Cheddar’s Casual Café

Ordered a chicken salad 45 minutes before the rest of my party ARRIVED and received it 20 minutes after their meals came. But the beer was good while waiting.

Upon arrival two hostesses were giggling and didn’t noticed my arrival, greet me, or ask if I needed a table. As I approach the podium they just looked at me and still said nothing. A «welcome to Cheddars» would have been nice or a «hello» or even a «how many» but they said nothing. So tell me, what is it exactly you do here? I finally held up my fingers and loudly said two. They looked at me as if they dreaded having to seat me. This is especially a pet peeve of mine therefore I have to Unilocal about it. I later found out Sawyer, Brooklyn, and Kylie are the hostesses working this evening. I assure you they are not getting, «hostess with the mostest» in my book. In a perfect scenario they would fit nicely in a film we’re all familiar with, Mean Girls. Their snootiness meshes quite well. Okay, rant over!
On the other hand our waitress was delightful, our drinks were delicious, and the food was scrumptious! No stars for the hostesses! And four stars for everything else.

Waitress was very good and the Talipia was also very good

Surprised! Really good. Attentive staff, clean. Mid afternoon shift change and the waitress apologized for wait time with the food, and out of our side, otherwise this would be 5 stars. Croissants were delicious. Ribs and shrimp would be ordered again. Bourbon glazed salmon was good. The apple crisp yum. Category of comfort food was true!

Reasonable prices, great food. Spinach dip is great. The monte cristo is great. The 6ounce sirloin is mediocre. The chicken strips are huge and always wonderful. Great service as well.

The food is very good. Long waits any day of the week for lunch. Always takes longer than a lunch hour during the week. On Sunday’s they are packed and we have been skipped on the waiting list several times due to buzzers not working.

This is better than fast food but not by much. the food flavor matches the cheap menu. This is a noisy restaurant if your dining solo simply eat at the bar. I do dig the fish tank.

Usually better… Didn’t pre bus the table. Empty appetizer platters stayed on the table. Asked for Tabasco, was almost done when I got it. Then not only was there not the usual slow pour top, but it was OBVIOUSLY refilled with water, poured out super fast, ruined the little I had left. Like a cheap Asian joint that waters down soy sauce. Chunky blue cheese seemed thin, no chunks at all. Just bullshit really. Food was good though. Like I previously stated, «usually better». Tonight put a bad taste in my mouth.

Cheddar’s — 9:00pm — 1.2.15
We met up with a couple friends after work today, and they suggested Cheddar’s being that they stay open until 11pm. Trav and I showed up right before 9 and we got a booth right away. The two girls at the hostess stand were very friendly. Our server (didn’t get her name) did a good job keeping drinks filled and she checked on us several times.
Trav and I shared the onion rings app while we waited for our friends, and I decided to try the Moonshine Mary (Bloody Mary made with shine instead of vodka). It was really good and strong! It is made with Zing Zang, which is my FAVORITE of all pre made Bloody Mary mixes. The onion rings were very good, served HOT and it was a huge portion! They were battered (not breaded) which gave them a wonderfully crisp and flaky crust — not at all like the thick, Chunky breading that some places use. The Cajun dipping sauce was yummy and it tasted a LOT like the sauce served with the Bloomin Onion at Outback, which I LOVED.
Our friends showed up and ordered the chips, queso and salsa with ground beef. I didn’t try it, but the boys commented that though they were skeptical, the appetizer was actually really good.
For our entrees, the friends ordered a Smokehouse burger and the Monte Cristo. Travis ordered the Tilapia and Shrimp and I had the chicken fried steak with mashed potatoes and corn. Travis said that his entrée was just ok. He enjoyed the mango salsa and wished there had been more. He said that the coleslaw was the best thing on his plate, and he just wasn’t too impressed with it.
My chicken fried steak entrée was just not good at all… The steak itself was about ¼″ thin and the breading was just waaaaaay too thick, plus there was anywhere from 1″-2″ empty breading shell around the entire steak. The steak itself had no seasoning whatsoever and it also tasted sort of like boiled meat… I call it «wet dog flavor» — if you know the flavor I’m talking about, yuck. The «Texas Toast» was a slice of thick white bread that was hardly toasted and only on one side. Gravy was pretty pasty and salty but that was the only flavor on the plate so it didn’t hurt the overall seasoning level. Luckily the mashed potatoes and the corn were fairly good, otherwise I would have sent the plate back for lack of food. No, I didn’t send it back. For one thing, by the time our friends arrived and the food was out, I’m sure the kitchen was almost completely shut down. Second, it was a $ 10 entrée and based on my previous experiences at Cheddar’s, I really didn’t expect a whole lot.
By the end of our meal, our server was a little scattered (closing, I’m sure) but she didn’t really clear our empty dishes (a pet peeve of mine because if there is a mess on the table it WILL end up all over my clothing) and the table was uncomfortably cluttered until the moment we left.
I give it a C -. Passing, but nothing to write home about. Cheddar’s will probably continue to be the type of place we only end up when it’s suggested by someone else.

Not good today. After we ordered, it took almost 30 mins to finally get our food. Afterward, the waitress disappeared and we had to flag down another staff member to check on drinks we had ordered that never came. Restaurant was about 30% full so that can’t be why. I gave it 2 stars because the food is good as always but the service today was horrible.

Has been a few years since I last ate at Cheddars; today stopped for the first time at this location.
Easy access of I-​40, plenty of parking is available. Atmosphere and décor is always nice, like the vertical ceiling fan that is present on all the properties I’ve visited over the years.
I was sad to learn the Shepherd’s pie is no longer available in the menu-​I really liked this one. I settled on their «Spasagna» with marinara-​should have ordered with meat sauce instead but didn’t. My friend ordered the catfish and she was very pleased with it.
The Spasagna was Ok, not great. Made out of spaghetti «bound» with cheese and covered with sauce. Again Ok, not great but you may like it. The sides were also ok. Unfortunately, had no space for desert today.
I wasn’t expecting gourmet food of course, so for casual eating with good service and reasonable price, is still a good choice.

The drive across the eastern New Mexico desert went by quickly enough, and lo and behold we found ourselves in Texas — as for me it was my first appearance on the ground in the USA’s second largest state by area since a business trip to Austin in 1998. While the state’s panhandle looks small on a map, it is still close to 170 miles west-​to-​east, and by the time we reached Amarillo in the center, it was time for lunch.
As those familiar with the former nation know, Texas is unusual with respect to its frontage roads — for most other states the typical exit is a 45 degree jaunt off the freeway, to be greeted by a traffic light or stop sign, and then the decision to go left or right (although, oddly enough the worldwide ubiquitous traffic circle is becoming more common with the passage of time — perhaps research has shown these to be a bit more efficient and/​or safer). But here, the typical exit throws you onto a one-​way viaduct, so if you want to turn around, you most likely have to wait for an over/​undercrossing, and deal with an additional series of lights.
So, when my wife saw a shopping center, later determined to be Westgate Mall, after we had passed it, I chose not to turn around. Unfortunately it resulted in the food options becoming bleaker and bleaker as we progressed (i.e. Pizza Hut, China Star, Golden Corral). The missus became increasingly impatient, and I increasingly stubborn as we progressed eastward. Finally, we saw a mini-​mall featuring Olive Garden and this locale, and we elected to pull over.
The initial scene wasn’t very promising. For one thing it was freaking hot! When we entered the restaurant we found ourselves amongst what appeared to be scores of folks that had just been let out of church, and eager to get their food jones on. Wait time seemed to be indeterminable. Fortunately we were given the option of sitting at a high table, and we elected to exercise that.
Given that I wasn’t very hungry, I elected for a low calorie salmon-​and-​rice dish, which performed its assigned duty — give me something to munch on without being too dangerous. Wife had a chicken salad, which she said was decent. Waitress was reasonable without being overly pushy, cost was not outrageous, and we were entertained by a quintet of golden girls ordering a plate full of gigantic onion rings. Yes, it’s a chain restaurant, but it’s also a good place to eat.

Wow what a mistake. Scratch Kitchen the new con job from Cheddar’s. Same menu same poor quality food. There is nothing that is made from scratch here that one can see, or taste.
Ordered the chicken fried steak the breading inside was like a pasty glue for wallpaper. Why am I surprised? Stopped eating here over 2 yrs ago due to the food quality thought I would give it another opportunity. The only good thing I can say is that my wife’s salad was good, but hey open a plastic bag place in bowl how hard is that and made from scratch yeah right.

Wow, was this place was packed when we arrived! It felt like church had let out and everyone agreed to meet here. It was a good sign that my husband and I were in for some good eats. We decided to eat on the high top tables in the bar to avoid the long wait and were served quite promptly. I had a very large chicken salad and my husband enjoyed an Asian-​inspired salmon dish with rice. What we found, in addition to great food and service, that the people watching here is fantastic! We saw a group we dubbed «The Golden Girls» receive a very impressive high stack of onion rings while another table dressed up to the nines while eating with their hands like cave folk. We definitely loved this short pit stop where the food is casual, convenient, and consistent.

I did not like everything at cheddars but I would highly recommend their potato soup. Super delicious, affordable, and covered in bacon! What’s not to love. Don’t go here for lunch though, it’s quiet busy and you might have to wait for 30+ minutes.

Ahhh my apple yogart had jalapeños and raw shrimp… i told the waiter and he handed us the bill… what service… it has been a while from my last visit it will be longer til my next

Lunch today was the dinner portion of blackened grilled catfish, corn and green beans. Very good!
Cheddar’s is consistently good with both service and food. Excellent value too. Definitely a staple for those of us who eat out daily.

After church on Sunday, we decided to eat at Cheddar’s. Upon walking in to the restaurant, it looked busy. We wrote our names on the list & to both of our surprise it was a 15 – 20 minute wait. The wait took 17 minutes, which is fair.
Our waitress’ name is Rachael & she took our drink orders and when we were ready she took our food order. She even did a special order for the child.
SWEET HEAT CHICKEN & SHRIMP: This plate was delicious, however the ginger in the rice was too over powering. The chicken, & shrimp had great flavor. The salad had a great dressing.
CHICKEN POT PIE (came with a house salad): The salad came out first followed by the Chicken Pot Pie. The Chicken Pot Pie had great portion of the carrots, peas, chicken & filling. However, it wasn’t a true pie because it wasn’t lined on the bottom with crust.
GRILLED CHICKEN KIDS MEAL: This was a special request by the kiddo, this came with rice & fries.
I would definitely come back and recommend this place. I wanted to give Rachael a shout out because when another table mentioned that their sprite tasted funny she asked us if ours did. The sprite tasted normal.

No big deal.
I’ve been to this location a few times now and its been about the same everytime. The service is slow and mediocre, though this last time was a little bit better. The waiters are friendly, but forgetful.
The food: Good, nothing too special.
The first time I came, I ate a kids meal mac and cheese. It came with garlic bread and a kids drink (which the waiter never gave me…). I was actually pretty impressed that it was as big as it was for only $ 5. The mac and cheese was pretty bland, nothing too crazy, but it was defiantly thick and cheesy because I got full so fast! I couldn’t even finish it all.
This time, I had their lunch special today: half sandwich with a soup/​salad. I ordered the loaded baked potato soup and half the Chedder’s club. The soup was great! It was chunky and thick, didn’t skimp out on the bacon or cheese. It was the same size as a small bowl off the regular menu. I just wish it was actually hot and not lukewarm. The club was good. It included turkey, ham, bacon, lettuce, tomato. Pretty good tasting! The downside it was SOOO SMALL! Literally like 4 – 5 bites. I know I ordered half but I was NOT full or satisfied after my meal. I had to add an order of a side of fries for $ 1.99. My total came out to be about $ 8.50 for a soup, «half» a sandwich, and fries. Still not that bad deal to be honest since I got a little bit of everything.
Drinks: GOOD, at an average price.
Overall, it’s a chain restaurant. Its not horrible, its not outstanding. Its fair.
Tips/​Recommendations:
+ Kids Meal — grilled cheese and add bacon!
+ Texas Cheese Fries Appetizer
+ Loaded Baked Potato Soup (make sure its hot!)
+ Cheddar’s Club Sandwich
+ Cheddar’s Painkiller
+ Texas Sweet Tea

Despite the reviews, we decided to give this restaurant a try… I had the 12oz. Ribeye Steak and it was tender, seasoned and prepared perfectly. For sides, I had the red beans & rice and the brocoli cheddar casserole. Delish! My BF had the fried catfish with French fries and coleslaw. Perfectly fried and not greasy. He kept commenting on how good the food was which is rare for him. Joseph our server was attentive and great overall. Now the «mustard»… Some of the staff we’re huddled in a walk way chatting while the restaurant was completely packed. We tried to pass through and had to excuse ourselves only to get a look as if we were a bother. They also need to bleach their cleaning rags as there was a sour odor… or it may have been a patron.

After traveling 8 hours feom colorado back to Dallas Texas this evening we were excited to see a Cheddar’s right next to our exit home.
We pulled in & were seated quickly. That’s about where the efficiency & service stopped.
We are traveling with 2 young children, & I have worked in the service industry for 15 years, I know what a daunting task it can be to wait on a family with children. That’s why we placed our order quickly & even mentioned we had been traveling & were ready to order when the drink order was taken. We ordered our drinks, appetizer, & entrees within 7 min of one another with Devin, our server, & our waiter seemed very efficient, even bringing out refills without being told. Our appetizer came out fairly quickly although the queso seemed to have been reheated, but we were so hungry we decoured it. Our waiter returned to the table to see how we were & assured us our food was «coming up» At that point, the table that had come in 15 min prior to our arrival got their entrees, we waited. Then the table that came in 20 mun after us were served their main courses. We also watched 4 to-​go orders be brought out & bagged while we STILL waited for our food. My husband even mentioned he wanted to leave. I suppose Devin finally realized we’d been skipped & hurriedly scampered back to rhe kitchen reemerging & again twllinf us our food was «on rhe way» He apologized & disappeared for 15 more minutes. I saw a woman who seemed to be a manager & waved her over to the table where I told her what wqs going on. She quickly went back to the kitchen & came back to tell us our food was «up» & that she’d like to get us a dessert. I told her I’d rather have our entrees first instead of a calorie filled dessert, & she stated shed comp a kids meal. I told her that was fine & she disappeared for another 20 minutes. Devin refused to revisit our table, & I had to get up & walk towards the kitchen & ask another server to get the manager for me again. She came out & said «oh yeah, its coming out now.» I reminded her she had told me that 20 min prior & her only response was. «Yes well here it comes now.»
I literally followed our food back to the table & watch 2 servers, not Devin, serve our food & walked away. My husband cut into what was ordered as a med rare steak that was so well done it looked like beef jerky. He couldn’t even cut into it.
I called the manager back over & showed herbthe steak. I asked if the waiter had rung it up as a well steak & then discovered what the hold up was.
Devin had foegotten to drop our ticket & instead waited 45 min to put our ticket through to the kitchen, thus putting OUR order behind pretty much everyone else who walked in behind us in the restaurant. I talked to the manager again & asked her id he had forgotten & told her I’d been in the service industry for 15 years & that I can look at a ticket & quickly realize if the ball had been dropped when forgetting to put in a ticket. She agreed with me & profusely apologized for his error & did twll us she’d comp the rest of the ticket. She even offered to make my husband another steak but at this point we were already 2 hours in & pressed for time now, so we asked for the ticket.
10 min later, Devin emerged, with a check.
I asked if it had been comped & he nodded sort of distant & uneffected. I couldn’t help it & I flat out asked him if he had forgotten the ticket.
His exact words verbatim were:
«Well, uh, kinda»
I told him I saw the punches on the initial start of the ticket to when the entrée was ordered & confronted him & told him I knew he had forgotten to place our order when he placed the appetizer. He just stiod there staring at me. He said, «well the kitchen…» I cut him off & told him I knew he forgot us & told him that was all. We let the kids eat, quickly got our things together & gladly left.
As we were leaving mr. Devin & another server snickered & talked/​stared at us as we left.
Final comment & suggestion.
1. Teach your servers to take responsibility for their mistake. (we all make them)
2. Get Devin OFF the busy Saturday night schedule
3. Re educate your servers on what steak cook/​temps are (rare/​med rare/​med/​med well/​well)
4. Let your servers know how absolutely TACKY it is to cackle about guests as they are leaving
5. Do whatever it takes to make it right before they walk out with bellies empty & write a long Unilocal review
In closing, don’t eat here if you expect to get quality service or if you want a steak cooked correctly.
Or maybe ask for someone OTHER than Devin!!!
*this gives the Cheddar’s franchise a bad name.
P. s. I’ll be calling corporate in the morning!

We were passing through Amarillo on a road trip from Chicago to Vegas. We are not familiar with Cheddars (there are none in Chicago, nor Vegas-​I travel a lot but have never noticed them) and selected it hastily because we were tired, and wanted to eat quickly and get to our hotel to sleep.
We were incredibly surprised by our experience — but we had low to no expectations. We walked right in – at 8:30 pm on a Tuesday. Seated at a middle table. This is where the restaurant lost a star. The next table was finishing their meal and their server was talking quite loudly to them about cooking or recipes for about 10 minutes while we perusing our menu. I agree with another reviewer-​in hindsight, the menus seemed a bit grimey but, we always wash our hand with sanitizer or restroom. after handling menus. Our table was clean. Our server was attentive, friendly and tried to help given our first time.
We ordered loaded potato soup (3.99), chicken pot pie which came with salad (6.99) and croissant, and two salmons, one blackened and one with bourbon glaze (9.99). Salmon came two sides and served on a bed of rice. The sides selected were steamed broccoli and loaded baked potato. All was incredibly good and fresh tasting. My only complaint was my soup was not piping hot which I prefer, regardless of temperature outside. I’m guessing it sat in its bowl in the kitchen while the other 3 meals were getting finished up. I should have told the server but didn’t feel like it.
The prices were unbelievably reasonable and a good value. Not sure, maybe we have been living in Chicago/​Vegas too long but for four of us and lots of food — $ 38+ including tax/​tip.

Family in from out of town. 7 of us. Food was good. We cleaned our plates though. Great house salad and 1000 Island dressing. Cheese sticks with the ranch were very good. And that yummy honey butter croissant. What a great idea! Delicious iced tea. I would rate the eating experience 90% good.
What freaked me out about the place was how dirty the menus were. Wow! I mentioned to the table n someone else said theirs was really dirty too. So watching Kitchen Nightmares I know that if the menus are that nasty then the kitchen might be nasty too. So I rate the menu experience a –75%. Didn’t get to read it cause I was having trouble touching it. I made my order from a family members recommendation.

Horrible service!!! They brought out two of our party’s food and didn’t even give everyone else their food until at least 20
min later. They completely burnt my friend’s Monte Cristo and, as noted earlier, the service was so bad! The guy we asked for a refill was just cleaning tables and got it (our drinks) back to us 10 times faster than our waitress. Wouldn’t suggest this location in a millennia.

Have my good-​bye dinner with the boss. Service was good, food was tasty, and ambience/​décor was pretty. A good place for family/​friends dinner:)

Cheddars is a cross between Chili’s and Cookers. Good food, Good service and convenient location. My family ordered: The Monte Cristo: Two thumbs up, The bacon cheese burger: both family members ate it all. The BBQ burger was also demolished. I got the Country Fried Steak, Outstanding! The battered cooked to crust perfection; extra crispy with the creamy gravy. Our waiter (from Tucumcari) was wonderful!

I hadn’t been to a Cheddars since I lived in north Dallas in the early ninety’s, and my husband had never eaten at one and wanted to give it a try.
We were seated rather quickly which was surprising considering it was a Saturday night. Our waiter was attentive and brought our drinks quickly. My husband got a shaker margarita and I got iced tea. The margarita wasn’t half bad.
We ordered a small Texas fries appetizer which is French fries with cheese and bacon melted on them. Delicious! Of course this is pretty hard to screw up and it also signaled the end of our prompt service. For the next 45 minutes we stared at each other, the walls, the drunks at the table next to us, and our watches. When our food finally arrived our waiter made no mention of the ridiculous wait time. Perhaps that’s just normal there.
I ordered the smokehouse burger and the thing was huge. It looked good, it smelled good, but it wasn’t nearly as good as the ones at Coyote Bluff. Most places give you french fries with a hamburger. Not Cheddars. If you want fries, it will cost you nearly two bucks more. Not that I wanted fries since we had them for an appetizer; it just struck me as odd.
My husband got the fried catfish with green beans and butter corn for his sides. It was the equivalent of cafeteria food. At least the catfish was thoroughly cooked, I will give them that. I wouldn’t say it was awful or even bad, but average food coupled with a long wait just doesn’t do it for me. With so many other options in Amarillo we won’t be back.

Good food. Good prices. Inattentive staff.
This place appears to have bad front-​of-​house management. There are plenty of servers and busboys, but it appears that they were not seating all the tables at the same speed and that our server had a much larger section than the other servers. Perhaps she was supposed to be a veteran server able to handle it, but I had to get up after 20 minutes to see if our order had been spaced, then we sat another 10 minutes with empty drinks (both our tea glasses and bar drinks), before the order came out. She could have sold us another round. Meanwhile, the less «veteran» servers with small sections stood near the kitchen’s alley or ran food because they were more than capable of handling their few tables.
So feel free to try this place, but you might want to ask for a server that has a small section and avoid one being handled by an incompetent veteran.
Honestly, we had very slow service the first time we came too, but that time the issue was that the bar was backed up so that we got bar drinks AFTER being served our main course.
This happens in poorly run restaurants. The front of house management gets friendly with the servers they’ve known for a while and they start giving them huge sections or letting them run the bar with too few bartenders because they are friends. It means more tips for these long-​term employees, but bad service for customers unfortunate enough to get seated in their sections or order bar drinks when the bartender has a full bar.
If the general manager of this reads this, you need to start watching your FOH manager’s policies for sections and start staffing enough bartenders to handle a rush and a full bar.