Texas Roadhouse is rolling out Chicken Alfredo Pasta to the rest of its restaurants and testing new nonalcoholic drinks across its three chains, the company said during its third-quarter earnings call, according to a report from Nation’s Restaurant News.
The penne pasta dish has already been added to more than 600 locations in recent months, and executives said it will reach the remaining roughly 100 restaurants by spring 2027. CEO Jerry Morgan said operators had asked for a new menu item, and early tests of the pasta drew positive response from both customers and staff.
“It’s a great choice for somebody who wants something a little bit different,” said Michael Bailen, vice president of investor relations for Texas Roadhouse.
Several locations have promoted the dish online, calling it “creamy, cheesy and seriously delicious.” One woman on Facebook said the pasta was “so good” and said she hoped it would stay on the menu permanently.
Not everyone is sold on the idea of a pasta dish at a steakhouse. “Who goes to a steakhouse and orders chicken Alfredo?” one Reddit user wrote in a thread dedicated to the chain.
“It’s probably not going to be one of our top 10 mix entrée items that we offer, but it rounds out the menu,” Bailen said.
Texas Roadhouse is also seeing continued demand for mocktails and dirty sodas, and is now testing “energizer” drinks across all three of its brands — Texas Roadhouse, Bubba’s 33 and Jaggers — according to the report.
Sales Recovering After Viral Hoax
The menu changes come as the company works to rebuild momentum following a sales slowdown late in the third quarter. Executives attributed part of that slowdown to a viral social media hoax falsely claiming that Texas Roadhouse and Logan’s Roadhouse employees planned to tamper with Black customers’ food. The company investigated and concluded the claims were false.
Sales and traffic improved each week in October and continued strengthening into early November, executives said.
Texas Roadhouse plans to open about 35 company-owned restaurants across its three brands in 2026, with another 35 planned for 2027.
“Maybe the recovery has taken a little bit longer than some would have expected, but our operators are out there busting their butts and they’ve doubled down on everything they’re doing,” Bailen said.
Fox News Digital reached out to Texas Roadhouse for comment.
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