The Strict Steak Temperature Guideline Every Texas Roadhouse Follows

When it comes to food safety, temperature is everything. Bacteria can double in just 20 minutes when food is left in what food safety experts refer to as the danger zone, between 40 and 140 degrees Fahrenheit. Most restaurants abide by strict rules to keep customers safe, but some are more stringent than others.

Despite fears around shady fast food restaurants, corporate-owned franchises tend to have better food safety than mom-and-pop shops, according to the findings from a 2024 study published in Small Business Economics. Chains can invest more resources into training employees and streamlining safety processes. For Texas Roadhouse, that means making temperature a priority.

Every Texas Roadhouse location employs a butcher or meat cutter to cut the meat on-site. It's a chilly job: Butchers cut meat in walk-in coolers, which are set to 34 degrees Fahrenheit, as per Texas Roadhouse rules. That's on the chilly side for a home fridge and probably pretty uncomfortable for the employees. However, the strict rule serves a purpose: By cutting fresh steaks in near-freezing coolers, the chain ensures that the temperature of the meat is constant, cold, and safe. According to the chain's 2024 Corporate Sustainability Report, "Having in-house meat cutters provides higher-quality steaks to our guests and helps reduce millions of pounds of food waste each year." The only type of steak Texas Roadhouse doesn't cut in-house is the porterhouse T-bone because of the special cutter required to get through the bone.

Texas Roadhouse's strict temperature standards start before the meat even reaches the restaurant. The chain keeps tabs on delivery trucks through monitors that track the truck's temperature and location in real time. That way, the chain's food safety team can raise the alarm if meat mishaps occur — it's yet another reason why you should visit this chain restaurant if you're looking for high-quality steak.

Employees are taught to cook steaks to specific temperatures. After searing the steak for 1 minute on both sides, they throw it on the grill and cook it to the customer's specifications. The chain cooks rare steaks to 130 degrees Fahrenheit, medium-rare to 140 degrees, and medium steaks to 150 degrees. Medium-well steaks are cooked to 160 degrees, and well-done steaks top 165 degrees Fahrenheit.

That means that rare and medium-rare steaks fall below the minimum temperature recommended by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which states that steaks should be cooked to 145 degrees Fahrenheit and rest for 3 minutes. That's a recommendation, though, not a rule. Restaurants can serve meat at lower temperatures, but many states require warnings about the danger of consuming undercooked meat to be posted on the menu.

Despite government advisories, there's good news for Texas Roadhouse fans who like their steaks extra pink. Safe handling helps reduce the risk of contamination, so feel free to live a little. Go ahead, order your steak rare.