Jessica Mathews / news@whmi.com


Call it the “Great American Steak Journey”. Judy and Mike McNamara are on a quest to visit every Texas Roadhouse in America – with a local stop this weekend.

In 2017, Judy McNamara retired after working 45 years at the Union Camp/ International Paper mill in Southeastern Virginia. Traveling was next on the list for Judy and her husband Mike. Many years earlier, in 2003, the couple visited their first Texas Roadhouse while visiting her brother in Tennessee. Years later, Texas Roadhouse would ultimately change the trajectory of their travels.

When Judy and Mike began traveling regularly in 2017, they created a new mission -- to visit all 600+ Texas Roadhouse locations in America. When planning visits to museums and national parks, they check to see if there is a Texas Roadhouse nearby. When they arrive at the Green Oak Township location, they’ll have visited 48 states and 441 Texas Roadhouse restaurants.

“The food is like home cooking to us,” Judy explains. “We don’t like fancy cuisine or fine dining. Texas Roadhouse fits the bill of good country home cooking and is family oriented.”

“It’s not just the food, it’s also the people,” Mike says. “In 2021, we visited my father’s hometown close to Egg Harbor Township, NJ. When I told the manager, Cody, he brought us out two t-shirts with the city on it, but when he realized they were the wrong size, I joked ‘I’ll just take yours’. A few minutes later Cody handed us the blue Egg Harbor Township polo he’d been wearing – he literally gave us the shirt off his back.”

When Judy and Mike visited Texas Roadhouse in Parkersburg, WV, they took a picture with their server Jessie. Fourteen months later, they returned. “As we walked back to her table, she recognized us right away. After more than a year, you’d think we’d be a faded memory, but Jessie knew exactly who we were. It amazes us. The people we’ve met – every now and then we’ll talk to a server who’s worked there ten or twelve years. People seem happy working there which makes us want to come back. It feels like a family.”

Judy and Mike’s favorite meals are the sirloin, chicken critters, herb chicken, pulled pork, pork chops, and ribs – always with a side salad. They plan to visit at least one more location this summer and finish off the continental 48 states -- leaving only Alaska to be visited.

The couple was recently at the restaurant in Jackson. They’ll be at the Texas Roadhouse in Green Oak Township located at 6800 Whitmore Lake Road this Sunday at 11am.