Texas Roadhouse, the popular American steakhouse chain, is set to begin operations in December and its opening has the potential to bring economic change to the city of Oswego. 

The restaurant is set to open on Dec. 11 and will be located in the Oswego Plaza. The idea to bring the steakhouse to Oswego came after the Texas Roadhouse corporation analyzed the population and demographics of the city and then contacted the city’s planning committee. After all was processed, the corporation was given the green light to start building the restaurant. 

The new location will be run by Justin Haus, an Oswego native who has worked his way up the corporate ladder after a 15-year history with Texas Roadhouse. 

Haus’s focus on the restaurant currently has been the hiring process. 

“We are planning on hiring 200 employees,” Haus said. “As for the application process, individuals can apply online through the Oswego Texas Roadhouse page and then will go through an in-person interview process if they move on.” 

The restaurant could open a positive window for some who are or have been looking for employment, especially students at neighboring SUNY Oswego. Haus advised that if students were stressed tackling finals and end-of-semester affairs, they should wait to start the hiring process until mid January, as Texas Roadhouse plans to start a second round of hiring during this period.

Another positive to the restaurant is that it will increase city revenue, according to the current common council president and prospective mayor of Oswego Robert Corradino. 

“Texas Roadhouse is a destination type restaurant,” Corradino said. “So that will increase traffic in our community which drives sales tax, and sales tax is our number one source of revenue.”

Corradino also stated that revenue could come not only from residents of the city, but those from neighboring towns and cities too. Residents in nearby Fulton, Hannibal, Mexico and Pulaski now have the opportunity to drive and dine at the Oswego Texas Roadhouse rather than driving to the city of Syracuse.  

Corradino did note that some challenges could also arise regarding parking space and traffic, however. Oswego Plaza shares parking with other spaces such as retail giants Big Lots and Dollar Tree, alongside a former JCPenny that will soon be converted to a Hobby Lobby. 

Corradino believes this might cause some to park farther away.

“It’s going to be a lot busier over there now,” Corradino said. “And people who are used to parking their car in front of one of the stores there may have to walk an extra 20 to 30 feet, so that’s unfortunate.” 

He said the next best option for parking would be across the plaza, where a larger parking lot that houses the Price Chopper and TJ Maxx is located. 

“There’s going to be extra traffic driving through [the plaza], buses and cars,” Corradino said. “So, people are going to have to be extra careful when they’re driving through there for pedestrians.”

Although Haus and Corradino were able to offer information on the hiring process and the challenges brought on by the restaurant’s opening, there was also the question as to the state of community opinion, which led to the creation of a Google Form. This form was accessible to SUNY Oswego students only, and was open for 48 hours. The form was opened solely to a student demographic group due to the institution’s population in regards to the city of Oswego. 

In one question, students were asked if they thought the Texas Roadhouse would bring the city more business: 84.6% of students agreed, while 15.4% did not. When another question asked if they believed the opening would cause traffic and result in Centro Bus delays, 92.3% agreed, while 7.7% did not.

A later question asked if students thought dining hall workers might apply there. This was proposed in regards to complications earlier in the semester, when workers were in talks of going on strike due to hours and working conditions at the three dining halls of the university. The results found that 79.5% did think that dining hall workers would apply there, while 20.5% did not. 

When moving on from multiple choice questions, short answer questions allowed students to voice any opinion they had regarding the opening, as well as their favorite meal or item they would be looking forward to. Many continued to express their belief that traffic and parking will be an inevitable issue, especially given it is not within walking distance from campus. 

As for what the students voiced to be their favorite meal, answers bounced between an array of choices such as lemon pepper chicken, an 8 oz. sirloin and mac and cheese. According to the Google Forms survey, however, the majority of students agreed the dish they are looking forward to the most will be the signature Texas Roadhouse rolls and cinnamon butter. 

Those who are interested in applying for a position at the Oswego location now or in January can access the applications and specific job openings through Texas Roadhouse’s interactive map at https://becomearoadie.com/texas-roadhouse-map/.

Photo by: Texas Roadhouse via: Twitter.com