Tag Archives: Cattleman’s Steakhouse

September 23, 2015 · 5:35 am

Indian Cliffs Ranch Part 2 — The approach to Cattleman’s Restaurant

Front gate adornment

Don’t arrive at the entrance gate to Indian Cliffs thinking you’ll go straight to Cattleman’s Steakhouse. Ain’t gonna happen, pardner. There be too much to see along the way.

The road to Cattleman’s Steakhouse

Immediately past the gates you’ll find covered wagons harking back to the Old West:

Covered Wagon

These “Prairie Schooners” are just the beginning of your journey to the Cattleman’s parking lot:

Covered Wagon

Rounding the first turn to the right you’ll stumble upon Clay Canyon Lake, and leading the way to the lake is a street lighted walkway through a park-like area of mesquite and other trees:

Clay Canyon Lake

Nearby is of course that Old West Ranch artifact, the ever-present windpump:

Old West-style Windpump for well water

Covered wagons may be what you most remember from movies of the Old West, but don’t forget that other prop the buckboard:

Ancient buckboard

Statuary also line the route to the Cattleman’s parking lot, but not your typical statuary. These are depictions of the beasts most associated with the Great Plains and the Old West:

Approach statuary

And just beyond the statuary, along the shores of Clay Canyon Lake is another reminder of the Old West:

Hostiles! Or, maybe not.

Before we leave today’s journey through Indian Cliffs Ranch, here are some closeups of the statuary:

American Bison, a.k.a., “Buffalo

Texas Longhorn

American Bison, a.k.a., “Buffalo

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Filed under Photography, R. Doug Wicker, travel, vacation

Tagged as Cattleman's Steakhouse, Fabens, Indian Cliffs Ranch, Old West, photography, R. Doug Wicker, steakhouse, Texas, travel, vacation

September 21, 2015 · 5:35 am

Indian Cliffs Ranch Part 1 — Cattleman’s Steakhouse

Entry gate to Indian Cliffs Ranch and Cattleman’s Steakhouse

About fifty minutes southeast of downtown El Paso, just over an hour from Casa Wicker, situated some six miles north of the Fabens Exit (Exit 49) off I-10, is a working ranch straight out of the Old West. This ranch has been used in many movies, and is home to one of the highest rated steakhouses in the country.

I’m speaking of course of the Indian Cliffs Ranch and their famous Cattleman’s Steakhouse.

Over the next two weeks we’ll be looking at Indian Cliffs, exploring their zoo, dining at their restaurant, taking a tour of an Old West ranch house straight out of the 1880s, and looking at a 1984 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz from the 1998 television movie On the Border, and stepping around abandoned props from the 1996 film Courage Under Fire.

Cattleman’s parking

Cattleman’s Steakhouse is a bit of a local institution, and it frequently makes the list of top steakhouses in the United States. It’s Number 7 on this list of America’s 50 Best Steakhouses.

Open 365 days a year

Upon arrival the hostess asked, “Do you have reservations, Mr. Wicker?”

I replied, “I do, actually, but we decided to give your establishment a try despite any misgivings.”

I know. I’ve used that joke before — in my murder mystery The Globe. Sorry. I just couldn’t resist digging it up as a summer rerun. Now for some shameless self-promotion:

Time for some shameless self-promotion

The exterior of Cattleman’s has a definite western charm:

Cattleman’s Steakhouse

Outside the Cattleman’s entrance

But it gets positively Old West Kitsch inside:

Entryway to Cattleman’s

There are many individual dining rooms inside, and each has a distinct Old West theme. Our dining room this evening was the Saddle Room. Note the saddles draped across the picket fence enclosing this particular dining area:

One of several dining areas

So, let’s pull up a chair and look over the menu, shall we?

Cattleman’s menu

And let us not forget to peruse the wine list, concentrating on the reds, of course. After all, this is a steak establishment.

Reasonable (and reasonably priced) wine list

On this outing I opted for “The Cowgirl” — 1½ pounds/680 grams of T-bone purchased from El Paso-area ranchers. Steak dinners here come with a choice of a baked potato, rice, or corn-on-the-cob. Also accompanying your steak will be all-you-can-devour spicy ranch beans (and, boy, are they great), pineapple coleslaw (even better), and yeast roll breads (a tad commercial tasting in my book — definitely not homemade).

Butter, sour cream, and pot of spicy ranch beans

Pineapple coleslaw

Let’s face it, sides may be a great accompaniment, but it’s the steak that makes or breaks a steakhouse’s reputation. And Cattleman’s definitely has a reputation to maintain. My medium-rare T-bone was exquisitely charred on the outside yet pink, moist, and perfectly tender beneath the rustic exterior.

“The Cowgirl” 1½-pound T-bone, potato, fresh roll, spicy ranch beans, and pineapple coleslaw

Ursula likes her beef from the fillet cut, so she ordered her 10-ounce/285-gram Fillet Mignon as she always does — blood rare with a cool if not cold interior. The cooks at this steakhouse know how to deliver, as most restaurants tend to over-cook her steak even though I tell the waiter, “Just pat the cow on the butt and send her on out, ’cause that’s the way Ursula likes it.” Ursula had no reason to send this piece of beef back. The cooks got it right the first time.

Ursula’s 10-ounce Fillet Mignon

Our meal, as you can see, was not a disappointment. We were completely satisfied with the effort of getting out to Indian Cliffs Ranch, but after dinner was equally enjoyable as you’ll see beginning with this Wednesday’s post.

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Filed under Photography, R. Doug Wicker, travel, Wine & Food

Tagged as Cattleman's Steakhouse, Fabens, Indian Cliffs Ranch, Old West, photography, R. Doug Wicker, restaurant review, steakhouse, Texas, travel, vacation

December 31, 2012 · 5:42 am

Reservations, Restaurants, and Retirement

A very good friend of mine who preceded me into the Air Traffic Control game once told me that he seldom got to attend a controller retirement because, before Congress changed the law, so few controllers made it to retirement. The stresses and shift work took their toll, often resulting in controllers losing their medical before reaching the minimum retirement age required of most federal jobs. Fortunately, that’s no longer the case. Retirement eligibility for a controller now comes after twenty-five years of pushing tin, or twenty years of total time after reaching age fifty. I made it just beyond thirty-four years, but nine of those years were as a staff specialist who didn’t pull shifts and who only worked live traffic for some sixteen hours a month for proficiency, but even so I was a rarity as far as longevity in that career went.

This past Saturday I was honored to attend the controller retirement party of a good friend and a great guy — El Paso controller Dana Reny formerly of Fort Lauderdale Executive Tower and Honolulu CERAP (Center Radar Approach Control — a combined facility performing both en route center and radar approach control functions). Dana managed to serve his country as a controller for twenty-two years before succumbing to the siren call of another far less stressful life.

Congratulations on a well-earned retirement, Dana.

Just how big was this retirement? So big that it took two restaurants to accommodate it. Just kidding . . . sort of. Our first choice was the top-ten nationally rated Cattleman’s Steakhouse at the Indian Cliffs Ranch near Fabens, Texas. We had no less than two people call ahead for reservations at this remote restaurant located some 35 miles from downtown El Paso, only to be told that reservations were not necessary as the restaurant would be able to accommodate our group no matter when we arrived. Well, needless to say, they lied. We showed up at the appointed time — 6:00 P.M. Saturday evening — only to be told that there would be up to a three-hour delay seating our group.

Before I go any further on this I would like to say for the record that Cattleman’s was already far from a favorite of ours, and not because of the long drive. We’ve been to this establishment perhaps three times in thirty years, and in all that time Ursula has yet to get a decent steak there despite the ridiculous prices. There are much better steakhouses in the El Paso area that serve tender, actually edible steaks at much more affordable prices. Nevertheless, we felt it important enough to attend Dana’s retirement that we were willing to give Cattleman’s one last shot.

They blew it. Big time.

So, our group turned around and headed back toward El Paso after receiving telephonic assurances that the Hayashi Japanese Steakhouse and Sushi Bar (a regional chain) would be able to accommodate our now nomadic party. Those assurances were less than truthful, as we were advised that we had two party members too many to seat at one grill station. Two of our group (more good friends of mine) left, ostensibly because of child concerns back home, but I have my suspicions that had the promised seating been available, they would have stayed.

Strike One.

The assembled guests (now minus two) had their orders taken some half hour after our 6:40 P.M. arrival. It was good that we had such a fun group, because not one whiff of food arrived at our table for the better part of two hours after our arrival — around 8:30 P.M. — and then only after several complaints had been registered with the wait staff and management. Well, that’s not quite accurate. We did get a whiff of food — for orders arriving to the next table/grill station — despite the fact that table had a group when we arrived, went through a thorough cleaning when they left, and had another group seated and being served before even our salads were brought to our table.

Strike Two.

By now we were all pretty darned hungry. As a result nearly all of us had ordered appetizers, including sushi rolls. Yet, despite apparently all the time in the world to get the orders right, they were wrong. Ursula and I had ordered a shrimp and vegetable tempura appetizer and one sushi roll. What we got were two sushi rolls — the one we ordered and a shrimp tempura roll . . . and this was after the wait staff attempted to give us someone else’s order.

Strike Three. You’re out. We shall probably not be returning to Hayashi despite two previous experiences and food that, while on the expensive side, isn’t bad. But more on that on Wednesday’s restaurant review of Hayashi. Until then, if you’re in the mood for this type food I highly recommend that you spend your money (and especially your time) at the vastly superior Koze Teppan Grill on El Paso’s West Side.