The original Texas Roadhouse opened in Indiana in 1993. | Photo by Clarksville, IN Texas Roadhouse

It’s hard to imagine anything local about Texas Roadhouse with “Texas” in the name, but the steakhouse chain with 600+ locations across the US (and nine around the world) actually got its start four miles from downtown LOU.

In February 1993, founder and Louisville-native Kent Taylor opened the first Texas Roadhouse in Clarksville, IN inside Green Tree Mall — which back then had a stage for concerts where the bar is today. He wanted to create an affordable Texas-style restaurant offering hand-cut steaks, ribs, scratch-made sides, and of course, ice cold beer.

After being turned down nearly 80 times trying to raise money for his concept, three Elizabethtown, KY doctors provided $300,000 in capital funding. By the end of 1999, there were 67 locations in operation.

Bonus: One of those 80 let downs was by basketball Hall of Famer Larry Bird. Kent tried to sell him the idea after chasing him through an airport.

Today, Texas Roadhouse’s headquarters are in Louisville — you’ve probably seen the logo on its office building driving along I-264 near Breckenridge Lane. It also opened a couple other concepts like the sports bar-style restaurant Bubba’s 33 (also in Clarksville) and fast-casual chicken and burger chain Jaggers, which has 12 stores in the US.

Aside from originating in the Greater Louisville area, Texas Roadhouse localizes its restaurants much like how Trader Joe’s localizes its stores — with murals. Each Roadhouse location has unique murals among the Southwest decor to reflect the local community. See: The Outer Loop location has a painting of a Kentucky Wildcat and Louisville Cardinal playing cards together in the bar area.

MORE TEXAS-SIZED FACTS

EVENTS

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Friday, Jan. 20

After Hours at the Speed | Friday, Jan. 20 | 5-10 p.m. | Speed Art Museum, 2035 S. 3rd St., Louisville | $20 | See the final days of the Alphonse Mucha Art Nouveau exhibit and check out out the rest of the museum after hours with art making, a live jazz band, and food from Wiltshire Pantry.
The Local Seltzery One-Year-Anniversary | Friday, Jan. 20 | 5:30-8:30 p.m. | The Local Seltzery, 828 E. Main St., Louisville | Free | Celebrate this seltzer bar’s birthday with buy one get one free drink specials, music, food, and giveaways.
Louisville Palace Movie Night: Labyrinth (1986) | Friday, Jan. 20 | 8 p.m. | Louisville Palace, 625 S. 4th St., Louisville | $14 | See this 1986 classic starring David Bowie.
Elvis Tribute Artist Spectacular | Friday, Jan. 20 | 8 p.m. | The Brown Theatre, 315 W. Broadway, Louisville | $26.03-$91.55 | Celebrate the music of Elvis at this era-by-era tribute concert.
DJ Night | Friday, Jan. 20 | 10 p.m. | The Pearl, 1151 Goss Ave., Louisville | Free | Bust a move at this neighborhood bar with Deep Eddy vodka specials.

Saturday, Jan. 21

Introduction to Adobe Creative Suite | Saturday, Jan. 21 | 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. | South Central Library, 7300 Jefferson Blvd., Louisville | Free | Learn the basics of this creative tool used for digital media, illustrations, and photography.
Shakespeare in the Libraries: “Twelfth Night” | Saturday, Jan. 21 | 2-3 p.m. | South Central Library, 7300 Jefferson Blvd., Louisville | Free | See a two-actor performance of the bard’s romantic comedy with audience participation.
January Biergarten | Saturday, Jan. 21 | 6-10 p.m. | German American Club, 1840 Lincoln Ave., Louisville | Free | Dig into classic German food and sip pints of beer while listening to live music.

Sunday, Jan. 22

Hot Buns Brunch Pop-up | Sunday, Jan. 22 | 11 a.m.-3 p.m. | Square Cut, 741 Oak St., Louisville | Free | Dig into hot buns and Filipino brunch dishes while listening to hip hop jams.
Fill a Bag | Sunday, Jan. 22 | 12-6 p.m. | What the Lou, 1101 Goss Ave., Louisville | Free | Choose between two different bag sizes for $8 or $15 and fill it with tees, hats, outerwear, and more.
Family Friendly Silent Disco | Sunday, Jan. 22 | 2-5 p.m. | TEN20 Craft Brewery, 1020 E. Washington St., Louisville | Free | Dance as a whole family to kid-friendly tunes with a portion of proceeds benefiting AMPED Louisville.

We have a calendar filled with events and activities you can plan for in advance. Click the button below to bookmark ideas for upcoming date nights, family outings, and time with friends.

MORE JANUARY EVENTS

SHOP

Quality should never be a luxury

Two women wearing high-quality, neutral-colored cashmere sweaters sit on the beach together.

Quince delivers high-quality essentials at affordable prices, directly from the factory to you. | Photo by Quince

You deserve to have nice things. At Quince, you can treat yourself to the finer things in life. We’re talking 100% Mongolian cashmere, washable silk, Italian leather, 14K gold, European linen + more everyday luxuries — always up to 80% less than other brands, always with free shipping + returns for 365 days.

Plus, Quince partners with responsible factories around the world and bypasses the traditional retail middlemen, so you can sustainably elevate your life at affordable prices.*

SHOP

NEWS NOTES

Weather

37º | Cloudy | 15% chance of rain

Read

WFPK’s radio hosts are sharing their music know-how in new online columns. “Independent Louisville!” host Mel Fisher shares notable music from iconic movies and TV shows in her feature called “SoundTrax” — like Dolly Parton’s “9 to 5.” Otis Junior, John Timmons, and Laura Shine have columns, too.

Trending

Tinned fish is still so hot right now. Morning Brew cited it as the “hottest new extremely old trend” thanks to TikTokers tinned fish date night videos. Get a taste of the hype at the recently opened Canary Club in Shelby Park. We suggest the Fishwife Smoked Salmon Chili Crisp. 🥫

Theater

Next week, the Louisville Ballet’s choreographer’s showcase, “CHORSHOW,” hits the stage. The show features new, innovative works by five ballet artists and is performed at the Louisville Ballet’s Main Street studio. Tickets are $35 and shows run from Wednesday, Jan. 25-Sunday, Jan. 29. 🩰

Holiday

Frankfort Avenue’s Eatz Vietnamese Restaurant is ringing in the Lunar New Year with Hennessy. Today through Sunday, Jan. 22 the restaurant has bottles of Hennessy XO — a cognac aged at least six years — it will be selling for $10 a shot or $250 for the bottle.

Drink

Brrr — it’s cold in here. Warm up with bourbon-infused sips and snacks from these 10+ places in LOU. 🥃 *

Eat

To help you work smarter, not harder in 2023, here’s a list of go-to, easy-to-make, healthy recipes from Kroger. Pro tip: Read now and bookmark for later. 💡*

Real Estate

Trying to convince family or friends to call River City home in 2023? Time to share Coldwell Banker’s Move Meter tool, designed to help people compare their current city to a potential new one (like Chattanooga) based on stats about quality of life, job market, affordability, and more. 🏡*

Travel

Heading abroad in 2023? Babbel offers lesson plans for 12 different languages spoken throughout Europe (where 59% of our readers plan on traveling to in 2023). Prep for the trip of your dreams with bite-sized, 10-minute lessons that will help you learn the new language in as little as three weeks. 🌏 *

Content marked with an * is brought to you by our advertising partners and helps make this newsletter free.

THE WRAP

Today’s issue was written by Katie.

Editor’s pick: When you wake up Monday morning and find that we’re not in your inbox, no need to sound the alarms. We’re hitting the pause button for a day, but we’ll be back bright and early on Tuesday, Jan. 24 at 6 a.m.

In the meantime, remember that you never have to enjoy your cup of coffee sans LOUtoday. You can always browse some of our greatest hits on our website or follow us on Facebook and Instagram, where we post every day about what’s going on around Louisville.

Missed yesterday’s newsletter? Ethan Hawke is in Derby City and here’s where.

Connect with us.

Editorial: Katie Molck, Britt Thorson, Emily Shea, Jessalin Heins-Nagamoto, Dayten Rose, Sarah Leonhardt, Katie Smith | Send us a scoop, question, or feedback.

Sales: Mandey Lee | Advertise with us.

Content marked with an * was created in partnership with 6AM City’s advertising partners. Paid content helps keep this newsletter free. 6AM City may also receive a commission on purchases made through affiliate links in this newsletter.

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