You’ve probably seen the ads for Longhorn Steakhouse where the couple walks into a restaurant that’s strewn with peanut shells and dusty animal heads on the walls, and the tagline is “We don’t do creepy.”
What restaurant are they lampooning?
Texas Roadhouse. Went there once. Creepy and unsanitary.
Haven’t seen the commercial, but I went to a Logan’s Roadhouse about a year back and the floor was covered with peanut shells that customers were encouraged to just throw on the floor. I asked the waitress about it and she had some line about the oils in the shell keeping the floors clean. Which no, it doesn’t because the shells themselves are literally garbage. Throwing garbage on the floor does the opposite of keep it clean.
They also had the option of having your beverage served in an empty mason jar.
Is “creepy” really the word for that, though?
Isn’t that being done in one cafe inside the Raffles Hotel, Singapore?
Well, maybe not exactly. But it’s kind of along the same lines.
To me, “creepy” is generally not something that’s logically “bad”, but still triggers something in my mind that says “this isn’t right”. I know logically having spent peanut casings strewn all over the floor isn’t actually unsanitary. I mean, it’s not like I’m going to scoop some up and sprinkle 'em on my food.
But still… Something about trying to eat a meal in a room littered with what’s essentially discarded food remnants… just makes my brain say “No”.
Nobody probably thought of the decor and the atmosphere as “creepy” before but now that Longhorn has pointed it out, I bet a lot of people will.
Logan’s is a fine chain roadhouse, they serve a very good sweet potato and some other tasty dishes. None around here, but I’ve enjoyed visiting them on the road. If you’re getting a “creepy” vibe from one, it’s VERY atypically managed or you’re oversensitive. Longhorn may well be lampooning them, I dunno. I don’t remember stuffed animal heads on the wall being a big part of the decor. There IS a Canada-themed steakhouse that does stuffed animals that used to be at a mall near where I live, it didnt last long. It was not creepy, it was lame. The moose head sang or something like that, it was quite annoying.
So the peanut shells aren’t a normal feature? I’ve only been to the one, but I kind of thought it was their “thing”.
As I said, “creepy” probably isn’t the right word. Unsettling, maybe? I don’t know. The point is, I didn’t like it. Obviously, other people don’t mind since it’s still in business.
First time I experienced this was at Logan’s Roadhouse. I may be misremembering, but I think they also had buckets of peanuts everywhere. Just grab a bunch, eat, then throw the shells on the floor. Thought it was weird.
Second time I wasn’t expecting it, but sure enough, walked into Texas Roadhouse and saw the exact same thing. Not sure what kind of atmosphere they’re supposed to be recreating. I was afraid for a friend of mine who happens to be allergic to peanuts.
Whenever I want steak now, I avoid those two and just go to Montana Mike’s Steakhouse.
Missed the edit window:
As for the food, I had steak and shrimp. It seems like it tasted basically the same as steak and shrimp from just about every other chain steakhouse.
I know a lot of these restaurants try to go for this rustic, laid-back, “down home”, whatever atmosphere. I get that, but it seemed like this place just took it to unnecessary extreme.
I mean, we used to drink out of mason jars when I was kid, but it was because we didn’t have any actual drinking glasses, not because they we somehow better. Going out to a restaurant and purposely drinking out of a jar just seems silly to me. And beside the jars and trash on the floor, it seems like I remember the table being made out of railroad ties or something.
Anyway, I guess I just don’t like restaurants that have some sort of “theme” they’re going for that seems to detract the experience of just sitting down and having a decent meal. This is also why I hate Cracker Barrel.
No, they are an absolutely normal feature. But they are done for effect, to establish atmosphere. They don’t bother me at all. I’m pretty sure they clean them up regularly, or the place would soon be ankle deep in shells.
Peanut shells on the ground were standard for The Ground Round family restaurant franchise which also had mason jar glasses. But there weren’t stuffed animals on the walls, but lots of old-timey cartoons projected everywhere. This was back in the 70s-80s. Think the state board of health put a stop to the peanut shells on the ground. (How do you disinfect a restaurant floor with shells on the ground?!)
The question has already been answered, but I just wanted to chime in that I don’t mind the peanut shells everywhere in these places. I definitely have never, ever thought they were creepy. This kind of reminds me of the Carl’s Jr. ads where they were like, “Do you ever wish you could get a $6 burger without the restaurant?” and they show all these people singing a really annoying happy birthday song to another customer… and it’s very creepy. Why no, Carl’s Jr! It’s not like that at all!
Nor is Texas Roadhouse (or Logan’s which sounds much the same) creepy! 
I’ve only been to TR a couple times, over a decade ago. Didn’t bother me but then I was a teenager.
But… mason jars? Haven’t you guys been to hipster restaurants/bars? They serve alcohol/water in them. Just like PBR went that way, both were originally rustic, then ironic.
I think “creepy” might sum up my reaction the one time I went to Texas Roadhouse. The place had a weird, unpleasant smell. It may have been the peanut shells, or maybe they had other problems.
Walking on things that moved and crumbled under my feet was unpleasant and unsettling. To top it off, they were apparently having a bad night, because the food was not good. That location was still in business years later, so I assume they normally had better food.
Huh. The Texas Roadhouse places I’ve been to around here do indeed offer pails of peanuts at your table, but they also have an empty pail there for you to put the shells in. I seem to remember a similar setup in the waiting area, with a container for the shells. Do people still drop them on the floor? Sure, but at least around here, I don’t recall it being a terrible mess.
Lone Star Steakhouse, on the other hand, encourages you to drop your peanut shells willy-nilly.
I don’t recall stuffed animal heads in either place, but I wasn’t actively looking for them. I do find Texas Roadhouse noisy, cluttered and chaotic in general. The chicken fried steak is very good, however.
That’s odd, given that the first place I ever saw the pails of peanuts with the shells on the floor was a Longhorn Steakhouse here in Atlanta. To be fair, I think they discontinued that a while back but I’m pretty sure the one near me still has a couple of animal heads on the wall.
I can understand people who agree with “creepy” if the peanuts on the floor just pinged their wrong-o-meter. Creepy is not just this. It can be this, as well (actually, that second one is a lot creepier to me.)
As for me, I only went to a peanuts-on-the-floor place once, and while it did feel out of place, calling it “creepy” also feels out of place, like a sour note. Just my opinion.
You beat me to it, tanstaafl; but when I saw that commercial I was surprised because I too remember Longhorn Steakhouse used to have peanuts available and you’d toss the shells on the floor. I’m in Atlanta too, by the way (Alpharetta).