Grand Opening Planning for the New Texas Roadhouse Location
Greenville finally gets a Texas Roadhouse. The location is near the I-385 corridor, close to Highway 11 and the Greenville Mall area. This is the first one in the Upstate region, which means the initial crowds are going to be brutal. I've been through two grand openings now—one in Charleston and another in Columbia—and there's a predictable pattern you can follow if you want to actually eat food instead of sitting in a parking lot for forty minutes. The grand opening date was set for late August 2024. The official hours on opening day start at 4:00 PM and run until 10:00 PM. Regular hours after that settle into 4:00 PM to 10:00 PM Sunday through Thursday, and 4:00 PM to 11:00 PM on Friday and Saturday. There's no brunch service, so don't plan on showing up at 11 AM expecting anything. The doors open at four sharp, and on opening weekend you're not getting seated before 4:30 without a reservation. The menu is the standard Texas Roadhouse roster: fall-off-the-bone ribs, the Kentucky Burger, the Rodeo Cowboy pasta, and their signature steaks. You'll also get the usual complimentary cinnamon sugar pretzel bites and butter. The peanut shells are still out there because apparently nobody asked management to stop. Drinks are mostly standard bar fare with a decent bourbon selection. If you're looking for something off the regular menu or a vegan entrée, you're going to be disappointed. They don't do anything particularly adventurous here.
Opening week deals: Most grand openings run some kind of promotion. This location had a "buy one steak, get one half off" deal for the first three days, plus $2 off all appetizers on Wednesday through Friday. There was also a kids eat free promotion with the purchase of an adult entrée on Tuesday evenings. Check the app for current offers—sometimes they rotate different deals weekly, and the app prices aren't always consistent with what's printed on the door.
What Actually Happens on Opening Day
Here's the reality nobody tells you. The first week is chaos. The kitchen can't keep up. Staff is still being trained. Your food is going to come out slower than advertised, and some items will be unavailable because the walk-in cooler wasn't fully stocked yet. I learned this the hard way at the Columbia location when they had "prime rib" on the menu for three days straight but ran out after the second day and never restocked. You show up hungry and excited, and you end up eating a frozen fish stick instead because that was the only thing they had prepped. My workaround for the Greenville opening was straightforward. I went on the second Wednesday, not the first day. By then, the kitchen had settled into a rhythm, the prime rib was actually in stock, and the wait time dropped from 75 minutes to about 30. The food quality was noticeably better on day four compared to day one. Nothing against the new staff—they're working hard—but there's a learning curve with every single location, and the opening weekend is when that curve is steepest.
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Reservation vs. Walk-In Strategy
Texas Roadhouse takes reservations through OpenTable, and the Greenville location opened that capability immediately. Walk-ins are accepted but during peak hours you're looking at significant waits. My recommendation: book a reservation for 4:30 PM or 9:00 PM. The early window catches the initial rush of people who showed up at 4:00 and left, and the late window catches the dinner crowd thinning out. Both windows typically have 15- to 20-minute waits even on busy nights. If you must walk in, avoid Friday and Saturday entirely during the first month. The line wraps around the building. I stood in one last year at a different grand opening and watched a family leave because their toddler had a meltdown and the hostess couldn't give them a realistic ETA. It was 45 minutes. They came back the following Tuesday at 5:00 PM and were seated in twelve minutes.
Common Pitfalls to Avoid
First, don't order the ribeye medium-rare and expect it to arrive in ten minutes. That cut requires more prep time, and during slow shifts the kitchen stages it ahead, but during a rush they cook to order. You'll wait. Second, the free peanuts aren't as free as you think. If you finish the basket and want more, you have to ask. They don't just refill them automatically like they used to at some locations. Third, the parking lot is small. There's overflow parking in the adjacent strip mall, but that's a six-minute walk back to your car in the rain, so plan accordingly. Also, the app ordering feature exists but it's unreliable during grand opening weeks. I tried placing a drink order through the app on my first visit and it didn't go through. The staff was polite about it, but you lose time fumbling with technology when the system is still getting calibrated. Just order at the table. It's faster.
Pricing and Expectations
Steaks run $20 to $45 depending on cut and weight. Ribs are around $24. Appetizers are $8 to $14. The portion sizes are generous—two people can split an entrée and not feel robbed. Tips are expected at 18 to 20 percent, which is standard. The drinks are reasonably priced for a chain restaurant, with house wines around $7 and domestic beers at $4. If you're watching your budget, stick to the lunch menu if they ever offer it, but during grand opening they're dinner-only. One thing I wish I'd known before going: the restroom situation during the first two weeks is rough. One stall out of order, running low on paper towels, the whole deal. This improves by week three but if you go on opening weekend, manage your expectations. It's not a dirty establishment, just understaffed for the volume.
Final Thoughts
The Greenville location will be good. It will be consistent within a few months. The food is solid, the prices are fair for what you're getting, and the atmosphere is the standard Texas Roadhouse experience—loud, bright, family-friendly. But the grand opening period itself is not the best time to experience it. Wait two weeks. Make a reservation for a weekday at 4:30. Order something simple. You'll have a better meal, a shorter wait, and you'll leave with your sanity intact.
