There’s no place quite like Texas Roadhouse. The uniquely delicious chain combines traditional steakhouse fare with a tasty dose of Southwestern and Tex-Mex-inspired cuisine that makes you feel like you’re truly in the Lone Star State, no matter where you’re sitting. However, if you assumed Texas Roadhouse traces its roots to the state that shares its name, think again. The first location of the popular restaurant opened over three decades ago in Indiana.
The chain’s founder, Kent Taylor, opened the doors of the first Texas Roadhouse in Clarksville, Indiana, in 1993. The small town of just over 20,000 residents is located just across the Ohio River from the more populous city of Louisville, Kentucky. It was situated in the town’s Green Tree Mall, where a Texas Roadhouse continues to operate 32 years later.
This somewhat unlikely eatery came to be through investments from a group of local doctors that provided the $300,000 required to get the first Texas Roadhouse off the ground after Taylor was denied by dozens of traditional lenders. This might have had something to do with Taylor’s now-famous concept drawing sketched out in pen on a cocktail napkin — not exactly a conventional business plan!
Way More Than Just Texas
Today, there are dozens of Texas Roadhouse locations in its namesake state, though it’s not clear exactly when the first actual Lone Star State restaurant opened. However, it’s possible it was part of the rapid expansion of the company in the late 1990s, when an additional 66 restaurants opened in the six years following its founding. By the early 2000s, this had ramped up to around 25 new locations each year…