Okay, I am not going to lie, this was the second time I have been to a Cheddar's. The first was when I tried them in Houston with my family and the service was so bad, if I had reviewed them it would have been at best .5 stars.
Maybe it was an off day, maybe it was the location, I don't know. However, my fiance and I decided to try this place for dinner this past weekend after visiting with some family in the area. We thought we would be smart, as we got out to this part of Smyrna at about 5 PM, and kill some time at the Target near by... Big Mistake! By the time we pulled into the lot at a quarter to 6, they were jam packed with cars. It was even more crowded when we walked in and put our names in for what was a 35 minute wait to be seated.
Once seated, our waiter was a little slow bringing us our drinks (2 waters) and I was starting to expect a repeat of my first experience at Cheddar's. However, once our drinks arrived, things started moving relatively quickly considering they were very busy.
My fiance ordered chicken tenders, fries, cole slaw and a caesar salad, while I ordered chicken fried steak with gravy, fries, green beans and a caesar salad. We also had parmesan seasoned cheese sticks. Now before I continue there are two things you should know. 1) Cheddar's is based out of Arlington, Texas and I am a native Texan, born and raised in Houston. 2) Chicken fried steak got its start in Texas and is a staple dish there.
So you would think knowing that their food would be good. Well, for the price you do get a lot of it; however, the cheese sticks, cole slaw and salads were the best seasoned items we got. A lot of the other food tasted bland to me. It is called salt n pepper people. The fries needed salt and were not as crispy as they should be. The green bean... I thought southern style green beans were supposed to have bacon?! The toast that came with my chicken fried steak was slightly soggy and tasted like a first grader made it... I can make better toast than that, and being a Texas based restaurant I expect Texas style toast! To make matters worse, what I am guessing is their signature roll (that came with the salad)tasted better than the toast! The chicken fried steak was a laugh... to much batter was used and as a result it fell apart when you cut it. A true Texas Chicken Fried steak has a batter that is nice and crispy, yet flavorful (Their's was blander than bland), that adheres to the beef filet on all sides with NO GAPS! If you have gaps the breading will crumble and fall off, like it did with this steak. Suffice to say both Luby's and Cracker Barrel have better chicken fried steak, and that is saying something since Luby's is now only in Texas as far as I know, and Cracker Barrel is based in Lebanon, TN! Oh, and for crying out loud, would it kill you all to just refill drinks with a pitcher instead of giving the customer a new glass each time. It would save you the trouble of having to wash far more glasses than necessary, and allow me to keep the lemon juice levels in my drink constant. Yes, I like sour water and sour tea... I am just unique that way; but, my fiance is used to it and the habit is starting to rub off on her.
Finally the wait staff seemed very flustered, even with the immense customer load they had, and as such something did not seem quite right with the service. read more