On Saturday morning, Jessica took the boys to Charlie's
first basketball practice. While they
were gone, I relaxed at the house and pondered what I'd like to do for the rest
of the day. As always, I was in the mood
for good food, but couldn't quite decide on a location for lunch. By the time the family got home, I'd still
not made up my mind, but piled the family into the car and headed out
anyway. Then, after a few minutes on the
road, it hit me: Club Schmitz.
Located at 9661
Denton Drive in Dallas, Club Schmitz has been around since 1946 and looks like
it. Having driven past it countless times in my workday
travels, and having heard nothing but good stories about their hamburgers, I've always wanted to stop and give it a try,
but knowing that it wouldn't look good to have my City of Dallas truck parked
outside a bar, I've always passed on stopping.
But on
Saturday morning, in my own car and with my family, I still had
reservations. I'd never been inside Club
Schmitz and wasn't sure if it was appropriate to bring my boys, so Jessica
called my parents and asked if they would watch the boys for a few hours. My parents readily agreed and I turned my car
toward their house. As for the boys
being cut out of our lunch plans, they showed their feelings by loudly
proclaiming "Yay!" when told that they would be spending time with
their Grandmother and Paw Paw.
Within an hour,
I pulled into the gravel parking lot of Club Schmitz and parked in the
back. Jessica had never heard of Club
Schmitz and since I had never been inside and wasn't sure of what to expect, I
said to her as we walked to the door "Remember, I've never been here
before."
I can't say for
sure what I was expecting to see when we went inside, but it was exactly what I
should have expected. Club Schmitz is an
old bar that features a juke box, sports pennants and neon beer signs, a pool
table, tables and chairs and booths, a bar, a kitchen, and a friendly waitress
and bartender. There is no smoking in
Club Schmitz, just as in every other bar in Dallas, but it's obvious from the
walls that there was lots of smoking in there over the years. We fell in love with the place right away.
We took a booth
in sight of the television so that we could watch the Texas Tech football game,
and ordered a pitcher of beer. We were
in the mood for something light, so we got a pitcher of Budweiser Select. I'd never had it before, and it wasn't bad
for a light American beer.
Next, we looked
over the menu and ordered our food.
I had a bacon
cheeseburger with jalapenos and an order of large fries. I got the burger with mustard and it came
with lettuce, tomato, chopped onions, and pickles. It was a good burger, no doubt, but what
really stood out was the bacon. I gave Jessica
a bite and she'll back me up on this: the bacon is the best we've ever had. It was thick cut, cooked to crispy
perfection, and had just the right salty flavor. It was delicious!
Jessica had a regular cheeseburger with mayonnaise
instead of mustard, and immediately after tasting the bacon on my burger she
regretted not also getting the bacon on her cheeseburger. For a side, she chose tater-pops, which were similar
to tater-tots but the potatoes were mixed with bits of jalapeno and cheese. They came with a side of ranch dressing. They were good and went well with the
burgers.
While we were
in Club Schmitz, we noticed a few families with children. I'm not sure about later in the evening, but
at one in the afternoon on a Saturday, it seemed perfectly acceptable to have
children in there. Jessica and I agreed
that there will probably be a day when we eat lunch at Club Schmitz with
Charlie and Van in tow. There's a
chicken strip basket on the menu that has their name written all over it.
Including
a tip for the waitress, our bill came to about $29.00, and for that price Jessica
and I left full and happy. I was happy
to have finally given Club Schmitz a try and even happier to find that I loved
their food---especially the bacon. It
felt good to eat in a place that has stood the test of time for over fifty
years. It felt like participating in a
little bit of Dallas history.
Club Schmitz is
a cool place to eat! I recommend that
you give it a try!
No comments:
Post a Comment