Why You Can Only Get Lunch At Texas Roadhouse On Weekends

In many towns across the country, there is no shortage of lunch options available when those mid-day hunger pains strike. But even in a sizeable municipality, eating the same fast food over and over again gets a little boring. It's nice to be able to break from the normal routine of grabbing a fresh burger from Burger King every week and splurge on something a little more upscale, like a relaxing sit-down meal at Texas Roadhouse. Unfortunately, if a pulled pork sandwich from the popular chain restaurant is calling your name, you'll have to wait for the weekend to enjoy it at lunchtime.

One reason Texas Roadhouse opts out of serving lunch during the week is that it reduces overhead costs. All those buildings on a typical Main Street generally rent for high prices, partly because the owners are well aware that there is plenty of foot traffic during the day, which equates to more customer engagement. A restaurant that only serves dinner is more of a destination establishment rather than a place folks will patronize on a whim. That means it can operate out of a much cheaper building, which might be more off the beaten path.

Texas Roadhouse also proudly operates a dinner-only concept (except on weekends) to give staff members and managers alike the opportunity to enjoy a more appealing work-life balance. Restaurant work can be grueling, and an adequate amount of time away from the establishment allows folks to rest and reset, so burnout doesn't become a major issue. And as challenging as it has been for restaurants to keep enough employees on board recently to keep the show running, that's no small feat.

Restaurant managers have been experiencing a problem over the last few years with keeping enough staff on the payroll to run the establishment efficiently. That makes it all the more important to try to retain the cooks, servers, and bartenders they have. Chaotic schedules play a considerable role in employee burnout and turnover in the restaurant industry. By eliminating early lunch hours throughout the week, Texas Roadhouse reduces stress on staff members and fosters a better work-life balance.

Of course, one could argue that Texas Roadhouse only selling lunch on the weekends isn't as good for the restaurant's bottom line. It's true, serving meals throughout the day during the week would increase revenue, but at what cost? If the staff and/or managers are miserable, the business becomes a ticking time bomb for a mass exodus of employees. Sure, the place would make more profits for a while, but eventually that business model will become unsustainable when employees have had enough and move on to greener pastures. Really, fans of the chain should be grateful that they can get a hand-cut steak at Texas Roadhouse for lunch, even on weekends, because even two days of extended hours take a toll on the people who make the magic happen behind the scenes.