Original Roadhouse Grill — Restaurant in Medford

My family eats here occasionally, and we almost always have a great experience... The one exception would be this last Father's Day. We went in about 7:30, and understandably had to wait about 20 minutes for a table. Not an issue at all, we expected it. We were seated, and our server took our drink order right away. I ordered the two year old's meal, too, like I always do. Folks with toddler's will understand the importance of getting that little one's food asap. Drinks came as well as the bread basket, and she took our appetizer order and dinner order... We ordered the prime rib with dinner salads and baked potatoes - I ordered a fully loaded potato. Our server returned to the table a few minutes later to let us know that the prime rib was out, so we switched to the rib-eye. Again, no big deal. Appetizers came, we requested drink refills and more bread. Still trucking at this point. Then she brought the salads about two minutes after the apps. Limp, half-sized salads that were almost warm. No refills, no bread, and my two year old's macaroni was nowhere in sight. The apps were great; but we pushed the salads around the plate for about 30 minutes before we were able to catch our server's attention and remind her about drinks and bread. She informed us that our meals would be a little longer in coming out; then disappeared for another 15 minutes or so. When we saw her again it was with our steaks, the kid's meal, and no drinks or bread. The food was AWFUL. The mac was cold and runny, the potatoes were cold AND mine was plain, and while my fiance's steak was passable, mine didn't resemble anything like a rib-eye. It was dry, mealy, over-cooked, and had a distinct aftertaste I can only assume comes from freezer burn. I could not eat it. My two year old wouldn't eat her meal, either. So... I asked the server to take my plate, and I did request she comp it. We left without ever having gotten our drinks and bread refilled.

I understand busy - I have done my time as a server. But, the whole experience being so disappointing... I know the server forgot to put the kid's meal in with the drinks, I know she forgot to place our dinner order after placing the app order. She kept forgetting our drinks and bread. The kitchen was serving sub par food, either because that's all they had left or they were just too tired to care. So I called the next day. I spoke with Janet, the manager. She was beyond apologetic! Listened to my complaints without once countering me or making excuses, then she took my information and sent us gift certificates in excess of our meals' cost - including my comped dinner! She did her best to make things right, and even came over to our table when we went back to use the certificates to apologize in person! Oh, and the food was back to it's usual greatness on our return trip. Mistakes happen, but this place gets five stars for going above and beyond to fix theirs....

I hadn't been to a Roadhouse in years, and it sounded pretty good while on a trip recently.

Before I go any further, I have to point out that the food Roadhouse serves is most certainly not "barbecue". I've seen some reviewers refer to it as such and they are incorrect.

Ok, the good (not bad):

-The staff was friendly, including our waitress. -The dinner rolls are good. -My NY steak was good. Tender, cooked correctly (med rare) and seasoned adequately. -Strawberry lemonade refills were actually strawberry lemonade. The last time my wife & I were at a Roadhouse, the first glass had strawberries, and subsequent refills did not. -The chicken quarter my wife received was decent. Really just "OK".

The bad:

-My baked potato. First, it was barely lukewarm. Second, I asked for it to be "loaded", which included cheese & bacon. There was about one bite worth of both on the spud. Finally, I'm pretty sure they are not baked. The skin was wilted and kind of tough, like it came out of a microwave. -My grilled vegetables. That order consisted of a two small chunks of green pepper, onion, zucchini, two cherry tomatoes and two mushrooms, all unseasoned, served slightly charred on a skewer. A surprisingly small portion relative to the rest of the menu items. It was also served on a bed of rice. I didn't realize I was getting rice when I ordered veggies, as I'd rather have had more of the bland veggies than bland rice. -My wife's garlic green beans. Again, very bland. Not much garlic flavor, or any seasoning for that matter. It was also obvious they were frozen. At least the portion size was decent. -The pulled pork & ribs. My wife had ordered a sampler type plate that consisted of a 1/4 chicken, a little pulled pork and 1/4 rack of ribs. The pulled pork was weird. It was minced up very fine like sawdust, and very wet. The ribs were just BBQ sauce-flavored mush on bone. Nothing tasted like meat, just sauce.

Overall, an underwhelming meal. I had a craving for a good steak, which I received, but past that, not so good. I don't think I'll be visiting another Roadhouse...

It makes me sad to see how slow this business is. When I was younger this place was hopping with business. There was almost always a wait for a table. The service has been amazing the last 2 times I have gone here. It's been the same girl with lovely eyelashes serving us. She is so patient with my needy behavior and attentive. The atmosphere and ambiance is great. They really create a southern backyard bbq feel with the decor, which is another reason it makes me sad that the food isn't better. My gripes, the Texas egg rolls are never cooked long enough to fully heat and melt the shredded and cream cheese in them and the last time i had gotten them, i could tell they were cooked well before they came to my table as the outside of them were no longer crispy (kitchens fault, not the server). The wings on the sample platter were of poor quality and it showed with the flavor. The mac-n-cheese side came out looking dreadfully cold but to my surprise it was piping hot. In fact it had sat in a warmer being kept so hot that the noodles were completely gone. You couldn't tell what was noodle and what was cheese, also because the cheese sauce was almost as bland as the blowout noodles. The cole slaw was so-so. Not bad, not soggy, not dry but not much going on in terms of flavor, but I'll eat most coleslaw willingly. What i liked/love-The pulled pork was good and the ribs were good. The sauce they serve the BBQ potato skins with is really good. The rolls and butter are always delicious, I think I ate my weight in them. Even though the Texas egg rolls are never done right, I still love the way they taste with their sweet and spicy dipping sauce. And I love the peanuts. I probably won't add the roadhouse to my regular dine out nights, but I'll come back occasionally. The sad thing is that when business slowes, the food usually suffers and when the food suffers, business stays slow, it's a viscous cycle that I hope they can break. I want it to feel like it used to 15 years ago...