Texas Roadhouse — Restaurant in Union Gap

This will be my first time ever leaving a negative review or any online review for that matter. I worked in customer service and know how hard it can be to deal with people. This situation happened last Saturday, and I spent the week trying to determine if my anger was justified or if I'd done something or said something to justify the treatment we received.

My husband and I arrived early, around 10:50am, and waited outside in a line until the store opened at 11:00am. We were the first ones through the door but ended up being the last ones seated. They literally took people who were just walking in after the initial rush and seated them before us.

I asked if we were going to be seated, which I thought was a reasonable question given the context. Rather than answer, the FIVE hostesses they have seating people chatted amongst themselves and totally ignored me. It wasn't that they didn't see me or that they didn't know I was there. They made the decision to ignore me and to seat another party.

Eventually, one of the hostesses asked if we'd been helped. My tone was sharp when I said "nope," but I didn't yell or rant. I just said "nope" somewhat sharply, which I guess you could argue was uncalled for since she was the only one to help us, but I was feeling peeved at this point. As she was seating us, she asked if we'd been to Texas Roadhouse before, and I said "yup." She then said something like, "Well, I'm so glad you're back" in the most sarcastic way humanly possible. It was like talking to every teenager in the universe combined into a single body. She was equally cold when we left.

At this point I'm wondering if I'd done something to these people. The only thing I can think of is that I left one of their servers a three-star review and a 10% tip after he only came to our table two times, even after stating that we were his ONLY table. Every other time we've been there, we've tipped around 18-20% and left five-star reviews. I even left a five-star review the day they wouldn't seat us because I didn't want our server to be blamed. He did fine, and there's no way to leave written feedback on the kiosk to say my issues had been with the hostesses and not with him.

A manager did walk by our table and quickly asked how the meal was. I said the food was fine, but before I had the chance to say anything else, she breezed right on past while I was speaking. Again, I had to sit there and wonder WHY.

What outcome do I want? Do I want people fired? No. I'd be sad if I heard I cost anyone their job. I do think the people who do the seating need to be re-trained on the task, however. Unless, of course, the whole point was to make our meal so uncomfortable that we never wanted to come back. If that's what they're getting paid for, then...

Ain’t nothing Texas about this Roadhouse! Fill up on the rolls, is my best advise! Two of us had Caesar dinner salads, that were good with homemade dressing, but the garden salad not so much, even the eggs were spongy. Two ordered New York steaks, that came small and grisley…one was worse than the other, tough. The Chicken Fried Chicken was thin, mostly breading and the country gravy RUINED it even further…way too thick and sweet (?), nowhere near anything homemade. Reminded me, almost exactly, of store bought Marie Calenders frozen version I tried once 😝 Served with mash potatoes, I didn’t bother to try, they looked dry and pasty and barely made it in the bowl they served it in, slopped. My husband got one thin little piece of BBQ chicken, great for a female I guess and didn’t like his sweet potato. One of my Grandsons ordered a hot dog, looked like it was previously cooked, then microwaved waaaay too long (shriveled), and the bun was rock hard…how the hell do you not see this when serving it, let alone screw this up in the first place?! He was pulling so hard to take a bite, it fell on the floor. He never did get dinner, because by the time the waiter came back, we just wanted the check. Will say the three other Grandchildren didn’t complain about the mac and cheese and steak bites (steak bites looking the best from what I saw, macaroni looked like reheated white Kraft Macaroni with that oily look it gets). The atmosphere, in combination with the food, leaves you feeling agitated. Way too loud, between the music and people yelling to hear each other. Where we were sat, we just felt boxed in…so we couldn’t see anything or have a conversation. Was such a relief to get out of there! Couple notes: Several parents were noted struggling to keep their walking infants from eating the discarded peanut shells off the floor, so be prepared for that soon as you walk in. Really, with the noise, and foot traffic even visiting the bathroom, this is not a good location to bring small children anyway. Our littlest guy was very over sensitized unable to communicate in the noise. Also, not a good place for large parties, they are not set up to schedule them in. All in all, I may call in for a Caesar salad to go, but we won’t go back otherwise. I honestly don’t see room for much improvement. Simply, this is not quality food, very cafeteria like and they don’t even try to fool you with presentation. Truly not happy, that we waited for as long as we did, let alone paid...

Saturday, Nov 9th, We called ahead to let them know, we had a group of 18 and though they don't accept reservations, a time of 4pm was established, give or take a few minutes. We checked in and still were not seated until after 4:40pm. First, I am going to say if you have a large group, this is NOT the place to go. We were seated in a section but it is not how you can interact or converse w the additional tables. Our tables were 'grouped' but we may as well been in different areas as it just doesn't work. After we get seated and after about 10 minutes, a waiter did come to get our drink order. However, before we get any of the drinks, waiter comes back to tell us he is not going to be our server as they are having a shift change and also moving servers to other areas. Okay, not a deal. Another 2 come to serve us, take food orders and this is where things fell apart. When we do get food, there is confusion as to where it goes, so plates are passed between tables as they try to sort it out. There was not one table where the food came out at the same time for those at that table. Another of our guests, didn't get his food until we finally got the waiter back to tell them. By now, everyone is finished w their meals or close to it. This guest's wife shared her sides from her meal so he at least had something. Eventually the waitstaff did get on top of making sure water, pop, iced tea, etc, were being refreshed. The positive, the food was good and for the most part, hot. Just not handled well in how these orders came out. 2 of our guests had to leave and did not order as by the time servers were taking orders, and the time it would take to get the food, they had to go to work. One of the reasons we chose an early dinner. We didn't get finished and out of there until 730pm and we were not just sitting and enjoying company, it was eat and go. Several of our guests came from out of town and had at least 2 hours for their drive back. For a table of two or four, we have always had great service. There was a manager that did come out and ask how things were, but this was NOT the time to address it. This was to have been a Celebration of Birthdays, not going to make it a disappointment or complain session of what didn't work. Would I go here again? Yes, but never as a group. And, it will be awhile before I go back as this was just such a...