Dueling Roadhouses, from the blog that brought you the Fat Duck. No, really.

So, look.  We're in Killeen, Texas, proud home of Fort Hood and the place where Husbear's working on and off for the next couple of weeks.  Hopefully.

Killeen's a strange town, an army town.  The vast majority of the men you see here have crew cuts or are actually in uniform.  Lots of restaurants and bars have happy hours from 9 to midnight, something I've never seen before.

Also, it's a center for chain restaurants.  I've never seen so many chains in such a small town - every one you could ever imagine.

And they've sucked us in.

So, for your reading pleasure: Dueling Roadhouses!  Last week, we visited Logan's Roadhouse and Texas Roadhouse on two successive nights. 

The facades:

Logan's.

Texas.

Here, I have to give the edge to Texas Roadhouse.  A behatted Texas beats out a sign with half the lights burned out.

Logan's 0, Texas 1.

These places are shockingly similar inside.  Peanut shells strewn all over the floor, fake wood, lots of neon beer signs, et cetera.  As soon as you sit down, you get a bucket of peanuts and a basket of bread.

Logan's:

Texas:

Both places make a big deal about their bread - "We bake it every 5 minutes," said the waitress at Texas Roadhouse.  They were basically the same, though Logan's Roadhouse had regular whipped butter and Texas Roadhouse had stickily sweet cinnamon honey butter.  The yeast rolls tasted like they could have been from the same overly-sweet mix, though Logan's were cooked a little longer and had a reasonable facsimile of a crust.  Ish.  Plus, the peanuts at Texas Roadhouse were stale and dry.

So 1 point for the peanuts and 1 for the bread, both to Logan's Roadhouse.

Logan's 2, Texas 1.

On to the salads!  At Logan's Roadhouse, on our first night, we tried two.  And were too naive to ask them to leave off the grated cheddar cheese.

Logan's Caesar:

And Logan's House:

And Texas Roadhouse's House, which we asked for without the cheese - see, we learn eventually:

Honestly, all of these salads were kind of silly.  It's sort of sad that there are probably people who think a salad is a healthy alternative here, only to find out that it's covered in cheese and eggs and fried bacon and topped with dressings including, of course, ranch, bleu cheese, and deep-fried lard. 

Logan's balsamic vinaigrette dressing was less sweet and a good bit more tart than Texas Roadhouse's Italian.  Plus, the croutons at Texas Roadhouse were soggy.  Point - Logan's!

Logan's 3, Texas 1.

And, because I know this is the moment you've all been waiting for....

ENTREES!  No, we didn't order steak.

At Logan's, Husbear ordered the fried shrimp and catfish with a side of macaroni and cheese (hey, it counts as a vegetable, right?)

and I got their hilariously enormous grilled meatloaf, which comes topped with these onions they're apparently particularly proud of.  My side?  Mashed taters.

Husbear thought the shrimp were fairly good and the catfish was sort of sad - not enough seasoning in the breading, perhaps?  My grilled meatloaf was... food.  Not good, not bad, certainly wouldn't have been memorable but for the fact that my leftovers (more than half the plate!) stank up our hotel room every time we opened the fridge.

At Texas Roadhouse, Husbear ordered an appetizer portion of their "award-winning" ribs.  Ha.  Think crunchy outside and almost powdery middle - it was like meat product had been reconstituted around a bone structure (Husbear's description).  The fries were nothing special.

The enormous cricket crawling along the wall was something of a shock.

Trying to be a little healthier than the meatloaf extravaganza the night before, I ordered a grilled shrimp kabob on rice pilaf.

There were lots of factors that kept this from being anywhere approaching healthy.  First, the double portion of shrimp.  Second, bacon in the beans, though that was hardly a surprise.  Third, what the hell is that dipping sauce?  It tasted like the butter substitute that goes on popcorn at the movie theater, which is apparently called "buttery".

And the rice pilaf was inedibly bland and greasy.  Hmmm.

In terms of our arteries, the meals are probably a draw, but I have to give a slight tastiness edge to Logan's.  Slight. 

This brings the final score to....

Logan's 5, Texas 1!

Winner and still CHAMPEEN!

Not that we'll be back to either anytime soon, if we can avoid it... though I might want to run some sort of experiment on which chain has the squishier rolls.

Comments

[rooney]

well why didnt you order the fresh spring roll?

[Boots in the Oven]

Yeah, that would have been a plan... what were we thinking? Ha.

[auntie]

Excellent idea, great post... sort of saddening, tho...

[Albany Jane]

Oh, I remember taking the loooong hike up to Killeen from San Antonio.
At least you avoided the frighteningly plentiful buffets though, no?
I have to admit my first Logan's trip was this past summer in Tennessee, and it was surprisingly good, except for the surprise cup of shredded cheese on the salads. Then again the mountain of peanuts I ate in the five minutes I waited for a table should have been a sign that healthy wasn't on the menu.

[Boots in the Oven]

Thanks, auntie... it is, isn't it?

Albany Jane, I did manage to avoid the buffets, but Husbear went for lunch one day with work compatriots - we couldn't believe how many there were! And I did like the rolls at Logan's, even if they were sweet and squishy. Their food was definitely better than Texas Roadhouse's!

[Chris]

This has to be the saddest entry you both have made... What happened to your culinary adventures throughout the world? How did it come to this?

And, as a side comment, do you think you were a bit biased toward "Logan's"?

Without catfish,
Chris

[Boots in the Oven]

Chris,

See, I'm going to tell myself you're just jealous that you can't enjoy this kind of Americana in Florence. Yeah, that's it.

And I know I was biased towards Logan's, but I think the man himself may have actually been biased against it! Did you see the look on his face in that first picture?

[adam]

i was thinking about the "award winning" ribs and wondered if people or restaurant chains are allowed to award themselves. if that's the case, i prepared an "award winning" grilled cheese for lunch today and it feels pretty good. i would first like to thank my mother.....

[Boots in the Oven]

Adam, that's the ony workable explanation for some of the foods described as "award-winning". I want to hear more about this grilled cheese sandwich, as I'm sure it was superior to the Papa John's we ate last night in Killeen...

[Samantha]

Mmm. That looks almost as good as Mak's Roadhouse.

[Boots in the Oven]

Operative word - almost.

[Sammie]

this is stupid...texas roadhouse is much better

[Boots in the Oven]

I suppose we'll have to bow to the connoisseur.

[John]

No freaking way !!! Logans is waaayyyyy better !!!

[John]

No freaking way !!! Logans is waaayyy better !!!

[FEC]

The Logan's I went to was a dump, the steak was flavorless, the baked potato soup tasted like it came from a can, and the chili tasted like it came out of my dog's rear end. Completely the opposite at Texas Roadhouse.

The one you went to won by 5-1, The Logan's I went to lost 5-1, so I guess it's tie ball game.

[Ethan]

You reviewed steak houses and did not get ANY steak. You might as well have ordered off of the kids menu.

[Rachel @ boots in the oven]

Interesting, I didn't think steakhouses and roadhouses were the same thing... why don't they call themselves Texas Steak House and Logan's Steak House, then?

Oh, right... because they're poor excuses for restaurants, let alone steakhouses. Right.

[Eric]

rachel. This is every meal in louisiana

[Eric]

i have to ask for every salad with no cheese

[Laura]

Wow, those rolls from Logan's look gah-reasy!

[Rachel @ boots in the oven]

Aw, Eric, is not! We've had plenty of meals in Louisiana that might not be good for the body, but are at least good for the soul - these places are neither!

Laura, don't they? Shiny like a mirror.

[Cindy]

Logans stinks, I'm just sayin. Anything would win against that place...

[Sarah]

Logan's has a "health nut" menu items with little seasoning and broccoli with no butter or seasoning and a salad romain lettuce carrots n tomatoes if u want healthy u should order off this part of the menu