Texas Roadhouse Inc., a Louisville, Ky.-based restaurant chain that specializes in steaks and spareribs, plans to open a large outlet in Coeur d'Alene in March and will employ about 160 people there.

Texas Roadhouse has 330 restaurants in 46 states, including three others in Idaho, in Boise, Idaho Falls, and Pocatello, says Travis Doster, a Louisville-based company spokesman.

The Coeur d'Alene eatery will be located in 7,000 square feet of leased space at 402 W. Neider, at Neider's intersection with U.S. 95. The restaurant will seat up to about 250 people. The remodeling work is expected to begin in November, but a contractor hasn't been selected yet.

Texas Roadhouse restaurants serve dinner only during the week, but both lunch and dinner on the weekends. The menu features steak and spareribs, along with complimentary bread and peanuts, Doster says. Diners spend on average $15 for a meal there, he says.

Texas Roadhouse has a casual country theme, Doster says.

"People can throw peanuts on the floor. The servers line dance sometimes. It's casual, come as you are," he says.

Though the Coeur d'Alene restaurant will be company-owned, Texas Roadhouse will recruit a managing partner for its restaurant in Coeur d'Alene, as it does elsewhere, Doster says.

The company is considering opening outlets in Washington state, but has no immediate plans for outlets here, he says. The company was founded in 1993.