On June 25th Peg, myself and our friends, Jerry and Mildred (all members of the Schreiner Oaks Society) were treated to lunch at the Pinnacle Grill by officers of Schreiner University. As you can see from the photos of other reviewers, the Grill is located high on a hill in what was the ranch house of the property. Everyone but li'l ol' me had been there previously, so naturally I was excited to have a chance to eat there.
Although it's located in a private club in the Comanche Trace subdivision, the Grill is open to everyone. One might think that prices would be quite high but not so--the highest on the lunch menu is $12.95 and $38.95 for dinner which are very reasonable by today's standards. Their new menu has been placed on their website this week, so take a look if you're curious. The service was friendly and efficient, the ambiance lovely with the only detraction (in my opinion) being the abundance of taxidermized animal heads. But this is Texas after all!
Enough of the pleasantries--on to the food!
Peg ordered the Cranberry Chicken Salad and it was the Big Boy Wesley, a burger stuffed with cheddar cheese, topped with bacon and jalapenos, lettuce, onion tomatoes and condiments for me; I ordered onion rings for my side. Others at the table ordered the French Dip, Cranberry Chicken Salad and the Bacon-Bleu Burger. I'm focusing on the meals ate by Peg and myself as I didn't want to bother the others, cramming my camera over their food. Everyone was happy with the choices.
Peg's salad was nicely presented. She said the greens were fresh but had little flavor and the chicken (what there was of it) was somewhat dry. The other person at the table who ordered it had similar comments. Both agreed, though, that the berry vinaigrette was a good choice for the dressing.
When my burger arrived, I oo'd and ah'd over it. Ginormous beasty of a thing on a toasted brioche-style bun. But after opening it, my initial joy was diminished. Bacon and jalapenos were present, but rather skimpy and there was pepper jack melted on top--not on the menu but it would blend nicely with the cheddar. Slicing the burger in half I found that it was not stuffed, just two patties atop each other. The onion rings were those frozen, emaciated things. Were I paying for it, I would have sent it back. Instead I just took a bite and was very happy--juicy, flavorful, everything a burger should be. Well . . . okay, I mellowed, I must admit. I suspect that someone forgot to throw the cheddar between the patties and it wasn't noticed until it was on the grill--enter the pepper jack on top. Had the burger suffered greatly from the mistake, this review would be much different. So, a deduction of half a star for Peg's salad and half a star for my burger and onion rings.
I hear some of you saying, "What, he's being NICE?" Take heart, Gentle Reader, I'm still the cranky curmudgeon you've been tolerating for years. But every now and then I cut some of my reviewees some slack. I would order that burger again (with the admonition to insure the cheddar is there) and both Peg and I intend to return for dinner in the future. read more