Texas Roadhouse — Restaurant in Marana

I’m probably not the first person to say their expectations weren’t all that high coming in. Yes, I will admit we usually dine at “finer” dining restaurants than Texas Roadhouse, so it may not be completely fair for my expectations to be not all that high, but I have to say, this was an excellent dining experience. It started with the outstanding service. Sydney was our server and she was absolutely fantastic. She greeted us VERY quickly, took our drink order, and you could tell instantly she has it together. She remembers the details. She’s very bright and personable, and it was a lot of fun having her as our server, as she helped guide us to a great experience. I bet she’d be great as a bartender because of her personality combined with her skill. I already knew there weren’t many gluten-free options, but Sydney was patient and thorough in checking on possible modifications to items not listed as gluten-friendly. She was just plain great. We were able to enjoy the potato skins as an appetizer, leave the seasoning salt off my wife’s steak (she’s the GF one), and even though the only really safe potato option for GF is the baked potato, that’s what my wife would’ve wanted anyway. So it all worked out just fine from that perspective.

As far as the food quality is concerned, my expectation were definitely exceeded. I found my steak to be done to just about the exactly correct temperature/doneness, at medium well. And the flavor was great! I’ve been to fancier restaurants where I felt the steak was just not all that flavorful, but it really was very good here at Texas Roadhouse. We both went with the Dallas Ribeye, so I can’t speak for the strip or filet medallions, but those looked very good as well from what I could see for other diners. The portion sizes are huge - and that’s not a complaint by any means - and you get two sides with your entree. I really liked the steak fries. And the salad wasn’t bad at all either. Yes I know everyone talks about the rolls, and yes they were fresh and soft and fluffy and the cinnamon butter was soft and spreadable, I just don’t happen to be a fan of sweeter rolls, but I can see others enjoying them.

Ambiance - well, I kind of expected peanuts on the floor and all that. It was just a little busy and a bit noisy but it was right in the middle of lunch on St. Patrick’s day and all the more reason to give Sydney credit for keeping up with us - we’re not exactly low maintenance diners. And we chose to eat in the middle bar high top, which means possible semi-sharing (one long table, so someone could potentially sit right next to you), and right in the middle of the action. But we were still able to have a conversation. And you don’t come here for an intimate dining experience anyway. Plenty of TVs, plenty of beers, even some lighter options if you don’t want steak.

Yes, we came here only because we had a gift card, but I’d still return based on the great experience...

During my visit today, to Texas Roadhouse, I ordered a well-done ribeye steak. I emphasized to our server that I wanted it with no pink in the middle. However, when the steak arrived, it was still pink. I brought this to our server's attention, and they handled it well by apologizing and taking it back.

However, what left me disappointed was the response from the manager, who I'll refer to as "Manager Turquoise Polo Shirt" They seemed to believe that personally delivering the steak would resolve the issue. They simply put it back on the grill for a few seconds and declared it "good." Unfortunately, the steak still wasn't well done.

What frustrates me even more is that this wasn't an isolated incident. In my last three visits to this location, whether ordering through the app or dining in, I received a rare steak when I specifically requested well done. When I pointed this out to Manager Turquoise Polo Shirt, their response was disheartening. They essentially conveyed, "Because we're busy, you shouldn't expect excellent customer service, and we'll cook the steak as we see fit."

This left me with the impression that they aren't committed to meeting customer expectations. If Texas Roadhouse is unable to consistently prepare steaks as customers order them, they should communicate this upfront. Manager Turquoise Polo Shirt mentioned they would pass on my concerns to the kitchen manager, but I'm left wondering if that actually happened.

In conclusion, my message is simple: Texas Roadhouse Marana should strive to do better, especially when it comes to fulfilling customer orders.

Old review: Excellent service this trip. Good food. Nitpicking would be that the sweet tea wasn't as sweet as it...

Was excited to try this place out for the first time. I expected a wait so after an hour we got a table. Seemed okay at first although it was quite crammed with many workers, customers and kids running around crammed tables. Not spacious at all. The appetizer although small was the only thing that wasn’t messed up. I do enjoy their portions as they “Everything is bigger in Texas”. But everything doesn’t seem to be made right at this Texas location. I ordered the 20oz bone-in Ribeye and my gf ordered the pulled pork sandwich. We immediately thought they gave her different fries because of how small, orange and burnt they looked compared to my plate. The biggest issue I had here was I ordered my 20oz ribeye to be smothered with onions and mushrooms as well as cooked medium rare. They brought me a plain ribeye that bled before I could finish cutting through it and being cold inside. They then brought me a bowl of onions and mushrooms to put on. After seeing my steak they offered to “throw it back on the grill” which they did but somehow only burned it while keeping the inside rare. At this point it had been two hours since arriving, so I ate it anyway. After a very brief conversation with a manager who seemed annoyed and agitated that we were trying to solve a problem, she decided to take $10 off the $32 ribeye. The manager who said her name was kaylee when I asked seemed very unprofessional and unwilling to solve problems in an effective way. This was our first time here and it came nowhere close to a great first time experience. Definitely won’t be trying it again...