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Mythology of the Sacred Spur in Gilmer

July 21st, 2010

            I’m not entirely sure what brought up the memory of dining at the Sacred Spur restaurant just outside Gladewater. I guess I saw it on a community site and started reading and watching the reports and critiques on the rustic dining there and I found no one with whom I could entirely agree. Even the report listed on Tyler TX Directory while accurate, was short. So I decided that there was room for another report, especially given that the passage of time has perhaps allowed for a little perspective on my visit.

            First off, in the interest of full disclosure I was present at the same event as the author of the first directory article on the Sacred Spur. Spending the evening at the Spur is like going to an off- beat movie that some viewers love, and others despise. You either get it or you don’t. My father, who loves the mythology of the west and the cowboy mystique, got it. Our out of town guests decidedly, did not. The Sacred Spur is only open a couple of nights a week, Fridays and Saturdays. The food is very simple, steaks, chicken, potatoes and an admittedly pretty Spartan salad bar. Meat is cooked over a very old school hanging grill. There is usually musical entertainment of some kind, generally a local country band or artist. The food is expertly cooked. My steak was a beautiful medium rare. Reservations are highly recommended however as the Spur is not a dining institution, it’s very much a mom and pop kind of business (or should I say ma and pa). This was an issue at the time of my visit since they actually ran out of most cuts of steak, something prone to happen at this sort of casual family run restaurant. When the food is gone it’s gone. Another issue was the fact the store’s debit card register was down. Evidently it had been down all night and the staff had failed to warn us. Fortunately for them our party was able to scrape up enough coin to pay the bill. If you go, best to take some cash just in case.

            A lot has been written and reported on the Spur. It has been really praised in the news and dining reports in our area. It’s often held up as traditional Texas fare. I’m not sure however that grilling a great steak alone constitutes Texas cooking. When I think of traditional Texan food I think bar-b-q. Steaks are good, Texas beef the best of course, but I’ve had good steaks many places. If I want good brisket or other forms of BBQ, Texas is really the only place to go.

If the Spur was closer to Tyler I would not object to going more often. As it is, the drive makes it a lot of work. The food is good but it’s also pricey, and given the inconvenience of travel, and the propensity to occasionally run out of food it can be a gamble. One other thing, be sure any guests you bring along are good sports. If they’re adverse to any risk and not adventurous dinners, or if they don’t appreciate the novelty or local color, take them to Luby’s. At least they’ll know what they’re getting and you won’t have to hear about for the rest of the night. For more information on the Sacred Spur see the following web pages: http://www.facebook.com/pages/East-Mountain-TX/The-Sacred-Spur-Ranch/152459857514, or http://www.myspace.com/thesacredspurranch. Also, check out the report by KETK, http://www.ketknbc.com/news/eats-texas-the-sacred-spur-ranch. Lastly, look for the title, Sacred Spur Ranch – A rustic authentic Cowboy ranch restaurant, located elsewhere on this site.

Petty’s Steak and Catfish in Lindale TX

March 23rd, 2010

PETTY’S STEAK AND CATFISH

309 N Main Street
Lindale TX 75771
903-882-9510

Petty’s is a very local establishment, located just North of downtown Lindale. It is more than a café, but not quite a restaurant, serving Texan style breakfast, lunch and dinner.

As you walk in you will be greeted by a cheery hello from the friendly staff. There are 2 rooms with seating at booths or larger tables. The walls are covered with black and white photos of Lindale from years past and a longhorn skull is on the wall facing you. To complete the picture, the clientele (mainly men and older folk) wear a mixture of baseball caps and cowboy hats and Western music plays softly.

Petty’s has quite a following – we went for breakfast and the place was almost full. There were 7 breakfast specials to chose from with items like hashbrowns, omelettes, breakfast tacos, pancakes and bacon and eggs to name but a few. They were reasonably priced and served with a free bottomless cups of coffee. My daughter was impressed with her huge stack of doughy pancakes served with butter and warmed maple syrup. The service was prompt and friendly. It looked like the servers were well appreciated with tips which could be because they know many of their customers from previous visits.

For lunch and dinner you can chose from burgers, steak, chicken and shrimp. All are traditionally cooked, Southern style – perhaps not very healthy but very delicious. There are also lighter options like salad (the chicken fajita salad sounds good) and various sandwiches. Appetizers include onion rings, cheese sticks and nachos. Each day there are also specials – regulars for each day of the week – like ribeye steak on a Wednesday, and catfish on Friday, plus additional home cooked items which vary each day. When we were there the specials were meatloaf and chicken fried steak. All dinners include a salad from the salad bar, a baked potato or fries and hot fresh bread. Entrees range from $5 to – $15.99 which is the most expensive option – the steak dinner (less expensive on it’s ‘special’ day). The average price is probably $8. Iced water is brought to your table and there is the usual iced tea, fountain drinks and coffee to drink. It is not licensed to serve alcohol. Children’s meals for the under 12s consist of grilled cheese sandwiches and chicken tenders for $2.99 (sadly no vegetables included).

Pettys offers nothing out of the ordinary in the way of cuisine but the food is good Southern comfort food and obviously popular with the Lindale locals and Tyler residents, particularly men – who aren’t watching the calories they consume! As for myself, I think it is a great place to eat breakfast or to take the kids once in a while. I can’t say that I will frequent it but it will certainly be on my radar!

Cici’s Pizza Store in Tyler, TX over by Wal-Mart on 64

February 1st, 2010

211 Texas 323 Loop
Tyler, TX 75702-8727
(903) 526-9494‎
Hours 11AM-11PM

Cici’s Pizza is located on the West side of Loop 323 near the Brookshire’s and Starbucks. It is easy to get to and turn into the parking lot. Leaving can be a real challenge if you need to turn left as there is only one exit, and it is sitting directly on Loop 323 which is very busy at all hours of the day. I often have to turn right and do a u-turn to get home.

The most important part of a pizza restaurant is how the pizza tastes and compares to other pizza places. Cici’s is wonderful pizza. It is not on par with expensive pizza restaurants, but for its price range it does really well. You can pay five dollars for a large one topping pizza. I do this often for dinner for my family and when we have friends over last minute. I call ahead and order my pizzas then drive up right to the window. It’s the only pizza place I’ve ever known to have a drive up take out window. When these five dollar pizzas are hot, they are very impressive in taste and texture. When we get Cici’s takeout we usually order either a large with just pepperoni or a large with just green peppers. If you’ve never had a green peppers pizza, try it at Cici’s. You’ll have to order it special since it isn’t a standard pizza on the buffet.

As for the buffet, I think you’ll be impressed. I’ve heard people joke about how horrible Cici’s pizza buffet is, but I think they are just making it up. It is very affordable. The buffet is about five dollars per person, and then drinks are a little over a dollar for a fountain drink or tea. Maybe the price makes Cici’s seem too good to be true. But I think that is just it. I don’t know how it’s possible to offer such great food for so cheap and make it all you can eat to boot.

The buffet starts with a very nice but small salad bar. You have the choice of Caesar salad or a standard tossed salad with about eight different extra toppings and about four different salad dressings. We always get a Caesar with Caesar dressing, and we’ve never been disappointed. Then there is a pasta section. Here you can get pasta with either red sauce or a creamy alfredo sauce. There are also cheese covered bread sticks here. A little tip: fill a bowl with red sauce from this section and dip your crust or bread sticks into it.

Then comes the pizza. This is when I begin to really smile. They have all of the standard pizzas: pepperoni, sausage, hamburger, mushroom, cheese, Hawaiian pineapple and ham. I especially love their sausage pizza. But the cool thing about Cici’s is that they have way more than the traditional pizzas. They have at least four or five specialty pizzas that you can only get at Cici’s. My favorite is a buffalo wing pizza. It uses buffalo hot wing sauce instead of pizza sauce, bits of chicken and mozzarella cheese. It is incredible if you like the hot wing flavor. Then they have their popular creamy spinach pizza. This one uses alfredo sauce instead of red sauce. They also have a barbeque pizza, a taco pizza, and a cheese steak pizza. I usually get lots of the spinach and buffalo pizza. It seems like each of my friends and family has a different favorite of these specialty pizzas.

Next at the bar comes the dessert section. These desserts are amazing. I’ve never heard people complain about the dessert at Cici’s Pizza. They have something for everyone. There are basic chewy brownies covered in powdered sugar. There is usually some kind of super sweet apple crumble coffee cake, and then there is this thing that I am not sure what to call it. It is shaped like the cheesy bread sticks, but the consistency is like a donut or a beignet. Then it is smothered in some kind of caramel or butterscotch sauce. It is beyond good. I am not sure what it is at all, but you’ll know when you see it. You won’t be disappointed.

A really cool feature of this Cici’s is that if you don’t see what you like at the bar, you just ask an employee to make it. They don’t care how weird the toppings you ask for are. They will make it and bring it directly to your table. The customer service is incredible for such a low cost dining restaurant. Often it will be the actual manager who brings it out with a smile and makes sure you don’t need anything else.

The restaurant stays very clean. I’ve seen pizza buffets where the employees don’t seem to care. Pizza can be very messy, and pizza attracts small kids. Small kids can be very messy. But you will not find a mess at this Cici’s that isn’t currently being cleaned up. The busboys are apparently very fast and efficient. There are plenty of booths and even two televisions playing non-offensive shows.

All in all, for five or six dollars per person, you can’t do better for dine in food in Tyler, unless you don’t like pizza. But only a true pizza lover like you and me would have read this whole review. So, try out Cici’s. I promise you’ll be impressed.

China King Tyler Texas

January 16th, 2010

China King, Tyler, Texas is located at 4542 S Broadway Ave and it’s a Chinese Restaurant buffet style. If you enjoy Asian food and you like lots of varieties, then you should go to China King. Going there for me is easy and convenient and I enjoy being able to select all kinds of food choices. They have a salad bar that boasts lots of good salad selections. They have a meat and veggie table that has fried rice, noodles, shrimp, sushi and a good selection of desserts. Soft drinks are also available for you for a small price. Anytime you are in a hurry, but enjoy trying new foods, then the China King is the place for you.

The quality of service and price will fit your budget. From my experience $25.00 will feed two people easily. I love the idea of not having to wait for your food to get prepared and just being able to go and eat right away…especially if you are starved. There is no limit on how much you can eat while you are there. You can go back as many times as you want.

The best thing is at the end of the meal when you get one of those fortune cookies. Those are always fun but of course, I don’t take it seriously, I just enjoy seeing what I get and then add something at the end of the saying and that makes it funnier.

Making Magic at Chuck E. Cheese

January 8th, 2010

Chuck E. Cheese is as they say, “Where a kid can be a kid!” From arcades to pizza to seeing Chuck E. Cheese himself you can be sure that every visit is a magical one at Chuck E. Cheese in Tyler. Chuck E. Cheese has easy to reach arcades for toddlers and cool action packed arcades for older kids. Most all of the arcades spit out tickets which you can redeem for prizes. Every child can win a prize no matter how many tickets he or she received. If you want a larger prize than what your tickets can get you, you can pay the difference with cash. Saving getting the prizes till you are about to leave makes leaving this awesome place a little easier. It’s so much fun you’ll find yourself staying till closing.

With the safety kid check at the only entrance to the store, employees can be sure that no child can leave without the adult that brought them. This can put a parents mind at ease. At the kid check at the entrance a matching number is stamped on the adults hand and each child’s hand. This number can only be seen under a black light which is located at the entrance/exit. A child cannot leave without an adult with the matching number.

The menu at Chuck E. Cheese is nothing to brag about. It’s not the best tasting food in Tyler but it’s not bad either. The pizza is made fresh and the salad bar has fresh veggies, I can’t complain about that. If the prices are too high for you check out the Chuck E. Cheese website (chuckecheese.com) for coupons. They always have specials on family packs that usually include tokens. Your child can also receive free tokens when he or she brings in a report card with good grades. There is also a “reward calendar” that you can download from the Chuck E. Cheese website to fill out and bring in for free tokens. The reward calendar is a list of things or chores that your child can do at home such as clean your room. The parent checks off things on the list and when the list has been completed the child can exchange it for tokens. Pretty good deal if you ask me.

But of course the best thing about Chuck E Cheese in Tyler Texas is seeing Chuck E himself. Whether for a birthday party or just having fun it’s always a blast to see this mouse walk out and give you a hug, unless you are terrified of human size mice.

Chuck E Cheese is also a great place to work. It’s fun! It’s not a stressful job. You could be Chuck E Cheese and make kids smile. The manager in Tyler has let Chuck E go visit the Pediatric wing in the hospital some mornings when business was slow. You can work in the kitchen making pizza and cotton candy. The main priorities as an employee at Chuck E Cheese is one: be sure every guest leaves happy and two: have fun. You do have to have energy to keep up and be able to handle loud noises, but other than that Chuck E Cheese’s in Tyler Texas is a great place to work and play.