Texas Roadhouse — Restaurant in Ohio

Went to celebrate Chase's 9th birthday (my youngest son, although 2 weeks late... 😁)!! Got on the Waitlist using the app and was notified the wait time would be 1 hour 30 mins!! We waited a bit (about 45 mins) and then headed there. -- When we got there I checked in and we were led to an empty area (amid the crazy chaos at the front door...) to sit and wait for a text message saying our table was ready. We were given an estimated wait time of roughly 20 mins from that point (which was dead on with what the app wait time was saying at that time). As clockwork, 18 mins later I received the text and we were sat at a table in the back corner. -- This table (actually a 4-top booth) had a fold out extension section attached, which was extended for us prior to our arrival, and two chairs placed on each side. I was not thrilled with our placement, but we all had waited long enough, extremely hungry, and in good spirits so overlooked the detail and sat down. -- I spent roughly 15 years in the food service industry and am FULLY aware of all the trials and tribulations servers go through everyday so I do my VERY best to make my dining experience as simple and painless as possible for the server (I make sure they know my background, too, so they know they will be receiving at least a 30% tip if they do good... 😉)! As if this night was made for us, our server ended up being an extremely patient, talented, well-trained, and attentive man named Andrew. I cannot stress in words how extremely AWESOME he was and how he made our special night go from good to great, and by the end, to perfection!!!! On the way out, even though I made 100% sure he knew that I thought he was most definitely in the top 3 server tier i have ever had or seen, I wanted to thank him one last time for putting up with two hyper kids and their completely indecisive mother (not to mention my picky mother), and also apologize for the mess, but I couldn't find him... As if he heard my thoughts, as we walked to the front door he was holding it open for us. This solidified my thoughts and opinions about Andrew and his impeccable character!!! He gained our loyalty and turned us in to his newest family of regulars! We can't wait to come back!!

• So to sum the entire evening up: 4 stars. *

• FOOD * - Quality was absolutely OUTSTANDING! I was twice as shocked that our appetizer and entrees actually came out to the table still steaming and hot! Steaks were cooked perfectly and were absolutely tantalizing! The 4 stars instead of 5 are a result of the portioning in relation to the pricing.

• SERVICE * - HA! I'm sure by now you have a vivid picture on how well the service is there... I watched the entire restaurant staff throughout the evening and was blown away at level of teamwork exhibited by every member of the staff all night long. Teamwork is critical to ensure high quality service standards, but can be quite challenging to enstill in the staff each and every shift. Vigorious and constantly on-going training are the most effective way to achieve this. It was clear to me that the management staff there does an excellent job with this since it was painfully obvious the entire staff was well-trained and motivated. 5 stars!

• ATMOSPHERE * - 4 stars again. The rather odd table set up, the distance between guest tables (or lack thereof), and the lengthy wait times are the result of...

My friends and I get together only once a year for dinner, and tonight we chose your Boardman location. One of our friends was unsure if she was going to be able to make it, so the rest of us went to dinner hoping she would show up. She ended up being able to make it, much to the rest of our party's delight, as, like I said, this is only a once a year event.

We were at a table seated for 4 and asked the evening manager if we could switch to one of the 2 EMPTY tables that seats 6 behind us. She told us no, that there was not a server assigned to those tables. We asked if our server could be assigned to the empty table. She said no, they are only allowed to be assigned 3 tables at one time. We asked if we could close out our table and move everything to the other table and assign her, and she said no, that there was a wait list and there were people ahead of the person who was joining us. She told us our friend would have to call in and reserve a table because even if she was allowed to sit with us, she would not be able to order ahead of the other people who were ahead of her waiting to be seated. WHAT?!?!?!

Our friend was left standing in the aisle with no place to sit and was sent home. Can you imagine how she felt?....Hurt? Sad? Angry? Can you imagine how the rest of us felt?... Hurt? Sad?.... For me, I was incredibly angry; horrified, actually. I could not even eat my meal after she left or participate in any conversation because I was so upset. Our annual get together was completely ruined for all of us. To watch our friend get sent home without dinner, to ruin our night at your establishment, when empty tables were right behind us, as well as empty tables in other sections as well, is unforgiveable. Mind you, one of those tables remained empty the entire time were were there. The other table, which we were told didn't have a server assigned to it, magically got a server and had people seated around 10 minutes later.

I spoke to someone I know who worked for 2 years at your Niles location, and she informed me that there were so many things this manager could have done to accommodate us, and that this manager just did not want to.

The evening manager you have at your Boardman, Ohio, location has no business working in any sort of customer service where problem solving skills are required. Shame on you Texas Roadhouse! Care about your customers more!!!! The 5 of us and our families will not be back at any time to any location.

Thanks for making our annual get together memorable. It DEFINITELY WILL NOT...

Reasonably priced, great quality, and outstanding servers (Jules). My family and I dined here on Jan 21, 2022. Wait times are long, so take advantage of the 'JOIN WAITLIST' feature found after you web search it (see highlight in picture): that proved to be a tremendous help for us, as we signed up for the wait list before leaving home, then upon arrival, wife went in to confirm we were on the list, and checked on how long it'd be before we got called (the button will show you the estimated current wait time).

Once we arrived, we still had to wait in the car for a while. They texted us when it was our turn. Upon entry, we sat for a short moment on the 'ON DECK' benches until the hostess - a grumpy older woman who seemed to want to be anywhere else but there - took us to our table.

Fear not, for the next face to greet us was warm and welcoming: Jules, our most-attentive server for the night, was quick in getting our drinks, as much bread and butter (the warm rolls are amazing) as we wanted, and our orders taken. The wait for the food wasn't short, but it wasn't extraordinarily long either. The freshly baked rolls kept us going, and I every asked for peanuts, which are now bagged.

Once the food arrived, we were happy to see that our orders were perfectly cooked as we ordered them. The single issue with it was the fact that the mushrooms were on my daughter's hamburger, instead of coming on the side. What impressed me was Jules caught it even before she sat the plate down in front of my kid: "Didn't you order your mushrooms on the side?" she asked my daughter. The kid thought for a moment and confirmed it. Jules sat the plate in front of her and let her check it: they were indeed in the burger, not on the side. She apologized, explained it was a mistake from the kitchen and that she did order them on the side. She offered my kid to keep the fries so she would have something to eat while the burger was remade, and when it came - this time correctly - she also got fresh fries with it. It didn't take long either.

Wife and I, kids aged 17, 15, 12, and 9. All were full of good food and drinks for a total of $130.00 (tip included). I would definitely go back there again: we were there to celebrate the kids' good report cards, so after this quarter, we might have to go there again. (Hopefully the kids do a great job in school again!)

Only complaint is the parking situation: we were just fresh out of the snowstorm, and parking was busy. Rather hard to find a spot close to the restaurant entrance. First...