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Texas Roadhouse?


BigMikeinNY
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To clarify, I'm not saying that nobody should ever eat steak when they go out. I guess my deal is that I'm surprised at the number of people who do to the extent that there are so many places that basically do just that. Especially considering how many places that don't label themselves a steakhouse serve steak.

 

And it's for all the reasons given. By me, Steve, BP, and others. I've never actually been to a Texas Roadhouse and I'm sure it's a great time. Dining out usually is. I was just reminded of my curiosity at the steakhouse phenomenon by the title of the thread and just thought I'd throw that notion out for the gallery.

 

And, btw, if you've got a cast-iron skillet and an oven that you can get to 500, you can cook an amazing steak without a BBQ. In fact, you can likely cook a better steak than you can on anything but a very nice BBQ getting a cast-iron pan really hot, tossing a well seasoned steak into it, getting a good sear on one side, flipping it, and finishing it in the hot oven.

 

Doesn't work with marinated steaks so well, but great with a dry seasoned one.

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I've never eaten at a Texas Roadhouse.

 

If I were to eat there, I would get the chicken fried steak with mashed potatoes and grean beans. Sweet iced tea and rolls with butter. I don't know if that is on the menu but if it isn't I'm not sure where they get the name Texas from.

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Part of the steakhouse fascination for me comes from the atmosphere. From old local holes-in-the-wall, to casual chains like Texas Roadhouse, to top-end places, steakhouses are usually temples to he-man consumption. Texas Roadhouse has the Willie Nelson corner, NASCAR hoods hanging from the ceilings, etc. The one in Lansing has this mural:

 

http://plixi.com/p/48207632

 

Part of the fascination came from my wife's refusal to eat red meat (and, for many years, meat at all). Earlier in our marriage, I couldn't cook for beans--so "steak at home" wasn't an option. Later, as I started to get into food and cook for our family, I never felt as though I could justify buying and cooking nice steak--then cooking a second entree for my wife & kids. So basically, the only time I got to eat good steak was when we went out.

 

Texas Roadhouse, for its part, does a good job. I don't know if the steaks are wet or dry-aged, but they're usually quite flavorful and cooked properly. You can also order them to any size, since they cut them on site. I like being able to pick my steak from the display case up front, too. It ain't Morton's, but it ain't Applebee's either.

 

Lately, FWIW, the epochally slow service and my three small kids has made it harder and harder to justify going there on all but rare occasions. I still count myself a fan, though.

 

Peace

policy

Edited by policyvote
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That doesn't change the fact that I'd rather go somewhere and eat something that's harder to produce at home. Got to a Thai place or something. No more expensive to eat there and, unless you cook that way all the time, you have to spend a ton of money on random ingredients to recreate at home.

 

And please understand, I wasn't dogging the notion of going to a chain place or even an inexpensive chain place. I hit those kinds of places too. Honestly, because I live in an area where I can buy dry aged steaks at the Whole Foods, and I'm now the proud owner of a BGE, I have an even bigger issue with the high-end places. I can buy 2 steaks for less than what one would cost. The $100 bottle of Cab sets you back maybe $30 in the store, and so on.

 

My issue, in general, is with the notion of going to a place that basically specializes in one of the dishes that can most easily be done well at home.

 

Another aspect that's important is that you have to be able to get your kids to eat it.

 

Thai food (etc.) probably gets the hairy eyeball from many a kid, whereas "meat" and "potato" usually pass the test of being identifiable.

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Another aspect that's important is that you have to be able to get your kids to eat it.

 

Thai food (etc.) probably gets the hairy eyeball from many a kid, whereas "meat" and "potato" usually pass the test of being identifiable.

Good point, and likely part of why I didn't make any spawn.

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Det, telling me to chill? LMAO hello pot I'm kettle. YOU said it is so easy to cook so why go out for it. And Mexican isn't easy to prepare at home? Obviously so are burgers, fried chicken, stir fry etc. etc. Yet millions eat at these places each and every day, including high end steakhouses. If it is so easy to make such mad jack doing something so simple then open one yourself. I digress, you did.

 

My differing opinion is mostly with your wide brushstroke against steakhouses. I too buy my steaks from a butcher and usually cook them myself to save money. Yet all the high end chop houses are booked fully most every night. I don't get why people spend so much money at so called high end restaurants for items with descriptions they don't comprehend at all, only to get absolutely under portioned products that they probably will never order again, just for the experience, or bragging rights of saying they dined there. But hey that's just me. I'm not going to chasten people whom do enjoy them though. To me in almost all aspects of life, the simplest things are usually tried and true, the best things in life.

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Det, telling me to chill? LMAO hello pot I'm kettle. YOU said it is so easy to cook so why go out for it. And Mexican isn't easy to prepare at home? Obviously so are burgers, fried chicken, stir fry etc. etc. Yet millions eat at these places each and every day, including high end steakhouses. If it is so easy to make such mad jack doing something so simple then open one yourself. I digress, you did.

 

My differing opinion is mostly with your wide brushstroke against steakhouses. I too buy my steaks from a butcher and usually cook them myself to save money. Yet all the high end chop houses are booked fully most every night. I don't get why people spend so much money at so called high end restaurants for items with descriptions they don't comprehend at all, only to get absolutely under portioned products that they probably will never order again, just for the experience, or bragging rights of saying they dined there. But hey that's just me. I'm not going to chasten people whom do enjoy them though. To me in almost all aspects of life, the simplest things are usually tried and true, the best things in life.

 

For me it is simply personal preference :wacko: You like Texas Roadhouse, good for you . . . just not my cup of tea.

 

Cooking aint easy for a restaurant. Between the pain in the azz prep you have to do, the timing and execution you need you perform flawlessly for consistency is a skill not many possess. Especially for a high end Steakhouse and the temps they have to cook to with perfection.

 

Then again . . I like cooking and love grilling. Not everyone does, so filling up steakhouses every night isnt that tough to do. Hell, I can make pasta very easily, but Olive Garden, Maggianos, etc are always on a wait . . .

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For me it is simply personal preference :wacko: You like Texas Roadhouse, good for you . . . just not my cup of tea.

 

Cooking aint easy for a restaurant. Between the pain in the azz prep you have to do, the timing and execution you need you perform flawlessly for consistency is a skill not many possess. Especially for a high end Steakhouse and the temps they have to cook to with perfection.

 

Then again . . I like cooking and love grilling. Not everyone does, so filling up steakhouses every night isnt that tough to do. Hell, I can make pasta very easily, but Olive Garden, Maggianos, etc are always on a wait . . .

 

 

My point exactly, thank you.

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Det, telling me to chill? LMAO hello pot I'm kettle. YOU said it is so easy to cook so why go out for it. And Mexican isn't easy to prepare at home? Obviously so are burgers, fried chicken, stir fry etc. etc. Yet millions eat at these places each and every day, including high end steakhouses. If it is so easy to make such mad jack doing something so simple then open one yourself. I digress, you did.

 

My differing opinion is mostly with your wide brushstroke against steakhouses. I too buy my steaks from a butcher and usually cook them myself to save money. Yet all the high end chop houses are booked fully most every night. I don't get why people spend so much money at so called high end restaurants for items with descriptions they don't comprehend at all, only to get absolutely under portioned products that they probably will never order again, just for the experience, or bragging rights of saying they dined there. But hey that's just me. I'm not going to chasten people whom do enjoy them though. To me in almost all aspects of life, the simplest things are usually tried and true, the best things in life.

Let's be perfectly clear.

 

I said cooking a steak is the easiest nice restaurant meal out you can do at home.

 

From there you accused me of implying that juggling 100s of steaks working the grill at a steakhouse is an easy thing which any reasonable person can see are two entirely different things. In fact, one of the people here who completely agree with my initial point immediately pointed that out.

 

Further, while I made no assumptions about how difficult your job as a grill cook, you did about how much easier it is to run a Mexican restaurant where "everything is heated up ahead of time". Which is absolutely not the case at either of my places.

 

 

OK, so now that's twice you completely talked out of your ass. That's good enough for me. Have a nice day.

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Let's be perfectly clear.

 

I said cooking a steak is the easiest nice restaurant meal out you can do at home.

 

From there you accused me of implying that juggling 100s of steaks working the grill at a steakhouse is an easy thing which any reasonable person can see are two entirely different things. In fact, one of the people here who completely agree with my initial point immediately pointed that out.

 

Further, while I made no assumptions about how difficult your job as a grill cook, you did about how much easier it is to run a Mexican restaurant where "everything is heated up ahead of time". Which is absolutely not the case at either of my places.

 

 

OK, so now that's twice you completely talked out of your ass. That's good enough for me. Have a nice day.

 

Let me be perfectly clear also.

 

I absolutely admire you as far as your restaurants go. Most people in love with food as much as us only dream of doing so and never have the cajones to try it. That being said you need to get off your high horse there Francis. You whine more often than not in your posts, and your metrosexual primping wears on more than just me.

 

I don't give a good roll in the hay whom agreed with you and what you may have assumed I said, your the one that used the wide brush in the first place.

 

And as far as my ass goes, you can kiss it, and I'm man enough to make you do it. Now you have a nice day too.

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Let me be perfectly clear also.

 

I absolutely admire you as far as your restaurants go. Most people in love with food as much as us only dream of doing so and never have the cajones to try it. That being said you need to get off your high horse there Francis. You whine more often than not in your posts, and your metrosexual primping wears on more than just me.

 

I don't give a good roll in the hay whom agreed with you and what you may have assumed I said, your the one that used the wide brush in the first place.

 

And as far as my ass goes, you can kiss it, and I'm man enough to make you do it. Now you have a nice day too.

 

Would you give a mediocre roll in the hay?

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You have it wrong.

 

I do not "have" an Egg. I do not "own" an Egg. The Egg is present. I am present. I accept The Egg. The Egg accepts me. And thus, I am content.

 

Why does the Egg always get to be on top and you on the bottom then?

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Let me be perfectly clear also.

 

I absolutely admire you as far as your restaurants go. Most people in love with food as much as us only dream of doing so and never have the cajones to try it. That being said you need to get off your high horse there Francis. You whine more often than not in your posts, and your metrosexual primping wears on more than just me.

 

I don't give a good roll in the hay whom agreed with you and what you may have assumed I said, your the one that used the wide brush in the first place.

 

And as far as my ass goes, you can kiss it, and I'm man enough to make you do it. Now you have a nice day too.

Dude, you really don't get it, do you.

 

All I said in my first post is that it's relatively easy to cook a steak at home. And yes, I do think that every man should know how to cook a steak. If you can cook one actual meal, you should know how to cook a steak. It's one of those things that needs to be done correctly but doesn't require back-flips or innate culinary acumen to pull off. You can grab Bruce Adelis' book or google it and there you have it. It's not like making pie dough or even something like mole that is also not rocket science but does require 40 ingredients and makes a freaking mess.

 

I quoted my initial posts and notice that, not once, did I imply that cooking 500 steaks is an easy job, but that's right where you went. Right before you pretended to know how much easier it is to execute the dinner rush at one of my places. That's the thing, one of us made no claims about how easy it is to do a specific job, one of us did. I merely said that, compared to other versions of "nice dinner out", the one you can pull off at home the best and easiest is a steak. It requires the least amount of ingredients, the least amount of clean-up, and the narrowest range of cooking knowledge.

 

Now, I could go into how most people can't stir-fry at home because, lacking the proper equipment, if you're doing it for any more than one( or in many cases even if you're just making it for one), you're really making a "stir-stew". Even the most pedestrian dishes at the local Chinese greasy spoon require equipment that most of us don't have at home. Besides, once you buy all the different veggies and sauces, it's probably more expensive to do at home that it is to get take out. Again, I was basing this on the guy who doesn't cook all the time.

 

But really, it all comes down to the fact that your entire argument as been based on the premise that I said something I didn't. And if you're man enough to expect your ass to be kissed, you should be man enough to own the fact that you really are talking out of your ass here. That I am not using a broad brush. I am saying that cooking a steak at home is not hard. You are saying that must mean that I think running the grill at Ruth's Chris must also be easy. And further, you are saying that the guys who work behind the line at Dos Perros have it easier than a guy on the grill at a high end steakhouse (and assuming that you've never been to Dos P, you don't have near the info required to say).

 

Now, if you want to make Nick's point, that kids change everything. Or if you want to make Policies vote that, well, wife and kids change everything, that's fine. But that's not what you did. You took me saying that steaks are a "nice restaurant meal out" that is relatively easy to make at home to be a personal attack on grill cooks everywhere. And that's where you're flat out wrong. I know it hurts to hear because, if anyone comes in this forum and waves his dick around saying "been there, done that" as much as I do, it is most certainly you.

 

How does it feel to be a metrosexual's bitch?

Edited by detlef
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I'm thinking this thread is off to a pretty roaring start...

 

I'll say two things, yes, cooking a steak is one of the easiest meals to prep and execute, anyone can do it. But, I can't get near the quality of meat that a Bone's, Pano's and Paul's, Blue Ridge Grill, Chop's, Prime, etc... get unless I do some serious hunting or buy one of my neighbors bulls and have it slaughtered. I love steak houses.

 

I will also agree, though, that in many cases when I have gone to finer dining establishments I am drawn more to the duck, rabbit, venison, or some super cool looking uncommon fish dish.

 

As for TR, not bad, I'd prefer Longhorn, but TR is doable.

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How 'bout this:

 

Call two guys up at work at 5pm. Neither would call themselves an accomplished cook. Tell them both to stop at the store and grab whatever they need to make dinner. You tell one to make a steak dinner, the other to make "Mexican". Ready, go.

 

Who are you putting your money on? Unless you're cool with McCormick's seasoning, ground beef and shredded cheese in hard taco shells, you may want to have dinner with the guy who is making steak.

 

And SEC, I don't mean to say that anyone can cook a steak at home as well as you'll get at a great steakhouse. However, like Steve says, if you know what you're doing and can get a good steak, you absolutely can. The assumption is that food out is typically going to be better than food in. I get that. But to what degree? Assuming that you're not a great cook, you're better off cooking yourself a steak than you are trying something ethnic. By a long shot. And even if you are a good cook, it's still a simpler meal to prepare and clean up after.

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I must say that I do make a heck of a Mexican style pulled pork, but I need more than an hour's notice, because that sucker's cooking all day :wacko:

 

You wanna trade for a shredded Mexican Chicken recipe?

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Steakhouses are a volatile topic. My take:

 

Some people think that a person who considers a good steakhouse to be the pinnacle of dining is a rube.

 

Some people who consider a good steakhouse to be the pinnacle of dining think that a person in the above category is a snob.

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Steakhouses are a volatile topic. My take:

 

Some people think that a person who considers a good steakhouse to be the pinnacle of dining is a rube.

 

Some people who consider a good steakhouse to be the pinnacle of dining think that a person in the above category is a snob.

 

 

i am closer to this point of view, but not entirely. while i am not a steakhouse guy, i have had good experiences in them. generally speaking i am a live and let live type of person. i do however believe most people who hold steakhouses as a pinnacle of dining have limited themselves to it. there are so many superior food experiences out there. so long as someone exposes themself to the other expriences and comes to the conclussion that there is nothing better on the planet than a steakhosue steak, so be it.

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