Texas T-Bone (North Academy & Union)

Once again, we were in the mood for a steak and didn’t feel like cooking, so we buzzed down to the Texas T-Bone on Academy and Union. The place was not too busy and we’ve seen business fall off over the past few months.  Was it the restaurant or the economy?  Anyway, after the normal “Welcome to Texas T-Bone,”  there was some discussion between the hostess and a couple of servers over where to seat us.  The hostess asked if we’d mind sitting at the bar.  Now, the place wasn’t very busy, tables galore open and it appeared that none of the many servers milling about were working up a sweat.  So, we politely declined but said we would sit at a table in the bar area.  That seemed okay.

We started off with iced teas and a couple of appetizers – the bacon wrapped shrimp for me and boneless wings for Mike.  The bacon wrapped shrimp can be a bit of a gamble – but this time the bacon was well done (but not too much). Mike’s appetizer size serving on chicken pieces was more like a dinner sized portion and we ended up taking some of our appetizers home with us.

I do like the way Texas T-Bone does the dinner salads – check off what you want (choose between three types of lettuce, five out of about 25 toppings and a salad dressing out of about 12 choices, all served in a big silver dog bowl) and turn it over to the server.  We’d already filled out our salad choices when the waiter returned to take our order. 

I ordered the bacon wrapped filet for dinner and Mike asked for the Jack Daniels top sirloin.  The wait for our salads was a bit longer than usual, but we kept occupied watching football and current country music videos on the big screen TVs.  My salad was fine – as was Mike’s.  Perhaps the lettuce could have been a bit fresher …

After another rather longish wait, our steaks came.  Mike’s was done perfectly, but mine was cooked unevenly and a bit too much.  One slim part of it was actually well done, but once I cut into the rest of the steak, it was medium to medium well.  Okay – but I ordered medium rare.  I’m usually not that fussy about how my steak is done, and given the wait we’d already had, I didn’t send it back.  (I always kick myself; I should send it back when it’s not done right.  Kick, kick!)  But, it was tender, however, and a very generous portion.  The baked potatoes we ordered were big and dressed just as we had asked. 

So, after getting comfortably full, we asked for doggie bags (yea, like the dogs are getting any of this other than the toast) – and packed up our leftovers – which were plenty for lunch the next day.  I made sure points were added to my loyalty card and off we went for the short trip home.

So – Texas T-Bone?  Do again … well … I think the place may be going downhill – just a bit – but enough to notice.  Maybe that’s why we’ve seen an apparent decline in patronage … or is it the economy?  I don’t know.  But, for a quick steak that’s not too bad – yea, I’d Do Again, at least until I find another place we like better for that quick steak dinner.