Texas Corral — Restaurant in North Township

Late Friday afternoon with our spurs jingle jangling we ambled into what reminded us of a Texas Roadhouse. However, the music was NOT oppressively loud and the servers were NOT affecting a bad Texas twang while line dancing every 5 minutes. Very nice ambiance, a clever light system to attract the the server to you, hot rolls (for me as wifey is generally gluten free) and cinnamon margarine. All that was missing were the peanuts. We thought that the bucket was for rib bones. No one told us or offered us peanuts. We discovered the peanuts in a barrel on the way to the restrooms, that were clean and tidy. ALWAYS check the restrooms. Dirty unkempt restrooms suggest other details being missed, possibly in the kitchen. We were attracted by a coupon offer of Steak and "Endless" Shrimp with soup or salad and a side for $16.99. One coupon per guest check. That was it, no other disclaimers, period. Wifey loves steak, I like poultry & seafood. So we thought we will split the plate, she'd have salad and we'd split a side of steak fries. Made the mistake of letting wifey order the the food and said I'd eat the "endless" shrimp. WHOA! Hold your horses there partner! NO SHARING! What? I didn't think this was Golden Corral with their every watchful narc wait staff! So we switched semantical positions and I became the "driver" and wifey rode "shotgun." (What if I was hearing impaired and communicated through ASL with wifey interpeting?) I ordered the food, shared the non-endless steak & salad and fries with her while I, the orderer, got the "endless" shrimp, with nary a neigh in protest. The shrimp were very tasty with a well flavored light breading that didn't overpower the shrimp. 10 shrimp to begin follow up bowls had 6 hot and tasty seabugs! I had 3 follow ups. The steak was ordered without seasoning (mystery seasoning ingredients can be problematic) and cooked perfectly. Our server was attentive, friendy even after the initial discombobulation of who was ordering what and got her well deserved 20% tip. Kerfuffle aside and resolved amicably, it was a very nice impromptu date with my saddle pal of 40+ years. I...

The reason why we went to Texas Corral in the first place is because I wanted Texas Road House but the wait was about 2 hours. I will start on a possitive note, we all love those rolls and the atmosphere is really nice. Besides that I wasn't thrilled with being seated so close to a large group of people not even an arm length apart, Its a big restaurant. My toddler spilled his milk and the waitress didn't get a busser to come clean up the floor so I had to scoot my seat to the end of the table so my shoes didn't get chocolate milk on them. The waitress didn't offer a refill for him or extra napkins. I don't think the waitress smiled once and she forgot half of my husband's order. My biggest complaint about this place is the chicken fajitas. The chicken was processed chicken. I mean come on if your going to charge 14 for chicken fajitas and have them come out sizzling at least cut up and cook a chicken breast to put on top of the peppers and onions. When Texas Corral first came along in Merrillville I remember the quality was much better. I also remember when they decided to make the chicken fajitas with processed chicken. I just thought maybe they changed back to the way it was since on the menu it says marinated chicken breast. They are not fooling anyone we all know what rubbery processed chicken looks like we can all tell...

I ordered Takeout because I wanted a steak and sweet potato...however, this entire order left a LOT to be desired:

I ordered a sirloin, sweet potato, and a few rolls w/cinnamon butter. Interesting here I think you get the rolls and butter if you dine-in the restaurant, but you have to pay when you get it for takeout...

Sirloin: I ordered Medium and it appeared to be more like medium/well or well done. When I opened the container, the small steak was wrapped in foil. Although it did taste good, it definitely was NOT hot. I was at the restaurant like two minutes after the app told me the order was ready for pickup and I live only 5 minutes away. 5/10

Rolls: these were hard, cold, and the fact that I had to pay for them is ridiculous. In fact, when you dine-in you normally receive these with your meal, but I had to pay along with paying for the butter, too. 4/10

Sweet Potato: although this comes along with the steak, it was NOT what I am used to from dining at Texas Corral. This one wasn't cooked all the way through. There were NO butter or toppings to go along with it. 2/10

The Soup: it says "daily" soup; but it was definitely unrecognizable. It was just warm. Also a terrible item. 1/10

Most of the issue here was food temperature...