Texas Roadhouse reviews land in a narrow, predictable band: roughly 4.3 to 4.5 stars on major platforms, with praise concentrated on free rolls, steak value and portion size, and complaints concentrated on peak-hour waits, noise and location-to-location inconsistency.
Is Texas Roadhouse worth ordering?
For a hand-cut steak under $20 with bread thrown in free, yes. A 6oz sirloin runs $16.99 and an 8oz runs $18.99, which is where the chain beats most sit-down competitors. The value collapses if you order the filet or drink cocktails.
The honest framing is that this is a volume steakhouse, not a chophouse. The kitchen is fast, the seasoning is heavy, and the sirloins are the cuts the whole operation is built to cook well. When a review says “best steak I’ve had,” it is usually a sirloin ordered medium at 5pm on a Tuesday. When a review says “tough and grey,” it is usually a well-done order pushed through a Saturday rush. Both experiences are real and both are common.
What rating does Texas Roadhouse actually earn?
Across the major review platforms the chain typically sits around 4.3 to 4.5 stars, but that aggregate hides enormous spread by location. Individual stores range from genuinely excellent to badly run, and the national average tells you almost nothing about the one nearest you.
Read your own store’s recent reviews rather than its overall score. A store with 4.5 stars built over eight years can be mid-collapse after a manager change, and that only shows in the last 60 days of entries. Sort by newest, ignore anything about a single bad server, and look for repeated complaints about the same thing: undercooked steaks, dirty tables, hour-long quotes on a weeknight. Repetition is signal; a one-off rant is not.
Which items score best per dollar?
Value at a steakhouse is mostly price per ounce of protein, adjusted for whether the weight includes bone. Using verified menu prices, the ranking below is arithmetic rather than opinion, and it puts the porterhouse and the ribeye far ahead of the filet.
| Item | Price | Size | Cost per oz | Calories | Value score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Porterhouse T-Bone | $28.99 | 23oz (bone-in) | $1.26 | 1040 | A (best raw math; bone inflates weight) |
| Ribeye | $24.99 | 12oz | $2.08 | 960 | A (boneless, best true value) |
| Full Rack Ribs | $24.99 | Full slab | n/a | 1450 | A- (only $6 more than half rack) |
| Sirloin 8oz | $18.99 | 8oz | $2.37 | 340 | B+ (best lean-calorie pick) |
| Sirloin 6oz | $16.99 | 6oz | $2.83 | 250 | B (cheapest entry, worst sirloin math) |
| Half Rack Ribs | $18.99 | Half slab | n/a | 900 | C+ (upgrade to full, it is $6) |
| Dallas Filet 6oz | $26.99 | 6oz | $4.50 | 270 | C (paying 2x sirloin for tenderness) |
| Cactus Blossom | $8.99 | Shareable | n/a | 2250 | D (fine for 4 people, never for one) |
| Rolls + cinnamon butter | Free | ~230 cal each | $0.00 | 230 | A+ (unbeatable, by definition) |
Two reads from that table. First, the half rack is the worst-priced item on the menu in relative terms, because $6.00 buys you the second half. Second, the 8oz sirloin at 340 calories is the only way to eat a real steak dinner here without a four-figure calorie total, since the ribeye alone is 960 and the full ribs are 1450. À la carte sides are $2.99 each, so if your steak arrives plated with two, that is roughly $6 of value already inside the price. Confirm what is included when you order, because plating varies.
What do reviewers consistently praise?
Four themes recur so often they are effectively the chain’s identity: the free rolls with cinnamon butter, steak pricing relative to portion, plate sizes generally, and a loud family-friendly room where nobody minds a toddler.
The rolls do most of the emotional work. They arrive hot, they are free, they get refilled, and they set expectations before the entrée lands. That single detail rescues a great many otherwise average meals in the review record. The second recurring compliment is more specific than people realise: reviewers rarely praise the cooking technique, they praise the price attached to the plate. “Better than I expected for $17” is the archetypal positive review here. Portion size closes it out, with sides that regularly defeat the people who ordered them.
What do reviewers consistently criticize?
The complaints are just as repetitive: peak waits running 45 to 90 minutes, a noise level that makes conversation hard, wide inconsistency between locations and even between visits, and no reservation system to escape any of it.
The no-reservations policy is the root cause of the most common one-star review. There is no way to lock a Saturday 7pm table in advance, so demand piles into the lobby and quoted times inflate. Call-ahead seating and app waitlist features exist at many stores, but participation varies, so ring your location and ask exactly what they offer before you drive over. Inconsistency is the harder complaint because it is structural: steaks are hand-cut in each store, so the person cutting them is a variable, and a location with a strong kitchen genuinely delivers a different meal than a weak one twenty miles away.
How do the main cuts rank on the plate?
Ordered by how reliably each item comes out the way it should, the ribeye leads, the sirloins follow, ribs are polarising, and the filet is the most frequently disappointing item relative to its $26.99 price.
- Ribeye (12oz, $24.99) — the most forgiving cut on the menu. Its fat content survives an extra minute on a rushed grill, which is exactly why it holds up on busy nights when leaner cuts do not.
- Sirloin (8oz, $18.99) — lean, heavily seasoned, and dependent on temperature. Ordered medium-rare to medium it is the best-value steak in the building. Ordered well-done it turns dry, and no amount of butter fixes it.
- Full ribs ($24.99) — the fall-off-the-bone texture people either love or call mushy. At 1450 calories it is a commitment, and the sauce is sweet enough that it reads as a barbecue dish rather than a steakhouse one.
- Porterhouse (23oz, $28.99) — two different steaks joined at a bone, which means one side finishes before the other. Great value, genuinely tricky to cook evenly.
- Dallas Filet (6oz, $26.99) — tender and small. You are paying $4.50 an ounce in a restaurant whose strength is $2.08-an-ounce cooking. Most negative value-for-money reviews trace back here.
Is the wait actually worth it?
Not at 7pm on a weekend, when quotes commonly reach 45 to 90 minutes. It is comfortably worth it on a weekday before 6pm, when the dining room is calm, Early Dine pricing runs roughly $10.99 to $12.99, and the kitchen has time to cook a steak properly.
The timing advice is the single most useful thing in any review of this chain. Happy hour typically runs Monday to Friday 3 to 5pm, which overlaps the Early Dine window, so an arrival around 4:30pm on a Wednesday gets you cheaper food, cheaper drinks, no line and a kitchen operating at half capacity. Margaritas span $5.99 to $9.99 and are the fastest way to erase your savings, so two of them undo the entire discount. Early Dine and happy hour participation and cutoff times vary by location, so confirm both by phone or in the app before you plan around them.
Who should skip Texas Roadhouse?
Anyone who wants a quiet meal, a guaranteed table, a dry-aged steak, or a light dinner. The room is deliberately loud, there are no reservations, the beef is not aged for weeks, and the calorie counts on most entrées start at 900.
Also worth reconsidering if you eat gluten-free or have significant allergies. The rolls are the centrepiece and are off-limits, the shared fryer complicates a lot of the menu, and allergen handling varies by store. Call ahead and speak to a manager rather than relying on a printed list.
Limits of this review
This is an independent guide, not an official Texas Roadhouse publication, and nothing here comes from the company. The star range cited is a general observation of where major platforms tend to sit, not a count of reviews, and no quotes have been reproduced or invented.
Prices listed are national reference figures and differ by market. Hours, Early Dine timing, happy hour participation, call-ahead seating and allergen handling are all set locally and change without notice. Anything you plan around should be confirmed directly with your store by phone or in the app. Calorie figures are the published values for standard preparation and do not account for added butter, sauce or sides.
Frequently asked questions
Is Texas Roadhouse good for the price?
Yes, for sirloin and ribeye. At $16.99 to $24.99 for a hand-cut steak with free rolls, the price-to-portion ratio is the chain’s strongest asset. The value case weakens sharply on the $26.99 Dallas Filet and on cocktails at $5.99 to $9.99.
What rating does Texas Roadhouse have?
It typically sits around 4.3 to 4.5 stars across major review platforms, though scores vary heavily by location. Check the recent reviews for your specific store rather than relying on the chain-wide average, since kitchen quality is highly local.
Why is the wait so long at Texas Roadhouse?
There are no reservations, so all demand arrives at the door. Peak weekend waits commonly run 45 to 90 minutes. Many locations offer call-ahead seating or an app waitlist, but participation varies, so phone your store to ask what it supports.
What is the best thing to order at Texas Roadhouse?
The 12oz ribeye at $24.99 gives the best true value per ounce of boneless steak, and it is the most forgiving cut on a busy grill. For a cheaper visit, the 8oz sirloin at $18.99 and 340 calories is the smartest lean pick.
Are the free rolls really unlimited?
Rolls are free and brought to the table, and refills are standard practice at most locations. Each roll is roughly 230 calories before cinnamon butter, so they add up faster than people expect ahead of a 900-plus calorie entrée.
Why do steaks taste different at different locations?
Steaks are hand-cut in each restaurant rather than portioned centrally, so cut quality and grill execution vary by store and by shift. This is the single most common complaint theme in reviews and explains identical orders producing different results.
Is Texas Roadhouse too loud for a date?
Usually, yes. The dining room is built around a busy, family-heavy atmosphere with music and a high ceiling of noise. If you want conversation, go on a weekday before 6pm during the Early Dine window when the room is at its quietest.
Is the half rack of ribs worth it?
Rarely. The half rack is $18.99 and the full rack is $24.99, so the second half costs only $6.00. Unless you are certain you want the smaller portion, the full rack is the better arithmetic by a wide margin.