10 Rules Every Texas Roadhouse Employee Must Follow

No matter where you work or what industry you belong to, there are workplace rules and, let's be honest, usually a few that you would like to change. In hospitality, there are strict guidelines in place to ensure staff stick to hygiene and safety procedures to keep customers safe. At Texas Roadhouse, however, the list of employee rules goes beyond the usual food hygiene regulations to include a number designed, in theory, to enhance the brand and create a happy and inclusive atmosphere among staff.

Some of the rules are well-received by staff, such as learning the H.E.A.R.T. system of serving customers, or warmly greeting diners who approach you throughout the restaurant. Others, however, fall a little flat, such as line dancing in the middle of a shift, and wearing a shirt declaring to the entire restaurant how much they love their job.

While some of these rules are applied consistently across all locations, with others, it seems to vary from one restaurant to another. Whether you are considering applying for a job or simply like the inside gossip on what goes on behind the scenes, let's take a look at some of the rules that every Texas Roadhouse employee must follow.

When applying for a job at Texas Roadhouse, you may feel inclined to exaggerate your restaurant experience or customer service skills, but what about adding line dancing to the resumé? To live up to the Texas name, in some locations, employees are expected to line dance in between serving their table, and it isn't always optional.

According to one Reddit user, their daughter, along with the other hosts she worked with, was made to come in before a shift one morning to have line dancing lessons. While they were technically paid for this extra work to prepare them for a quick jig mid-service, the user clearly wasn't impressed by the grand sum of $2.13 that they were reimbursed for an hour of their time. Others confirm that the line dancing is a requirement, at least in certain locations, with one potential employee abandoning a job interview after being handed a job description detailing the requirement for servers to line dance at least once per shift. 

While some employees find the situation embarrassing, many comment that it's a great way to get extra tips, which helps to get over the awkwardness of breaking into dance every so often. It seems that the line dancing requirement is not a chain-wide rule, however, with a number of employees commenting that it doesn't happen at their restaurant. Anyone considering applying for a Texas Roadhouse job should consider whether they are prepared to dance mid-shift to boost their tips before filling out the application.

Whether you love or hate the fuss that some restaurants make about birthdays is personal preference. While some people love hearing staff singing "Happy Birthday" to them as the whole restaurant cheers, others would prefer that the ground swallow them whole. If you belong to the latter group, working at Texas Roadhouse may not be for you, since they have a very specific, embarrassing birthday ritual.

If the restaurant knows in advance about a birthday, the "birthday saddle" will make an appearance toward the end of the meal. Thankfully for everyone involved, the saddle is not attached to an actual horse, but is a sort of seat with a saddle on top. The birthday guest hops on to the saddle for a photo opportunity, and with help from the server, the entire restaurant yells "yee-haw" in encouragement.

While some servers may find the process uncomfortable, diners clearly choose to take part in the over-the-top celebrations, with one employee on Reddit stating "If you eat there, it'll happen at least 2-3 times every single visit." Within the same thread, numerous users debate whether the process is slightly overbearing, especially when the individual whose birthday it is doesn't really want a loud fuss to be made. Regardless, if a paying guest at the table has requested the birthday saddle for a member of their party, the servers involved will be required to perform the birthday theatre each time.

Anyone applying for a job in a restaurant should be well aware that customer service is the main aspect of the job. At Texas Roadhouse, however, nothing is left to chance, with a set of welcoming actions that each server must adopt with each set of customers.

The acronym for this system is H.E.A.R.T., and employees on Reddit refer to it often as the standard procedure that is expected of all employees. As seen in an employee training video posted on YouTube, "Howdy" is the first step, greeting the guests within 45 seconds of them arriving, according to a recent trainee. "Engage" refers to the server taking the order and interacting with the customers. "Arrive" is the food making its way to the table, and the aim is for appetizers to appear within 8 minutes, and entreés in less than 15 minutes.

"Respond" is the server being attentive and dealing with any issues that arrive, before clearing plates at the end of the course. And "thank you" rounds off the meal with a quick interaction with the diners to encourage them to return in the future, and hopefully to leave a generous tip. Multiple users on Reddit refer to "service with heart" as being the key to good service within the chain, and to getting decent tips too, so it seems that the acronym does its job of turning the process of good service into a memorable set of actions.

As a Texas Roadhouse server smiles and offers you a range of variations on your meals, you will probably be delighted with the pleasant customer service — until the check arrives. One of the big pushes for Texas Roadhouse employees is to upsell whenever possible, and it is seamlessly integrated into their attentive service.

In a Quizlet study guide to help new staff prepare for their Texas Roadhouse training, presumably uploaded by a current or former employee, a range of potential upsells from the menu are detailed. These include adding a premium brand of tequila to the standard margarita, and enhancing a regular salad with a protein that has an added price supplement. While some of these upgrades are common practice and most diners will know that a fee applies, a well-trained host can soften the experience to the extent that their customers may not recognize the upsell, especially when asking if they want their steak "smothered" rather than "add the cost of mushrooms and onions onto my bill please."

While upselling comes naturally to some people, one employee on Reddit commented on feeling the pressure to encourage diners to spend more money. They state that "management clearly bases my value on how much I up-sell," and comments that management tracks every server's stats each day. For the people at the top, encouraging their employees to upsell with every order makes a big difference to the top line, and when done well, leaves the customer feeling satisfied too.

Working in a restaurant is usually a pretty sweat-inducing job. Whether you are rushing about serving tables or plating up food under the heat lamps in the kitchen, light and airy clothing is the recommendation for most people employed in hospitality. However, there is one position at Texas Roadhouse for whom that advice would not apply: the in-house butcher.

Texas Roadhouses' butchers have a rather unique working environment. The menus advertise the steaks as being "hand-cut" on-site by the butcher, who works in 34 degrees F to keep the meat as fresh as possible. Given that water freezes at 32 degrees F, this is not a job for the faint-hearted, or those who are particularly cold-sensitive.

There is one cut of steak that is not hand-cut on site, due to a lack of equipment. The iconic porterhouse steak needs a specialized bone-cutting machine to make light work of slicing through the enormous joint, meaning it is cut off-site and delivered to the restaurant.

If you are heading to Texas Roadhouse with the intention of enjoying a long leisurely meal, you might be at the wrong chain. According to current and former employees on Reddit, the restaurant trains its staff to focus heavily on turning tables around quickly, with the phrase "strive for 55" mentioned. This system works in the staff member's favor, since they are paid a very low server's wage, which is then topped up with tips from diners. Numerous Reddit threads refer to Texas Roadhouse staff having small allocations, sometimes with only three tables, meaning that they have a limited chance to gain tips to take their wage up to a reasonable income. If they can turn over a table in less than an hour, they are increasing the number of diners they serve, and therefore the potential money that they can earn.

One user on Reddit shared a number of subtle tricks used to encourage diners to leave promptly without feeling that they are being rushed. These include refilling drinks into take away cups and offering to pack up leftovers to take home, to encourage the idea that the meal is at an end. Some employees commented that if a table chooses to sit for a long period of time after finishing their meal before paying the bill, their server will need to stay after their shift, unpaid, until the check has been settled. Therefore, the words "check, please" are music to your server's ears.

Customer service is a very important aspect of working at Texas Roadhouse, and the restaurant chain has numerous policies in place to ensure diners feel welcomed and comfortable at all times. According to a Quizlet study guide for becoming an employee, one policy is the 10-4 rule, which extends the service from employees to all customers who come near them, not only the diners they are serving directly. The rule involves acknowledging any guest that comes within 10 feet of you, and having some sort of verbal interaction within 4 feet. It is in place to ensure that guests do not end up feeling lost or disoriented as they walk through the restaurant, since each server they pass will acknowledge them and be available to help if required. 

Though this may seem like a very exact calculation to newly trained staff, with experience it becomes second nature to warmly greet customers as they come into your line of sight, and interact with anyone who comes close enough to chat. For diners, the 10-4 rule should increase satisfaction and reduce the chances of being ignored by anyone other than your server, which can often happen in large, busy restaurants.

One of the great things about working is hospitality is the freedom to interact with customers and let your personality shine through. While this may appear to be the case at Texas Roadhouse too, there are also certain words and phrases that servers are required to use with customers to ensure all diners get a consistent experience across the chain.

Buzzwords, known within the company as "story points," are words and phrases that staff are expected to use to describe food and drink, when taking orders and conversing with diners. Examples include fresh baked bread and hand-cut steaks, and according to an employee on Reddit, staff members need to use three of the story words, describing the experience as "being a robot" as you need to stick to the script.

The same user mentions the visits from secret shoppers, and the incentives used to encourage staff to score highly. They describe each member of staff dropping a quarter during each shift, and the next person to score full marks in a secret shop would win the entire pot, often equaling several hundred dollars. From the restaurant's point of view, they want certain premium-sounding words to be associated with the brand, and insisting staff members use these buzzwords as standard increases the chances of this. Making it sound natural is the key, and TikTok is full of tips for how to incorporate these words into your spiel rather than simply regurgitating a script that's delivered without the usual Texas Roadhouse heart.

Wearing a standard uniform is expected when working at a chain restaurant. At Texas Roadhouse however, the staff t-shirts make a bolder statement than simply a logo across a pocket. The restaurant offers staff the opportunity to share their passion for the chain with the phrase "I (heart) my job emblazoned across the back of the shirt. Officially, the shirts are optional, and staff can opt for a plain Texas Roadhouse shirt instead, but some staff claim that they weren't offered an alternative. 

According to a Quizlet regarding employee uniforms, shirts must be tucked in and look neat and tidy, and black non-slip shoes must be worn. Belts must be black or brown and jewelry is expected to be understated and subtle. Reports suggest that makeup is required to be minimalist too, and although staff can wear jeans, they must be fitted and are not allowed to have rips or holes in them.

Hair regulations fall in line with what would be expected in a food environment, with shoulder length hair needing to be tied back. While the official policy suggests that tattoos are not permitted to be visible, numerous employees describe variation between branches, with some allowing staff to have tattoos on display, while other locations provide arm sleeves to cover them. Though specific rules may be more relaxed at some branches, the message from the brand is that staff should look consistently neat and presentable throughout their shift.

No one likes phoning their boss to tell them they're ill and won't be at work, but at least once you have made the dreaded phone call, you can crawl back under the covers and get on with sleeping yourself back to health. Unless you work at Texas Roadhouse that is, where, according to employee's on Reddit, staff are required to provide in-depth information if they need the day off due to illness.

Complaining about the company's unprofessionalism on Reddit, one parent claimed that after her daughter phoned in sick, "The manager sent her a link to a survey asking her to check off all her symptoms and told her that if she couldn't find someone to cover her shift she would have to come in anyway or get fired." Another user confirmed in the thread that symptom surveys are normal procedure when calling in sick. Putting aside the gross invasion of privacy, multiple commenters were keen to point out that forcing a sick person to work a shift in a restaurant is a serious health and safety concern.

One user in the same thread suggested a legitimate reason for the intrusive questioning of a sick person, pointing out that it can help to detect any foodborne illness outbreaks if multiple people from one restaurant have similar symptoms. Still, if you plan to work at Texas Roadhouse, be prepared to go beyond the usual "I'm sick" call and share your gross symptoms with your manager.