Old West Cafe, Sanger, Texas

WHERE THE OLD WEST CAFE BEGINS

By Ellen "EJ" Sackett

It's just after 6 a.m., and the door has just opened at The Old West Cafe in Sanger, Texas. Already three white pick-up trucks are parked in front with customers awaiting breakfast. This is a typical morning for the owners. Mark is hidden behind the scenes in the kitchen, and Carolyn, his wife, is starting her day in Denton at their sister restaurant by the same name.

The wait staff is ready. The coffee flows first, and the orders are taken. More customers dribble in, young and old, and soon the place is filled with the clatter of plates and the chatter of conversation. Some come in jeans, others in cam-o, all hungry, all anticipating what will likely be their best and biggest meal of the day. One can only hope.

Before long, heavy, overloaded plates arrive at the tables, stacked as many as three and four deep up the waitress' arms. Eggs, bacon and grits; three-egg omelets stuffed with sausage, veggies and cheese; pancakes stacked high; burritos with a side of homemade salsa and iron skillet dishes with everything including the kitchen sink. The menu items are cleverly named to conjure images of the wild, wild west. There's the Alamo, The Indian, The Bandit, The Gunslinger. The Warrior omelet, made with grilled chicken, "might make you squat with yer spurs on" and the Texan, made with your choice of sausage, ham or bacon, onion and bell pepper, and three kinds of cheese will make you "hold on to your boot straps." Hold on, little doggie! This is what you call a real breakfast.

"Can I getcha anything, hon?"

I put in my order and point to my coffee cup. The waitress is back to fill it in a jif. I reach for a packet of Sweet 'n' Low next to the sugar across the table. My elbow sticks to the surface as the varnish has been wiped down so many times, it's soft. A voice from my childhood reminds me this is not a horse's stable. I adjust my posture, shake the contents of the package in my mug and take a sip.

My bowl of steamy oatmeal, raisins and brown sugar arrives with side of fruit from a jar. As I eat, I observe in awe as a stout young man wearing a cowboy hat devours a burrito half the size of a football. I wonder how it can be done, although I doubt his eyes are bigger than his stomach. Sure enough, by the time he finishes, he's eaten the whole thing, plus a generous side of crispy hashbrowns with ketchup along with it.

At the next table, a young mother in pink sweats lean over to pick up her toddler's sippy cup off the dark-stained cement floor. A middle-aged couple sit at the table in the corner, holding their hands in silent prayer. Behind them on the recycled tin-lined wall, a wooden plaque reads, "Now that my kids are teenagers, I know why some animals eat their young." Across the room an old-timer with stubble for a beard sits by himself. He smiles a toothless grin at his pony-tailed waitress, who calls him by his name, which I can't quite catch. Hanging on to her arm, he says something that makes her laugh as she slides his check between the salt and pepper shakers.

I catch her eye as she leaves his table and ask her for his ticket. She nods and retraces her steps, whisking it out from under his nose before he has a chance to notice. I feel like I've won a prize--today's pay-it-forward recipient--and head to the cashier's counter to pay up. I'll be gone before the gentleman notices I've left.

Before long, the place will be revving up for the lunch crowd in addition to serving its all-day breakfast. The restaurant has built a steady stream of loyal customers in twelve years. These are good folks who don't mind paying a fair price for home-style cookin' and service that rivals any five-star restaurant. They know a good deal. Despite the economy, business is holding its own. In fact, another location is on its way in Grapevine, and if the Sanger and Denton locations are any indication, soon-to-be regulars will find their way to it as well.

So where does the Old West Cafe end? There's no telling how far it'll go or for how long. But God willing, the Old West Cafe will continue 'til the cows come home.

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Old West Cafe
711 W. 5th Street, Sanger, TX (940) 458-7358
Hours: Monday through Saturday, 6 a.m. to 2 p.m., Sunday, 7 a.m. to 2 p.m.

1020 Dallas Drive, Denton (940) 382-8220
Hours: Monday through Saturday, 6 a.m. to 2 p.m., Sunday, 7 a.m. to 2 p.m.

600-A W. Northwest Hwy., Grapevine
Hours: Monday through Saturday, 6 a.m. to 2 p.m., Sunday, 7 a.m. to 2 p.m.

 www.oldwestcafe.us

GTB RECIPES

A DIP BY ANY OTHER NAME

By Ellen "EJ" Sackett

Call it Fiesta Dip, Italian Salsa or Texas Caviar—my latest, greatest recipe goes by several names. You can always have the basic ingredients stowed in your pantry, then add fresh ingredients in addition to the basic recipe to your liking. You can dish it up several ways too. Serve it with yellow, red and blue corn chips as a colorful dip. Toss it into pre-packaged lettuce with some roasted chicken from the supermarket or add it on top of a baked potato for a quick, healthy dinner. Double the recipe for a batch that will feed a crowd or to have nibble food to have on hand, as it keeps well in the fridge for up to a week in an airtight container. It's often the hit of the party, so be prepared to share the recipe—in fact, feel free to send your friends to this link. Thank you, Carol, for giving this recipe to me.

Here's my version of Fiesta Dip:

Basic Recipe

Combine in a large bowl:

1 28 oz. can Ro-Tel Tomatoes (Original ~ Diced Tomatoes & Green Chilis), drained
1 15 oz. can black-eyed peas, drained
1 15 oz. can black beans, drained
1 11 oz. can shoe peg corn, drained

¼ to ½ bottle of an oil-based (not creamy) Zesty Italian dressing ~ just enough to coat the ingredients ~ NOTE: Do NOT add the dressing until after all ingredients, including any additional ingredients, have been added. It should be your last step.

Suggestion: Keep the liquids to a minimum. Spoon out any extra that seeps through to the bottom of the bowl. You can even rinse the beans, black-eyed peas and corn, then dry them with paper towels.

Additional Ingredients (The more you add, the better)
½ c. onion (any variety)
½ to 1 cup fresh cilantro
(or more, if you're like me and really love the flavor of cilantro!)
2 medium hot-house tomatoes, cut into small chunks
1 small to medium green pepper and/or red pepper
2 stalks celery
(If you'd like it hotter, you can add jalapeños, crushed red pepper or sprinkle on Tony Sachere's Cajun seasoning)

What's your version? Feel free to contribute your variations on this theme. I'd love to try your ideas in my next batch. Even if you don't have a gmail account, no worries. Just sign on as "Anonymous". You can add your name at the end of your comment.

FARE SQUARE

YES, YOU CAN HAVE YOUR CAKE

By Ellen "EJ" Sackett

Have you eaten your vegetables today? You can get all your servings in one fell swoop by ordering a slice of carrot cake from Hannah's Off-the-Square. Each cake is made with two pounds of carrots (never mind the sugar), which will surely improve your eyesight and elevate your mood. It looks as incredible as it tastes, covered with cream cheese icing, spaghetti-length curly-Q strands of fresh carrots and a slice of orange. These aren't just for show. Combine the citrus with the crunchy and the creamy, and you'll have a sensory experience like none other that will leave you giddy for more. It's possible to get more, too. Order a few days ahead, and you can purchase an entire carrot cake to take home for $30 plus tax. (Psssst, the recipe is hush-hush, so don't even ask.)

Hannah's Off-the Square, 111 West Mulberry, Denton, Texas
(940) 566-1110 www.hannahsoffthesquare.com
Hours:
Lunch - Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Brunch - Saturday & Sunday, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Dinner - Sunday & Monday, 4:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.; Tues through Thurs 4:30 p.m. to 10 p.m.; Friday & Saturday, 4:30 p.m. to 11 p.m.
Happy Hour - Monday through Friday, 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.; Saturday & Sunday 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Pourhouse Sports Grill, Denton, Texas

SCORE IT BIG AT POURHOUSE SPORTS GRILL

by Ellen "EJ" Sackett

You don't have to love sports to love Pourhouse Sports Grill--but it helps. Bright paintings of sports super heroes at their peak and large flat-screen HDTVs surround the spacious main dining room and hang above the bar. You can't ignore the action of a different game on every channel, which can be a bit distracting when you're trying to engage in dinner conversation. But hey, it's a sports bar. That's what it's all about. Almost.

This isn't the kind of sports bar that's full of rowdy fanatics, screaming obscenities at the televisions (although sometimes there are a few who get pretty excited). No, this is a classy place where you'd comfortable bringing your grandparents for drinks and a pleasant, not too expensive meal. The beer, wine, specialty drink and martini list is impressive, and there are daily happy hour specials. The menu covers the gamut, and the portions would feed a starving football team at the end of a too-close-to-call game.

You can expect to find typical bar food at Pourhouse, but with a whole lot more variety. Light up your taste buds with the trash can nachos, a serious amount of queso, chili, jalapeños, tomatoes and sour cream piled over red, blue and yellow corn chips. Instead of a plain 'ol burger, have one with a kick, like the Baja Burger made with Jack Cheese and fried jalapeños, or try to wrap your mouth around the bleu burger that comes with a sweet port wine sauce, roasted shallots and a huge hunk of bleu cheese on top. Another good choice is the Pourhouse's version of a club sandwich--the Homerun Grilled Club--cut into quarters, with turkey, ham, applewood smoked bacon, tomatoes, American cheese and barbecue sauce on sourdough bread. Combine it with a side of drippy, mayonnaise-y coleslaw, a big fat helping of big fat French fries or sweet potato fries and a cold, draft Franconia for a perfect sports bar kind of meal.

If you're looking for something you don't readily find in Texas, order the Classic Cuban sandwich that could pass for German, made with sliced pork and ham and covered with melted Swiss cheese on a grilled ciabatta roll with mustard and a dill pickle. Texans usually have to venture up north for a French Dipped Sandwich, but Pourhouse makes its own version of a pot roast beef sandwich on a French roll with carmelized onions, served au jus. That's French for "with its own juice", but here in Denton we say, "Good for soppin'."

The Pourhouse's thin-crusted, wood-fired pizzas stand out for their fresh ingredients. The combinations, such as the BBQ Chicken or the Hawaiian made with ham and pineapple, might a little adventurous for some pallets but are worth a try. My favorite is the Margherita, made with sliced tomatoes and tomato sauce, mozzarella, sprinkled with fresh basil. Customers can also create their custom pizza from a selective list of ingredients. One pizza is plenty to share as an appetizer or will feed a hungry person as a meal.

Specialty main courses of the Pourhouse include: a chicken fried steak smothered with creamy gravy touted as "The Real Deal"; southern fried shrimp, hand-breaded and comes with cocktail sauce, creole tartar sauce, or spice orange marmalade; a juicy rotisserie chicken, a 12-ounce black Angus rib eye grilled to your liking and the chef's private recipe of shrimp creole, served over spicy rice, which our server from Louisiana said was her favorite dish on the menu. Each of these comes with two vegetable or potato side dishes.

Healthy-minded diners will love the generous salads. The Rotisserie Chicken Chop Salad is an attractive arrangement of roasted chicken, tomatoes, corn, black beans and avocado layered over lettuce. The Country Cobb is equally delicious, made with smoked bacon, smoked turkey, mozzarella, avocado, tomatoes and a hard-boiled egg. Seafood lovers will favor the Seafood Cobb, and you can never go wrong with Chicken Caesar.

But who wants to be healthy? Finish off the meal with dessert. There's something for everybody's sweet tooth. Tops on my list is the brownie bottom sundae, starting with a chewy pecan brownie topped with vanilla ice cream, homemade chocolate sauce, and for overkill, a dollop of whipped cream. The warm white chocolate bread pudding soaked in a hot buttery rum sauce, is equally rich, and cobbler fans can take a chance on the unusual carmel-covered apple walnut concoction with a scoop of vanilla ice cream atop a hard, square wafer. For a lighter dessert, go for the tangy key lime pie.

The Pourhouse's lunch menu, offered Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., is reasonably priced at $6.49 and includes smaller portions of many dinner menu selections. A kid's menu is available too with the usual child-friendly choices: mac and cheese, corny dog, chicken strips, a kid's burger or a mini- cheese or pepperoni pizza.

Make sure to check out the theater-style media room, which boasts a gigonormous 110-inch TV/projector flanked by four smaller, but still large flatscreen TVs, and a state-of-the-art sound system. The room seats up to 75 people and is available for parties and business presentations. Semi-private areas for smaller parties from 8 to 18 people can also be reserved ahead of time with the events coordinator. Pourhouse also provides in-house catering.

But you say you're not a sports fan? You're still in luck. Pourhouse has one of the best outdoor seating areas in this part of Texas, feet away from the banks of Unicorn Lake. You may have to put up with some smoke or a rambunctious table, but the serene view at sunset with a glass of Merlot will take you down a notch. At that point, who cares about the noise or whose team is losing? You've already won.

$-$$

Pourhouse Sports Grill, 3350 Unicorn Lake Blvd, Denton, TX
(940) 484-7455 ~ www.pourhousegrill.com
E-mail: info@pourhousegrill.com
Hours: Sunday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Rohmer's Restaurant & Catering, Muenster, Texas

GOT BRAT?

By Ellen "EJ" Sackett

We were on a hunt for brat--that is, bratwurst. The destination? Muenster, Texas, a small community west of Gainesville best known for its annual Germanfest which draws crowds from all over the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex.

The otherwise sleepy, dusty town seems permanently stuck in the 70s, at least from the looks of it along Hwy 82. Although we knew of its reputation for having the best German food in the region, we were clueless as to how to find it.

A quick Google search with the help of my iPhone led us to Rohmer's. It was easy to find the stone-covered building on the north side of Hwy 82. Several cars and a row of motorcycles were in the parking lot, even at 1:30 in the afternoon, which we took as a good sign. According to the blog, "Regular Joe's Guide", Rohmer's makes Weiner schnitzel the way it's supposed to be: "crispy and lightly seasoned" and it said the sausages were "wonderful". Based on this recommendation, we gave Rohmer's a go.

While we weren't exactly expecting buxom blondes in dirndls with fist-fulls of beer steins to greet us at the door, we surely weren't expecting a Denny's-style sign directing us to seat ourselves either. The place could've passed for a typical small-town coffee joint, a place where you don't go for the atmosphere.

The German menu is limited and only makes up a small portion of Rohmer's offerings: four dinner plates with chicken or pork schnitzel and bratwurst and sausage, or the same thing made into sandwiches--but well worth the drive. I opted for Regular Joe's recommendation, the traditional pork Weiner schnitzel, although I was tempted by the grilled reuben sandwich. My companion opted for the bratwurst. Both plates came with a good-sized helping of sauerkraut and German Potato salad, which gave me the urge to yodel. The rough-skined biker boys (and girls) in their leathers at a nearby table made me think better of it. Because there was no apple streudel on the menu, we didn't have any; otherwise, we would have.

Since we came for authentic German food, we weren't even a little tempted by the rest of the restaurant's many choices, however delicious they might be. The selections included hamburgers, several cuts of steaks, fish fillets and breaded shrimp, chicken fried steak, fried chicken and a marinated Hawaiian chicken with grilled pineapple, barbecue pork ribs and beef brisket, and Mexican quesadillas and enchiladas. Sides some with some meals and not others. A basic soup and salad bar is also available.

On the way out, we chatted with daughter of Rohmer's founder, Dina Sicking, a friendly woman, determined to carry on what her father started. She and her husband now run Rohmer's Restaurant, which opened its doors in 1953 in a quaint stone building which has since been knocked down and replaced with the current structure. A replica sits on a counter behind the cash register. While the newer building hasn't the charm of the old, it better serves the needs of the restaurant. According to Sicking, the old was dilapidated beyond repair. To strangers' eyes, the building was nothing special, but to her, it represents progress.

Before we left, I took a photograph of the retro Rohmer's sign that announces the restaurant to roadside travelers. I had to smile. While the town may be slow to move with the times, and the restaurant owners don't seem to be all that interested in capitalizing on its German roots, we still found what we were looking for. The
genuine article. No more, no less. Das ist alles, und alle ist genug.

$

Rohmer's Restaurant and Catering
217 East Division Street ~ Muenster, TX
940-759-2973
Open Monday through Saturday for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner

Crickles and Co., Corinth, Texas

MAKE IT CRICKLELIOUS!

by Ellen "EJ" Sackett

If it weren't for a Facebook post from a friend who lives on the opposite side of Dallas from me, I would have never known about Crickles and Company, a yummy breakfast place, right in my own backyard. It's funny I never heard of Crickles before. There's not many restaurants in Corinth, Texas, and I know them all. Or so I thought.

But there's a good reason why this particular one missed my radar. Crickles and Co. subleases space in another restaurant, NY Sub Hub, in a strip mall off of Swisher Road, and is only in operation from 6:30 to 10 a.m. Only a free-standing easel in front helps to entice potenial customers, and since this is not a heavily trafficked area in the morning, Crickles must rely largely on advertising and word of mouth.

There's not a lot of atmosphere given that the location is a sub shop, but the good food makes up for the decor. For a to-go-style joint, the breakfast menu was surprisingly extensive. It was hard to choose between the many breakfast taco combinations, which all use eggs and cheddar cheese as their basis. The Breakfast Taco Baskets also come with Rosemary Potatoes and homemade salsa. If you're hungrier, you can create your own ommelette from thirteen ingredients, or if you just want something light to take on the road, the breakfast croissants and sandwiches will do the trick. Pancake and French toast lovers can slather syrup to their heart's content here too.

I had a South of the Border Burrito without the sausage. The flour tortilla containing egg, cheese, potato, onion, and tomatoes arrived hot, wrapped in foil. For the price, I was disappointed in its size but not the flavor. It came with a side of the salsa, and the owner presented me with a taste of warm peaches and cream. Made with canned peach slices, the idea was better than the execution.

Still hungry, I went back for little extra something sweet. I was torn between the Sticky Bun and the Cinnamon Roll, tempting me on the counter. I went with the roll, covered with a cream cheese frosting, which melted into the pastry once warmed in the microwave--making it a truly sinful breakfast dessert. I was told by the owner that her daughter is the baker, who has culinary training and has worked at such fine dining restaurants as Craft Restaurant in the W Hotel and The French Room at the Adolphus Hotel in Dallas.

A glance at the Crickles website gave me more insight. Sweets and pastries are their specialty, and in addition to the menu choices, they also offer cheesecakes, cookies, layer cakes, pies and cobbles, as well as squares and bars.

Crickles and Co. also caters. Some suggested themed meals are: a barbecue buffet, a gameday spread, an Italian feast, a Mexican fiesta and a Texas Chili buffet. Within each theme are a variety of main course options and side dishes as well as desserts.

If you're hungry and are on your way north from Dallas to Oklahoma during the early hours, or if you are headed south to Dallas on your morning commute, consider taking the time to exit Swisher Road for a bite at Crickles and Co. It's worth going a little out of your way.

$

Crickles and Co.
4271 FM 2181, Suite 308 (Off of Swisher Road in the Albertson's Shopping Area near Radio Shack)
Corinth, TX
Breakfast Served Monday through Saturday, 6:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.
(214) 476-2568
(940) 497-2530