I forget if I ever posted this or discussed it before...it's an AMAZING cowboy restauarant in the middle of the desert that Chris and Jeannie took us to when we were in Bend. There's nothing around for miles except for sagebrush, and and pine trees? Oh, and deer at night. Then, there's this amazing cowboy steakhouse.
Cowboy Dinner Tree Restaurant Silver Lake, Oregon
Comments: Years and years ago when, long before there was an old shack under what is now the Cowboy Dinner Tree, the ranchers from Paisley, Summer Lake and Siver Lake pushed their cattle through Syean trail enroute to the lush meadows of the Syean Marsh. By the time the cowboys had moved the cattle from Silver Lake lake bed to the Dinner Tree, it was considered the half-way point. Their the chuck wagon was waiting to serve-up some buckeroo beans and biscuits. Today after all these many years, the Cowboy Dinner Tree still serves-up the beans and bread, along with a slab of beef that most cowboys would only dream of on the trail! JOIN US FOR A TASTE OF THE REAL OLD WEST!
North of Paisley is the tiny community of Silver Lake with maybe a dozen structures, if you count out-buildings and state highway maintenance facilities. Here, we had a super experience - dinner at the Cowboy Dinner Tree Cafe. Located about five miles south of town, the Cafe‚ is where the grassland is dotted with juniper trees and before the Ponderosa pine forest begins. The story goes, during 19th century cattle drives, chuck wagons would prepare meals for the cowboys under the giant juniper tree out back of the Cafe. As time went by, chuck wagons were replaced by the Cafe and a most delightful dining experience for us non-cowboy folks. The Cafe's exterior looks primitive and the inside only slightly more substantial. The tables are slabs of Lodgepole pines balanced on a pipe set on top of welded circles of horseshoes. Two bare bulbs, powered by batteries, provide some illumination. (The rule is: the first person to complain about deficient lighting is required to use their car's battery to supplement the Cafe's fading supply.) The menu (you make your selection when placing a reservation) has two choices: steak or chicken. Both are prepared on huge grills outside and served with a softball size baked potato and a pie pan of fresh baked pull-a-part rolls - after communal bowls of salad and soup have been consumed. By the way, it's a whole chicken or 26 to 30 ounce steak! The meal is washed down with either ice tea, lemonade, or honest and true campfire coffee, complete with a layer of sludge-like grounds on the bottom. The owner/greeter/butcher is a "tall-drink-of-water" cowboy, complete with bowed legs and missing teeth, while his wife is the cook, and what a cook she is! It was one of the best meals we had this season and was overall a great time. (And we got four more meals from our "doggie bags"!)
North of Paisley is the tiny community of Silver Lake with maybe a dozen structures, if you count out-buildings and state highway maintenance facilities. Here, we had a super experience - dinner at the Cowboy Dinner Tree Cafe. Located about five miles south of town, the Cafe‚ is where the grassland is dotted with juniper trees and before the Ponderosa pine forest begins. The story goes, during 19th century cattle drives, chuck wagons would prepare meals for the cowboys under the giant juniper tree out back of the Cafe. As time went by, chuck wagons were replaced by the Cafe and a most delightful dining experience for us non-cowboy folks. The Cafe's exterior looks primitive and the inside only slightly more substantial. The tables are slabs of Lodgepole pines balanced on a pipe set on top of welded circles of horseshoes. Two bare bulbs, powered by batteries, provide some illumination. (The rule is: the first person to complain about deficient lighting is required to use their car's battery to supplement the Cafe's fading supply.) The menu (you make your selection when placing a reservation) has two choices: steak or chicken. Both are prepared on huge grills outside and served with a softball size baked potato and a pie pan of fresh baked pull-a-part rolls - after communal bowls of salad and soup have been consumed. By the way, it's a whole chicken or 26 to 30 ounce steak! The meal is washed down with either ice tea, lemonade, or honest and true campfire coffee, complete with a layer of sludge-like grounds on the bottom. The owner/greeter/butcher is a "tall-drink-of-water" cowboy, complete with bowed legs and missing teeth, while his wife is the cook, and what a cook she is! It was one of the best meals we had this season and was overall a great time. (And we got four more meals from our "doggie bags"!)
1 comment:
Hi. I just happened upon your blog, oops, I mean PLOG, as I was surfing the net looking for the website for the Cowboy Dinner Tree restaurant. I went there about two years ago and LOVED it, and am going again in about a week. Nice Plog!
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