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.

More Odd Comic Book Covers

I had a couple of people mention that they liked the "Odd Comic Book Covers" that I posted last month, so I thought I'd post a few more.  Grab your dimes and follow me to the newsstand...

In the last installment I showed a few covers of Batman and Superman basically abusing poor Robin.   Well, now you can see why - the kid's a bit of a show-off.   Dick Grayson was a circus acrobat before he became Robin, so I guess he can't help reverting to a few of his old tricks.  I love the fact that all three of them go surfing in full costume...   Where are the Bat-Trunks?

The Three Amigos continue their day at the beach, with Robin again showing off in front of the two DC superstars.  No wonder Batman finally dumped Robin in the 1980's.

Now that is one bad case of bad breath.   Someone get the Baby Giant a giant bottle of Scope.  at Least, I HOPE that is his breath...

I'm shocked that some artist had the nerve to sign this cover.   Stick figures with photo heads?   I assume this guy got paid by the cover. 

Didn't the Weather Girls do a cover on this cover?

For special added birthday fun - try and figure out which of the two children is adopted.

It looks like the Range Rider is desperate to hold someone's hand.  Evidently the Range Rider has been out on the range alone for a long time. 

I suppose super heroes have to do housecleaning every now and then, but why do they always do these kind of things in full costume?   What use is a secret identity if you never use it?   What do the neighbors think?

I assume this is the last issue.   I've always wondered what kind of food cartoon character animals eat...   now I know.   I guess any non-vegan restaurant would be a cannibalistic experience.

Super Bowl time!

Yes, it's that time of year again...  time for everyone to make their favorite high-caloric snacks, sit in front of their TV for hours, and watch that great American pastime, the Super Bowl commercials.  In between these salutes to commercialism, Denver and Seattle will be pitted against each other in a game that is sure to bring my level of apathy to new heights.  Personally, I am pretty jealous of the snack vendors in Denver this year.  Now that a certain illegal substance is legal in those parts, I can imagine that snacks sales will go off the charts during the game.   I wish I had the Doritos franchise in Jefferson County.

I assume that there are some of you out there who, like me, have only a passing interest (there's a pun there if you're not too particular) in football.  For those people I am posting this instructional video on how to play the grand old sport.   Made in 1944, it's one of the quintessential tomes on the sport.... as well as being one of the greatest Goofy cartoons ever made.   Enjoy!

Odd Comic Book Covers

In case I've never mentioned it before, I'm a big comic book collector.  Many a day has found me searching through EBAY, looking for that one last issue of whatever comic book I'm trying to find.  Every now and then, however, I come across an issue of something that makes me go, "Huh?"   Here are a few I came across recently...

Evidently, in the 1940's there was no worries of child protective services coming to take your ward away from you, so Batman (and Superman) felt justified in treating eight-year-old Dick Grayson in any manner they pleased.   However, this seems a bit cruel.   Maybe he's being punished for posting secret identities on the Web?  I'm surprised the girl on the bicycle nearby is so impressed.  Obviously not a fan of children.

I've always felt sorry for the cats in the Mighty Mouse cartoons.  It's nice to see them get some revenge on Super Raton on Halloween, 1955.  Even Heckle and Jeckle join in...  And if Dick Grayson was around, he'd probably join them as well.

If you're a Super Villain looking for an identity, this may be the clue you need!   Don't be the Penguin...   or Catwoman...  Be The Skunk!   It's just the thing to strike fear into the hearts if Supermen!   On a side note, what exactly is Robin wearing?   They look like green chainmail underwear.  How comfortable can THAT be?   Now I really feel bad about those two making him pedal that bicycle.

I guess Kryptonite isn't Superman's only weakness.   Don't tell Lex Luther.  All that money he's spent on death rays, and all he really needed was some flour, butter and shortening.

 

There's something weird about seeing Batman in a skirt.   I would think his knees would be a lot more pale then they seem to be in this picture.  After all, how often do you see Batman's knees?  As a side note, Batman actually has a Scottish connection - Bruce Wayne was named for Robert The Bruce, or King Bruce I of Scotland, who led the war for Scotland's independence. 

Okay, I know this isn't a comic book cover, but I still had to share it.  It's amazing what a little missing punctuation can do to a headline.

 

The less I say about this one, the better.

Lost Amusements #1 - The Flash!

In 1992, I took the first of what would become an annual Amusement Park tour.   That first year was the best - 45 parks in less than three weeks!   The part that made it especially exciting was that every park was a new experience - they were all new to me.   In that one trip, I got to experience Kennywood, Cedar Point, Coney Island, The Wildwoods, and several other parks on a first-time basis.   The discoveries and wonder of that first trip has never been duplicated.

Since that first trip, several rides and even entire parks have been lost to the ravages of time.   Parks such as Geauga Lake, Erieview, William's Grove and Hunts Pier have been closed down, while amusement areas such as Seaside Heights have sustained so much damage (due to Hurricane Sandy and a subsequent fire) that they may never recover.   Meanwhile, Parks such as Conneaut Lake Park are barely hanging on for survival.  I feel a certain tinge of nostalgia every time I read these stories, as a part of that first trip disappears under a bulldozer's blade.  I felt it would be a good idea to document some of what was lost...   Someone on the Internet may be looking for this info.

I'll start with one of the first parks I visited on that first trip, and one of the first coasters I rode.  Nellie Bly Park is located in Brooklyn, NY and was named after groundbreaking female reporter Elizabeth Jane Cochrane, whose took the pen name Nellie Bly.  She had quite a career as an investigative reporter.   She faked insanity so she could be placed in the state mental institution in order to report on the squalid and cruel conditions there.   She spent ten days in the institution enduring inhuman treatment before her newspaper got her out.  As part of her investigations she worked in a box factory, got a job as domestic servant, and once even bought a baby as part of a report on the baby trade.  Her big claim to fame, however, was a stunt she carried out in 1899 where she attempted to duplicate the trip portrayed in the book "Around the World in 80 Days." She completed it in 72 days, six hours and 11 minutes, setting a world's record and beating out another journalist from a competing paper.   They are still trying to locate her luggage.

Nellie Bly Park in 1992

Nellie Bly Park used the "Around the World in 80 Days" as a theme for the Park.  The Park opened in 1967 a was mostly a kiddie park, with the usual merry-go-round and circular rides.  As the years went on, the park grew, adding an "Around the World in 80 Days" funhouse, go carts, bumper cars and the like.  In 1982, they added the Flash Roller Coaster.   The coaster operated until 1996 and the park itself closed at about 2006.  Finding information on this park is not easy.  Harder still was finding information on the roller coaster I rode when I was there.   The Flash was originally a traveling roller coaster built around 1976 and designed by Arthur Lamkin.  Nellie Bly bought for $100,000.   After operating from 1982 until 1996, it sat unused until about 2000, where it was reportedly sold to a South American company.   The Park eventually reopened as Adventurers Fun Park and is currently operating several of the original rides.  

Where indicated, the photos below are courtesy of Jim McDonnell at http://jimvid.smugmug.com/

The basic layout of the Park from a more recent visit.  Courtesy Jim McDonnell

This is the Haunted House from 1992.   Unfortunately, when I experienced it, there were very little working stunts.   At last report it was closed, awaiting renovation.

Me in the jail.   Nellie Bly actually spent time in Mexico reporting on conditions there, and was almost arrested.

Classic fire truck ride.  Courtesy Jim McDonnell

The Superslide!   You will literally wet your pants on this one...   Courtesy Jim McDonnell

The Flash Roller Coaster, from 1992.  It had a unique square configuration.   I've never seen another one like it.

Another picture of the Flash after it was closed down.  From http://rcdb.com/ and Ken Denton.

Interior view of the Flash.  As you can see, the hills weren't large.  From http://rcdb.com/ and Ken Denton.

The Fun House.  It celebrated the trip Nellie took around the world.   It must have been a boring trip, because when I went through the fun house there were very few stunts.

Another view of the Fun House.  Courtesy Jim McDonnell

The ungraded Haunted House, in 2005.  Courtesy Jim McDonnell

 

Christmas Morning Cartoon: Christmas Comes But Once a Year

Merry Christmas, one and all!   This year we're celebrating the Holidays with a Max Fleischer Color Classic from 1936:   Christmas Comes But Once a Year.   This cartoon marks the first and only color appearance of Grampy, a wild inventor that co-starred with Betty Boop in several classic cartoons.  At this time, the Max Fleisher studios was trying to make Disney-type cartoons along with their roster of Popeye and Betty Boop cartoons.  This cartoon is kind of a weird bridge between the two styles:   The first couple of minutes tries to create a scene full of sincerity and pathos, but it comes off as cloying, maudlin and a little annoying.   However, once Grampy enters the cartoon, the picture takes off, because this is what the Fleischers were great at: innovention. 
Grampy appeared in ten Betty Boop cartoons and was always a welcome addition to the films.   If you have a desire to see more I suggest you check out Grampy's Indoor Outing and The Impractical Joker, two of his better films.
This cartoon also showcases the three-dimensional sets that the Fleischers liked to use with their characters.   You can see them at the beginning and the end.   Enjoy!

Saturday Morning Cartoon - Santa's Surprise

I am continuing my annual tradition of posting a few Christmas-themed cartoons in the weeks before Christmas.   This year I'm starting with Santa's Surprise, a Paramount Noveltoon from 1947.   This was the first appearance of Little Audrey, who replaced Little Lulu when Paramount decided they no longer wanted to pay for the rights for the Little Lulu character.  Little Audrey went on to appear in several other cartoons and a long-running series of comic books from Harvey.   Also appearing in this cartoon is one of the most stereotypical set of children since the Our Gang comedies.   Still, it's a cute cartoon to launch the holiday season here at JoeFood.   Look for the December calendar with only 30 days.  Enjoy!