Talkin Texas

Welcome to Talkin' Texas, the official blog of Texas Steakhouse and Saloon! Here you'll find all the real Texas news that's fit to print, including restaurant info and updates, plus notices of upcoming events and special promotions. Check back often as we'll be putting up new posts regularly.

All American Taste

July 26th, 2010

At Texas Steakhouse, it’s no secret that we love American food. From our famous Mesquite-grilled steaks to our baby back ribs and chicken tenders, we like to think that we do hearty American meals like no one else. With that in mind, we’re happy to announce the latest addition to our menu.

Ladies and Gentleman, we give you – the All American Burger!

All American Burger

We know what you may be thinking, but this isn’t just another burger. In fact, it’s the result of countless taste tests and recipe refinements -a true testament to Texas Steakhouse’s dedication to burger-engineering.

We start out with two juicy, hot-off-the-mesquite-grill beef patties on top of a toasted bun, top it with American cheese, bacon, fresh tomatoes, pickles, lettuce and our special dressing. Then we close the deal with what else? Fried onion rings.

So what are you waiting for? Do your duty as a hungry patriot and try our new All American Burger! And don’t forget to save room for Grandma’s Strawberry Shortcake where $1 of every order is donated to the Wounded Warrior Project.

See ya in Texas!

Terry Smith, President
Texas Steakhouse &Saloon


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Wounded Warrior Donations

July 21st, 2010

Well, it’s been less than a year since Texas Steakhouse began donating $1 of every Grandma’s shortcake ordered to the Wounded Warrior Project and we have already exceeded $18,000.00!

The program began with a group of veterans and brothers who “were moved by the difficult stories of the first wounded service members returning home from Afghanistan and Iraq. They realized then and there that something needed to be done for these brave individuals beyond the brass bands and ticker tape parades. “

Wounded Warrior offers a variety of services to soldiers and their families from counseling and coping services to “peer mentoring,” designed to help the wounded know what is possible and see the successes of other fellow soldiers who have faced similar challenges. And they do so much more. http://www.woundedwarriorproject.org

So, the next time you are in Texas Steakhouse, save room for our Strawberry Shortcake. It’s a great treat this time of year and an easy way to thank and support those who continue to fight for our freedom and safety.

Grandma's Shortcake


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Clearing the Hurdles

June 11th, 2010

Have you ever wondered how we choose new items for the Texas Steakhouse menu? Well, contrary to what you might think, we don’t just pick a dish and throw it on the menu. Each must go through a series of steps or “hurdles” as we call them, in order to earn a permanent spot on the main menu.

It all begins with the menu team. Each week, our menu team meets to discuss new ways to keep our menu fresh and exciting. Ideas are bounced around, we do taste tests, and eventually we come up with a few dishes to put on a “test” menu.

The test menu is then put into five of our locations for a period of 60 days. We track the popularity of each item through what we call a “hurdle rate.” At the end of the period, the dish or dishes that surpass the hurdle rate earn a coveted spot on our main menu.

There are many advantages to the hurdle system. First and foremost, it ensures that only the best dishes make it onto the main menu. Secondly, it allows us to maintain our high level of quality and value by only using ingredients and offering menu items that we know guests will select. Most importantly, it leaves the final say on new menu items to you, our guests.

So, next time you’re in Texas, be sure to savor the flavor of that Super Chicken Club, Montreal Sirloin or Chicken Fried Chicken. Once upon a time it was just an aspiring test menu dish — one that had to overcome many hurdles to make it to your plate.

See you in Texas!

Doug Sanderson, Director of Training

Texas Steakhouse


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Texas Steakhouse Launches Our Heroes Tab for Facebook

June 4th, 2010

Texas Steakhouse is proud to announce our latest effort to show our appreciation for the men and women of our military. To go along with the Wall of Heroes displays we’ve installed in all 29 of our Texas Steakhouse locations, we’ve just put up an Our Heroes tab on our Facebook page. This feature lets anyone post photos of their hero online for the whole world to see.

At Texas Steakhouse we show our appreciation for the brave men and women of America’s armed forces in as many ways as possible. Whether it’s our 10% discount for military members and their families, the Wounded Warrior Project donation program or our in-house Wall of Heroes displays, we want to make sure that America’s finest know we support them. It’s the very least we can do.

We encourage you to check out the new Our Heroes tab today and show your appreciation for those who have defended and continue to defend our freedom. Our thoughts and prayers are with each and every one of them, and we are honored to be able to recognize their bravery and service to their country in this small way.

Terry Smith
President
Texas Steakhouse


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Texas Steakhouse Raises over $13,000 for Wounded Warrior Project

May 19th, 2010

We’re proud to announce that we’ve raised over $13,000 for the Wounded Warrior Project, an organization dedicated to helping military heroes who have been severely injured in the line of duty. The funds were raised one dollar at a time from purchases of our Grandma’s Shortcake dessert.

In late 2009 we began donating one dollar of every Grandma’s Shortcake purchase to the Wounded Warrior Project. So far exactly $13,699 has been collected, and we hope that’s just the beginning.

We are honored to help the brave members of our military in this way, and we’re grateful to all the Real Texans out there who made this donation possible. Thanks again and remember, next time you’re in Texas, save room for Grandma’s Shortcake.

Terry Smith
President and CEO
Texas Steakhouse


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Super Cheezy Chicken Takes Off

May 3rd, 2010

They say chickens can’t fly but Super Cheezy Chicken, one of our seven delicious brand new menu items, has absolutely taken off!

Then again, we’re not surprised. After all, when we decided to take two plump, juicy 7-ounce chicken breasts, coat them in our signature spicy barbeque sauce, then top them off with melted cheddar and jack cheeses we expected a heckuva response.

What we didn’t expect was that Super Cheezy Chicken, priced at just $9.99 with one Side Kick, would become a menu legend-in-the-making so soon! In fact, it has already become one of our most popular dishes!

If you haven’t tried our Super Cheezy Chicken yet, it’s time to head over to Texas and taste it for yourself. If you’ve already tried it, don’t worry; we’ve got plenty more! So what are you waiting for? Find out what Real Texas tastes like. Try our Super Cheezy Chicken today!

Doug Sanderson
Director of Training

Super Cheesy Chicken


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The Excitement of a Texas TV Shoot

April 12th, 2010

The Marketing Team gathered for our quarterly meeting and the decision was made to create some television spots featuring our mesquite-grilled 9oz ribeyes, 7oz sirloins and burgers. This is quite an event and many professionals come together to make all the beautiful footage we use in our commercials.

We work with a Robert LaTorre and his team at Big Fish Films. He is an amazingly talented and brilliant artist and director. Our first conversation begins with a budget and creative direction. Shot ideas and techniques are discussed, and soon after CurrentMarketing creates a storyboard of the vision for everyone to understand and agree to.
Next, our agency goes into coordination mode. Recipes are gathered, quantities of food items are determined. For example we may need 100 perfectly shaped brioche buns for our burger shot.

All American Burger

Talk about details! Everything is hand-picked and scrutinized. The food stylist makes all the difference. We spend the money to get the best because the food has to look great. And what you see is what you get. We don’t cheat on our portions. Everything is to spec. We use our product and processes. And I am on location to approve all presentations.

The shoot requires one day of pre-production and decisions on plated “stand-ins” for color and composition. Shot order is established, shot angles are walked through and reviewed via monitor. Hand movements are practiced and every second is planned out. We pack a ton in one day because shooting video is very expensive and as a 29-store restaurant chain we are frugal with our marketing dollars.

The day of the shoot is really a lot of fun. We have great “craft services” (code for unbelievable treats to snack on throughout the day). And a giant HD TV monitor so we can see every “take” very close up. Some of us get to participate in the shoot by flipping a burger or squeezing a lime. I am known in some parts as the “King of the Rib Tear,” a move I managed to perfect a few years ago.

The actual shooting, scheduled for early next month, will take three full days. I always look forward to working with everyone there, from the lighting techs or “gaffers” to the “steamer” (guy who creates the steam coming from a hot dish). It is an action-filled day with many decisions. It requires patience, creativity and experience. And we always come away with fabulous footage that we’re proud to use to represent Texas Steakhouse & Saloon.

Terry Smith
President
Texas Steakhouse & Saloon


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Two Ribeyes for $16.99. Now that’s REAL Texas!

February 24th, 2010

We have the most incredible deal going on at Texas Steakhouse right now. Our mouth-watering USDA Choice ribeyes are now available at an unbeatable price. You can get two 9 ounce mesquite-grilled ribeyes for just $16.99. That’s under $9.00 a piece and you get a Side Kick with each one! I am talkin’ grain-fed and aged to a minimum of 21 days and then grilled over real mesquite wood. And with Side Kicks like our signature Fried Baked Potatoes or our Sweet Potato with Cinnamon Sugar and Butter, you can enjoy a Texas-sized meal at a great price! Plus all the fresh, hot yeast rolls you can eat. This is a limited time offer so grab a friend and head to Texas Steakhouse soon and try TWO of our juicy ribeyes. And be sure to save room for our Grandma’s Shortcake, where $1.00 of every shortcake sold is donated to the Wounded Warrior Project.

Terry Smith
President
Texas Steakhouse & Saloon

Ribeye


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Wild Card Wednesdays

January 28th, 2010

Have you heard about all the fun we are having here at Texas Steakhouse on Wednesdays? I have to tell you about it because our guests are really having a blast!

Every Wednesday we play a game we call “Wild Card Wednesday.” Here’s the deal:

You bring in your family or friends-or both-and order your meals. After you place your order the “Dealer” comes by your table with a full deck of cards. Someone at the table gets to shuffle the cards, another person can cut the cards and then yet a third person can actually pick a card. And wow, can you win big. For every Joker that is picked, you can get up to 4 meals for FREE, excluding alcohol (state law). If you pick an Ace, the most expensive meal is FREE. If you pick a King, the least expensive meal is FREE. The Queen gets FREE BEVERAGES for the whole table, excluding alcohol and the Jack gets ONE FREE STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE to share!

It has made Wednesdays at Texas a lot of fun. Just yesterday we had our youngest winner ever, a little girl named “Kinley” drew the Joker. And everyone in her family ate for FREE! Come to Texas on Wednesday and try your luck. Your chances of winning are great!

Bob, Manager of Danville location

Kinley, our youngest Wild Card winner!


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“Cowboy at Heart” wins big with Texas!

January 12th, 2010

Texas-sized congratulations go out to Eric Miller, December winner of our Texas Steakhouse for a Year sweepstakes! Eric, who hails from the Princeton, West Virginia area, was chosen at random from over 3,000 entries and will receive a $25 gift certificate each week for 52 weeks.

An avid horseman, Eric is known to show up at the Princeton Texas Steakhouse and Saloon with up to 15 of his fellow riders — plus their horses in tow! And he says that he seeks out Texas Steakhouse not primarily for the steaks, but for our Crunchy Fried Shrimp and Chicken Tenders.

Eric adds, “I’m basically a cowboy at heart, so it fits. We usually show up at Texas Steakhouse at the end of a long day on the trail, after we’ve been riding about 8 hours. We let the horses rest in the trailers while we basically clean the place out.”

Eric Miller lives with his wife, Rebekah and their two children, in Peterstown, West Virginia.

Eric Miller with his horse Diablo

Photo: Eric pictured with his stallion Diablo, one of his 11 horses.


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