What could have been.
If you’ve been to a Texas Roadhouse, you know how special the eatery is. The steaks. The rolls. The southern, Texas atmosphere. I don’t think it’s controversial to say that the restaurant brand has cracked the code for running a successful, American franchise. While other chain restaurants shutter, Texas Roadhouse only grows stronger.
If you haven’t been to a Texas Roadhouse… go right now. I’m not kidding. Stop missing out on life and go get yourself a basket of rolls and a steak.
Many visitors wonder what it is about the steakhouse that keeps them coming back. How do they keep their prices so affordable? Why did they go with the southern, country theme? How in the hell do they make their rolls so buttery and fluffy? Thanks to a book called Made From Scratch: The Legendary Success Story of Texas Roadhouse, which was written by founder Kent Taylor, we now know the answer to some of those questions.
Taylor decided to write about the process of launching Texas Roadhouse in the early 1990s, and touched on many of the restaurant’s strategies and staples. In the book, the eatery’s founder stated that they leaned into unconventional practices, and wanted to be a place that embraced blue-collar America:
“Baby, if you want to dress up, then visit somewhere else; but if you want to dress down, we would welcome you with open arms and a warm smile. I wanted to target the blue-collar segment of America (my peeps) who would be comfortable with jukebox country music and a casual and lively atmosphere with energetic servers in jeans.”
Another way that Texas Roadhouse originally planned on reaching out to that demographic? That’d be hosting live country music bands at all of their locations.
The country spirit perfectly aligned with the restaurant’s vibe, and Taylor figured that visitors would love to hear live music while they dined on steak and other southern dishes. The plan was to have every location showcase country music artists from the area… but the initial Texas Roadhouse location had some issues with bands not being reliable:
“After I dealt with bands showing up late, playing too loud, or going too long (you can’t turn tables when the band won’t stop jamming), store two in Gainesville, Florida, and every location thereafter, would have no stage and no bands.”
Completely understand why they’d bail on the idea… but just imagine if every Texas Roadhouse across the country was a honky tonk.
Some locations still do line dancing every hour, and every single Texas Roadhouse you visit does boast a “Willie’s Corner,” which is exactly what you think it is. Every location has an area of the restaurant dedicated to Willie Nelson, and fun fact, he helped choose the chain restaurant’s armadillo mascot.
And if you go to a Texas Roadhouse, they are almost always going to have a country music playlist going to create ambiance. So the spirit of the original idea is still there… just not in the form of stages and live bands.
Here’s this in case you want to join in next time you grab dinner at a Texas Roadhouse: