BizBeat: Texas Roadhouse coming to Jefferson City

The building at 3104 S. Ten Mile Drive in Jefferson City is the former location of Orscheln Farm and Home Supply. Texas Roadhouse announced plans to build a new restaurant on the property in 2019.
The building at 3104 S. Ten Mile Drive in Jefferson City is the former location of Orscheln Farm and Home Supply. Texas Roadhouse announced plans to build a new restaurant on the property in 2019.

Texas Roadhouse is making its way to Jefferson City later this year.

The restaurant chain known for its steaks, rolls and buckets of peanuts plans to begin construction in May on a new, 7,100-square-foot building at 3104 S. Ten Mile Drive, the former location of Orscheln Farm & Home.

Weather permitting, the restaurant is set to open Sept. 16, said Travis Doster, Texas Roadhouse director of public relations.

Orscheln left the property near Missouri 179 and U.S. 50 last August when it opened a new store at 2304 Missouri Blvd.

Texas Roadhouse, based in Louisville, Kentucky, has more than 500 locations in 49 states and seven countries, according to its website. The Jefferson City restaurant will be the 12th Texas Roadhouse in Missouri, joining locations in Columbia, Joplin, Springfield, and the Kansas City and St. Louis areas.

"We have done really well in Missouri, and it just felt like Jeff City was a great area," Doster said. "We don't do national advertising, and we don't franchise - we're company-owned - so we don't need to go into large towns. We prefer areas where we can have high visibility, a lot of traffic."

The restaurant, primarily a steakhouse, is open for dinner only on weekdays and for lunch and dinner on weekends.

"Almost 50 percent of our menu is steaks," Doster said. "Our food is made from scratch. We have a meat cutter, so all the steaks are hand-cut. All the sides, down to croutons and bacon bits, are made from scratch."

In addition to steaks, the menu also features salads, sandwiches, burgers and chicken. The restaurant also will include a bar.

The company currently is advertising jobs openings for a managing partner, service manager and kitchen manager for the Jefferson City restaurant. Hiring for other positions - typically more than 100 for a location between full-time and part-time employees - likely will begin about eight weeks before the restaurant's opening, Doster said.

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