First let me say I was going to wait and see if I could get the shop bonused towards the end of the month since they seemed to have relaxed the rotation.

However, I had a guest from out of town that wanted to go. The bill for three of us was $66.26 before tip. Even for the two lowest priced entrees and soda, it would have already exceeded the reimbursement by $2 before tax and tip.

So here goes. I place the call ahead seating call and am told forty to fifty minutes. We arrive early and wait. I go in and inquire and am told it's only been fifty-one minutes since I had called in and people were lingering at the tables.

We're finally seated sixty-one minutes after I got the call ahead confirmation text. We go inside and the restaurant is half empty. I don't mean like tables that haven't been bussed yet, but tables that haven't been used. A whole aisle behind the bar is empty.

I wonder if they are only doing half capacity due to the new Covid strain. I haven't seen any announcement that requires less than full capacity in Upstate NY.

Perhaps they can't get staff. Our waitress said this was only her third day out of training. She was unaware of offering a first time visitor a sampler plate of their sides. She said she would have to ask, but never mentioned it again. There is even a question on the report about the treatment of first time visitors.

It took us sixteen minutes to get our sodas and thirty three minutes to get our food from the time the waitress left with our order.

A manager never stopped by. You can tell because the hostess that seats you tapes a paper to the table that the manager takes when they visit.

I had thought about looking for a manager to complain to, but I have read the thread on the reimbursement only meal that was comped. Texas Roadhouse is an expenses only $35. There is no shop fee.

It's the first time I said I would not recommend or come back to this location.

I hope this isn't the start of a trend.

I had the filet salad as mentioned in another thread, and I would highly recommend it. It's $4 less than the 6 oz. filet. The meat is very tender and the salad is a well balanced mixture of ingredients.

This is one of the easiest shops I've ever done. I look at it as a $35 coupon towards the cost of my meal. This report is straightforward and simple and I figure it's a fair amount of work in exchange for a comped meal or almost comped meal. For three people at $65, minus the $35 reimbursement, that's still steak dinners for about $10 per person. Not bad at all, IMO.

The long wait times are standard where I live, as most restaurants are short staffed. The occupancy being half full is also pretty typical as we are adjusting to new distancing requirements thanks to COVID. Same with a manager not stopping by - never know what crisis they were dealing with in the kitchen, etc.

I judge differently these days - if the food was good, the server / staff smiled and made an effort, and the prices were fair, then I am thrilled. I'm even more thrilled when I can snag one of these shops and get $35 back into my pocket for a relatively simple report.

I've only done the bar shops, but what was the problem? That a manager never stopped by your table? That your food took 33 minutes to arrive?

Standards are you must be seated within 10 minutes of your quoted time 40 to 50 quoted seated in 61.

It would have been acceptable to me if the restaurant had been packed, but it wasn't. I understand Covid, short staffed and so on. But then set expectations better by adjusting your quoted times.

Drinks took longer than they should have. I don't know the correct timing since it is only in the report not the instructions.

Entrees should be at your table within, I believe, 15 minutes of ordering or from when the appetizer or salad was delivered. Ours took 33 minutes.

New diners should get samples of four sides, we didn't. There is a question on the report as to if you were treated like a new diner.

I guess I've gotten accustomed to them hitting all their marks like clockwork that this visit just stood out as sub-par.

With but rare exception, I an a bar shopper at the Roadhouse. Currently, most of the six, soon to be seven, I complete are open Fridays at 11:00 AM, with the remainder from 03:00 to 04:00. I am almost always the first through the door and all aspects of the work flow like water. I do understand all are not able or desirous of such an early hour.

Just playing devil's advocate, they may have been so short-staffed that they had to keep some sections closed, or their waitstaff would have been run off their legs even more and it could have negatively impacted the service and times to an even worse degree.

But yes, those are long times on the food and drinks.

Many restaurants do not fill all tables, so as to not overwhelm the kitchen/wait staff, since almost all restaurants are desperately understaffed right now.

I have not completed one of these shops. Why are servers still expected to offer samples of sides, which for me-- and probably only for me-- raises a red flag. Does this extra service increase food costs or use up leftovers, neither of which is appealing or appetizing? This is time consuming. Do servers have time for this now? If experienced servers are staying away, newbies should wonder why...

I never remember being offered any samples of sides.. That must be something new but it has been a while sice I have done a dine in shop

They should ask if you have ever been to a TXRH before. If you haven't, they should ask if you'd like to sample their sides.

I don’t think I’ve had one table service dining shop for any restaurant manage to meet every standard since dining rooms reopened. I answer the questions honestly but for subjective opinion questions or 1 to 10 ratings I go easy unless the problems were especially excessive or visibly the manager’s fault. For instance, earlier this week a manager sat us and neglected to explain the mobile ordering system which he told every other party about, and a “call a server” card we displayed went unanswered for the entire meal. Even if the root of the issues was the staffing shortage, the experience was still poorer than similar restaurants which are also short staffed.

A lot of restaurants are very short staffed because of covid. In most areas, they also have to follow social distancing guidelines. On top of that, even though there may be empty tables in sight, most restaurants will not seat more people than the servers they have on staff can physically serve. It sounds like they were still having problems taking care of everybody, and had likely already seated more than they should have. What you saw in the restaurant was likely a combination of the above.

I have heard a ton of praises for these shops on the boards recently but never did one. Is anyone literally able to get their meal completely taken care of with the reimbursement for two people and no alcohol? I find it hard to believe but there must be a reason a lot of people gobble these up.

Extremely possible. They also have a before five menu and is IS allowed

@jrj76 wrote:

I have heard a ton of praises for these shops on the boards recently but never did one. Is anyone literally able to get their meal completely taken care of with the reimbursement for two people and no alcohol? I find it hard to believe but there must be a reason a lot of people gobble these up.

If you do a bar shop by yourself it is easy to get a nice steak dinner at right about the reimbursement.

I find it difficult to get under the $35 reimbursement for two since even the beef tips or chicken fried sirloin are around $13 each. Add in $3 per soda, tax and tip and you can see what I mean. Last time I had the tenderloin salad as recommended here and it was $16 I believe.

I think the consensus here is that it's worth coming out of pocket and looking at the reimbursement as a discount on your meal. The reports are straight forward and fairly easy with minimal narrative and the food is pretty good.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/30/2021 03:53AM by wrosie.

They also edit quickly. I did one the other day and I received an email within 1 hour that it was accepted.

jej76 inquires--Is anyone literally able to get their meal completely taken care of with the reimbursement for two people and no alcohol?

Bob replies--In my area, the dine-in shops fly off the board. When, though, one is available, I take a guest..I order an eight oz. steak and he has either a pork chop or chicken. We both drink water and there is enough money remaining to each have a sundae. .

On the dine in shops, it does say now that at least one non-water beverage must be ordered. It didn't used to have that requirement. Still a great deal, though.

mjt9598--Thank you sharing the drink requirement for dine-in. Of the 22 assignments I have completed this year at the Roadhouse, only one has been dine-in and, should another become available, I could easily have missed that change. Unfortunately for me, that also constitutes a pay reduction, as I much prefer water when I eat.

Edited to add that in checking the website, I discovered the guest requirement has been eliminated; that negates my reduction comment.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/01/2021 04:38PM by shopperbob.

I also get water when I go to a place like TRH or Chill's.. But if it is Burger King I usually get sweet tea.

If I ever do an dine in shop again, I can get sweet tea and my wife can get water or coke?

Wonder why they changed that?

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/03/2021 02:45AM by Isaiah4031a.