Continuing with our theory of asking a local where to eat, we talked to the woman behind the desk at the motel. She emphatically suggested Houston’s Trails’ End Restaurant as the place to be for dinner. We decided to give it a try.
The first thing I noticed about Houston’s was that it kind of looked like a dive, with a store on the right and the restaurant on the left. The next thing I noticed was a hand-drawn sign inviting people to participate in a “Tea Bagger” protest that had occurred several weeks ago.
Small town, middle of nowhere, everyone in town paler than me, pictures of kids holding guns stuck on the walls next to patriotic bric-a-brac, and right-wing reactionary propaganda near the door. Think of the stereotypical viewer of Fox News and you’ll get my impression of the people in Kanab: nice but gullible and mislead. Anyway, despite that we thought we’d give Houston’s Trails’ End Restaurant a try.
Service started out a bit slow but picked up as dinner went on. When the waitress asked if we wanted to try the tomato and macaroni soup, I asked how it was. She replied that it was the favorite of everyone in town. Sure, we’d try it.
That wasn’t a soup. It was a meal. The tomato soup was so loaded with macaroni that it was nearly a pasta dish with extra sauce. Nearly, but not quite; it was still a soup and an excellent soup at that. It had a strong tomato flavor and was very spicy. I could see why it was the town’s favorite and it is something I’d definitely try again. The soup was served with huge, delicious dinner rolls.
Next was the main course. Say what you want about small town folk, but they make a hell of a chicken fried steak. It had a crispy crust, the meat was tender and not at all overcooked, and the gravy was amazing. The chicken fried steak at Houston’s Trails’ End Restaurant is what chicken fried steak is supposed to taste like. Of course there were mashed potatoes so you could sop up more of that fantastic gravy.
I don’t know about the other dishes at Houston’s Trails’ End Restaurant, but what we had was great.
Stumble it!