Texas Roadhouse — Restaurant in DuPont

We've been to many BBQs in TEXAS on road trips so we know what to expect in a good Texan BBQ. We've seen the crowds of military families pack this place but hadn't until now tried it. Sad to say, we weren't super impressed but that could be just specific to the BBQ we like (more on that below).

Upon entering the establishment staff are friendly enough and the restaurant decor is straight out of a Texas pub and grill. As you walk in you get a chance to see the steaks ready to be grilled to-order on display (see pic). Got seated right away and had a very helpful waiter. If you download/sign-up on their app (VIP Member) you will get a free appetizer so that's nice but they don't have a rewards program, just new customers get something.

You get bread right off the bat so kinda.. don't need an appetizer. Bread is freshly baked, it's a combination of a roll and biscuit with this sweet, cinnamon-y butter that's just excellent. I could just eat a bunch of those for dinner.

Ordered a couple of drinks, good and not terribly expensive. The Kenny's Cooler was particularly delicious. We ordered the fried pickles for our free appetizer. They were flavorful enough but a bit on the greasy side.

For our main dishes ordered my GF order the Buffalo Chicken sandwich and I the Pulled Pork Sandwich. One thing is for sure they're not shy on the portion size. Everything is bigger in Texas as they say. Despite the large portion size, I thought the Pulled pork had TOO much meat.. believe it or not. I had to take some off to make it a sized sandwich I could manage. The pork was cooked well enough but just didn't have that robust, smokey Texas-style flavor I'd expect. The BBQ sauce comes on the side which, typically would have been basted onto the meat before serving but not here. It's just...cooked. Pork. Boring. The Buffalo chicken wasn't anything to write home about either. Can get something similar at an Applebee's. Typical breaded chicken breast. Buffalo sauce was kinda.. meh. Also the steak fries that came with both dishes weren't very crisp despite asking they make them extra crispy. And not particularly tasty like steak fries I've had before either at other restaurants.

Now many reading this review will think its scathing but don't get me wrong, I actually enjoyed the experience. I want to come back and give it another chance but next time we're going to manage expectations. We'll sit at the bar, order something different and share an entrée. We're just not into huge Texas style portions. That's our style while other customers like the big-meal experience. Fair enough.

Texas Roadhouse is located on Joint Base Lewis-McCord (JBLM) so effectively this restaurant is only available to veterans (I'm 33+ year navy vet), military and Federal/DoD personnel-- so sorry general public. With that said, not sure if "John Q Public" is missing much as there are better BBQ places around the South Sound area including South Bay Dickerson's BBQ, O.G.'s Smokehouse BBQ, Inc. and Ranch House BBQ Lacey & Steakhouse off of Hwy 8. Give them a try. You won't be...

AAR for the Texas Roadhouse. Bottom line up front, our server, Olivia, was great.

After that, I would like to direct my biggest complaint at the bartender. I ordered a double Jim Beam, and this guy was like he was serving gruel in one of Stalin's gulags. He did the smallest of pours that could technically be called a pour. He probably poured each shot out to the line in a one ounce measuring device and called that a double. Then they charged $10 bucks for that measly portion. I had to get $20 of alcohol to basically make one decent drink. They should call themselves the Gulag Roadhouse instead of the Texas Roadhouse. Anyone pours you a drink like that in Texas, and they'd be immediately escorted to the state line. It was like this guy was paying for the alcohol out of his own pocket, and he didn't like me very much. This is not how you get repeat customers, especially on a military installation.

The steak was pretty good. Its flavor was great, and it was perfectly done inside. It just could have used a little more sear on the outside. It's like it was baked to a perfect temperature and then tossed on the grill as an afterthought. Sure, that's an easy way to get your temps perfect, but there's more to a great steak than a perfect internal temperature. You need tenderness, a nice internal temperature, flavor... and you need sear. I would say the Gulag Roadhouse... oops, I mean Texas Roadhouse, did a great job with the first three, but they forgot the sear.

The last complaint I have concerns the cutlery. The steak knives were along the lines of a dull saw, yep... like the one your mom has hanging in her closet and never uses. You go home on leave, and you need a saw to complete a little project, but all your tools are 2000 miles away. So you grab this rusty thing and try to make a cut. Wood splinters are everywhere, and you're making no headway. Pulling out your Leatherman comes to mind except you realize that you're at the Gulag Roadhouse, and people are watching you destroy this steak. To be fair, there was no steak in the gulag, but if there was, they would make you cut it with a hand saw like this.

That said, the atmosphere was nice, the service was great, and I loved the country music that was playing. All in all, It...

Texas Roadhouse is a relatively new restaurant in Fort Lewis. My dad, who is a retired Army veteran, had eaten there a couple of times and told me how good the food and service is.

They're open from Wednesday through Sunday from 4 pm to 9 pm, and are of course closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. We went there and arrived some 10 minutes before 4 pm on a Saturday afternoon. There was a line of people which extended around the building when we drove up. Accordingly, we took our place at the back of the line.

Due to COVID restrictions, the restaurant could admit only up to 50% capacity. We were second in line when they said that we would have to leave our name and wait until we were called. About an hour later, they called us in.

Being known for their steaks, we all decided to order the bone-in ribeye (20 oz.). I can say without reservation that it was one of the best steaks I've ever eaten in a restaurant, and that's in comparison with Ruth's Criss and Daniel's Broiler.

You get two sides with an entree with a fairly decent selection. I ordered the house salad and baked potato. The only reason for the four-star review is that my good-sized potato was slightly undercooked. The salad was a decent size with plenty of dressing on the side.

We also ordered their fried catfish. There were two large strips with their thick house sauce on the side. It was also very good, but if I'm going to a steakhouse, I tend to eat steak.

The service was very good with the waitress making certain our drinks were filled and that we had what we needed.

From what I understand, this restaurant stays very busy, so expect to wait unless you put yourself on a waiting list by either calling in or via their restaurant app.

Also, we had some friends come in later that night around 8:30. They were told that so long as they arrived before 9, they would be get full service. That's old school service and very commendable!

For super steak at a reasonable price (our 20 oz. dinner was around $30), this is absolutely the...