Texas Roadhouse is perfect for those who love splurging on the best cut of steak or devouring baskets of homemade dinner rolls that are slathered in honey cinnamon butter. However, it’s not ideal for those who are lactose intolerant. People with lactose intolerance lack the ability to fully digest lactose, which is the sugar in milk. According to the Mayo Clinic, the most common symptoms include stomach cramps, bloating, gas, and nausea, and these symptoms usually start within 30 minutes to two hours after consuming anything that has lactose in it. For people who are lactose intolerant, this is something they try to avoid at all costs. But, sometimes it’s difficult to stay away from food triggers when restaurants don’t display all the ingredients within their food. Unfortunately, Texas Roadhouse is guilty of this with its beloved chili.
Known as one of the most popular menu items at Texas Roadhouse, it has a secret layer of dairy that’s not clearly listed on the menu. At first glance, the Texas red chili looks like it’s only topped with sour cream and cheddar. Luckily, cheddar is one of the cheeses that’s safe for lactose intolerant people to consume. So, depending on your mood, you can either leave it or ask for it to be removed along with the sour cream. However, unless you ask a server about an allergy menu or use the restaurant’s digital diet menu, you wouldn’t know that milk is listed as an allergen in the Texas Roadhouse chili. Although it’s not clearly stated how much milk is used and what part of the recipe it’s used in, milk is still present in both the chili with beans and the chili without beans.
How to find the allergy list for the Texas Roadhouse’s chili?
Before you go to Texas Roadhouse, it’s best to visit its website. This will allow you to look through the menu and filter out what foods are safe for you to enjoy. It’s best to have a few options available because you never know what entrees and side dishes you might need to pass on. On its website, you can find the food item you’re interested in eating and click on the allergy and nutritional information link. That will take you to their virtual allergy menu. This menu focuses primarily on the top nine allergens that most people can’t consume, which include milk, fish, peanuts, tree nuts, eggs, soy, shellfish, and wheat.
Once you check off all the allergens you need to avoid, you can either view a list of menu items that do not contain the selected allergens or a list that does contain the selected allergens. Make sure to pay close attention to which list you picked. You don’t want to go to Texas Roadhouse with the wrong dietary information. No matter what list you click on, you’ll have access to the nutrition facts and a short list of ingredients in each food. For example, a cup of Texas Roadhouse red chili without beans only has cheddar cheese, diced onions, and Texas red chili listed as ingredients. Unfortunately, it doesn’t go into detail on what exactly contains milk. It even states that wheat and soy are also present in this dish and again doesn’t explain how or why.
Even when you click on the allergy and nutrition disclaimer, you’ve provided very little information. It makes it very clear that the company does its best to provide guests with accurate information. However, since it makes everything from scratch, the nutritional information is subject to change. The best way to find out which meals are best for your dietary restrictions is to call Texas Roadhouse or ask your server to speak with a manager who can speak with the kitchen staff directly.
