Well this was a great place to go back years ago......but seems to need a good cleaning everywhere.....just kinda dirty and feels like no money has been put in to spruce this place up......HQ needs to close this one for a few weeks and revamp everything! Too bad as it used to be a good one.....
Review Source:I've always somewhat enjoyed the food at Texas Roadhouse, but this particular one in Muncie was just not a pleasant dining experience.
We were in town for the 70.3 Ironman, so of course all the restaurants were jam packed in Muncie. We saw the Texas Roadhouse didn't have a line so we decided to go in. We got seated right away which was nice, and our waitress came and was nice as well. She however kept saying how she is new so blah blah blah... i hate waitresses that do that. don't use your newness as an excuse! just do your job and if you're good we won't even know the difference!
Unfortunately, she did not do such a great job; not only did we pretty much wait an hour for our food to finally come out, but throughout that hour, the like two times she came to our table, she had bad news. First, they ran out of baked potatoes. 3 out the 4 of us had baked potatoes.... ok they'll go with the mashed instead. 15 minutes later, "I'm sorry we are out of mashed potatoes too". let me tell you that it was about 6pm in the evening.... how do you run out of potatoes already?!?! Ok, that might not have been the waitresses fault, but what WAS her fault was the fact that she never came back to check on us, or clear our table! so we pretty much sat there with our dirty salad and bread plates and empty glasses.
Now, what I was more pissed about than anything was when I started feeling incredibly hot and sweaty. After asking for the manager, he proceeds to tell us that their air conditioning unit broke. Whhhhat??! Let me remind you that the weather was 100+ outside!! you are letting your customers in without telling them this?? Put a sign at the door or something - it is so dangerous to have people inside with that much heat!
anyway, the food finally came and i was way too hot to even eat it. my this time, not only was my body temperature boiling, so was my blood pressure. the food actually tasted really good, but i ended up only eating a few bites and packing up the rest of it and bringing it home to eat in my air conditioned B&B.
i gave this place 2 stars for at least the staff being nice and the food (what they actually had in stock!) being good.
If I were writing this review 10 years ago, I would be giving this place five stars. The novelty of throwing peanut shells on the floor impressed me more then, and I had very little to compare the food to. Now, after having lived in Chicago, on the east coast and for the last 6 years, in the international city of Honolulu, all that I can say is, "I've had better".
My memories are fond ones, but sadly the Texas Roadhouse doesn't live up to them. The Filet Medallions (seriously, WTH are medallions?) are dry and bland even when ordered medium rare. The seasoning on the stale fries is a bit heavy handed. The steamed vegetables were soggy and overcooked. Â
Whatever my wife ordered displeased her to the point where she wouldn't even eat it, but she was too polite to raise a fuss in front of my family (who, by the way, were enjoying the food tremendously).
Because of my memories of enjoying the food here (before I had experienced better), I had thought that this place would be on my must visit list any time that I was back in town. Well, no longer, I've said my goodbyes to Texas Roadhouse. If I never make it back, I'll be just fine.
The menu prices are very fair for this type of food however! Also, they used to be able to move tables around to accommodate large groups. On my last visit we were told that the tables are now bolted down so this can't be done. Was this just so they wouldn't have to move tables any more? Either way, they lost versatility in the process.
One of the few places you can take the family to after 10 pm on a weekend. Â At least at that time, you do not have to wait for a seat. Â This place is a definite favorite for Munsonians. Â A part owner told me this location is consistently at the top of the country for sales. Â The gift certificate trailer they have out around Christmas time accounts for more sales while it is there than some of their restaurants do for the whole year. Â The restaurant is busy--always.
Having said that, I just gave it a three star rating. Â The health department had to shut the place down after they did not take corrective action on a cleaning issue. Â There are a lot of restaurants in Muncie, but only a few push it so far as to actually get shut down. Â The restaurant lives on, but the health inspector at that time is now seeking other opportunities. Â Too bad, as I kind of like to eat my food in restaurants without fear of getting sick afterwards. Â
The sweet rolls are good. Â The blooming onion now just comes in a miniature version. Â The french fried pickles slices were good, but I like spears better. Â For the lighter appetite, you can't go wrong with the six ounce steak, Caesar salad (but no anchovies) and their green beans.
They have a full service bar with friendly bartenders. Â The bathrooms get a workout from the patrons, and get pretty "ripe" by the end of the day..
The honey cinnamon butter that comes with your rolls while you're waiting to order and for your food to arrive is the only good thing about this place, or should I say "great thing" as the butter really is to die for.
The rest of the experience just isn't my thing, however. My idea of a good time does not involve trying to avoid the peanut shells on the floor in order to not fall and break my neck.
Way too expensive overall, especially by Muncie standards, and the food isn't even that good.
I would also suggest never going here for a birthday dinner, as if the staff finds out, they will embarrass you to no end by requesting that you sit on a saddle in a spotlight in front of everyone while they sing Happy Birthday. I'm sure that's the gift I want to receive - intentional embarrassment in front of 100 people that you don't know...All in fun? I highly doubt that.