French Fry Diary 507: Texas Roadhouse 2013

The last time (and the first time) I went to the Texas Roadhouse, most of our party got sick. I'm usually willing to give a place a second chance though.

The Bride and I were in Maryland babysitting the nephew and we could not decide on where to go for dinner. There were a few things we were each in the mood for, but we couldn't decide, so we tried to be fair. All the restaurants in the unfamiliar (to us at least) area were put in a bowl, and the kid chose. Texas Roadhouse. It wasn't on the top of any of our lists, but it was fair, so off to Texas Roadhouse we went.

It should be noted it was a Saturday night at dinner. I guess I underestimated the incredible drawing power of the Texas Roadhouse. Not only was the parking lot completely filled but so were the two adjacent lots as well. I even watched one guy in a monster truck make his own parking spot on top of a grass island. The place was packed, and we were told we had over an hour wait. The kid wasn't taking it well, cranky, impatient, and we didn't go where he wanted. 'S all right, we love him.

We were committed though, so we waited it out, just a little under an hour. We got our appetizer right away - the Cactus Blossom, their onion appetizer. The covering is more of a hot chicken batter, almost like a tempura. I thought it was very very good this time. After the wait, we were very hungry, and this just about hit the spot. Sadly, we think maybe it made the kid a little sick. Maybe the place is cursed?

Extra points for them having Coke products, and being on top of refills when they were so crowded. We also got these great buttered rolls as we sat down. The same rolls were used for the kid's mini-cheeseburgers, which in hindsight would have been delicious, had I not gotten what I got.

In lieu of the chopped steak I ordered last time, I got the Grilled BBQ Chicken this time, a huge breast of chicken with terrific BBQ sauce, which was also great on the natural cut steak fries too. Best part of the meal was soaking up the sauce with the fries. The chicken was the best I had had in a while. I will definitely be back, to this location at least - well worth the wait. All in all, it was a terrific meal, and the kid recovered pretty quickly from his stomachache.