Texas Roadhouse — Restaurant in Abilene

One of the most horrible dining experiences I have ever had in Texas

I need to be honest; I am not a fan of chain restaurants. But, I will not give them a bad rating because of it. They provide good food and service; I will rate them accordingly. But the reasons for the one-star here were totally and entirely earned by this restaurant on so many levels.

The only reason I came here was that I was invited by a friend. He wanted a steak, and this was the only place we could find that served one. We asked some friends along to dine with us, so we had a good size party. So here is what was wrong.

The Ambiance. Now, I don't mind a restaurant with good fine dining music at an average level that enhances the experience. But what this place had playing, the night I was there, was BLARING SO LOUD YOU COULD NOT HEAR YOURSELF THINK! The place was packed out, and there were a lot of people talking. I would guess that the music was at minimum three times louder than the crowd's noise level. After five minutes in this place, everyone at our table was rolling up napkins and stuffing them in their ears. My ears were ringing so bad it was like church bells going off in my head. If that was not bad enough, about every five minutes, 30% of the staff would form a chain and start clapping and march over to some table and perform some sort of chant at the top of their lungs. And they were not just clapping. No! There were doing what I call "Cupped Clapping", which is where you form a cup with one hand and hit it with your other hand cupped as well. This creates a sort of loud pop like a firecracker going off and is very loud when thirty people are doing it in unison right next to you. It felt like someone was driving an ice pick into my brain with every clap. Everyone at our table was holding their hands over their ears each time they did this, which was about ten times during our 90 minutes there.

The Service. Our server was either brand new or completely incompetent. It took forever to get anything, and he could not keep anything straight. It did not help that the place was totally packed, and half the staff kept getting called away to blow everyone's eardrum's out with clapping and chanting.

The Food. The food looked great but was so over-salted that I was worried about a stroke. No matter what it was, it was over-salted. When will restaurants finally get it through their thick heads? SALT is not the seasoning! It is a seasoning and flavor enhancer; it is not supposed to be THE ONLY FLAVOR! Salt is meant to bring out the flavors of the food itself and the spices, not COVER them UP! You would think that with all the great cooking shows available to watch anytime, chain restaurant chefs would start learning.

The Price. The prices were way higher than competing restaurants that offer much better food service and ambiance. I honestly cannot understand why so many people are willing to come here to pay that much to lose their hearing, endure lousy service, and risk their life due to sodium overdoes. I guess they serve alcohol, and once you get drunk, you become numb to noise and flavor.

Bottom line. I would not come back here if you dragged me with a team of wild horses. But if you like booze, loud music, lousy service and food, hey,...

My wife and I sat down to eat here last night but ran into a number of issues along the way. My wife ordered a Long Island and I asked for an Old Fashioned. I was told they couldn't make it as they didn't carry bitters. I asked for a Makers whiskey neat instead. Our server brings back the drinks and mentions our food order is in. I had ice in my whiskey neat which wasn't a deal breaker but I also had a dead gnat or fruit fly in it. I mention this to the server and he apologizes. He returns with another, citing the dishwashers weren't doing their jobs right, jokingly. I look again before drinking and look and behold, another gnat / fruit fly. I ask him to send it back again for another. Third time, third bug. I call our server back to cancel our entire order now.

At this point, I'm upset. I ask to speak to the manager and am greeted my the assistant manager. We shake hands and talk about which supervisor is in charge of alcoholic beverage and who ensures cleanliness and she mentions "it's all our jobs." I then ask "so did you all neglect to clean the spirits and cap them after use?" She defers the question to the manager on duty. I tried to be courteous and shake his hand as well but am left with an awkward glare and extreme hesitance.

I get down to asking about the care and cleaning of the bar and how I could have gotten 3/3 drinks with bugs in them. The manager explains that "because the alcohol is so sweet, they're attracted to them but since it's winter, there aren't any." I follow that by asking if they've been there since Summer and he was a bit speechless. I tried to be objective and ask how he planned to address this issue in the future and he simply mentioned re education of the bar staff and all staff.

I am extremely appalled at the severe lack of customer service from the manager on duty. The server did his absolute best to try and ensure a great dining experience and the assistant manager was very attentive during our talks. The manager on the other hand was far from it.

One, clean your bar better. Two, use caps on your liquor bottles to avoid those summer gnats. Three, step up your hospitality! It is literally in your best interest to satisfy the customer and ensure...

We never received a notification that our curbside pick up was ready. I called, sitting in the parking lot and they put me on hold to transfer me. I finally walked in, still on the phone. 3 employees sitting and pointed for me to go to the desk who pointed me to the curbside, I was STILL on hold waiting for. So you know, the two desks are literally side by side. They could have asked since they weren't doing anything when I walked in and had been on hold more than 5 minutes after placing an order an hour before. The lady gave me my order and said they had been paging me. I said, "You mean you called my phone because this is a curbside not a pick up." She quickly said yes and I told her I had received no alert and asked what number she called. She looked at the paper and told me my phone number. I told her I had received no such call or text. We arrived home, there were no rolls..no big deal, really and no silverware. Luckily, we were going home and not to a hotel or something. The food was good and this was the second time we used curbside. The first time was great but this one was a bit disappointing. I will still order from there. 3rd time's a charm, right? Wrong. Out of four times, two were good. Two were not. The last time, after they made me wait an hour, we tried again. Curbside and they forgot the entire potato and salad dressings for the salad. I had to call them and go back up there and call again. I was still on hold, music playing, which was super annoying by the way, when the manager brought the forgotten items. At least pick up the hold call. That's TWICE. Leave you on hold and NEVER pick up. The first time I went in still on hold while they were talking and not bothering to pick up the call I was on. I even showed them I was on hold, which is right by the hostess phone. You couldn't just tell them to pick up a call? They were doing literally nothing. I'm kind of over this, now. $65 and I had to make TWO trips? By the time I ate, my chicken was cold as was my baked potato. The one forgotten was my daughter's. ...