The Best Texas Roadhouse Cocktail Has Flavors That Complement Any Dish

Foodies might know it for hand-cut steaks, but Texas Roadhouse is also serving up a sprawling cocktail menu – and, tabling any gatekeep-y mixology elitism, its drinks are impressively good. In Tasting Table's ranking of nine Texas Roadhouse cocktails, one sipper rose above all the others: The Midnight Sour. Still, it's worth noting that we gave all nine drinks in our taste-test overall positive marks; even the Island Cooler cocktail (which ranked last) really wasn't bad. Ultimately, our top pick is served not in a gargantuan margarita chalice, but in a modest rocks glass.

As its namesake suggests, the Midnight Sour is a reimagined take on the classic whiskey sour, a spirit-forward sipper juxtaposed with tones of sweetness and acidity. Traditionally, these tones come from simple syrup and lemon juice. Texas Roadhouse ups the magenta-hued ante by swapping in blackberry syrup and sour mix.

The Jim Beam whiskey base spirit imparts approachably sweet yet mature tasting notes of vanilla, caramel, woody oak, grain, and baking spices. Medium-bodied and mellow with a distinctive char, Jim Beam isn't necessarily a common liquor choice for building cocktails, but Texas Roadhouse absolutely makes it work with its Midnight Sour. This sipper takes guests on a full trip around the palate, marrying that whiskey with blackberry syrup, fresh blackberries, and a splash of the restaurant's house sour mix. That oakiness artfully offsets the dark berry sweetness of the fruit — which then all gets counterbalanced by the hit of acid from the sour mix. Nice work.

As we mentioned in our review, this "refreshing" cocktail is "light, fruity, and easy to drink [...] What started as woodsy bourbon transformed into sweet and tart blackberry flavor." It's a tasting profile that could complement any of the meaty, savory dishes on Texas Roadhouse's menu. That woodsy bourbon base is a customary pairing for red meat, but the bright acidity of the sour mix and blackberries would help cut through the meal's richness.

It's worth noting that Texas Roadhouse's cocktail menu tends to vary by location, and exact preparations seem to vary somewhat, as well. A Facebook post made by the Texas Roadhouse location in Clarksburg, West Virginia, shares a photo of the Midnight Sour cocktail that adds a lemon wedge garnish, which would further emphasize the taste of the sour mix in the drink. Either way, if your local Roadhouse happens to be serving up the Midnight Sour, it's well worth a try.

A word to margarita fans: We admittedly didn't sample any margs as we assembled our nine-cocktail ranking. But, we're also loving Texas Roadhouse's aptly-named Legend Margarita, which is made from a blend of three different types of tequila (way to flex a little mixology flair). If you aren't a whiskey drinker, we emphatically recommend the Legend Margarita. Alternatively, if you are, then call up another basket of those iconic cinnamon-buttered rolls and follow that Midnight Sour with a marg (you're at the Roadhouse, after all).