It was like they seasoned it with oil. The cheese slid off the potato so easily and there was a pool of oil under the potato skins.

   We then moved on to the next combo appetizer, the Rattlesnake Bites.

   Bryson: They are extremely cheesy, soft, though pretty oily, probably jalapeno peppers, plus unknown red pepper, many balls.

   Shan: The crust around the ball was very thin. Inside was melted cheese that was very liquidy. 

   Shan: There was no cheese pull and the cheese was very strong cheddar. There was a pocket oil inside and an unexpected kick from the green and pepper bits inside. 

The last thing on the appetizer were the hot wings. A hot sauce covered boneless chicken wings.

   Shan: It was more a zing and zest than a spice. It was not hot. It was more like chicken bites than chicken wings. They were really small.

   Bryson: The wings were red, and looked hot. Though they were actually very mild. Which makes me wonder what the mild ones tasted like.

Onto the entrees we each got. Shan picked out a Bacon Cheeseburger, and Bryson picked out a Hand-Cut Sirloin. 

   Starting off with the Bacon Cheeseburger. This huge burger was presented with thick steak cut fries and pickles on the side.

   Shan: The top and bottom buns were unbalanced, with the bottom bun being larger. The burger was pretty dry because there was no sauce, and it pretty much fell apart.

   Shan: The lettuce was not crunchy, and was quite soggy. It also wasn’t very savory. The patty on the burger was pretty thick in size.

   Bryson: The patty was juicy, but a bit on the oily side of things. It wasn’t fully sauced up, though I felt that even if it was a little dry, it was still pretty good. 

   Shan: It tasted way more flavorful when I added ketchup. It had thick-cut red onions, juicy tomatoes, lettuce, and tasteless cheese.

   We then moved on to the Hand-Cut Sirloin. This juicy charred medium-well six-ounce steak is topped with sauteed mushrooms and onions. The entree came back with a baked potato topped with butter and a heap of sour cream.

   Bryson: The mushrooms are a bit much, but I think the steak itself is pretty juicy. The steak was easy to cut, it was quite thick.   

   Shan: I think the mushroom was very juicy and added flavor to the steak. The steak overall was chewy and it had a smokey taste. There were charred lines on the steak.

   Bryson: It was like they seasoned the potato from the outside and not the inside. Is that normal? Is it just a Texas Roadhouse thing? Or are they just incompetent? Who knows.

   Shan: The baked potato was okay, the butter wasn’t evenly mixed and there was too much sour cream on top. The potato didn’t have any taste and there was no taste of salt inside of the potato.

   Lastly, we had the “Big Ole’ Brownie” for dessert. This dish consisted of a hot brownie drowning in chocolate syrup and a big scoop of vanilla ice cream.

   Bryson: The ice cream was very cold, and just a bit melty at the bottom. The brownie was chocolaty and soft. The chocolate syrup was a nice touch.

   Shan: The ratio of ice cream to brownie was good. The chocolate flavor was definitely strong. There was an overbearing sweetness. 

   Shan: The brownie had a crust and the inside was very moist. I don’t think the chocolate syrup was necessary. The ice cream helped balance the flavor. 

   After this very long afternoon, we concluded our opinions of the dinner at Texas Roadhouse. 

   Bryson: In conclusion, Texas Roadhouse is a fulfilling experience that can bring everyone in, and have something for everyone. Overall, I had a good experience and would go back again. I would however not want to see the dirty dishes we saw there.

   Shan: My overall experience of the food was that it is good to try at least once but I would not get those entrees and appetizers if I were to come back to Texas Roadhouse again. My hot take is that the famous rolls with the cinnamon butter are not good but I know that a lot of people disagree.