Texas Road House

           When we started this we vowed to stay away from the chain restaurants and concentrate on the local joints. While we've tried to maintain this philosophy it is rather difficult to do considering how often we're posting. It started when we wanted to do a couple of our favorite chains and has grown from there. So while we still would rather find local places to sample burgers we continually find our circumstances drawing us to the occasional chain.
          This week we head to Texas Road House (http://www.texasroadhouse.com/). Texas Road House restaurants are in just about every state these days. But in 1993, when they were founded, there was just one. Yes the atmosphere oozes Texas charm, from the stuff on the walls to the loud country music wafting through the air, from the fresh rolls to the huge pot of peanuts sitting on the edge of every table. And since this is a steak house at heart, there is plenty of good looking quality steaks on display in the front case as well as lots of sizzling meat on the grill.

          The atmosphere is the only thing that is truly Texas about this restaurant. It was founded in Indiana and now has its corporate headquarters in Louisville, KY. But don't hold that against it. It's all about Texas size, Texas flavor and Texas appeal.

Burgers

          With me on the road and Josh back home with school and work, it was a solo effort again. And I ordered up the All American Cheeseburger which is advertised as a half pound of ground chuck. When it came to the table in an appropriate time, delivered by my friendly server, I could see the idea of Texas size was holding true, at least with the bun. The bun was so big, so fluffy that I flashed back to the famous old Wendy's commercial that made famous the line, "Where's the beef?"

          The beef was there but dwarfed by the bun. The bun was soft and easily compressed so there was no danger of a case of TMJ. And when I found the burger I knew exactly where the beef was. With a flavoring of spices that accentuated rather than covered the meat flavor, this was an acceptable chain restaurant burger. The meat was fresh and, in my humble opinion, overcooked. No, I wasn't given a choice as to how I wanted my burger cooked. The people in the kitchen had pre-determined to overcook it to a complete well done.

          Being well done it robbed the beef of a lot of its natural juiciness. And that's a shame because this has the makings of very good burger. The lettuce and tomato were crisp and fresh. Even the jumbo sized bun was high quality and had good flavor. But you don't spend eight bucks for lettuce, tomato and a bun. The beef had flavor just too much of it was left on the grill when it was over cooked.

          I've eaten at Texas Road House numerous times. One of my favorite times was when I was having lunch with a friend who, at one point in his life had been a guitar tech for ZZ Top. He told the story of dining with the band's bassist, Dusty Hill. Dusty, my friend said, insisted that they sit at a huge table, big enough for eight or ten. He then proceeded to order every entree on the menu. He took a bite of each to try it, careful not to get any in his famous beard (isn't funny how the only member of ZZ Top who doesn't have a beard is drummer Frank Beard?). After lunch he had the server pack everything to go and he took it all to a local homeless shelter.

          I have never done anything like that though I have quite often listened to that little band from Texas and had meals at Texas Road House. Their steaks are good (not as good, in my opinion as Outback but right up there) and so are a lot of their other menu options. I do recommend Texas Road House though you can get a better burger at lots of places, including a lot of chains. But if you like your burgers burnt to well done, you might just want to check them out.