Texas Roadhouse - Kirkwood

Texas Roadhouse (picture taken March 2013 during a visit to O'Charley's

Although the Texas Roadhouse restaurant in Kirkwood is not a new establishment, this week marked the first time we ever ate there so I had to give my review. We do visit the nearby O'Charley's periodically and I had always wondered about the nearby Texas Roadhouse place. Being in the Kirkwood Commons area next to a Buffalo Wild Wings and an O'Charley's, we thought it must be pretty good to stay in business. My wife mentioned that her school had once catered burgers from them and they liked it, so I thought we should visit the restaurant during one of our regular Saturday lunches. A little after noon they had a reasonable but not huge crowd so we were quickly seated by a friendly staff. We were seated at a large booth where our host placed some rolls and butter. Our waitress arrived shortly afterwards and took our drink orders and brought us some peanuts. We liked the atmosphere with the multiple televisions showing various sporting events and a traditional country soundtrack which was not playing too loud. We noticed the stuffed armadillo and the other "Texan" artifacts decorating the interior, and it had a nice comfortable feel as we snacked on the nuts and rolls. I will have to say those rolls were pretty darn good, especially with the cinnamon butter than came with them. We were looking forward to the rest of the meals which we were hoping were just as good.

Unfortunately we had to wait quite a while, despite the dining area only being about half full, so we were happy to see our food arrive. The burgers were generously sized and came with a side of steak fries that looked and smelled pretty good until we tasted them. The fries had some peculiar taste to them which was difficult to pinpoint since all you could taste while you were eating them was salt. Somebody in the kitchen must have a very free hand with the salt shaker since the fries were completely loaded with it. We tried brushing it off, but it was deeply encased all over the fries. The rest of my family all ordered burgers and they mentioned the burgers were also caked in salt which made them rather unappetizing. Luckily I had selected the pulled pork and chicken combo, so I did not have to deal with the salty burgers. Instead I had some rather bland grilled chicken, covered with a rather bland sauce, and some pulled pork pre-soaked in that same bland sauce. It was not really that bad, but it was not all that great either. I would have been happier at the Rock Hill Bandana's which we frequent much more regularly and which is only a couple miles from our house. My other side was the "seasoned rice" which also had a rather bland taste to it that I did not find too appealing. Overall, after the rather tasty rolls, the food was either overly salted or bland. Oh well, at least the staff were attentive, friendly and also entertaining, performing a little dance in the middle of the dining area once for us. It was not their fault whatever the chefs were doing in the kitchen.

So that was our not so exciting visit to the Kirkwood Texas Roadhouse. Next time we are in the Kirkwood Commons area, I think we may go back to O'Charley's instead.