Texas Roadhouse — Restaurant in Pasadena

Honestly, I've always loved Texas Roadhouse. But my experience on Wednesday evening (07/02/25) wasn't fantastic, and honestly I don't think I'll return. I will give the restaurant some grace, as there were several large parties and we heard several birthday celebrations in the short time we were there. That being said, I've seen the restaurant just as busy in other areas, and the service and food were still great.

I ordered the chicken critters with a side of mixed vegetables and mashed potatoes with no gravy. The mashed potatoes serving was kinda laughable, it looked like someone took a spoonful of mashed potatoes with a regular eating spoon, put it in a dish, and served it to me. It was a VERY small portion. The mixed vegetables lacked flavor and the carrots seemed dry and old. The chicken was good and tasted fresh. However, on the menu, it says they come with a dipping sauce. My waiter did not ask what sauce I wanted, and did not bring any. I was okay with this and just ate them with ketchup, but this was noteworthy. After our waiter brought our main courses, he was nowhere to be found. My friend had asked him for more bread when he brought the food out, and he never brought any. My friend had to get up and go to the counter to ask for more bread. Another friend wanted another beer, so she had to make eye contact with a manager and ask him to come over and asked him for a beer. He was warm and kind and left after my friend made her request for another beer. Our waiter then came (I assume the manager told him something) and asked if we needed anything else, and got my friend that beer. Afterwards, he again disappeared. I changed my mind on ordering another drink myself as I was tired of having to flag someone else down for help because our waiter kept disappearing. I felt bad because we shouldn't have had to bother other workers who were probably busy with their own tasks. My friend once again had to get up herself and ask for a to-go cup for her drink. Overall, our group was pretty unhappy with the service, and most of us were not super thrilled about how our food tasted. I will say, the hostesses and the manager were sweet and gave us great service, and the bread was delicious as always. But I don't think I'll come back to this location. It seems a lot of the chain restaurants in Pasadena overall lack good customer service and the food quality has diminished immensely. I hope things will turn around soon.

10/03/25: Well I gave this place another chance and regretted it, lol. First off our host seated us, waited a few seconds for bread, then told us he'll bring us some later cause there isn't any ready. We never saw him again. The food was pretty good, but my boyfriend never got his side of corn, and we had to ask our waitress for bread as no one brought us any or asked if we wanted any after seeing that we clearly never got any. You guys are getting reaaaal stingy with your bread. 😬

Overall, the food is good here. But every time I come and dine in, service is just okay or straight up bad. It's like there isn't enough staff to handle how busy it gets or something. I know there's tons of families and it gets packed here and I try to give you guys grace, but this is the third time I've had bad service here and I'm just done. If I ever get food here again it will most definitely be a to-go order. Hire more people or train your staff better, please. People pay a lot...

I want to make it clear that this review pertains to those who like very little pink on their steak which is my wife’s preference. If you order yours medium or below the experience is very consistent and over all good…. Food here is pretty good however for people who like their steaks on the done side but still flavorful and juicy I don’t recommend. My wife orders hers medium well because she doesn’t like too much red but she also don’t want it dry and chewy and that’s where this particular location needs improvement. I can’t put my finger on it but my hunch is that in order to save time and get those MW and WD steaks out fast they probably mark a few of them on the grill and then throw them on a baking sheet then put them in a convection oven at 280F or thereabouts. As they cook slow they release their juice and cook at the temp they want and then pull out a steak whenever they get an order for MW/WD steaks and whatever gets cooked to well done they would have the choice to serve to someone who likes WD steak or just pull it and cut it to serve the jr steak bites from the kids menu… for them is the perfect answer but the problem is that those customers are no longer eating a grilled steak, they are eating a boiled steak that cooked on its own juices. While it may seem juicy it has certain characteristics that are not enjoyable to the palate such as that boiled taste, a lack of spices since most gets washed away with the liquid the meat simmers into, and a soft and pale outer surface instead of that crisp toasty crust a grilled steak should have. We have tried to avoid this by ordering it medium and then as soon as they bring it out we send it back to continue cooking to the desired temperature but it’s futile because their kitchen staff has horrible practices on grilling steaks in order to reduce cooking times and it’s very obvious that as soon as they get our steak back on the grill they start to lean on it and press and squeeze all the juices out of it so that they bring it to us dried up and with the grill marks on one side indented so far into the meat that it drives me crazy the egregious disregard for the customer experience. We used to go there very often because we enjoyed the place and food but out of at least 30 visits I remember only 2 or 3 occasions that they actually got her steak right. We recently started to go to the Texas Roadhouse on gulf freeway and el dorado Blvd and they gotten it right 3 out of 3 times. Today we gave the Spencer location a shot again and boiled steak again… will not be coming back to this location even though it’s so much closer to my house than...

A Culinary Catastrophe at Texas Roadhouse – Never Again!

I walked into the Texas Roadhouse on December 13th, lured by the promise of sizzling steaks and a lively atmosphere, but what I got instead felt like a twisted episode of a restaurant-themed horror show. Frankly, if this should win an award for the worst dining experience ever.

First impression? The hostess. She greeted us with the enthusiasm of a damp sponge and guided us to a table that could only be described as “reminiscent of a last-minute yard sale setup.” The decor looked like it had been pulled directly from the depths of a roadside trash pile – dusty cowboy hats and faded photos that felt like they’d seen better days in an abandoned Western film set.

Now, onto our waiter, Jayden. I don't know what was worse him or his manager. Yea, I'm sure of it. It was the manager. He approached our table like he had just finished a marathon, panting and out of breath from ruining other orders. Maybe he was running away from the kitchen's disaster, or was it the 45 minutes he (the manager) took to issue a check to our neighbor's table? When we placed our orders, our waiter wrote them down on the back of a wet receipt with all the urgency of a turtle on a leisurely stroll with a sloth. I half-expected him to forget our drinks, and low and behold, he did! When they finally arrived, they were wrong!

Finally, when the food arrived, it was like the kitchen had decided to play a game of culinary roulette. The table next us got our food. My steak was so overcooked it could have doubled as a hockey puck, and my neice's steak was trash—yes, she ordered steak, but received a rock—she said it tasted like it had been marinated in disappointment. I couldn’t tell if it was grilled or just left to suffer in the corner of the kitchen until someone finally felt sorry for it.

And those “famous” rolls? Good luck youll wait an hour for a second order.

Overall, if you’re looking for a dining experience that feels like you time-traveled to a restaurant nightmare, the Pasadena, Texas, Texas Roadhouse is the place for you. The management was horrible too. I asked about the vets discount and he tried to hand me an appetizer card i gave it to my mom. Thanks, I didnt need the discount, but I was surprised no one asked me about it, but whatever. I walked out wondering if I should file a complaint with the culinary authorities. Trust me: steer clear unless you enjoy dining disasters.

Also, I almost never write a negative review. You have to be really crummy for me to take the time to post something like...