Texas Roadhouse — Restaurant in Tinley Park

This is an update to my original 1-star review from March (included below for context).

We went back this past Sunday, and I’m happy to say the experience was much better.

As soon as we walked in, my 8-year-old went straight to the steak display fridge and picked out her own 22oz boneless ribeye. She loved being able to choose her steak. My 6-year-old picked a meal she saw in one of the menu pictures—a combo with an 8oz ribeye and a heart-shaped chicken (she thought it was all steak at first, but loved the presentation anyway).

Both kids got their steaks cooked perfectly at medium—juicy, flavorful, and nothing like the burnt, fatty cuts we were served back in March.

For me, I decided to switch it up and try the cheddar bacon half-pound burger, after remembering seeing one served to another table during our last visit. It was fantastic! Juicy, flavorful, and a great value. Easily one of the better burgers I’ve had from a sit-down chain.

My wife ordered the smothered chicken. She said it was good but was expecting more of a true southern-style “heavily smothered” chicken with extra gravy or sauce. Still, she enjoyed it.

We all had water to drink—our kids don’t drink soda and neither do we.

The total for four people, with tip, was about $150, and I felt the value was there this time—especially with how happy the kids were with their steaks.

A big shoutout to our server—she was fantastic! Friendly, made great suggestions, and really helped make this a positive experience.

One thing I did notice this time: It was a little warm and stuffy inside. None of the ceiling fans were running, and I think that definitely affected the airflow and temperature. Not a dealbreaker, but worth mentioning.

For full transparency: After my original review, the restaurant had replied asking me to contact management. I chose not to. I felt the best way to support the business was to give them a second chance like any customer would—and I’m glad we did.

Will we eat here again? Absolutely. The kids are already looking forward to picking their steaks again next time—and I’ll probably stick with the burger and an onion blossom.

⸻

Original March Review for Context:

Deeply Disappointed – Won’t Be Returning to Orland Park Location (March Visit)

We had high hopes, but this location completely let us down. We ordered four bone-in ribeye steaks—my wife and I, along with meals for our 5- and 8-year-olds (who love steak). What we got were burnt, overly fatty cuts that looked pieced together from scraps.

The real red flag: when kids who usually love steak start poking at it with confusion and no appetite, something’s wrong. For context, my 8-year-old had her first Porterhouse at a Texas Roadhouse in Elizabethtown, KY at age 5 and has been hooked ever since.

After that visit? She said she’d rather eat steak at home or at Jameson’s Steakhouse. That says it all.

Our server was great, but the food left us disappointed. We didn’t complain—we just...

I had a really bad experience at this location. Our server Emma was extremely indifferent and unbelievably negligent. She didn’t even served our food, someone else brought it out, and we waited over 40 minutes for our food only to find out that our kids’ food was not ready because it was never brought to the table first since supposedly she order it as appetizers so it would come first and it ended up being last. As a parent there is nothing more frustrating than seeing your 5 & 7 year old kids hungry and confused because their parents food is there but not theirs after waiting so long. When we asked the person that brought our food about our kids meals he explained that it should have been out way before our food so we asked to speak to a manager, soon after this person walked away, the server came to our table asking what was the problem. Like if WE were the problem. We asked about our kids meals and she acted as if she didn’t know we never got them, which only proved her inefficiency as a Sever because she was clearly negligent with our order. After that kitchen manager came and brought the food to our table, he apologized for the inconvenience and took off the meals from our ticket, which to us did not fix the problem because by then there was not much left to do to fix our bad experience. I ended up eating my food cold because I felt bad for my kids watching me eating without having something for them. I don’t care about discounts I have money to pay I don’t complain for discounts, I still left a tip. I pay to get treated fairly not to be considered a problem. I really doubt I will ever visit this location based on that experience and I really hope that corporate follows up on this since I submitted a complaint to them as well because people like her is what makes customers walk away and never come back after such a horrible experience.I also hope the GM don’t ignore this persons behavior because bad reviews will continue to be submitted for this locations if incidents like this...

January 2024 I ordered online. Didn't seem to go through. I ordered a few times and looks like it went through. I didn't get a text message saying if I arrived. I went anyways. My ORDER WAS NEVER RECEIVED even though online order cleared. Clueless teller said to order onsite and ready in 30 minutes. No thanks and didn't want to wait hour+ since busy! WASTE OF MY F-ING TIME!

May 2022. I ordered at their website. I tried to use a Texas Roadhouse gift card. I put in the card number and the security code and it said I have $50 credit. I tried to use it BUT WOULDN'T LET ME USE THEIR OWN GIFT CARD ONLINE. Please fix and test! Fire your IT staff.

July 2021. Great Food! BUT I've been getting takeout for about a year. Almost every takeout order has been missing something if you don't physically check it!!! Anything over 3 orders will result in something missing!!! Any condiments that you requested or should be part of meal WILL be missing! Always check for bacon on your salads bc always missing before I leave the window! Really! ALL teenagers are working the takeout booth. Their more worried about social media on their phones rather than checking the customer's orders! Have the social teens physically check EVERY bit of your order before you leave! And not just have them rattled off the receipt order! Maybe the cooks can't read English?!?! Takeout is ALWAYS a hassle! Every call the number options always changes. You can't call and talk to a live person to place an order. The combo appetizer on app won't let you get rattlesnake bites. I don't want friggin fried pickles! I had to order in person...and of course that order was wrong! The Teens working at Takeout don't even belong working at McDonalds! NEVER will I tip them again! They screwed up again. ORDERED a chicken salad but it was a side salad with...