Texas Roadhouse — Restaurant in Columbia

My family has eaten at the Council Bluffs location several times and has nothing but excellent food and service. We came to Columbia Missouri on vacation and it was the worst service. I joined the waitlist online and it had a wait time of 1 hour and 10 minutes we arrived at the restaurant an hour after joining the waitlist. Upon arrival I verified we needed a wheel chair accessible seating. The host staff was rude and we were informed we would have a 20 minute wait after waiting over an hour I inquired on how long the wait would be. After seeing the entire lobby being sat and being forced to stand in the way I assured it would only be a few minutes by the manager. After another 20 minutes the manager started we would be sat soon due to the previous customers cashed out. Finally we were sat and the booth we were sat at booth and the staff expected my brother who’s wheelchair bound to be sat in the isle. The server came to the booth and could tell I was very upset. I explained the seating was not fitting for my brother. The manager came over and argued it was my fault because I rushed them finding us seating. I tried to explain sitting my brother is the isle was not ideal due to him having a feeding tube and needed to be fed. The manager said if I didn’t like the seating we could leave. My family exited the restaurant after waiting 2 1:2 and with no food. I will never step foot in Texas Road House in Columbia Missouri. We was able to go across the street to Jazz and the staff seated us quickly and served us quickly. Great food and service. If Texas Road House is not setup to accommodate wheel chairs customers should be notified up front. My family was made to feel like a huge inconvenience and my brother was made to feel like his disability was his fault and...

The last time I was at this Texas Road House was years ago, and I recalled the meal fondly enough for a steak chain. My wife did too. Today everything was just mediocre, but definitely still pricey. It's not that it was terrible. But certain things were obviously underseasoned, like the steak and mac'n'cheese. Also, under cooked, though not the steak in this case luckily. The cut was also unusual. I ordered a ribeye, expecting the classic crescent of rich, juicy beef on the wide end called the spinalis dorsi. There wasn't one. But there was more gristle than I'm used to. So close to 1/4 of the steak ended up going in a literal doggy bag. And the beef flavor was bland. Compared to Longhorn, which certainly has its own set of problems, the steak was definitely not anywhere close to as good. It was simply a sad specimen. The service was professional, friendly enough, and not too pushy. It was the highlight. The atmosphere was horrific though. There was no way to get away from s**y pop country. Not only was it playing so loudly on the overhead speakers that I couldn't hear my wife talk right next to me, but every big screen in the whole place seemed to be a non-stop pop country music fest. It was not this bad before. I have no idea why it has changed. I can't imagine that most people in this area like it, let alone love it, and if the food can't make up for it, then I'm not sure what is supposed to. Certainly not the 20-minute wait during the pre-dinner slow period when most of the boothes were completely empty. As you can tell, I was more than a little disappointed. If you have to choose a steak chain in Como, the choice is clear. Not here. We'd have been better off buying Prime steak at Hy-Vee and throwing some classic Hank Williams Sr. on while firing...

TLDR Toxic takeout box used for hot steak Manager John Socha refused to acknowledge or address the issue — didn’t care, didn’t look it up, took no responsibility

Fact: Styrofoam (#6 polystyrene) starts to break down and leach chemicals like styrene at temperatures above 70°C. This is a known health risk and should not be used for hot food.

Also Fact: Texas Roadhouse uses Styrofoam boxes to package freshly grilled steaks for takeout — a clear misuse of this material based on its known temperature limits.

I raised this concern with the manager. Here’s how the conversation went: “We’ve been doing this for a while and no one has complained.”
This isn’t a defense — it’s complacency. Just because others didn’t notice or complain doesn’t mean the practice is safe. Yes, I caught it, and yes, it’s a real issue. “All our containers are health-department approved.”
This is technically true, but regulations are outdated. PS plastic is only considered “food safe” below 70°C. It is not designed for hot, greasy food straight off the grill. That’s why over 10 states have banned foam containers entirely. Hiding behind outdated approval doesn’t change the science — and refusing to act now that you’re aware shows a lack of responsibility.

It’s one thing for customers to assume a takeout box is safe. It’s another for a restaurant — especially management — to show this level of ignorance and indifference. I get it — maybe you’re technically in the clear for now, until Missouri catches up on regulation. But using that as a shield, rather than even bothering to verify the concern or acknowledge the science, is exactly the kind of attitude that leads to bad practices going...