Westaurant Weview: Steak Corral

EDITOR'S NOTE:   I aplogize in advance for the title of this post.   I also apologize for this post.   Heck, I apologize for this whole darn blog, and would apologize for the internet as well if I had created it (Scientific Fact:  Al Gore created it).

I love a good "themed" restaurant.   Nowdays, themed restaurants seem to be found only in theme parks or entertainment complexes, but back in the 50's and 60's they flourished.   Places like Farrell's, Don the Beachcomber's or Clifton's Cafeteria's took us on a culinary journey away from the humdrum and made dining an exciting adventure at a reasonable price.   Very few of these original restaurants exist today (although Farrell's is in the midst of a comeback).

One of my favorites was a place call "Steak Corral" that existed in West Covina for several years.  The chain started in 1961 and operated restaurants throughout Southern California.   The theme was the old west, and the accouterments all were themed to a old John Wayne movie.  The West Covina branch was opened in 1970 and was one of the last remaining restaurants in the chain for quite some time.  The restaurant was shaped like a large octagon.   Inside the octagon was a series of chuckwagons placed in a circle around the cooking area.  You would order your steak at the first wagon, then follow the chuckwagon line to choose your salads, sides and drinks.  I enjoyed several visits to this steakhouse for years, until one day I read the article I had been expecting, yet dreading for some time:   Steak Corral was closed.   Norm's had bought the site and would remodel it into a Norm's.  I was crushed.   Never again would I saddle up to the chuckwagon for a hunk of meat and a slice o' pie.

However, just like in a Zane Gray novel, old cowboy restaurants never truly die.  One day recently I was combing the internet looking for old pictures of Steak Corral, and I came across an address for a Steak Corral in Whittier.   Well, I nearly fell out of my chair.   There was ANOTHER Steak Corral still in existence?   I saddled up the Honda and before you could say "medium rare" I was on Washington Blvd.  Soon, the aging yet beaming Steak Corral sign came into view.

Now, if you look at the logo above carefully, Steak Corral is not a restaurant, but a Westaurant.  That's right, it calls itself a Westaurant to subtly drive home the fact that it's a Western-themed restaurant.   Other subtleties include calling the restrooms, "Westrooms"   Is that class, or what?  The best I can do is follow suite.  So....

 

 Steak Cowwal's theming begins the minute you dwive into the parking lot and walk to the fwont door.   Outside, desert succuwants and cactus gwow, next to a large statue of The Steak Cowwal Kid.   He's like a western version of Bob's Big Boy, except he ends up at far less college fwaternities.

Inside, the walls are adorned with assorted western pawaphanalia.  Hanging fwom the ceiling is their simple yet tantawizing menu:

You order your steak, then just like in the Covina westaurant, you walk along the chuckwagon to make your own sawad from the sawad bar, choose your dwink, and decide on a dessert.  They then give you a western nameplate and you wetreat to a table.   The meal is bwought to your table.

The Chuckwagons

The Salad Bar

The meal itself is gweat for the pwice.   Where else can you get a good steak with all the fixin's for under $15?  The steak is a nice, hearty chunk, well-gwilled to your specifications.  They have a gweat baked potato bar where you can doctor up your potato any way you'd wike.   It also features fixin's for your steak, such as onions, peppers and welish.   The cheese bwead is also tasty.  My dining partner bought sevewal pieces to eat at home. 

Best of all, the kid's meal contains a cowboy boot sundae, served inside a boot.   But even better than that:  Ask your waitwess for an Indian headwess.  They'll give you an authentic Indian headband and feather to wear while you eat, which of course I did thwough the entire meal.   And in the parking lot.   And all the way home.

The Westaurant was a twue step back in time, and a gweat place to sit down and enjoy a delicious steak at a weasonable pwice.   I heartly recommend a visit!

EDITOR'S NOTE:  If I ever lose my job, it's nice to know I can get a job writing for Elmer Fudd.   Although I don't recommend it.

Restaurant Review #3: The Bahooka Restaurant

Tiki bars were a big thing in the 1940'3 and 1950's.   Places like Don the Beachcomber, Trader Vic's and the like were the popular places to go to sip mai tais and zombies.  Tiki bars have recently experienced a resurgence, with many new tiki bars opening up around the hip places in LA.   Heck, Disneyland just opened one at the Hotel, called Trader Sams.  However, if you want to go to an authentic 50's tiki bar that is anything but trendy, head for the Bahooka Restaurant in Rosemead, CA. 


The Bahooka actually opened up in 1967, a little late in the tiki craze.   However, you'd never know it was a latecomer.  The entire place is agog with nautical artifacts, tiki architecture, and fishtanks.   TONS of fishtanks.   It's rumored that there are over 100 fishtanks in this restaurant, and I'd be the last one to argue this estimate.   And these fish aren't your doctor's-waiting-room variety, either.   We are talking large tropical fish, small sharks, turtles and the like.   As you walk into the lobby, you are greeted by Rufus, a 33-year old pacu that is enormous.   If you're in luck, you may catch the restaurant staff feeding Rufus carrots.  Not a place you'll want to stick your fingers.

Cashier station (click for larger view)

As you are taken to your table, you'll pass by the small bar.   The restaurant is famous for its tiki drinks, but the bar itself is something to behold...   it's a large fishtank.   As you place your drink on the counter you can look down and see turtles and fish glide past the bottom of your glass.   If you drink like a fish, you'll be in good company.

At your table, you are guaranteed a great view of the tropical fish.  Each booth is surrounded by at least three tanks, plus various others around the seating area.   Did I mention that the Bahooka is known for their drinks?   I am not a drinker myself, but here I always indulge in something just for the presentation.   The Bahooka Ade is my drink of choice.   Yes, it's non alcoholic, but it's brought out in a flaming bowl for two.   The other drinks are all wonderful, according to those of you who know.   You can't go wrong when your drink is served with a little paper parasol.

The food is...   adequate.  It's good, but the food is not the main reason you are coming here.   Polynesian ribs are the specialty here, which come with a pineapple glaze that I really enjoyed.   The chicken had a teriyaki glaze that was delicious as well.   Desserts are not worth mentioning, so I won't.  

Before you leave the Bahooka, be sure to walk around and take in all the decor.   There is one seating area for small groups that is located in a jail.   The banquet room is awash in color and yes, more fishtanks.   Christmas lights adorn one of my favorite booths.  And the fish are really worth seeing.   It's like getting a free visit to an aquarium with every meal.   My favorite fish are the ones that build mountains.   It's something to see:   they use their mouths to scoop up mounds of the gravel from the bottom of the tanks, then spit it all out on the highest point in the tank, creating a mountain.  


With the re-introduction of Tiki Architecture across LA, this restaurant is well worth a visit.   It's conveniently located off the 10 Freeway, on Rosemead Blvd.   Aloha, and Numi Kai Tan Yo!  (that's Hawaiian for "even though the bowl is meant for two, you really don't have to share.")

Click on the pictures for larger views.   Disclaimer:   If you have a fear of fish, I do not recommend this place.   This is directed at a certain reader:   YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE!

Restaurant Review #2: The Apple Pan

Like a great baseball pitcher, I hate to show off my best pitches so early in the game.   If I give you all my best restaurants so early in my blogging, I'll have nothing to write about later.  But I would hate to be hit by a bus and have left this planet without blogging about one of my favorite restaurants of all time, the Apple Pan.

The Apple Pan has been in business since 1947, and constantly rates as among the best burgers in Los Angeles.   In my humble opinion, it is the best.   It consists of a U-shaped counter the surrounds the cooking area, and that's it.   Not tables, no booths, so be prepared to sit at the counter 'cause that is all there is.   If there are no seats available, you'll need to wait.   Take note of the other people waiting for spots, so you know when it's your turn to nab the next available seats.   There are unwritten rules of etiquette here, and it's downright unsportsmanlike for you to grab seats before your turn.  Believe me, I've tried.  I don't think "Unsportsmanlike" was exactly the phrase the guy used as he threw me through onto Pico Blvd., but who can hear with salt shakers stuffed in each ear?

The restaurant has changed little in the last 60-some years, and that includes the waiters.   They may seem grumpy at first, but give them time, they will grow on you.   It's exactly what you'd expect at a 1940's lunch counter, and fits into the atmosphere perfectly.

The menu is small...  burgers, a few sandwiches, pies and drinks.   It's easy to order.   First of all, forget the sandwiches entirely.   I have heard great things about them, but that's not why you are here.   You're here for a burger, darn it.   I, personally, prefer the Hickory burger, which is served dripping with a red hickory sauce that's both sweet, tangy and a perfect compliment to the Tillamook cheese.  The lettuce is crispy, the bun is toasted, and I think I have started to drool.  More than normal, I mean.

This is a no-frills place.   The burger is served wrapped in paper.  Sodas are served in cans and bottles, with cone-style cups placed in metal holders.  These holders were eliminated at one point, as the restaurant couldn't find a supplier to replace the ones that had worn out (read: stolen) throughout the years.   Fortunately, replacements were located, and and the cups returned.

Now for dessert...   At a place called the Apple Pan, one would think you should have the apple pie.   Yeah, yeah, the apple pie is great, everyone loves it, highly rated, yadda-yadda-yadda...   But to quote the race track tout on the old Jack Benny Show (now THERE is a reach)...  "psst, hey, bud, take the banana cream pie."  Huge chunks of banana are in a delicious banana filling, placed in a perfect crust and topped with a cream topping....   The best banana cream pie ever.   EVER.   In the history of banana cream pies, this is the pie that everything else was building up to.  My lunch partner, upon finding out the last piece of pie was just sold, was ready to walk over to the guest who ordered it and offer them $20 for the slice.   True story.  I talked her out of it, but I'm not sure I made the right decision.  Remind me to tell you about the time she spent $20 on a dozen Krispy Kream donuts.   And don't get me started on the Piggley-Wiggley fries story.   That one is for a later blog.

They are open until midnight on weekdays and 1 AM on weekends, closed Mondays.  They only accept cash, so be ready to pay cash (after finishing my meal, I had to run across the street to an ATM to pay my bill.   The waiter only kept my watch as collateral.  I think he was joking, but don't ask me what time it is).  Be sure to stop by when you are out that way, and make sure you invite me.....