There was a 35 minute wait for a table of two on Thursday (hint get reservations) so we go to the bar after placing our names and had some of the best whiskey sours I've had the delight of sampling in this town. Their basil lemonade also isn't bad.
It's a small place so very limited seating and we were set by the door, resulting in no end of consternation for my mother as this resulted in gale like gusts of dry hot Texas wind. Their is also outdoor seating but again who can stand that in this weather. However NONE OF THAT MATTERED because the food was so absolutely amazing.
First off we had the nachos with pork, now competition around here for best nachos is fierce but these definitely rank up their. They had a nice crunch with a bunch of toppings and excellent (read judicious) use of cilantro. I have no idea how good the beef was but it couldn't have possibly been as tasty as the pork, which was both well cooked and seasoned.
I got the ribeye, now this is the one caveat of the evening as they drench it in a teriyaki like sauce which totally obscures the taste of the meat. Be forewarned anyone who may want a ribeye as they do not mention this sauce in the menu, only that it is marinated. Well the first time the steak comes it's rare and I requested medium rare, and the 2nd time it comes back well cooked but to my dismay the teriyaki sauce had carmelized on the steak making even sweeter and more unpalatable.
But thank god for their manager, such a nice lady she saw the trouble I was having and asked how the steak was. When I admitted to her I was less than a fan she asked if I'd rather just have the prime rib. When the prime rib came out it was excellent, succulent and juicy with an entire cup of broth on the side it totally made up for the earlier steak nonsense. Not to mention when it came to the bill she was nice enough to comp both items.
Everyone else loved their food, the pig pizza is as usual great and the ahi tuna salad had some nice fish as well. The best (besides my prime rib) was the Baja fish tacos which were just unbelievably moist and delectable bits of fish with just the right balance of crispness from the cooking crust. When mixed with all the toppings (it's make your own style) you can get some really yummy and interesting flavor profiles.
Finally I had been here once before and gotten the burger which was surprise, super delicious. So basically with the exception of the steak everything here is simply incredible and since they are a scratch kitchen I can feel comfortable knowing that it's not some reheated from frozen mass produced garbage like some other places from around here. And she said they are thinking about removing the teriyaki sauce from the steak altogether so once they do that this will be the best place in town. (I hope they go with a herbed compote butter on top with different styles)
So in summation this place is currently one of the best in Odessa, and most of the items are pretty reasonably priced for the quality food your getting (I mean the burger is only a couple dollars more than Texas burger which although good, isn't even in the same stratosphere of flavor). So give it a shot if you haven't, although I advise take outs less you call ahead first of get a reservation.
Btw the French dip isn't the best, at least compared to the burger.
Bring back the good fish taco sauce!!! That shitty barbecue sauce sucks read more