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
I am totally disgusted with the changes in your menu! I have been a loyal Texas customer for years but I just made my last visit today. First the nasty coffee–so my husband now drinks tea. And the steaks have gone downhill in quality and taste. I understand you changed the seasoning on your steaks–not good. And today I go to get my prime rib only to find that you have dropped that from the menu along with the veggie scewers that I loved. So I settled for a Marshall Dillon which had a decent taste but it wasn’t prime rib. Next, I suppose you drop the rolls! If I EVER enter a Texas Steakhouse again, it will only be to pick up a dozen rolls! If it ain’t broke–don’t fix it! YOU JUST BROKE IT PERMENENTLY AS FAR AS I’M CONCERNED! My husband and I will NOT BE BACK.
…and what happened to my comment posted yesterday? I am even less happy with you than I was yesterday.
Hi Betty, Thank you for the feedback. We appreciate your thoughts on our recent menu changes and apologize if you are not pleased with the updates. A lot of time and effort goes into every menu change – including a lot of feedback from our patrons. So again, we appreciate your opinion as we are constantly looking for ways to please all of our guests. If you’d like to provide us with further feedback, please visit the “Contact Us” section of our web site http://texassteakhouse.com/contact-us.html and provide us with either a phone number or email address so that we can personally respond.
Betty, Please understand that we receive a lot of spam comments not related to Texas Steakhouse and as a result comments do not immediately get posted to the site. Your comment is approved for posting and is now viewable. Thanks.