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Six For Sixty-Six
There are now close to a 200 breweries and taprooms on or very near Route 66, along with dozens of wineries (for a map of them all, click here). It was high time that Amarillo could add itself to the list with its first bona fide brewpub, Six Car Pub & Brewery. After much laboring to get new downtown digs built, they had a soft opening on Saturday 12th May, and then threw open the doors for good a week later.
Located at the corner of 7th Street Southwest and Polk, itâs only a couple of hundred feet south of Route 66. Heck, the parking lot is at 6th and Polk, which means you can leave you car on 66 and mosey south for good times and repast. The building, actually a duplex, is two-level with rooftop dining, as well as an outdoor biergarten. The other half of the building (split vertically) is downtown favorite Crush Wine Bar, which moved across the street to much larger quarters.
Co-owners Colin Cummings (Operations Manager), Grant James (Head Brewer), and Scott Buchanan (Executive Chef) have combined their respective talents into a first-class operation that promises progressive beer and food pairings, as well as business know-how. They are the latest in a small but growing downtown Renaissance that has seen many eateries and nightspots open and flourish.
Six Car does not yet have its own beers on tap. They are coming soon, but in the mean time, they have roughly 18 guest handles featuring a variety of Texas craft brews. The open house on the 12th featured a tap take-down by Rogue, as well as a limited menu (Deanna had a gigantic burger, while I had a vegetarian wrap). We knew then that we were on to something good, even if the offerings that day were not necessarily typical.
On our most recent visit (26th May), I started with a Terlingua Gold from Big Bend Brewery, while Deanna opted for Texas Honey Cider, from Austin EastCiders. It was pushing 100 outside, and we wanted lighter and crisper, as opposed to the darker and heavier beverages we prefer at other times of the year. We were not disappointed.
Good brews need something to wash down, so we ordered the Crispy Local Potato Hash for an appetizer. We both drop-jawed at how amazing this concoction of potato chunk, fermented Jalapeno, pepper jack, and onion was. Had we not already ordered entrees, we probably would have settled for a couple more plates of this, and called it good. There was just enough bite to remind you that this is indeed the southwest, but not so much as to send us begging for sour cream.
Alas, that delicious app did not go forever, but our entrees slipped right into the rhythm of the day quite nicely. Deanna had chosen the rather pedestrian sounding Beef and Cheddar, which was anything but. Featuring seven-day house-brined black garlic pastrami, cheddar mornay, crisped shallot, onion, and bell pepper drizzled with a honey soy glaze, all served between toasted halves of a bun, Deanna went into silent mode until finished. Even if I were to abandon my vegetarian vows, I knew that was code for âDonât even think about it!â
My Vegetarian Banh Mi was no less remarkable. Banh Mi, if you are unaware, is of Vietnamese origins, and consists of a baguette filled with savory ingredients. Combining crispy tofu, âveg proteinâ (which is often the protein-packed TVP), house-made pickles, local herbs, crema, and peanuts infused with more local herbs, I, too, was too busy delighting to want to engage in small talk.
Aside from ordering a Black Pepper Pils (from Small Brewpub) that complemented the Banh Mi, there was an odd quiet between two people accustomed to yakking up a storm at dinner time. Thatâs also code for âWe are intensely enjoying this.â
We had just enough room left in our tummies for a shared dessert, so we chose the Six Car Stout Brownie, takes a standard brownie and turns it on its side with bourbon ganache and coffee ice cream. While the latter two were indeed delectable, the brownie itself was not quite as stellar as everything else we had tasted prior. We are not sure if the brownie was just a bit beyond its best-by time, or if it had been delivered by a food service vendor. It wasnât bad; it just wasnât up to the same wow level as our app and entrees. This, of course, can easily be remedied.
All said, we are in love with Six Car. I canât wait until they have their own brews headlining the show, and we look forward to returning soon for the dinner menu. Until then. we raise our glass to these three downtown entrepreneurs.
Nick & Deanna
Would We Go Back: Definitely. Like this Thursday in conjunction with the downtown cattle drive.
Price: $. Deannaâs entree was $12, while mine was $10. The appetizer was $4, and the dessert was $8.
Dress: Casual. Thereâs not much you have to get dressed up for in Amarillo.
Comments: We like that the menu is progressive, and not typical pub fare. God knows there is far too much of that being served in American brewpubs. Weâre thankful that they appear to have taken a tip from Canyonâs Imperial Taproom by crafting limited but adventurous menus. If all you want is a basic burger and greasy fries, you might be a little disappointed. But then again, you probably drink Keystone Light, too. There are places for that, and this is not one of them.
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Of Quiche And Cupcakes
Itâs always reassuring to see Downtown Amarillo eateries practically drowning in customers. Itâs even better when itâs on Route 66, and it happens to be a drizzly, foggy Saturday morning. If ever there were a reason to stay home, this would be it.
But no. The folks came down to 6th Avenue (aka Route 66) yesterday morning to partake of the goodness to be found at Scratch Made Bakery (118 SW 6th), or as they like to print it, #scratchmade.
Yes, make my hashtag extra crispy, please.
Open since 2015, #scratchmade (letâs do it right) has found itself occupying two adjacent storefronts, a block from the bus station, and right across from the long-abandoned Barfield Building. Parking is curbside, free on weekends, but limited to an hour during the week. The future of the 10-story Barfield, built in 1926 at the same time Route 66 came to town, is slated for possible redevelopment into an upscale hotel.
Our breakfast destination has found itself amid a swell of new projects Downtown, from hotels to a baseball stadium, new retail, and several restaurants. You can feel the buzz in the air; Downtown Amarillo hasnât had this much excitement in a long time.
But I digress. Letâs get back to breakfast.
Deanna and I were hungry, which meant that pretty much everything on the menu looked good. To top that off, there were several special items on a flyer that tempted us. Alas, we resisted temptation and settled for one entree apiece. I went for the veggie quiche, while she opted for The OB (Original Brunch).
Her OB came with scrambled eggs, hash browns, bacon, biscuit, and gravy. My quiche came with a spinach salad topped with sliced onions, tomatoes, and crumbled feta, along with a small fruit cup. Beverages are self-serve, and feature coffee from The 806, one of the better coffee shops in town, and right down the road on 66.
Although we were seated side-by-side, our experiences were somewhat different. My quiche melted in my mouth, the salad was a delightful trip through the garden. The fruit cup provided the necessary sweetness to allow for a pleasing finish.
Deanna, though, was a little more ho-hum. Her hashbrowns were undercooked, her bacon not uniformly crispy, and her biscuit of the thick-and-heavy variety. She tends toward very crispy on the first two, and light-and-fluffy on the latter. Since I was still hungry (the portions are admittedly a little small for a hungry man), I gladly accepted her contribution of potatoes and biscuit (I like mine thick-and-heavy anyway).
But I was still hungry after all this, and headed for the glass-enclosed counter in front. I ordered the last chocolate cupcake, as well as a red velvet one. I must confess that red velvet is my guilty pleasure, and had I been lacking in civility, I probably would have grabbed a handful.
Those cupcakes were the perfect complement to breakfast, and are reflective of their namesake and signature skill: baking from scratch. I would return for these alone, they were that good.
The best part is that we, along with the many others dining that soggy Saturday morning, are part of Downtown Amarilloâs revival. That this place is on Route 66 makes it all the better.
Nick & Deanna
Would We Go Back: I would definitely return; Deanna shot back with a âmaybeâ and âI would have to try something else.â I echoed that refrain, if only because I spied several items I would love to try (Nutella Stuffed Pancakes on the flyer sounded tantalizingly good). I would have ordered two entrees had I known serving sizes were small, so that is my only real complaint.
Price: $$. At $11 for my quiche and $12 for The OB, this was definitely uptown pricing. Itâs not Big City high, but donât expect to get out of here for less than $30 for two people.
Dress: Casual. Amarillo rules, you know.
Comments: While our overall experience was positive, there was some variance between us, the result being that thereâs some room for improvement. Still, the variety of menu items sets this place head and shoulders above most other breakfast venues in this town, and that alone is noteworthy. I look forward to roaming across the menu to see what else I can sink my teeth into. Maybe red velvet pancakes? Biscuits? Take my money, please.
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To The Moon
It has not been all that many years since Amarillo was a pizza desert. For this Chicago boy (and self-admitted pizza snob), it was always tough having to swallow my pride (along with a bunch of really bad pizza) at parties and get-togethers. I cut my teeth on Giordanoâs, Unoâs, and Ginoâs, where pizza is measured by the pound, but also noshed on some of the best thin-crust pizza in the world as well.
Hell, Pizza Hut was the hands-down winner of the Globe-Newsâ âBest Ofâ contest for many years here. Either we truly did have a shortage of good pizza, or Amarillo simply had no taste when it comes to this Italian goodness. (Iâm hoping itâs the former.)
Not too many years ago, though, the pizza game in Amarillo changed forever for the better with the coming of Basil Docâs (now 575), and Fire Slice. These two pizza innovators found a way to capture the hearts (and bellies) of Amarillo with pizza that was not just good, but also unique.
At long last, Pizza Hut was toppled from its perch (along with other poseurs like Dominoâs, Little Caesars, and Papa Johnâs). So when I heard about a year ago of a new pizzeria coming to Downtown Amarillo, my ears perked up. It took a lot of rehab work on the building, but the day has finally come in which Moondoggyâs is open and slinging pies on Polk (626 South, to be exact, and only a few feet off Route 66).
Count me among those strongly in favor of Amarilloâs Downtown Redevelopment program. It is quickly gathering momentum, and turning Polk Street into a bit of an entertainment district. After 29 years here, I have three words to say: âItâs about time!â
Located in the old Woolworth building (and the local bankruptcy court between the then-and-now), it shares the first floor and an entryway vestibule with Esquire Jazz Club. Moondoggyâs is technically doing its âsoft opening,â which is code for ânot everything is quite ready yet.â
Like their liquor license. Nothing like âNo beer for youâ to set off things on a somewhat sour note.
To be fair, they were giving away sips of wine as well as cans of mass-produced brews, but we didnât go there for mediocrity. Sure, if all goes as planned and they get their license in a couple of weeks, it will be a different experience, but for now, water was my beverage of choice.
Deanna, Becca, Corey and I perused what is actually an impressive menu, filled with apps, sandwiches, calzones, pastas, and pizzas. Moondoggyâs is the second unit in what may now technically be called a very small chain (the other in Brunswick GA); another Amarillo shop is planned for the southwest side of town.
Our foursome ordered three pizzas (one to be shared by Deanna and me), as well as a Caesar Salad. Moondoggyâs offers a tall line-up of standard pizza creations, as well as the opportunity craft your own. Pizzas can be ordered in hand-tossed thin crust or deep dish. Becca went with the Smokinâ Chick (to satisfy her crazing for jalapeĂąos and BBQ sauce), Corey built his own deep dish (Italian sausage and onions), while Deanna and I went with the Garden Fresh (green peppers, onions, spinach, mushrooms, and sun dried tomatoesâŚno olives, thank you very much).
Our food was about the same as the rather spartan interior decorâŚgood but not bad, but then again, far from memorable. Everything came out as ordered, except our implicit desire to find something truly unique and different. We compared it to Texas Firehouse with its many menu options, but nothing that really stands out on its own. In fact, we could probably find the same at virtually any other pizzeria across the country.
The salad was most certainly right out of a bagâŚiceberg lettuce, with a few croutons, dressing, and shredded parmesan tossed in to try to make it fit for Caesar. And Coreyâs âdeep dishâ pizza? Try âthick crust.â True deep dish pizza is served in a metal pan, not on a flat tray, and is at least an inch thick at the sides.
Thatâs all code for saying that 575 and Fire Slice have nothing to worry about. Their menu creations are imaginative, with numerous items not to be found anywhere else. If predictability and sameness are your thing, though, then we have found your place. And with that in mind, Moondoggyâs in southwest Amarillo will probably do fine there among the plethora of chain fare offerings.
Again, itâs not that it was bad, because it certainly was not. We were just hoping for so much more, especially in what will one day be a very trendy night spot. When we venture downtown to eat, we want it to be special. Pizza is a food category that has been beaten to a pulp nationwide; all of the economic profits have long been extracted. It is the accounting profits that are there for the taking, but only because you do things better than everyone else.
â¨All you have to do is make yours stand out a little more. With a little more menu creativity, we would have been howling at the moon. Instead, we found ourselves wondering why we couldnât see our own shadows.
Nick & Deanna
Would We Go Back: Maybe, but we probably wonât be in a hurry to do so. I would like to sample a calzone and some pasta. First impressions are hard to overcome, but I can forgive and forget if the second chance is well-played.
Price: $$. For a family-oriented place, it is actually a little pricey. Our three pizzas and salad (no beverages) were $50 before the tip. Our tab (sans alcohol) at 575 and Fire Slice would be the same, but the food much better.
Dress: Amarillo-casual. Just make sure you donât take the left doorway (into the jazz club), where you might feel under-dressed.
Comments: I realize I have dissed one of our new downtown eateries, but I canât just give a hall pass for mediocrity. Amarillo has plenty of great eating establishments, and this is not yet one. Thatâs not to say they cannot or will not. Given the small but growing number of downtown eateries, Moondoggyâs will have stiff competition for our collective dining dollars, even if it owns the pizza sector there for now.
Thereâs a new brewery/brewpub going in across the street that is already calling my name, and and the avant-garde-for-Amarillo Crush will be sharing those new digs. Letâs just call Moondoggyâs a little under-baked. Put it back in the oven a little while longer, and sprinkle with imagination. Oh, and maybe consider not opening the next store until you have your liquor license.â¨
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Nach Deutschland, Mit Liebe
To Germany, with love! And what better way to usher in such sentiments than with a little bit of Deutschland down on Route 66? Can I get an amen?
OK, Iâll say it. Amen! Start your journey on Route 66 in Chicago, go two blocks, and stop. I mean it. STOP. Do not continue your Mother Road adventure until you have eaten at The Berghoff. Just be sure to wear your lederhosen and dirndls.
OK, maybe not. Any clothes will do, but after this feast, you may very well feel like donning some clothing of the Mother land.
Now please allow me to digress for a few sentences. I have very fond memories of coming to the Berghoff with my parents and younger brother back in the 1960s and 1970s. Mom and Dad loved the place, and since Dad had grown up in Chicago, he had been going there for years. Weiner schnitzel for everyone was his mantra. So we did. And so I have returned as often as I can when visiting my hometown Chicago.
The Berghoff has been around since 1898, and has remained in one family the entire time. Its Adams Street location wound up on Route 66 after Chicago implemented one-ways on Jackson and Adams in 1955. It put the âBâ in comfort food (cut me a little slack here, please), and is noted for getting the cityâs first liquor license in 1933 after Prohibition was repealed. While the menu is distinctly German in flavor and style, it has evolved to become rather American progressive as well recently (albeit with German influence).
We came prepared for a two-hour meal, because this is not one to be rushed. It is to be savored and remembered. In fact, just forget any further progress on the day you visit. Get a hotel, because after you eat, youâll be ready for a Nickerchen. I mean nap.
For openers, I selected a pint of Berghoff Dortmund Lager, a beer that has been in the Berghoff family since the late 1800s, and is now brewed under contract in Stevens Point WI. Deanna went with a distinctly traditional southern beverage, iced tea....except to her dismay, it was only available unsweetened. Southerners can be funny like that.
A cornucopia of breads arrived a second later, along with plenty of butter slather. Be careful here, folks. Itâs delicious bread (the rye is amazing), but you donât want to fill up before the main course.
We carefully selected our entrees and two appetizers so that we could share from a variety. To that end, we ordered a butternut squash lasagna (OMG...but more on that later), spinatknodel (spinach dumpling), spaetzle (a basic egg noodle dish), and potato pancakes with apple sauce (simple enough). If that all doesnât make you want to stand up and sing âHallelujah!â (itâs the same in English and German), I donât know what will.
Our meals arrived about the time I needed another beer, so I ventured forward to their Dark varietal, an equally appealing brew with a slightly smoky finish. It didnât take long for Deanna to become territorial with the butternut squash lasagna placed before her. âMine. All mine,â she declared after allowing me a brief tasting.
And I agreed with her possessiveness, as it was nothing short of amazing. The homemade round noodles, layered with chunks of butternut squash and surrounded by a puree of the same, melted in our mouths. She became noticeably quiet, which translates into, âThis is one of the best dinners I have ever had.â
Enough said. I mean not said.
My spinatknodel was likewise delicious, but whereas the lasagna was an A++, this was a fraction of a notch below. Letâs call it an A+. I love me some spinach, and being a vegetarian, it is a staple in my diet. A dumpling made from one of my favorites? Yes, please!
Actually, Deanna and I both were swooning throughout dinner. She waxed poetic about the total and unmitigated foodgasm she was experiencing. Not exactly like When Harry Met Sally, but close enough. We were in love...with each other, and The Berghoff.
Next time Iâll have what sheâs having, though.
The potato pancakes were trademark Berghoff goodness...a mouth watering side dish that I have had at other German restaurants, at from breakfast to dinner. They are the starchy compliment that meets cultural dietary guidelines, and I had no argument. I love âem.
As for the spaetzle, it was good, but not great. If anything, it was the only less-than-superb aspect of the entire meal. I have had far better spaetzle dishes in Germany (maybe a little more butter would have made them go down more easily). Ours was just a little dry.
But wait. Thereâs more. We couldnât prematurely depart this culinary wonder without dessert. It was at this juncture that we hit a roadblock, because we identified six potential selections, each of which would have added the sugary finale our stomachs needed to walk away bloated like a couple of fattened Dachshunds.
It was a difficult choice, but we went with the blueberry crisp with ice cream. And as Deanna is always wont to say, âIt ainât cobbler without ice cream.â I have learned to live with those words, and thus become a frequent purveyor of vanilla.
While I was in love with those Michigan blueberries baked in that gooey goodness, Deanna mumbled something about having rather opted for the Old World Apple Cake. But thatâs just us. Anything with the word âberryâ in it has my attention.
Two hours later and a pay parking receipt that was about to run out, we bid Auf Wiedersehen to The Berghoff, Deanna asking when we were coming to Chicago again. I suspect she was hinting about dinner.
And I have no argument. My parents trained me well, and taught me the virtues of fine dining. I am forever grateful to them for introducing me to The Berghoff, because it became my privilege to do the same for my wife.
Feel the Liebe, yâall! Amen!
Nick & Deanna
Would We Go Back: The question should be, âWhen are we going back?â Yeah. Itâs that good.
Price: $-$$ Our meal (minus the two souvenir beer glasses) was about $60 before tip.
Dress: Casual to business, especially during the week when office peeps will be there for lunch.
Comments: The Berghoff is a must-stop place along Route 66, in our estimation. The only other one in this category is The Turquoise Room in Winslow AZ. Everything else is optional. You will not be disappointed.
Map View of DinesOn66 locations.
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A Stitch In Wine
Iâm not much of a wine drinker, but I am trying. A sip here, a sip there, but an oenophile I am not. Mostly I just imbibe beer.
Itâs not easy being a beer snob, but I manage to find myself downtown at Crush Wine Bar and Deli on a regular basis, in spite of their name. Their food is amazing, their beer selection (14 taps plus a nice array of cans and bottles) always pleases my barley-and-hop damaged palate, and their apps and deserts are to die for (dangling participle and all).
So it was no surprise that Deanna and I found ourselves at Crush in Amarillo one evening last February (as we have many times since then). Itâs one of my favorite haunts anyway, and is on Polk only one block south of Route 66. To be able to share it with her was delightful. Iâm sentimental that way, especially about good food.
Crush is located on the southeast corner of 7th and Polk in the historic Mayfair Building, amid a small but growing number of hip, cool establishments that are the culinary component of Amarilloâs Downtown redevelopment impetus. But not for long, yoâŚCrush will be moving in Fall 2017 across the street to a new structure they will share with Six Car Brewery. Can anyone say rooftop dining?
Yeah. As long as the wind isnât howling and the feedlots arenât sharing, this could be amazing.
There are several things that make Crush unique among Amarillo eateries. First is its unique wine delivery system, which includes a dispenser much like taps for beer. It allows Crush to treat bottled wine much like a keg of beer, and provide 6-ounce, 3-ounce, and 1-ounce sampler pours. Toss in a walk-in glass-walled wine room with bottles from floor to ceiling, and you have the visually impressive and taste-bud pleasing array of 300 different wines.
Pour, poor pitiful you, right?!
Add to that a very progressive menu for Amarillo, and you will never fail to be treated to delicacies you just cannot find out on the interstate. But thatâs why we do this blog anyway. Yâall know what Cheddars tastes like.
As is our custom, Deanna and I shared a meal, but one with enough caloric allowance for an app, main course, and dessert. Hey, we would gain 50 pounds in a heartbeat if we both ordered separately all the time.
Our epicurean journey began with Crushâs world-famous quinoa cakes, which have foodgasm written all over them. I have seen this dish evolve the last couple of years, and it has gone from good to great. Sure, there are those who criticize the foodie consumption of quinoa as excessively bourgeois, but the fact remains that it is an amazing source of plant protein. Plus, we are keeping South American farmers employed.
Picture this: lightly fried quinoa cakes with Brussels sprouts, broccoli, avocado aioli, red peppers, onions, and provolone. My mouth is watering as I type, it is that good. Itâs like an All Star team taking the field. This alone could be your entree for the night.
But wait. Thereâs more.
So we ordered the vegetarian Shepherdâs Pie for our entree. You donât have to give up your calling as a carnivore to enjoy this tasty treat. It is baked in a skillet as it should, except that in addition to mashed potatoes it includes spaghetti squash, mushrooms, pine nuts, lentils, carrots, celery, herbs, browned butter, and curry. Can I get an amen?
As if that were not enough, we begged our server to bring us a slice of the raspberry white chocolate cheesecake. Calories be damned, we forged ahead with two forks and suffered through another round of ecstasy. Neither of us ever could have downed all of this food solo, much less with a couple of brews and sangrias each. Working in unison, though, we were up for the task. Diets can wait.
Oh, the humanity.
The ambience at crush is so not Amarillo. The crowd is decidedly upscale and trendy, often with out-of-town business people. I have dined there through the years (since 2009) with a variety of friends and guests, and Crush never disappoints. Just being surrounded by so much wine is a breath of fresh air for this city boy (did I say I am a beer snob also?).
Better yet, it is downtown. I am a huge proponent of downtown redev programs, regardless of where they are. Downtown is the heart and soul of every city, including Amarillo. I am happy to see Crush and its neighbors prosper, and look forward to seeing them in their new digs later this year.
Crush also has a loyal lunchtime following, which focuses more on the deli side of the business. Think sandwiches and soups. And itâs all good. I have beenâŚmany times.
In the mean time, hurry on downâŚDOWNtownâŚfor an amazing repast that is quintessentially not Amarillo. This place would shine in any city. Pour it on. And heyâŚonly a block from Route 66. Need I say more?
Nick & Deanna
Would We Go Back: What a dumb question.
Price: $-$$ Yeah, dinner and drinks for two (assuming you both order something) will set you back a $50 or more, but it is soooo worth it.
Dress: Suits and dresses to casual. This is Amarillo.
Comments: Crush will not disappoint, unless you are looking for West Texas comfort food. But Crush isnât about mollycoddling. Itâs about expanding your horizons. Come with an open mind and mouth. You will not be dismayed.
Map View of DinesOn66 locations.
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Say Cheese!
There is perhaps a no more basic lunch staple than the grilled cheese sandwich. Anyone can make them, they donât cost much, and they pair nicely with a bowl of hot soup. They are the perfect antidote for a dreary, chilly day.
But as simple as the grilled cheese sandwich may be, it takes some creativity to take it to the next level. Beyond that, it takes real guts to make it the centerpiece of a business.
And so we found ourselves mid-August at Druffâs in Springfield MO, a block east of Park Central Square, and only a few doors down from the historic Gillioz Theatre. It was an oddly cool and rainy day for August, there were few places open downtown for Sunday lunch, and, wellâŚgrilled cheese sounded like that antidote mentioned above. Being on Route 66 (East St. Louis Street) made it all the better.
But first a little back story.
Druffâs occupies the corner storefront of what was once known as the Woodruff Building (hence the âDruffâ moniker). Today, the structure has been revived by a development company, and rechristened the Sky Building. It was in this very building back in 1926 (30th April, to be exact) that John T. Woodruff and Cyrus Avery sent a telegram to the Bureau of Public Roads in Washington, D.C., in which they suggested that â66â be the numeric name of the new road connecting Chicago and Los Angeles. It was a compromise of sorts, given that â60,â the original request, had become a political hot potato that was ultimately won by the Governor of Kentucky for a different road.
It all went down successfully, and on 11th November of that same year, Route 66 was born (along with all of the other numbered federal highways). So there. It doesnât get much better than this when it comes to standing on the birthplace of Route 66.
Open for 1 ½ years now, Druffâs occupies the space once occupied by another small cafe, Toasterâs. They kept the original mosaic tile floor, but made sure all renovations were done in the spirit of decades past. The result is a diner that has the look and feel of the 1940s or earlier.
Deanna ordered the Crump Classic (Colby Jack, Gouda, and Cheddar on Sourdough), along a cup of tomato soup. I went with the Fun Group (Cheddar, Fried Egg, and Apple on Sourdough), along with said soup. Slide in a glass of beer from Motherâs Brewing Company (located a few blocks west), and I had a meal fit for a king.
To combine an over-easy egg with apple and cheese was a fit of pure genius, I might add. Never mind all the clever names they have for their sandwiches. This was culinary ecstasy of the highest orderâŚand all that for what most people accept with a slice of processed cheese between two slices of Wonder bread.
Yuck for the latter, and yay for boldly taking risks.
For the moment at least, Druffâs is all (and only) about grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup, although our server indicated they are thinking of expanding the menu a bit. As it stands, Druffâs is a hometown one-off modeled somewhat after the idea of Cincinnati-based chain Tom and Cheeâs, which is more fast-casual in orientation as opposed to table service at Druffâs. That grilled cheese is enjoying a renaissance, as well as ânew and improvedâ era, is about time in our estimation. There are far too many diners in the US with grilled cheese on their menus, and they seldom if ever deviate from the saccharine banality of cheap bread and bread. We thus applaud Druffâs for their creativity, and will gladly pay $10 for a trendy craft beer take on what most folks do on a Keystone Light budget.
To say that we loved our sandwiches and soup is an understatement. To be able to consume it all in the building that truly is where Route 66 was borne? Priceless.
Nick & Deanna:
Would We Go Back Again: Definitely, but given our love for Springfield, its breweries, and its amazing food, we may just have to spend a week there revisiting all of our favorite places as well as ones we had to pass up.
Price: $
Dress: Casual
Comments: We ate at quite a few places during our three-day stay in Springfield, and this was our farewell meal before we headed back out onto the road. Although it was the simplest and least assuming in many regards, given that we dined on a staple item, it was among our favorites, proving that pretense and price do not always make for the most memorable dining experience. Druffâs is truly amazing in its simplicity, primarily because they have elevated low-brau cuisine to an entirely new level. To have a side dish of Route 66 history at no charge put the center stripe on the blacktop for us.
Map View of DinesOn66 locations.
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Yes, We Wood
Sometimes itâs crazy how you can find a thousand reasons why you would never return to a restaurant, but at the end of it all, you wind up agreeing that it would be kind of fun to go back anyway. Such is the case with Woodyâs Wood Fired Pizza in Joplin MO on the west side of town (1831 W 7th St).
Joplin is a 66 town that has been hit hard, especially by the 2011 tornado. It is often bypassed my 66 tourists as they scoot between Springfield MO and Tulsa. I am glad that I had the opportunity to get better acquainted with the town at the 2013 International 66 Festival. I have many stories, including that time a few of us accidentally found ourselves in a gay bar (Iâll save that story for later), but suffice it to say, Joplin is a very cool 66 city, with tons of history, several alignments, and a lot of good eating.
Although many people gravitate toward Wilderâs, the legendary steak house on South Main, it is out of the price range for many people (expect entrees in the $30s and $40s). While Deanna and I do not squawk at the price of most places, we did opt out of it. Never mind that itâs a few blocks off 66.
So last May (2017) found us in Joplin meeting up with Bill, one of my college roommates from way back when. He was in town on business, and Deanna and I wandered over from Texas to hang out and explore nearby EPA Superfund site Picher OK (that is also another storyâŚjust Google it). After much deliberation and searching, we settled on Woodyâs, with nary a clue as to what to expect. After all, most 66ers tend toward retro diners and the like, and this was about as far away from that as you could get.
Itâs a small place and easy to miss, but we spied it by driving slowly. The three of us wondered to what we had committed, because it looked like a dive bar. You know. Rednecks. Smoke. Loud music. Nasty cheap beer.
Well, three out of four ainât bad. At least there wasnât any smoke.
But what we found was a rather surprisingly good pizza experience. The words âwood firedâ have strong marketing legs these days, because they conjure up images of flames and pizza baking visibly for all to marvel, leaving those black smudge marks on the bottom of the crust more for artistic purposes than anything. You know. Baked just for you, and not in any old pizza oven.
Bill and I ordered up a few Bass Pale Ales, partially because British beer is cool, but mostly because they didnât have anything better. Deanna went with her old standby, Angry Orchard. From there we chose a wood-fired pretzel and chicken wings for apps (for the carnivores, yo!). Deanna and I then selected a veggie pizza with no olives as our main course, while Bill chose a grinder with blackened chicken.
So letâs get into the mixed reviews, some of which might cause people to turn their noses. Itâs very small inside. We had to wait for a booth. It was dirty. The bathrooms were small. The service was slow. The beer selection was lousy, parking minimal. But while the pretzel was only in the âpretty goodâ category, the wings were a solid good (at least as far as Deanna and Bill reported), and the pizza was amazing. Oh, and the music fit our tastes perfectly (we are discerning musicophiles, you know). We loved the Christmas lights used as timeless decor. And the smell? Oh. My. God. That wood-fired oven must have had an exhaust vent and fan aimed right at us.
Which is to say that, while Woodyâs is far from perfect, it is actually the kind of gem in the rough we like to find on our travels. It is purely local, flavored nicely with an extensive array of pizza combinations, build-your-owns, and appetizers. The best part is that it isnât just another boring diner, the kind that get old after a few days of road tripping. This is a slice of Joplin (pun intended), right there on 66 headed toward Kansas, and invariably overlooked by most people hell-bent on getting to Galena to see Tow Mater.
Slow down. Take a chance on some good food. Overlook the glaring inadequacies that might otherwise taint your judgment. Have a pint of Bass, and order up some of the best pizza on 66. Weâre glad we did.
Nick & Deanna
Would We Go Back: You bet. In spite of shortcomings noted above, we are not opposed to rolling up our sleeves in search of local flavor.
Price: $-$$
Dress: Casual
Comments: It was great to meet up with Bill on this trip. The next morning we headed over to Picher OK to explore around the Superfund site, see the abandonment, tour the small museum, witness the gigantic chat piles from the lead and zinc mines. It is rumored there are underground passageways all the way from Miami OK to Joplin and beyond, all the way to Carthage MO. The mining operations were huge back in the day. But I digress. Do stop here for pizza. You will not be disappointed.
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Rock On
Homage to an amazingly popular movie? Check.
Featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives? Check.
Risen like a Phoenix from the ashes of a horrific fire, only to serve patrons once again? Check.
On Route 66? Duh. Thatâs why weâre here.
This can only describe one placeâŚthe world famous Rock Cafe in Stroud OK, where owner Dawn Welch has served up delicious meals for well nigh 24 years now, survived a devastating fire, inspired Pixar to base a movie character on her (Sally, in Cars), and caught the eye of TVâs Guy Fieri.
âNothing to see here, folks. Move along now,â said no one ever.
A visit to The Rock Cafe is much like that of dropping in on a shrine. It starts in the front lawn, with plywood cutouts of Cars cars (the movie was perhaps one of the best uses of anthropomorphism), and continues inside with photos, newspaper articles, and related items. Stir in some Route 66, Coca Cola memorabilia, and other old artifacts, and you have a delicious mash-up of pop culture stalwarts. Too bad Guyâs autographed poster perished in the fire.
The fire itself (and resurrection therefrom) is a great story in itself. The shell of the building is pretty much all that remained (it is made of âgiraffe rock,â a common building material in OK and MO), aside from Betsy, the 200-pound oven in the kitchen. Dawn single-handedly resuscitated this Route 66 standard in a feat that is nothing short of amazing.
But the food is even more amazing still.
I should note that we actually dined here twice in recent weeksâŚin May while doing a motor tour of 66 from Amarillo to Joplin and back, and again in June, while bicycling from Amarillo to Chicago on 66. This gave us ample opportunity to try everything twice, because we loved our first menu choices so much on the first visit.
Having been to Germany in the last year, my mind often drifts back to the amazing spaetzle dishes I had there. When I saw Spaetzle and Cheese on the menu (complete with onions, bell peppers, and tomatoes), it was a no-brainer. Yes. Please. Give me lots. Deanna selected Bevâs Famous Meat Loaf, which came with mashed potatoes and green beans. That dish has also been featured in Southern Living Magazine.
We pretty much waxed gastronomic the whole time, both times. âAch du lieber! Just like Germany!â I squealed like a school girl. âMy meat loaf was better than Mamaâs,â Deanna said, hoping her Mama in heaven didnât hear.
Of course, two good meals couldnât go down without a look at the dessert menu as well. We chose two (calories be damned!), with Oatmeal Pie (aka Poor Manâs Pecan Pie) and Grandmaâs Peach Cobbler with a scoop of vanilla â(It ainât cobbler without ice cream,â Deanna sent the server into stitches).
It was at this point that had to note one minor disappointment. The Oatmeal Pie tasted likeâŚwell, you knowâŚoatmeal. We had imagined it tasting like pecans as it was billed. âIâd wait to get rich!â Deanna added. But the cobbler? âMelts in your mouth!â I gushed. It was flaky. Delicate. Sweet and just a tad bit sour at the same time. On the Foodgasm Scale, we would give it a 9 out of 10.
We licked that plate, wiped our mouths, and proceeded to pay the bill, hoping and praying that more trips take us through Stroud in the near future. Be sure to check their hours so you donât come through when they are closed. This is a required stop for anyone calling themselves a Route 66 roadie.
Service was quick (eight minutes!). Be sure to take your souvenir cups with you, and bring a Sharpie so you can sign the walls in the hallway and bathrooms. More importantly, plan on staying a while and just soaking up every last bit of the amazingnessâŚthe food, the Cars references, the fine balancing act of being local diner plus tourist attraction. Itâs a fine balance that Dawn has mastered, and you wonât be disappointed. Check.
Nick & Deanna
Would We Go Back: Add one more to the Oh Hell Yes list. This place is damn good.
Price: $
Dress: Casual, even Lycra (if youâre riding a bicycle!)
Comments: It truly is amazing how Dawn has managed to tap into both the local market and the 66 scene. Often, restaurateurs can only successfully leverage one or the other, kind of like Big Texan in Amarillo. I have been at Rock Cafe on numerous occasions only to find an entire Little League team sitting across from international fans of 66 and other roadies. Oh, and the food. Yes. It really is that good.
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Smoke Gets In Your Eyes
A big part of doing research for this blog is taking a few risks. It is all too easy to fall into the trap of eating at the same places along 66 every time you drive that ribbon from Chicago to LA. And we understand itâŚwe, too, have our favorites and old standbys, and we have to remind ourselves that the only way to discover other future faves is to take a chance on something different.
Sometimes you win. Sometimes you lose. And sometimes you just call it evenâŚyouâre satisfactorily full, but probably not coming back. Such was our experience reported below.
Mid-June 2017 found us in Waynesville MO for the night, and looking for a place to break our fast. Our friend Jason rode out on his Harley that morning to join us as we settled on the Sunshine Cafe (688 Old Rte 66). Technically, it is in adjacent St. Robert, but the two towns blend together rather seamlessly, the latter serving interstate travelers up on the hill as well as anyone visiting Fort Leonard Wood, and the latter a much smaller, sleepier town down in the Roubidoux valley.
The Sunshine Cafe sits in what appears to be a 60s-era structure that houses multiple businesses; the cafe occupies two adjacent storefronts with a walkway carved out on an inside wall (the other two units are occupied by existing businesses).
What makes this place less than memorable is that the owners have designated one section as smoking, the other non-smoking. But as any non-smoker will tell you, the whole place may as well be smoking. Smoke filters through the ventilation system as well as on its own through the doorway. Yuck.
The non-smoking section had a distinct mustiness that could only come from it being polluted by cigarette smoke wafting through from the other room. Worse yet, the Ladies room is on the smoking side, so any woman en route to the bathroom has to find her way through smoke.
But wait. Thereâs more. The cash register is also on the smoking side, meaning that whomever is paying the bill has to dodge clouds of smoke (good luck with that). There should be a Surgeon Generalâs warning as you pass through to that side of the cafe.
Maybe we have just grown too accustomed to the many restaurants in the US with zero smoking, either by law or owner policy. It was a little bit of a shock to our systems to suddenly take a walk back in time to when nearly every building allowed smoking.
Itâs too bad that smoke affected our evaluation of the Sunshine Cafe, because truth be known, the food was good. Unexpectedly good. In fact, we did not see anyone resembling a tourist (other than ourselves); the place was hopping with locals, attesting to the quality of the food (as well as their tolerance for smoke).
Deanna ordered a basic breakfast that day: two eggs scrambled, crispy bacon (it better be crispy, or she will give them a thumbs down!), hashbrowns, and a biscuit. I went with a veggie omelet (I knowâŚI am so predictable, but we vegetarians have a smaller choice set), home fries, and a biscuit.
It is all too easy to serve menu staples without any flair. We have been in far too many diners along 66 (and elsewhere) whose cooks have no imagination, and probably just prepare foods the way they do at home. Blehhh. Boring. But when people are paying you to perform this task, it behooves you to go the extra mile and prepare something that isâŚyou knowâŚtasty.
And that the Sunshine Cafe did. In spite of the ever-present reminder that this is a smoker-friendly establishment, we actually enjoyed our food (not to mention our most excellent banter with Jason!). We just would have liked our experience a lot more had the air been a little cleaner.
We took a risk going into a place that was completely unknown to us. We live for those opportunities, and assume all risks for doing so. Sometimes you winâŚsometimes you lose. And sometimes you come out smelling like smokeâŚyet pleasantly full.
Nick & Deanna
Would We Go Back: Highly doubtful, but only because of the smoke. Come on, guys. This is 2017. Weâre not telling people they canât smoke. We just donât want to be anywhere near you when you do it, and especially when we are eating. You may not notice the cloud and stench, but we do.
Price: $
Dress: Casual
Comments: I knowâŚwe came down kind of hard on this little cafe. Itâs a bona fide along the Route, and we would love to throw our support and high praise. The food really was goodâŚitâs just that we do not tolerate smoke. We donât go to bars that allow smoking. We just boycott places like that. Clean air trumps all in our book, but if you donât mind the smoke and/or are a smoker, then we encourage you to visit the Sunshine Cafe.
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Going Downtown
Many years ago, Petula Clark crooned poetic, âWhen youâre alone, and life is making you lonely, you can always go Downtown.â She was so right.
There are many downtowns along Route 66, some big, some very small. And it is often in those downtowns that some of the best kept secrets of the Mother Road can be found.
Edible ones.
And one of those little secrets is the Downtown Diner in Weatherford OK along original 66 (123 W. Main Street). It sits among typical small-town shops and offices. Weatherford is a quaint little college town in the western part of the state, along where the trees start to become fewer and farther between, and you can almost reach out to touch the setting sun.
While there are many small-town diners to be found between Chicago and Los Angeles, few are truly distinctive. Many are the same, and, worse yet, many are happy being just average. The marketing prof in me knows too well that in a sea of mediocrity, one needs a hook with which to catch people, and bait with which to attract them in the first place.
The Downtown Diner does just that with some of the best cinnamon rolls ever made. Cinnabon does not hold a baking pan to these delicacies. They're made from an old family recipe from the way-back machine. But I am getting ahead of myself. Hang on to that delicious thought.
Inside, the Downtown Diner is a slice of 1950s, tastefully decorated in period style with tables and booths, photos, bric-a-brac, and even a deck of playing cards at every table. Itâs just enough without going over the top and leaving you with a faux-50s feeling (oooh, the alliteration!).
Weâre pretty certain we were the only tourists inside this crowded little cafe. It was obvious that locals come here often, especially the group of older gentlemen playing dominoes at a couple of tables that had been pushed together. Given that I have yet to hear of this place from any of my Route 66 pals, nor seen anywhere on Facebook that Mother Road tourists have found the Downtown Diner, we felt good about possibly being in a relatively undiscovered restaurant.
Deanna went with the Downtown Diner Trash (size Large, because hungry), which was a massive pile-up of scrambled eggs, hash browns, veggies, and sausage. And what an imaginative name! It looked like its name. I ordered two blueberry pancakes and a bowl of grits with butter and brown sugar. Oh, and we chose to share (oh, the tragedy!) oneâŚONEâŚcinnamon roll. What were we thinking?
Yes, indeed. We should have ordered six and called it good. We started with dessert, as any kid would really rather do. âOh my! This melts in your mouth!â I said loudly. âBeats my Mamaâs and Cinnabonâs hands down!â Deanna chimed in. It was Deannaâs first foodgasm. âMmmm, mmmm, mmmm.â
You always remember your first time. When Harry Met Sally, anyone?
She continued to glow poetic. I couldnât get her to shut up. âThatâs the best cinnamon roll Iâve ever had. I would come back just for these.â If that isnât high praise, I donât know what is, even if I couldnât get in a word edge-wise.
Of course, such a good opening act is about as risky as any rock band having a stellar debut album, and then having to keep up the pace on everything thereafter. It would be difficult for the Downtown Diner to come close to those rolls, but that they did, starting with my grits.
Normally I am a butter-and-sugar grits man, but they teased me with brown sugar instead. Now maybe I am not as much a grits aficionado as I thought, but I had never had them before with brown sugar. Plain old starched white sugar, be gone! Theirs took grits to an entirely new level. And salt and/or pepper users? You folks donât know what youâre missing.
Deannaâs Diner Trash was a sight to see as well as eat. It reminded me of the Garbage Plates I saw served 35 years ago at Nick Tahouâs in Rochester NY. It was a massive amount of food and flavor, and I noticed that Deanna wasnât saying much. Thatâs code for âit was damn good.â She finally added, âThe Trash was good, especially the crispy edges.â
My blueberry pancakes were also a cut above the normally bland cakes found in most diners. Plus, they served it with real butter (one of those niggling little details that invariably lands on my radar). And I donât mean a packet of butter. No. Real butter, served in a blob, the way it should be.
Our first impression at the Downtown Diner admittedly did not start well, because there were a lot of people all trying to leave at the same time, and that left half a dozen tables wound up being unbused for longer than one might expect. But once the staff had time to catch up, the place was spic-and-span. Locals passing by our table stopped to say hello; heck, there were even locals who had called in their food orders, and a steady stream passed by our booth en route to the pay station.
The Downtown Diner is only open until early afternoon, so you have to plan your visit accordingly. If your 66 adventure includes an overnight in Weatherford, plan on breakfast hereâŚor lunch if you are passing through midday. Itâs worth your stop.
Weâre happy we followed 66 through town rather than taking the freeway to bypass what amounted to only a few stoplights. After all, traveling 66 means you do this kind of thing reflexively. You wonât find this kind of goodness next to the super slab. Petula Clark was right.
âSo maybe Iâll see you there. We can forget all our troubles, forget all our cares. So go downtown.â
Nick & Deanna
Would We Go Back: Yes, if only for those amazing cinnamon rolls, but more likely also for breakfast. AndâŚumâŚmaybe a pie to go.
Price: $
Dress: Casual
Comments: It was a delight to dine here. We loved the retro graphics, the decor, the food. Sure, we saw mixed reviews at various online portals, mostly about wait times. And to be fair, it did take us 48 minutes from arrival to serving of breakfast, which is long. But it was worth it.
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By The Numbers
Itâs quite the trendy thing to do to refer to oneâs region in reference to the Area Code, such as âThe ###.â In Albuquerque, itâs The 505. It has likewise become increasingly common to see products such as beers with Area Code references, such as 312 from Goose Island and 805 from Firestone Walker.
Itâs also cool to name coffee shops similarly, such as 928 Coffee in Tulsa (which is on Route 66!), as well as The 806 in Amarillo, which is where our empty cup found us a few days ago. Located at 2812 SW 6th Ave, it is in the heart of Amarilloâs retro-chic â6th Streetâ stretch of Route 66.
OK, never mind that it is technically SW 6th Avenue, but locals seem bent on changing the street name because it has just a little more cachet...like Austinâs renown 6th Street. It probably doesnât matter...say Avenue or Street here, and everyone will know what youâre talking about.
As I have posted elsewhere, The 806 ainât your Daddyâs Starbucks. It is kitschy. It is cool. It is about as bohemian as you will find in Amarillo. In fact, if you want to see tats, piercings, dyed and/or asymmetric hairdos in Amarillo, this is your place.
But I also call it my place, and I have been frequenting the place for years. Thatâs just how I roll, sans tats, piercings, and colored hair (I donât have enough hair to color anyway).
Of course, anything down on 6th is automatically different from mainstream Amarillo, which is good in my book. Homogeneity has never been my strong suit. The 806 is one of Amarilloâs music hot spots for local and indie touring acts, and youâre just as likely to find someone playing inside as you are out on the sidewalk.
As you might expect, The 806 supports the arts community, and regularly swaps out what hangs on the walls. Come two weeks in a row, and you will probably see the work of two very different artists, anything from watercolors to photos and everything in between. Itâs a great place for local artisans to get a little exposure, as well as keep the interior fresh inside the coffee house.
The 806 is much more than just that magical java, though. It is a coffee bar and lounge, serving from an eclectic mix of beers, wines, and cocktails, as well as vegetarian and vegan food items. I know of no other place in Amarillo at which I can be served a Fullerâs London Pride, which conjures up many happy memories of prior travels.
The Coffee Bar area sits in one of the two âroomsâ of the structure, and is a pleasant cacophony of signage, stickers, and ephemera to complement the main act (coffee, yo!) and everything else on the menu. They proudly proclaim their meat-free tendencies (I do believe this is probably the only veg place in all of Amarillo). Place your order, pay via the Square credit card terminal, and have a seat on the other side.
We came early on a Saturday morning for breakfast, and practically had the place to ourselves, save for a few locals walking in zombie-eyed in search of coffee, and a Tennessee van filled with sleepy-eyed young women who looked like they had driven all night. Quirky alternative music served softly provided a sensible backdrop for the time of day.
Deanna went basic...House Blend Coffee doctored up in her usual way (lots oâ cream and sugar) and a blueberry bagel with cream cheese, while I was hungry and ordered the breakfast taco and a very robust Sumatran mug of Joe.
Her bagel was not of the store-bought variety. While it would have been easy for them to toss in a pre-packaged serving of cream cheese, they took the time to carefully cut a rectangle of that delightful spread, attesting to their emphasis on fresh. And my breakfast taco (with spinach, tomatoes, and mushrooms) was basically a mouth-watering omelet served between a warm folded tortilla, alongside blue corn chips and salsa. I could eat this every morning for breakfast.
Oh my.
For those 66 travelers who get off the freaking freeway to actually explore Amarilloâs different Mother Road alignments, this is a must-stop. Heck, if youâre on 6th, you are probably already paying Croc a visit at Lile Art Gallery, or Dora over at Texas Ivy. Stay a few minutes longer and enjoy a great cup of coffee, an adult beverage, and a bite to eat. And if you are so inclined, spend the night in our fair village, and return to The 806 to catch one of the very diverse acts appearing there.
Donât worry about not fitting in if you donât happen to be of the non-traditional persuasion. They love all, serve all...even us. Grab a seat on the sofa or at a table, bang out a tune on the piano, suck up a little wifi, and make yourself at home. We did.
And experience a little bit of different 66 than you might expect in the biggest cow town between Chicago and LA.
Nick & Deanna
Would We Go Back: Oh yes. Just like I have been doing for years.
Price: $
Dress: Seriously. You ask? Come as you are, were, or wanna be.
Comments: I love that The 806 is here. It takes guts to be a salmon in Amarillo, where homogeneity is a desirable attribute. Amarillo actually has several very cool coffee shops (Palace, Evocation, and Roasters, to name a few more), and each bucks the Starbucks mold in their own way. The 806 goes above and beyond by serving food, alcohol, and music. The best part? Itâs on Route 66. Trust us on this one. You need to be here.
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Boycott Bland
Sometimes you want to try something different from classic American diner fare. Sometimes you want to go a little bit upscale, a little bit trendy. And sometimes you have to go a block or so off 66 to find it. Such is the case with Destihl Restaurant and Brew Works in Normal IL (318 Towanda Ave).
It is au courant. It is progressive. It is creative and imaginative. It is the farthest thing from classic American diner fare. Oh, and they also brew some amazing beers there. For what more could you ask?
We have a rule at DinesOn66 about what constitutes fair game for an official dining option for Route 66 sojourners. Obviously, anything on 66 along any of the historic alignments is legitimate. But we have also included eateries that are close enough for rock and roll. âAnything on 66, or if you can see it from thereâ is our guideline. Destihl fits that bill with its location just off Veterans Parkway (Business I-55) on Normalâs east side, which was the 1941-1977 alignment of the Mother Road.
Normal and its sister city Bloomington are college towns, with Illinois State and Illinois Wesleyan calling it home. Thus, these twin cities have a lot more to offer than most metro areas of their size.
As for Destihl, it is a growing craft brewer with distribution as far away as Texas, so I was very familiar with their impressive array of sours, as well as the ales. We visited in June 2017 for a complete meal while driving home from Chicago to Amarillo following our bike ride the opposite direction, but had also visited in October 2016 for an app and drinks. We knew then we had to return for the full treatment.
Our 2016 app was an amazing plate full of beer-battered asparagus, which was simply unforgettable. Asparagus is much like Brussels sprouts, kale, and other once-obscure vegetables now the peak of haute cuisine. I have steamed and grilled asparagus before, drizzled it with balsamic vinaigrette, sprinkled it with grated parmesanâŚbut never once thought of battering and lightly frying.
Oh my. Foodgasm #1.
On our recent visit, we went with the cheese curds, which areâŚwe admitâŚone of our biggest weaknesses. Imagine our surprise when a platter of curds the size of golf balls was presented to us. Light. Fluffy. Finger-licking good in a way that even the Colonel could appreciate. Foodgasm #2.
For drinks, I went with a flight of four Destihl brews (Redbird Ale, Outsider Vienna Lager, Snarker Posey RyePA, and Singles Going Steady With Simcoe Hops), while Deanna opted for the white sangria. Sheâs just not much of a beer girl. And in spite of maintaining an Untappd account to sample all of my brews, she prefers ciders and non-potent sangrias. She loved hers; I gulped mine.
For our main course, Deanna chose the Dijon Chicken (marinated grilled dijon chicken breasts, served with sautĂŠed green beans and roasted fingerling potatoes), while I went with the Butternut Squash Panzanella Salad (butternut squash, sweet potato, zucchini, pumpkin seeds, cinnamon croutons, maple chipotle sauce, and balsamic glaze). The conversation stopped for about ten minutes while we savored the goodness of these amazing dishes.
For some reason, I had expected my butternut squash salad to be served warm, but it arrived chilled (probably in keeping with the term âsaladâ). I was amazed at the flavorful explosion in my mouth. Always a sucker for anything with pumpkin seeds, I devoured this cornucopia of garden goodness down to the last kernel. The same can be said of Deanna, although she did offer me a taste of her beans and potatoes. Foodgasms #3 and #4, respectively.
Word up to any current or aspiring chef up and down 66: Come here. Broaden your horizons. Take plenty of notes. This is head and shoulders above the vast majority of food to be found up and down 66.
For a parting shot, we went with the Salted Caramel Cheesecake. As Deanna often reminds me, it ainât dessert without ice cream, be it cobbler, cheesecake, a root beer float, whatever. And this did not disappoint. Foodgasm #5 for the win.
As if that all werenât enough, I toted home a six-pack of Destihl brews in cans to find their way to the shelves of my massive beer can collection. I just wish we could have taken some food to go as well.
As for us, Iâm glad we ventured off 66 last October to find this place. It was amazing both then and this time. Never mind that we intentionally found a hotel within walking distance so that we could safely consume adult beverages and not have to drive.
Be sure to stop here next time you are in central Illinois. We give this one our highest rating. And just like their tag line, we boycotted bland.
Nick & Deanna
Would We Go Again: Oh, hell yes!
Price: $$
Dress: Casual to Business
Comments: What a breath of fresh air! We had just come off 16 days of bicycling from Amarillo Chicago, and on the return to Texas, we more or less rewound the tape on 66, stopping for more photographs, as well as to dine in even more places on or near the route. To be honest, we had long grown tired of standard diner fare. Sure, they are the hallmark of the 66 experience, but it is nice to lean the other direction for a while and go trendy cool. Destihl is definitely worth your time and money. Take our word for it. We will definitely come back here, again and again.
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Blue Yonder
This review also appears on our sister food blog Foodarillo.
There are many fine diners up and down Route 66, from Chicago to LA (be sure to watch for DinesOn66.com, our forthcoming Route 66 food blog!). They range from hot dog stands to dive bars, and everything in between. While those extremes do offer appeal, what folks really want along the Mother Road is comfort food done well.
Piping hot. Fresh and fast. Priced fairly. Seasoned with kitsch; served by folks you would consider kin.
Those words describe our experience at the Blue Front Cafe down on 6th Ave SW. Locals call it 6th Street, so if youâre not from around these parts, donât get things confused. Technically, Avenues run east and west, while Streets run north and south. I think our preference for âStreetâ may be due to the epic popularity of Austinâs 6th Street, and we just want something to hang our hat on.
Yep. We gots one, too.
Blue Front is your quintessential 66 diner, serving up tasty familiar plates of food since 1946. God knows how many Mother Road sojourners have stopped there. If the parking lot is any indication, though, it is probably more popular with locals (the mud on those trucks says a lot). Sadly, all too many 66 tourists steer clear of Amarilloâs historic district and just blow through on the freeway while headed to paint a Cadillac.
But I digress.
If you are one of those fly-by tourists, you missed out. And if you are local, point your truck or car this way. Now.
Deanna and I visited recently for breakfast. Now breakfast is one of those meals that is much the same everywhere you go, unless you go the extra mile to make it special (green chili eggs and polenta anyone?). Itâs easy to do it OK, and if youâre not careful, even easier to screw it up.
On this trip, Deanna ordered the western omelet, while I chose the migas. A couple of fluffy biscuits accompanied my order, along with house potatoes on both plates. While I would have loved me some polenta and green chiles (you probably knew that was coming), the folks at Blue Front did an excellent job making breakfast staples into something genuinely good.
Which is to say they didnât screw it up, and went beyond just serving another bland omelet. Because, you know, anyone with a skillet can do that. Rather than bland, tasteless eggs, these popped in our mouths, with forkful following forkful.
Can I say I am getting hungry right now? There. I just did it.
Blue Frontâs breakfast menu is simply amazing, with multiple pages of offerings. And while breakfast is available later in the day as well, there are chicken, steak, burger, and seafood items for lunch and dinner. An ample bar offering is available for those wishing to slake their thirst with an adult quaff (and not just boring mass-produced beers, thank you!).
What made our experience stand out, though, as the attention to detail. The building is kitschy and semi-rugged with corrugated tin on selected walls. Thereâs neon. Thereâs Route 66. They even had black-and-white classics running on the multiple big screen TVs. It was 1946 meets 2017.
Even better is that the place was immaculate. Compared to some of the other places we have visited, we couldnât find a speck or slip of paper out of place. In fact, on a return visit I made with some local and out-of-town Route 66 friends, I saw a server grab a broom and sweep the floor to make sure anything that fell during lunch quickly disappeared.
And on that return visit I ordered up their veggie burger. I fully expected an out-of-the-box Gardenburger or some such hockey puck, but noâŚthis one was amazing, with grilled mushrooms, raw onion, and sliced avocado topping my cheese-oozing vegetarian patty. Oh myâŚI have found a new place to visit when I am craving a burger!
While the Blue Front has certainly undergone renovations since 1946, it hasnât lost itâs old-school charm. It sits right down among many vintage buildings that once housed the commerce that made Amarillo the great city that is and was. While the business side of 6th is a lot different today, you canât help but feel like youâre traveling down the streets of yesteryear when you cruise Amarilloâs 66.
Blue Front is still holding court after all these years, and you would be remiss in your civic and historic duties if you didnât stop in. You can even have your picture taken with James Dean.
Kinda.
He looks a little stiff, dontcha think?
Nick & Deanna
Would We Go Back: Hell yeah. This place is legit. Itâs Route 66. Itâs Amarillo.
Price: $ This one wonât break the bank or 401(k).
Dress: I have seen everything from cowboy to casual. Suits and ties are also fine. This is Texas. Anything goes. Get over it.
Comments: Deanna rather liked getting to pose with James Dean. Thankfully, she quickly returned from her flight of fantasy and took my hand. Because Deannaâs that way. She knows she can kid around.
Did I ever tell you that we always sit side by side when we dine out? Yeah. We love each other that much, just like a couple of young lovebirds. You should try it sometime. More importantly, keep writing that love story, the one that is uniquely yours. Because DinesOn66 is the story of our love for foodâŚand each other. Hey, holla if you want to join us for eats sometime!
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Thai One On
This review also appears on our sister food blog Foodarillo.
I have eaten in some pretty unlikely places. I have taken chances at places most folks from the suburbs wouldnât dare visit. Some of my best dining experiences have happened in those off the beaten path holes in the wall, because it is there that you taste the real culture and delicacies of a town.
Not in a corporate chain beside the freeway. Weâre doing Thai this time around, and we wanted to see another part of town.
Like that time in 1982 when some of my MBA school buddies and I dropped in at Nick Tahouâs in Rochester NY (thatâs Rah-cha-cha to locals). Of course, I was still a carnivore back then, so when I ordered up their famous Garbage Plate (a messy mash-up of red hots, white hots, fries, and sauces), I knew I was in for a real treat, not to mention a few thousand calories. Oh, was it good. And fattening.
Amarillo has plenty of places like that scattered across town, and especially along the Boulevard. This busy 4-lane city street once carried Route 66 traffic, and featured dozens of motels, restaurants, and shopping centers. It was, for all intents and purposes, Amarilloâs Main Street.
But the coming of the freeway in 1968 changed all that, and the Boulevard was left to urban decay. Today, many of Amarilloâs ethnic groups live on or near the Boulevard, and the dining scene reflects the changing of one neighborhood to the next as you crawl through the many stop lights. Route 66 tourists often overlook the Boulevard, maybe because some have heard it isnât safe, maybe because they focused on the fabled âSixth Streetâ area between Georgia and Western, or, more likely than not, they just got a steak and spray painted a few old Cadillacs on their way out of town.
While the Boulevard may not look or feel like some of squeaky clean neighborhoods on Amarilloâs southwest and northwest sides, I have a hard time thinking that Amarillo has any unsafe areas. Iâm from Chicago, so itâs all relative. You want unsafe? I can show you some that would make Amarilloâs worst look pretty desirable. Get out of your comfort zone and see what else this town has to offer.
The far east end of the Boulevard is an amazing amalgam of cultures and languages. African and Asian shops and diners of many stripes often sit side by side, occupying 50-60-year old buildings and strip centers. The rent may be lower and Route 66 in our rear view mirror, but that doesnât mean the food isnât good.
Thai House (5601 East Amarillo Boulevard) is one of those places. Housed in a building that no doubt has been home to many other restaurants through the years, Thai House is about as unassuming as they come. Given Amarilloâs many Thai and other Asian diners, it would be easy to miss among the crowd. But if you did, youâd be missing out on a real treat.
Deanna and I found ourselves there one Saturday for lunch. We were the only non-Asians in the place (which we took as a vote of confidence from the Thai/Asian community). There are a couple of pool tables in the back, and dark and rather dingy looking bar with 8-liners off to the west side, a variety of Asian artifacts throughout, and uneven light-to-dark areas. In other words, what it lacked in suburban pretense, it made up for in authenticity. This is exactly what I experienced in Asia, and why we rather liked the look and feel. Oh, and we chuckled that the mandatory Choking signage was actually in plain view right by one of the pool tables. Good to know, because most places hide that sign.
Deanna ordered the Vegetable Fried Rice, while I opted for the Veggie Pad Thai. I have eaten at enough Thai diners to know that there can be enormous variation in these basic dishes from one place to the next, but that it also takes a little inventiveness to make them stand out. These are the meatloaf and mashed potatoes of Thai cuisine, and itâs easy to fall in line with the bland band.
We knew that wasnât the case after only a couple of bites. âThatâs the best fried rice I have ever had!â Deanna exclaimed. She had been a little reluctant to venture onto the Boulevard in the first place, but was instantly gushing about how much she liked the place. You know. As if it were her idea to come here all along.
Ah, but I digress.
And she was right. Ours were not plates full of cheap rice and noodles, and the occasional overcooked sliced carrot. No, the veggies were abundant, cooked yet crisp, and actually had taste. All too many times we encounter these staples with no taste at all, screaming for Sriracha or soy sauce if only to make it taste like something. But ours actually stood up on the table and danced.
OK, maybe not, but you get the point. If a Chicago boy and Florida gal can rave about Thai food in Amarillo, it must be something to write home about.
Our service was plenty fast, which was perfect since we were on a limited time budget. As with all Asian restaurants, being vegetarian-friendly is a given. Just tell them to hold the meat. Sure, an aging property like this could use some scrubbing in places (like the bathroom walls and doors) and updating, but at the same time, it might just lose a bit of its ambience. Sometimes good enough is best left alone.
As for the bar, Thai House has typical American beer (read: Bud, MillerLite, etc.), Heineken, and a token entrant from Thailand, Singha. Being a beer snob and devotee of the brewerâs art, I opted for the Singha. But, alas, I found it to be like nearly every other beer from Asia I have tried: weak copycats of our worst beers. Next time I will just have hot tea.
As for Deanna, she has already been asking when we can go back. I took that as a great sign, because I think sheâs ready to visit some more places on the Boulevard. And maybe one day we will find Amarilloâs version of the Garbage Plate.
Because this is about the chase for good food, the adventure of dining outside oneâs comfort zone, the willingness to try things you donât normally eat at home or away. Weâll see you out there.
Would We Go Back: âDefinitely,â said Deanna. âThis was really good.â
Price: $
Dress: Casual
Comments: Donât let appearances or neighborhoods scare you. I realize that for those of us who live south of Downtown, I-40 is almost like an invisible brick wall. It is a perceptual speed bump that tends to keep us corralled on only one side of town. Amarillo has some delightful diners, but theyâre not all out by The Colonies. Itâs worth escaping from the same old-same old.
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Taco The Town
The taco genre has pretty much been developed about as far as it can go. Between food trucks, taco shacks, and sit-down fast-casual eateries, tacos are about as mainstream as any other food item.
Mind you, these are not Taco Bell variety tacos. No, they are delicious. Creative. Filled with unexpected ingredients. Given clever names. Chains like Torchyâs and Fuzzyâs have even taken tacos to the next level by expanding outside of their home turf.
But when it comes to tacos on 66, my favorite has long been Big Truck Tacos in Oklahoma City. Located on 23rd Street (the 1926-1954 alignment through town) near the historic Tower Theatre (love that neon sign!), Big Truck sits comfortably among a rather eclectic and bohemian grouping of shops and diners.
Thatâs a complicated way of saying they fit right in.
In what was once a simple old school drive-in hamburger stand with canopy, Big Truck has adapted the building well with indoor and outdoor seating. While it can get a little crowded at peak times, I have learned through more than five years of visiting BT to simply come at the off times. Service is always fast then, and finding a seat never difficult.
While Big Truck has an amazing array of taco varietals with catchy names, it is their set of salsas on which they rather proudly hang their hat. The challenge is ours to pick the right one, the one that wonât send us running outside for air, crying for sour cream.
We started with chips and salsa (which was more than likely the Medium from the list above), along with a Reddâs Apple Cider for Deanna and a Spare Rib Pale Ale for me. Big Trucks has the usual mix of mass-produced American and Mexican beers, but also stocks a few locals, particularly several from OKCâs Coop Ale Works. Special props for featuring local! And Deanna loves them for having at least one cider (she not of the beer-loving kind).
Our food was ready in a flash. Deanna chose cheese quesadillas, while I, the Big Taco veteran, went with The Wojo. It didnât take long for Deanna to realize she had made a mistake by going off-taco with her selection. After all, at a diner with âTacosâ in the name, it kind of behooves you toâŚumâŚorder tacos.
Lesson learned. They were nothing worth a postcard home.
But my Wojo wasnât a slice of zucchini short of amazing. The colorful vegetable medley has huge eye appeal by itself, and its flavorful explosion inside my mouth was just as great. They have several veg-friendly options on the menu for my herbivorous friends, alongside many with a variety of meats. Each order is completely scaleable depending on hunger and desire for variety. Order up a few and sample the goodness.
As for those salsas, letâs just say that I think I have grown accustomed to heat after 28 years living in the southwest. I tried each of them on chips, along with a 6th option, Little Devil. I expected the roof of my mouth to cry for mercy, but it never happened. I could easily drink any of these through a straw.
Lame-o, tame-o. YMMV, of course. Donât come complaining to me if you canât take a little heat.
In this era of taco coolness, Big Truck is in the big leagues. They leave Fuzzyâs far in the distance, and could duke it out with Torchyâs any day (although Torchyâs does win points for its UrbanDictionary references in naming specific tacos). And Taco Fill-In-The-Blank?
Donât make us laugh. Not even worthy of the name âtaco.â Weâll see you here next time we roll through town.
Nick & Deanna
Would We Go Back: Definitely. I have been coming here more than five years. I canât even remember how I stumbled into it the first time. Whenever I am going to be near Downtown OKC, I make sure to come here. As Deanna said, âWant a unique experience? Come here!â
Price: $
Dress: Casual
Comments: This is an amazing place, and along a portion of 66 that is often overlooked. In fact, most of OKC is overlooked by 66 tourists, who instead opt for the freeway to fast-forward to the other side of town. Thatâs a shame, because OKC has a lot of Route 66 history. Our advice is always this: Get off the freeway! And if you stay in OKC (which you shouldâŚyou really should!), stay at the Downtown Skirvin, a historic hotel that was renovated and is now part of the Hilton family. Then mosey over to Big Truck for some of the best tacos you ever had.
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Hit The Road
Two thousand four-hundred miles. Give or take a few. Chicago to Santa Monica.
Thatâs a long way to drive, bike, or walk. And along the way, there are a lot of places to eat. So many places, in fact, that it could overwhelm the average tourist. Which is where we come in.
Deanna and I have committed ourselves to documenting and reviewing the quintessential dining experiences along Route 66. Diners. Cafes. Fancy sit-down restaurants. Brewpubs and breweries. You name it, weâve been to most. And because we love to eat (both of us), write (Nick), and photograph (Deanna), we are packaging our experiences for you to consume before you hit the road.
Because you deserve nothing but the best along the Mother Road. Itâs your hard-earned dollar or Euro, your holiday. Eat well, and go to sleep feeling like you got your calorieâs worth while driving down the best road that was ever made.
I have covered every inch of 66 more times than I can count, and some places so many times that it raises the question of my supposed sanity. I just love being on the Route, and eating along it is part of the experience. Together, Deanna and I will point the way to the best places to eat, so that you can get that perfect meal, be it breakfast, lunch, or dinner, along that magical ribbon of pavement.
Early this summer, Deanna and I will be bicycling the eastern half of 66, from Amarillo to Chicago. We will be part of the 30+ riders on PAC Tourâs Eastern 66 journey, and we will be dining in quaint diners along the way, two meals a day. An average day will see us covering 75 miles and melting 3500 or more calories.
You can only imagine how hungry we will be and ready to devour whatever 66 can serve up, no doubt replacing most of those calories. Weâll be reporting our experiences from the road, as well as peppering with reviews of our faves in the western half.
And if weâre lucky, we might even burn off a couple of pounds, although weâre really not all that sure about it.
The dining landscape is constantly changing along 66, as it is everywhere. Our goal is to roll with those changes, and provide you with up to date information on where you can fill your tankâŚthe one inside, not your carâs.
In some cases, our visits will take us to places that have appeared in TVÂ (like AMCâs Breaking Bad in Albuquerque, or on the Food Networkâs Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives), or film and documentary (like the Big Texan in Amarillo). From local cuisine to ethnic, from old-school to progressive, weâre going to cover it all.
Pass the Milk Duds (a la Lou Mitchellâs in Chicago), a frothy brew from Motherâs Brewing Company (Springfield MO), and join us as we cover whatâs edible (and drinkable) from Chicago to Santa Monica. You deserve the best on your journey, and we will give it to youâŚone plate at a time.
Yours on 66âŚ
Nick & Deanna
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