Taste of Lincoln

The family tried the new Texas Roadhouse last night.  We did the call ahead seating and drove from extreme North Lincoln to the restaurant and only had to wait about 10 minutes.  People just walking in were kind of upset over the hour+ wait.  I really hate to introduce chains to our Blog, but because this is Lincoln and Texas Roadhouse is so new, I wanted to give my opinion.

First the Good:

1. Service – With how busy they were, it was excellent service.  Maybe we just got lucky, but I was very impressed.
2. Pre Dinner Rolls – Every restaurant should seat you with food from the start
3. Family Friendly – They have a good kids menu and with how loud it is in there, I didn’t have to audit my kids behavior the entire meal.

Not really the Bad But…

1. How the Food Came Out – Not a huge thing, but we ordered an appetizer.  It’s one of my peeves, but our salad came out before the appetizer.
2. The buffalo wings.  Good, but not buffalo wings.  More of a seasoned chicken experience.
3. Steak overcooked.  I know every restaurant and individual has a different opinion of rare, medium and well done, but Texas Roadhouse has a nice little chart in the menu that tells you what they serve.  I selected medium and there was zero pink in the middle.

Overall, I will be back to judge their BBQ.  I was just up for a steak last night and maybe that’s not what they do best.  Again I hate chains, but in my mind Outback is still the king of steak in Lincoln.

We hit the Texas Roadhouse in Omaha this weekend. Normally I don’t put in Omaha restaurants, but since we are getting one here in Lincoln I thought it would be ok.

Let me say that I was very impressed with the Omaha location. I have been to others in different cities (yes that’s right, another chain in Lincoln) but this one really took care of me and my family. The service was great and everything came out the way that it should.

My wife and I split the sirloin and rib combo. (Side note: As a Kansas City Certified BBQ judge, we are taught that when ribs fall off the bone, they are generally overcooked.) They highlight their fall of the bone ribs and we were just in the mood for a steak so this was a nice choice. For a sirloin, it was one of the better steaks I’ve had outside of our house in a long time. The rib meat just fell off the bone and had to be eaten with a fork, and it was excellent as well.

Topped off with loaded homemade mashed potatoes (for $1 extra) and I left full and happy. We have been disappointed with the places we have paid for the past few weeks, but this was not one of them. I’ll be happy to get the bank statement and reminisce about this experience.

When does the one in Lincoln open??!!!???