February 2007 deadline: Monday, January 15th @ Noon
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The Arcadia News
features restaurant reviews each month. The Stockyards Restaurant 5009 East Washington Street 602-273-7378 Lunch: Mon-Fri 11 a.m.-2 p.m; Dinner: Mon-Sat 5 – 9 p.m.; Sunday 4 – 8 p.m. The old-fashioned western charm of The Stockyards restaurant continues to be a popular Phoenix landmark for beef worshippers since the place opened in 1947 as a gathering place for Valley cattle barons. The Stockyards has evolved over the years into an elegant, masculine space filled with comfortable black booths, dark wood plantation shutters and vintage black and white pictures of prize steers. Our friendly server started us off with a basket of warm corn muffins and baking powder biscuits accompanied with softened butter laced with a raspberry swirl. A complimentary silver tray of chilled crudités consisting of carrot sticks, celery, radishes and black olives came with a tasty dipping sauce. We split the Portabella ($8) appetizer comprised of melted goat cheese and roasted red pepper with tomato sandwiched between tender large mushroom caps cooked to perfection. More manly patrons such as those the restaurant once solely served are welcome to try the Calf Fries with Cocktail Sauce ($10). The Stockyards’ menu covers the gamut from sea to ranch. Currently, there is also a special winter Wild West menu that features entrees such as Buffalo Meatloaf ($22) and Elk Medallions with Blueberry Mint Sauce ($30). We skipped the regular menu’s lighter offerings such as Skillet Salmon with Citrus Chile Glaze and Whiskey Sweet Potato Mash ($24) or Blue Cornmeal Crusted Trout with Bourbon Pecan Butter Sauce ($24) in favor for beef, and plenty of it. My 12-ounce “Best of the West” Prime Rib ($26) was a thick slab cooked exactly as I ordered, with just the right amount of seasonings on the crust. All dinners come with a choice of soup or salad, and type of potato including baked, whipped or ranch fries. Being a Friday night I could not resist going for the obligatory Clam Chowder featured that night. The creamy potato base was full of clams and perfectly flavored. My baked potato was fluffy and slathered with plenty of butter and sour cream, just as I had requested. Companion’s dinner salad that came with his 8-ounce Filet Mignon ($28) was a nice mix of greens encircled by grape tomato halves and a creamy dressing of delicately flavored bleu. His steak was a huge hunk of beef cooked to medium rare perfection. Steaks served at The Stockyards come with a choice of interesting sauces over the mundane A-1 and Heinz most steak places stock, and companion’s choice of the Whiskey Peppercorn was a magnificent compliment to the luscious beef. His loaded baked potato had a healthy (or should I say unhealthy heartwise, but that’s what bypass surgery is for, right?) sprinkling of bacon atop the melting butter and heavy sour cream. Needless to say, we did not leave any room for dessert and felt like two steers ready to be auctioned off before ending up on someone’s dinner plate. Visit the Web site www.stockyardrestaurant.com for not only a look at the menu, but for some interesting old photos depicting the restaurant’s history and past menus with their old-fashioned selections and prices from another era. |
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