Ranking the Sips and Taking on the Bites: My First Foray into Texas Roadhouse

Stepping inside Texas Roadhouse for the first time is an experience. The rolls are famous, but I looked at the drinks right away. Margaritas are popular US drinks that you can find everywhere. They have a whole selection, from traditional types to new ones.

These drinks are large, not just typical tequila-based cocktails. Served in large glasses, they pair well with steaks or rolls. With so many choices, how does one even start? I had to try them all for myself, sipping away.

Our journey starts with the very first one, the foundation. At Texas Roadhouse, this means the House Margarita. This classic cocktail uses lime juice, sugar, agave, and Dorado Gold tequila. It is a mainstay, the basis for many others as well. You can get it frozen or on the rocks, like I did.

I heard that this particular house margarita got mixed reviews online. The drink served on the rocks seemed a bit flat to me. The simple recipe tasted watery and slightly syrupy. The light tequila flavor was there, which was the nice part. The lime flavor dominated, with a strong tartness followed by a bitter aftertaste.

Now, let’s talk about Dorado Gold tequila. It’s often referred to as a cheap tequila, costing around ten to twenty dollars. The company, Dorado, doesn’t have a website, making it hard to find information. The retailer says Dorado Gold is 100% blue agave, which is surprising. Most cheap tequilas are blended with other agaves, so this detail is interesting.

The name suggests it’s a gold tequila, and the bottle indeed shows the color. The color comes from minimal aging and the addition of caramel coloring. It’s not a well-known brand, so it’s hard to find reviews based on personal taste. However, knowing it’s 100% agave adds appeal to the drink.

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After exploring the base, it’s time to try other drinks next. The first one is the Hurricane Margarita, a big glass full of flavor. It mixes the house lime margarita with classic Hurricane cocktail ingredients. This includes Captain Morgan rum, orange juice, pineapple juice, and grenadine. The garnishes are an orange slice, a cherry, and salt on the rim.

In theory, it should taste sweet, tropical, with a hint of tequila as well. However, for me, it tasted just like cherry syrup. The grenadine was very strong, hiding the other fruit flavors. You could definitely notice the Captain Morgan rum well. There was a strong spice in every sip, and it felt warm going down.

What I disliked was that it completely lost the margarita feeling. The lime and tequila flavors got lost under the fruit and rum tastes. It felt more like a general cocktail than a margarita, really.

Now, let’s move on to the Jamaican Cowboy drink. The weird thing is, it’s listed under cocktails online, but the menu says it includes a splash of margarita mix. It also has orange and pineapple juice within the mix.

You might think this sounds like the Hurricane one. You’re right; the juices inside are the same. The big difference comes from swapping Captain Morgan rum for Malibu rum. Also, they add Peachtree schnapps instead of grenadine. Small changes on paper make a world of difference, though.

Coconut and pineapple give it a tropical feeling, not like the Hurricane. It was very smooth and easy to drink. The sugar on the rim helps if the glass has sharp edges. I asked, “Is this one really a margarita at all?” Honestly, the answer is no, which makes it rank lower. But I would definitely drink this sweet drink again. It’s just a pleasant, easy tropical cocktail, really.

Good menus need fruity options for people who like sweet drinks. They offer fruity ones like strawberry and raspberry margaritas. I only tried the raspberry one, but I guess the strawberry one is similar. The taste felt like any generic red fruit cocktail, really.

Putting taste aside, this one is a standard frozen margarita. The slush texture is inviting, although it can give you brain freeze. It is sweet, with maybe a slightly artificial taste, but not overly so. I didn’t feel like my teeth would fall out from drinking it.

The tequila taste appears later, reminding you of the alcohol in the drink. Like the Jamaican Cowboy, it might be stronger than it seems. If you like sweet slush drinks, this one is for you. However, other menu options might be better if you prefer a classic taste.

Let’s go back to the House Margarita, but this time in frozen form. Trying the frozen house margarita felt very natural and smooth. In theory, it should taste the same as the on-the-rocks version. But actually, drinking it felt much more balanced. It has the same ingredients: lime, agave, and a touch of orange. It is blended with ice, and the bartender adds Dorado Gold tequila.

This restaurant feels like a place for steak-eating fans. Yet they list small burgers far down on the menu. Can a steak place truly compete in making a great burger meal? Especially when compared to a restaurant that only serves burgers? This question sparked an exciting battle right in my mind. It was Texas Roadhouse going up against Red Robin restaurant.

Red Robin calls itself a restaurant specializing in gourmet burgers. This matchup felt like an underdog story that could possibly happen. One restaurant was a giant place famous for steaks, listing only a few burger options on their menu in total. The other was a big restaurant specializing in burgers. Red Robin offers nearly twenty different types of burgers listed.

All their burgers aim to grab your attention with their toppings. My mission was really quite simple. I had to skip the steaks there, which was tough. Instead, I dove right into their burger selection. I chose two different burgers from each restaurant. This would help me figure out which one made the best burger.

Let’s start by looking at the steakhouse menu. Texas Roadhouse keeps their burger list quite short. They actually have more salad choices available. Still, you can choose from three different burgers in total.

First is the simple, classic All-American Cheeseburger they offer. It has cheese, lettuce, tomato, and some onion. Then comes the Bacon Cheeseburger for bacon fans. This one adds bacon right to the classic burger build. Finally, the Smokehouse Burger offers many different flavors. It has cooked mushrooms and onions on top.

There is also barbecue sauce and fried onions on it. Two types of cheese come on this burger. The prices are simple, just like the menu options. They range from about twelve dollars upwards. Every burger comes with steak fries and a pickle spear. It’s a complete and simple package you always get.

Now let’s look at the competitor restaurant. Red Robin, as you’d expect, has a huge burger list. Their menu might give you decision paralysis. They have about nineteen options covering every taste out there.

Wanting spicy food? They have burgers for that taste, like the Scorpion, Burnin’ Love, or Jalapeño Heatwave. For something dramatic-looking, there’s the Lava Queso.

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This burger is completely covered in melted cheese sauce. Maybe if you want a tropical taste, try pineapple on a burger. The variety is truly impressive and an amazing sight. It feels like a playground for those who love burgers a lot.

To compare fairly, I picked two basic burger options. The Gourmet Cheeseburger was the first one I chose here. It is loaded with a lot of different toppings, including pickle relish, onion, pickles, lettuce, tomato, and mayo. You also get to choose which kind of cheese you like.

This burger costs about fourteen dollars and ninety-nine cents. Their Bacon Cheeseburger is the next simple option. It adds smoked bacon to the basic burger build. This one costs a little over sixteen dollars. Both burgers always come with a side of steak fries. The stage was set, and the challengers were chosen.

It was time for the main taste test event. I started by tasting Texas Roadhouse’s All-American Cheeseburger first. Burgers sometimes pile up so high these days that they’re hard to eat without making a mess. But simple burgers have a beauty of their own, you know.

Texas Roadhouse understands this idea by keeping it simple. The beef patty made a big impression quickly. It was the thick and juicy type of patty they had. It was cooked perfectly with a nice char all around the edge. That char added a deep, welcome flavor too. A little more seasoning might have helped just a bit.

But the quality of the beef cannot be denied. It clearly was the main star of the burger. This is exactly how a burger should be made. The bun was another real pleasant surprise for me. It was a round, fluffy bun.

The bun had a good balance for holding all the components inside. It stayed soft enough and wasn’t a soggy mess. This is an important detail that many burger places miss. When ordering take-out, I was very impressed here. They packaged the lettuce, tomato, and onion separately. This kept the vegetables crisp and fresh-looking.

Until I was ready to build my burger at home. Little details like this show they care, maybe just a little. Even if burgers aren’t really their main focus. Once assembled, the burger was surprisingly large and hefty. The taste lived up to its look; there was lots of gooey cheese.

The separated veggies were crisp, just like I wanted. I did reach for ketchup or barbecue sauce later. It felt a little dry without any sauce on top. That happens often with many burgers you eat. Overall, the All-American proved to be a solid, dependable classic.

It was done pretty well, I must say. Moving on, I tasted Red Robin’s Gourmet Cheeseburger next. That’s its name. They clearly go with the idea that more is always better. This sandwich was absolutely packed with toppings: relish, onion, pickles, lettuce, tomato, and mayo, all piled up on the bun.

Plus, American cheese was also in the mix. Credit must be given where credit is due on this one. All the toppings worked well together for me. The mayo added a creamy richness that paired perfectly with the cheese. The pickle relish gave that tangy flavor that spread throughout the burger.

Ensuring a burst of flavor no matter where you bite into it. It had a complex flavor profile right from the first bite. The beef patty was good and of respectable quality. But Texas Roadhouse’s patty felt better when comparing the two.

This was due to it being thicker and more juicy overall. However, Red Robin absolutely nailed their bun. It was sturdy, just like the other bun I had tasted before, but it had a little more fluffiness that I enjoyed a lot. This added to the satisfying texture of the overall burger-biting experience.

Where things got tricky was mostly with the onions. Red Robin uses raw white onion slices on top. Texas Roadhouse uses red onions on their burger. Raw onions, of any color, can have an intense taste sometimes, you know. On this burger, the onion flavor was overwhelming me quite a bit. I had to remove about half of them to taste the other ingredients well.

So I could taste the remaining ingredients better then. My preference is always red onions for burgers. But even ignoring that, the amount was way too much for the burger. Despite the onion problem, the burger was solidly good. It felt less like a steakhouse burger and more like a perfect fast-food sandwich version overall, I thought.

Honestly, that really is not a bad thing at all. Choosing between two unique cheeseburgers was a very tough choice. Each one had its own strong points and weak points too. How would I break this difficult and tricky tie now?

I looked to the ultimate burger topping for guidance: bacon, which seems to be loved everywhere by people. Bacon can take a good burger to greatness overall. The showdown then moved to comparing the Bacon Cheeseburgers. This is where a clear winner really emerged.

To me, a burger named “bacon” must make bacon the star. Texas Roadhouse gets this important idea right for me. Their Bacon Cheeseburger had thick, very crispy bacon strips. The bacon wasn’t shy about spilling over the bun’s edge at all.

Every bite gave a satisfying crunch and a smoky, good flavor from that great bacon they put on there for you. It wasn’t overly salty; the strips were cooked just perfectly. Adding texture and an essential bacon taste to the cheeseburger overall, this really felt like the true bacon cheeseburger, made right.

It felt like a celebration of a crispy, salty meat ingredient. Sadly, Red Robin’s attempt fell short for me when eating it. Their Bacon Cheeseburger didn’t feel like a bacon burger; it felt more like a regular cheeseburger with just some bacon on top.

The bacon strips were thin and didn’t have a very crispy texture. They lacked the crunch that Texas Roadhouse’s bacon had overall. The bacon strips disappeared easily among the other toppings on the burger you were eating. You could bite into it and forget that the bacon was even there at all. If an ingredient is in the name, it must be prominent and visible, front and center for everyone to taste in every bite taken. Sadly enough for me, Red Robin’s bacon felt like an afterthought. After much thinking and eating, who had the better burger? Their approaches to burgers were very different overall.

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Texas Roadhouse, the steak place, builds simple, classic burgers. It relies on a quality beef patty and a solid structure. Red Robin, the burger expert, uses the power of toppings to create complex sandwiches with different flavors. Red Robin also offers a great variety and a truly perfect bun. However, they stumbled where it mattered most for them.

That was on the tie-breaker: the bacon part. Texas Roadhouse nailed their Bacon Cheeseburger perfectly, making the bacon the star it should always be. More isn’t always better on a burger, especially if the quality of the bacon is sacrificed. Ultimately, Texas Roadhouse comes out on top here.

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What Tequila Does Texas Roadhouse Use For Its Margaritas?
Red Robin Vs Texas Roadhouse: Which Burger Is Better?
Texas Roadhouse Margaritas, Ranked Worst To Best