Texas Roadhouse -Worse than Applebees? (1 Viewer)

[CurlyNight]

I travel a lot, and in some cities maybe a Texas Roadhouse is the best you're going to do if you just want some protein. Go with low expectations and you may be pleasantly surprised. I saw the comment about The Elephant Bar. I really think they are the worst, and the fact that they are closing gobs of locations out West is proof how much they suck.

Applebees. So my son got real sick after eating there 15 years ago and I didn't go for 12+ years. I got to my hotel near my corp office one night a few years ago and they were the only place opened. Surprise how packed they were, not just in the bar but people eating full meals at 10:30pm. I've gone a few times since then. Half off wings late night - OK. They also had this sizzling Cajun steak that was not bad.

Bottom line - I avoid all of these places unless it's a last resort. With Yelp etc if you eat bad food these days it's typically because you're lazy. Took my daughter to her doctors appointment yesterday morning, did a quick Yelp lookup and found this phenomenal place a few miles away for breakfast. You can do that, or go to a Denny's or IHOP. They lazy or uniformed go to the poorly operated/conceived chains. Should be last resort.

Elephant Bar here is da bomb. Average wait time for a table is 30 minutes, more for weekends. The one in Irvine should close but the one here would be dumb to close. Again, it goes back to the chef and management as these places are individually owned franchises.

 

[johnnycakes]

I remember eating at Applebees with my ex-wife once. the server brought all my food and totally forgot about hers. Wanting to see how long it would take for them to catch the oversight, I ate my dinner while my wife watched.

And they say chivalry is dead.

She didn't have to cook that night, so there's that.

 

[Chadstroma]

From a health standpoint (ie; sodium levels) Applebees is a killer...literally. My mom is on a low sodium diet and when I told her the wife and I were eating some Applebees-To-Go, she told me to check out the nutrition info, particularly their sodium levels... off the charts bad...

http://www.nutrition-charts.com/applebees-nutrition-info/

Appetizer Sampler and Grilled Fajitas are a combined 12000 mg of sodium (6 days worth for those on a restricted or low sodium diet @ 2000mg per day )... crazy. That was the last time I ever ate there and that was 3 years ago.

I tried to find a comparison chart for Texas Roadhouse, but apparently they do not offer nutritional information (http://www.texasroadhouse.com/contact-us#nutritional-information)

If you could not taste the saltiness of their food.... you may want to look at how much sodium you intake in a day because you may be desensitized cause the two times I went there and go whatever I got.... all I remember was that I was eating a salt lick and that is WITH the expectation of the food being over salted because it is a chain restaurant.

3 years, you'd be correct. But now that my mom is on a low sodium diet and I cook that way for her and my family, I am very cognizant of sodium and always read labels now...

Hell, my former favorite soda (Diet Dr. Pepper) now tastes salty to me on those rare occasions I drink soda.

A few years back, same here. I went on a extreme sodium cut back for a while and anything not cooked at home was on the salty side and things that were on the salty side before was not edible. We still don't use much salt in our cooking at home rather using liberal doses of garlic, onions, herbs, etc instead (depending on the dish) but if you are watching your sodium the over seasoned stuff that is served in most chain restaurants is very easy to taste if you did not read the nutrition guidelines.

If you still want a soda kick Diet Rite is what you want to do. No sodium.

 

[scottybo]

Applebees had a stuffed meatball pasta that was pretty good, but it only lasted about 6 months-1 year... Texas Roadhouse any day over them.

 

[Doctor Detroit]

Applebee's is the worst chain restaraunt in existence

/end

 

[mr. furley]

I remember eating at Applebees with my ex-wife once. the server brought all my food and totally forgot about hers. Wanting to see how long it would take for them to catch the oversight, I ate my dinner while my wife watched. When the check finally arrived, they asked how everything was... mine was ok I told the server; my wife never got hers. Wound up getting my dinner for free and we left without paying a nickel. called Domino's for my wife when we got home.

 

[Dan Lambskin]

Applebee's one redeeming food item is the White Chocolate Blondie which might be the best chain dessert...although I usually have the urge to crap my pants after the 3rd bite

 

[eoMMan]

Getting dusty in here.

 

[TheFly06]

Thought on Logan's Roadhouse? I think they make pretty good Pork Chops, Hamburger Steak, 8 oz Sirloin, Fried Catfish are all pretty good. Ceasar salad, French fries, sweet baked potato, sweet potato fries, sautéed mushrooms and skewered veggies are all good too.

 

[RBM]

Whats hamburger steak?

 

[Wingnut]

Its no Longhorn.

 

[Dan Lambskin]

Longhorn

Outback

Texas Roadhouse (could easily flip these two)

Logans

 

[eoMMan]

Never heard of Logan's. Where are they located?

 

[Dan Lambskin]

Never heard of Logan's. Where are they located?

http://bit.ly/1pWsxUn

 

[eoMMan]

Never heard of Logan's. Where are they located?

http://bit.ly/1pWsxUn

Much easier to just say southwest, northwest, etc.

 

[[icon]]

I remember eating at Applebees with my ex-wife once. the server brought all my food and totally forgot about hers. Wanting to see how long it would take for them to catch the oversight, I ate my dinner while my wife watched. When the check finally arrived, they asked how everything was... mine was ok I told the server; my wife never got hers. Wound up getting my dinner for free and we left without paying a nickel. called Domino's for my wife when we got home.

Wow.

So you made your wife sit and watch you eat as a fun experiment to see if they'd catch it? WTF is wrong with you?

And they say chivalry is dead.

 

[[icon]]

And they say chivalry is dead.

Damn. beat me to it

 

[johnnycakes]

I remember eating at Applebees with my ex-wife once. the server brought all my food and totally forgot about hers. Wanting to see how long it would take for them to catch the oversight, I ate my dinner while my wife watched. When the check finally arrived, they asked how everything was... mine was ok I told the server; my wife never got hers. Wound up getting my dinner for free and we left without paying a nickel. called Domino's for my wife when we got home.

Wow.

So you made your wife sit and watch you eat as a fun experiment to see if they'd catch it? WTF is wrong with you?

And they say chivalry is dead.

She didn't have to cook that night.

 

[Todem]

Applebees is the suck big time. It has been at least 5 years since I ever went there. Awful food, service etc. I have never been to a Texas Roadhouse (I have never seen any in South Florida). As far as chain places for steak...Longhorn has been on average the best I have had.

Outback since they went to the wood fire grill also is decent enough, plus my kid loves eating there. But in general if I want a great steak I either go to my local Italian butcher (Doris's) and have him cut me some great bone in Rib Eye's or Filet's and grill them myself or if I am feeling really saucy go to a higher end steak place like Houston's or J. Alexander's. As far as going to Capitol Grill or an Abe & Louie's.....maybe once a year. I just hate spending 50-60 bucks on a steak. Over priced big time IMO.

A nice gem of a steak is actually at Caraba's. The Sirloin Marsala is surprisingly really tasty. Full of sodium but still really tasty.

Eating steak out is overrated when you know how to BBQ your own for so much less and have a really good cut to work with.

 

[Dan Lambskin]

Applebees is the suck big time. It has been at least 5 years since I ever went there. Awful food, service etc. I have never been to a Texas Roadhouse (I have never seen any in South Florida). As far as chain places for steak...Longhorn has been on average the best I have had.

Outback since they went to the wood fire grill also is decent enough, plus my kid loves eating there. But in general if I want a great steak I either go to my local Italian butcher (Doris's) and have him cut me some great bone in Rib Eye's or Filet's and grill them myself or if I am feeling really saucy go to a higher end steak place like Houston's or J. Alexander's. As far as going to Capitol Grill or an Abe & Louie's.....maybe once a year. I just hate spending 50-60 bucks on a steak. Over priced big time IMO.

A nice gem of a steak is actually at Caraba's. The Sirloin Marsala is surprisingly really tasty. Full of sodium but still really tasty.

Eating steak out is overrated when you know how to BBQ your own for so much less and have a really good cut to work with.

Carrabas and Outback are part of the same ownership group so it's probably the same steak aside from the sauce

 

[Todem]

Applebees is the suck big time. It has been at least 5 years since I ever went there. Awful food, service etc. I have never been to a Texas Roadhouse (I have never seen any in South Florida). As far as chain places for steak...Longhorn has been on average the best I have had.

Outback since they went to the wood fire grill also is decent enough, plus my kid loves eating there. But in general if I want a great steak I either go to my local Italian butcher (Doris's) and have him cut me some great bone in Rib Eye's or Filet's and grill them myself or if I am feeling really saucy go to a higher end steak place like Houston's or J. Alexander's. As far as going to Capitol Grill or an Abe & Louie's.....maybe once a year. I just hate spending 50-60 bucks on a steak. Over priced big time IMO.

A nice gem of a steak is actually at Caraba's. The Sirloin Marsala is surprisingly really tasty. Full of sodium but still really tasty.

Eating steak out is overrated when you know how to BBQ your own for so much less and have a really good cut to work with.

Carrabas and Outback are part of the same ownership group so it's probably the same steak aside from the sauce

Well I realize that. But they way they grill at Caraba's plus the Marsala sauce makes a big difference in the final product. I also think if you get the Outback special on the wood fire grill medium rare....for 10.99 it is a value. Salad or soup and potato included. On a budget that is a good steak dinner for the money. Sirlon is not a glamour cut of steak by any stretch, but cooked the right way and seasoned the right way....it's a decent steak dinner if your on a budget.

 

[johnnycakes]

I remember eating at Applebees with my ex-wife once. the server brought all my food and totally forgot about hers. Wanting to see how long it would take for them to catch the oversight, I ate my dinner while my wife watched. When the check finally arrived, they asked how everything was... mine was ok I told the server; my wife never got hers. Wound up getting my dinner for free and we left without paying a nickel. called Domino's for my wife when we got home.

Wow.

So you made your wife sit and watch you eat as a fun experiment to see if they'd catch it? WTF is wrong with you?

And they say chivalry is dead.

My link.