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American International Location |
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Roadhouse Grill 2455 W. International Speedway Blvd, Daytona Beach, FL 32114 Tel: 386 238 3331 2 February 2007 We were underwhelmed by the Roadhouse Grill. We had a ten minute wait at 5:50 on a Friday evening. The wait area seemed inhospitable and we ended up standing around feeling as if we were in the way. Several teenage girls (servers?) were huddled by the menu rack chattering at each other and trying to look busy. When seated our first impressions were immediately poor. We were next to a large table full of kids most of which were under the age of 4. Each child was vying to be louder than the next. We turned down the free bucket of peanuts, although this is one of those places where you are encouraged to throw the shells on the floor. The noise level was amplified by the large cavernous roof area overhead, with lots of pipes and ductwork runs. The bad thing was, that it was utterly filthy up there. Ducts were clogged with dirt, old strings from balloons were hanging down, and one air screen was clogged with broken balloons and other debris. They had music playing, but it was so distorted and the place so noisy I could not recognize one tune the whole time we were there. It only added to the din. My house salad was unremarkable. After being there 35 minutes my medium prime rib came out medium rare and very pink. The size was acceptable, the temperature was not. I am sure it sat in the window waiting for my partner's dinner to be prepared. I sent it back to be warmed. It returned at the same cool temperature, only gray colored. I don't know about you, but cold prime rib to me is almost unconscionable. The taste was off because the fat had hardened. The texture was wrong and no amount of au jus or horseradish could fix it. I had also ordered a baked sweet potato. It was scorched on the bottom so it's taste was off, too. We did not get dinner rolls because we didn't know that they could have been ordered for an extra $3. Wait, aren't restaurants supposed to bring you baskets of bread, for free? My partner had the Chopped Chicken Salad. She said it would have been an acquired taste. That's polite speak for "it tasted weird." I thought it an unappetizing presentation when it was brought out. The picture on the menu made it look great with chicken pieces over a lovely salad. What she got looked like a pile of finely shredded iceberg lettuce with a few walnuts on top. There must have been a whole head of lettuce. There was chicken, but it was on the bottom and she had to dig for it. Personally, I would not have put up with digging through all that lettuce just to get to the part that the salad was named for. I was told that the chicken actually tasted good, and the sugared walnuts on top a nice surprise. The restrooms were large and well stocked. As usual the floors needed some help as there were lots of peanut shells tracked on the floor. Since Roadhouse is in a shopping plaza off a main road, you would expect parking to be great. The design of the parking lot and restaurant front means most people have to park and then hike a long way to the restaurant. Roadhouse Grill is too large. It has too many cooks and not enough quality control in the kitchen. It is staffed by kids mostly and the customer suffer because there is no adult leadership. I saw no grown-up supervisors anywhere. If you like noisy energetic places,and are not picky about your food, this is probably a great place. They seem to attract lots of large groups. If you want a quiet enjoyable meal where everything is done just right, this isn't it.  |
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