But with the opening of Logan's in AR, not more than a few miles down the road from us, we were eager to give an old friend a new try. And, in spite of being opened a relatively short time, we had a great experience in both service and quality of food.
Inside, Logan's is much more wide open than TRH. I'm not sure it matters in the dining aspect, but I do question the openness and brightness of the bar. We only sit at the bar in places like Chile's or TRH when the wait for regular dining would be too long. Usually, if a seat is open, they'll let you jump right in. My concern is more for the folks who want to make their visit more of a sporting event or just hang out. The idea of the wide open brightly lighted bar just doesn't do it for me. If that sort of thing is important to you, then you'd be better off in TRH's bar area.
Of course, I'm still a fan of the standard signage everybody nails to the wall; old pictures, license plates, posters and beer signs. It makes you feel like your house is a lot better decorated.
Before I get to the food, there is one thing I must note: The water was horrendous! I don't know if somebody crossed the pipes or what, but I took one sip of water and instead opted for beer. Seriously, skip the water. But the peanuts are good. And just like TRH, you are free to toss them on the floor. I feel so naughty when I litter.
Just like TRH, Logan's server will bring you some hot fresh bread with a big scoop of butter. It is really good and hard to turn down the offer to bring more, but we did knowing that we'd make pigs of ourselves before the rest of dinner arrived.
My wife is a fan of the petite 8 oz steak at TRH and ordered a 6oz version from Logan's. For her two sides, she selected the loaded mashed potatoes and some form of onion peels. Instead of rings, they take hunks of onion and fry them, then cover them in salt. They were actually pretty good. She ordered her steak cooked medium but felt like it was done a little too much. Over all, she says the steak was good but compared with TRH, she would go with TRH. I had one bite of it and thought it was very good.
I immediately went with the southern fried catfish, the loaded baked potato and a house salad with Ranch. First, the salad was fine, served in a chilled bowl and very consistent with what you would get at TRH or Chili's. The one thing missing for sure was croutons. How do you serve a salad like this without croutons? For that injustice alone, the salad contest goes to TRH. The baked potato is served almost exactly like TRH including the huge chunks of salt glued to the skin. If you set them side by side or did a taste test, it would be a toss up. The fish on the other hand goes clearly to Logan's. I have always enjoyed the catfish at TRH (and will continue to do so when I visit) but the portion and the flavor of Logan's was easily superior in my mind.
My wife was intrigued by the little dessert special they have. A play on the bucket of peanuts they leave at your table, they offer you a small cup of ice cream or something, served in a little bucket you keep and topped with a Nutter Butter cookie.A quick note about the service. For a fairly new place, we had excellent service. Of special note was when my wife got her plate, she had forgotten to ask for honey mustard for her onion things. When I was looking around for our server, an alert waitress sensed my search mode and immediately came up and asked we needed anything. Later, even though our waiter was nearby (taking another order), this same waitress noticed me holding the little folder with the bill and came up to take our check to speed up our departure.
Great food, great service, and the price is comparable to TRH. If you haven't been to the Logan's Roadhouse in Alamo Ranch, give 'em a whirl for a Tasty Treat.
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