Texas Roadhouse — Restaurant in Newington

I am in town for business and decided to stop by this location because I am rarely disappointed at a Texas Roadhouse. Well... let's just say this place was an all around bad experience. The moment I arrived the bartender completely ignored me... She noticed me when I arrived but it was more important for her to clean behind the counter and follow up with the other patrons to cash them out than acknowledge me and ask me if I want something to drink. I don't know her name but she is an older woman that brags about her 20 years of experience working there and how she lives in Exeter NH. So... after being ignored for 7 minutes she finally acknowledges me and asks me my name and if I would like some bread.. I tell her no because I am diabetic... She then proceeds to start cleaning the area next to me... I then indicate to her that I would like a diet coke... she then tells me she is going to clean the area next to me first because who wants to sit next to a dirty counter.. So... my experience started with being ignored and then moved on to being gaslit... She was cleaning the area to make sure people wouldn't be discouraged from sitting there... It had nothing to do with me. This lady thinks she is a BS master mind after having done this job for so long but I could tell this lady was a piece of work straight from the jump. After she finished doing what she needed to do for her best interest and not mine... she then took my order. I asked for a steak dinner medium. She told me it would be pink in the center and I said I know. Well... pink in the center is a gross generalization. Just slapping an uncooked piece of meat on my plate would be pink in the center. I waited around 12 minutes and my food was delivered... I was asked to cut into it to check it but I didn't think it was necessary because I had never been disappointed at a texas roadhouse in the past... Well as soon as I cut into it, I realized the error in judgement I made. When the person who dropped off my food stopped by again I indicated to her that my food was undercooked... I noticed the bartender pull her aside and make a comment... she thought she was being slick but it was obvious, she told her that she informed me that the meat would be pink in the middle and that she did her due diligence and just heat up my steak in the microwave... Well.. I don't go to a steak house to have my meat undercooked and then have all of the juices cooked out of it in a microwave because the meat was already cut into... They brought back the steak that I already cut into and tried to pawn it off on me... The manager brought it out to me... when I looked at the steak unapprovingly and said I guess this will be ok, the manager looked at me with a scowl and said what is wrong... I said "I would rather have a new steak because heating it up after it having been cut into makes it less juicy" Now this experience also didn't sit right with me. If your cook can't cook a steak properly, don't get mad at me for pointing it out to you. You should be apologetic and upset with your cook... Not at me for having the small amount of grit required to speak up when I am not getting what I asked for.

They said, ok we will bring you another steak... again the bartender pulled the manager aside and did all of her CYA... Sorry... but just saying it will be pink in the center isn't a blanket pass for any situation where the meat I get is pink in the center. Even when they brought me the new steak, it was still under cooked. I then asked the bartender, if this is medium... what would rare look like. She said... that looks rare to me... After all of that experience. I decided to leave, and I didn't leave that bartender a cent for a tip because of how she handled that entire interaction. Even the woman sitting next to me pointed out how rare the steak looked... it wasn't just me.

A little helpful advice to management... Don't fault your customers for your cook's shortcomings. Don't put a new cook on the line until he or she proves he or she knows what her or...

Former / longtime restaurant worker here so this is an informed review. This isn't a 1-star because the food was good, and the server was semi-pleasant... but clearly in the weeds, or double sat, and definitely in over her head... The food was pretty good for the most part, but for a steakhouse parading a campaign of "pick your steak" better not BOTCH the cook on that steak. That's what happened here...

3 adults, one child. Not a difficult table ... My wife ordered a rare Ribeye select for its cut, only to receive a medium well steak. This is after we were sat out of section for our server and waited 10 minutes for a greeting, and another 15 for drinks... (she had four tables on the other side of the room, and then us; isolated and alone in a sea of other booths apart from hers). No apps. 2 rounds of bread. And 60 minutes later the first meals are served. The rare steak was wrong and brought back for a re-cook. Clearly not a rush order because it took another 20 minutes for A RARE STEAK to be rerun. So here we are nearly an hour and a half into sitting in the restaurant, the other meals are basically done eating, and the recook steak is brought out by a manager runner. Thankfully, the steak was correct. In part the meal was semi-saved, but not a pleasant 'eat together' experience.

What really sent me over was the closing process of the night... On what PLANET does a server ask a guest 'so, did you want me to discount that steak, for you, or are you ok? What. The. What‽ How the hell do you ask a guest for their opinion on wanting a discount? The cook ruined the steak she picked. Hand picked. Specific for the marbling, and fat content. The one she got was greasy, fatty, and not nearly as enjoyable... Let alone 30 min late. The MANAGER should have DISCOUNTED WITHOUT QUESTION. Why is the SERVER asking the GUEST?!?!?! Clearly the breakdown in training needs to be revisited here because we left there feeling pretty disappointed. Never ask the guest if a discount should be applied... If you have to freaking ask IT ALREADY SHOULD BE ON THERE.

Not sure if try this Newington...

To start this place is my daughters go to place but after TWO bad experiences we will never visit the Newington restaurant again until things change.First thing i explained to the waitress was the last time i was here it was not good , as i went on to expain what the problem was and asked that i dont want my food all at the same timeapp, salad,and entree, she said yes i understand. Lets start by ordering a combo app that took 45 min to get after the waitress comes over clueless and asks is everything ok, i said we never received our app at which point 1 minute later brings it to us.Ok about seven minutes later the salad comes out not bad except for 30 seconds later didnt even touch the salad yet here is our steaks at which point i explained to the runner or whoever they are i just got my salad and i explained that when i first got there, now we get to the best part the total UNPROFESSIONAL MANAGER comes over try to tell me its my fault and this and that and i yelled at the child at which point i never did any such thing. Ive been in the restaurant field over 30 years, management over 20 and to be treated the way we were by the manger is unbelievable once i asked for DISTRICT MANAGER name and number she says i am the manager so i said ok can i have my bill so we can pay her reply was its on me we dont want your business its on me and dont ever come back, so when i got home i looked up reviews about that location and what do i see a lot of the same issues he manager should be managing not in the office, toucing tables,kitchen wherever she needs to be not disrespecting guests and telling them its there fault and tell them they are not welcome to eat here.Very sad you have people like this running your restaurant,never in all my years have i EVER seen anything like this and plan on posting this all over social media so everyone can know haw i was treated.I hope somehow this reaches someone that corrects the issues at this location been to many others they are 5 star all day this one the worst place i have...