Texas Roadhouse was founded in Clarksville, Indiana in 1993 by W. Kent Taylor.
Taylor had previously started a restaurant named Buckhead Hickory Grill in 1991 but problems with the partnership caused him to look for investors and start over.
By the end of 1999 there were 67 Texas Roadhouse restaurants.
In 2004 the restaurant chain went public, trading on the NASDAQ under the symbol TXRH.
Most restaurants offer line dancing and waiters and waitresses must learn line dances to popular songs in order to entertain diners. The restaurants are known for their free buckets of peanuts on the tables.
Texas Roadhouse has more than 600 owned or franchised locations in 48 states. The restaurants have a Southwestern theme and serve ribs, steaks, chicken, pork, and seafood entrees.
In March 2021, founder and CEO Kent Taylor took his own life after suffering from unrelenting COVID symptoms, including severe tinnitus.
To honor the founder, the company will donate all profits on February 7th, 2022, to the American Tinnitus Foundation.
Texas Roadhouse has 64,900 employees and had $2.8 billion in revenue in 2020.
The company maintains a corporate office in Louisville, Kentucky.
