Sunday, April 12, 2009

Dinner -- 04/11/09

Heitmiller Steakhouse
203 N. Connally Street
Elm Mott, TX 76640

254.829.2651

$$

Ramona: house salad, 6 oz. filet, mashed potatoes, iced tea

Jim: house salad, 16 oz. rib eye, mushrooms, baked potato, iced tea

Shared: lemon meringue pie

This restaurant was one of the first Jim visited when he came to Waco in 1993, and he was not impressed in the slightest. The queue to get in, the menus to be filled out before being seated, the worn, wooden bowls, and the complete lack of atmosphere, thrived only because it was in the days before Texas Roadhouse, Outback, Diamondback's, and Logan's Steakhouse. Jim never wanted to go back. Ramona also ate there with a friend quite a few years ago, and she shared Jim's opinion. However, we decided to give the place a second chance, since we heard the Heitmiller family no longer operated the establishment.

We were both pleasantly surprised. The meat was tasty and tender. The sauteed mushrooms Jim got really did "smother" the rib eye. The salad now came in nice plastic bowls and although the decor has not changed much, they do have a separate smoking room. The price was more than reasonable, and while the steaks come nowhere near Outback or 135 Prime, they could stand toe-to-toe with Cheddar's and Logan's.

The pie was great. A huge head of meringue topped a thick layer of filling with a flaky crust. Heitmillers will now find a place on our regular rotation.

--Jim

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