http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2008/jan/07/bbq_joint_replace_icon/
Me and Adro pulled up Saturday night for a chicken fried steak at Don’s Steakhouse. There were no cars in the parking lot, but that’s happened before – after all, it was early, and the employees park in the back, out-of-sight.
But there was a sign on the door: “Closed for remodeling.”
If you’ve been in Don’s, you know it looks like someone’s house, circa 1972. Why remodel? I want a chicken fried steak – the best one in the world, according to my extensive research.
But, my fears were confirmed. This was not a remodel. This was the easy way of saying, “you’ve had your last chicken fried steak from Don’s.”
I’ve celebrated most of my birthdays from the past 10 years at Don’s. Had a lot of fond memories there. Here are just a few:
- One time, Clay screamed a string of exlpetives not fit for this blog, while at Don's (it was part of his story, and he thought we were the only table in there... which, often times, we were). An older couple, clearly appalled, got up and left. It was clearly an embarassing moment. We apologized, but the manager told us not to sweat it -- we were the regulars, and they had never seen those old folks before. (I'm sure they never saw them again, either.)
- The time me, Wake, Wogomon and Ken Moum all went down for lunch from GCSAA. I swore to these guys that this was the best chicekn fried steak in the world, so they wanted to see it in person. The waitress delivers Ken's and he looks at her and says, "uh, yeah... I'm going to tell you right now that I'm going to need more gravy."
- The time me and Adro took Marlan and Carrie there... it was the day after our wedding, I think. Mar and Carrie flew out the next day. Just a happy, memorable moment.
- I had one birthday there with my folks in attendance. Both me and Stark were celebrating our birthdays together, so we had a large group there. My parents wanted to take a group photo. Outside, with the large group, Ryno decided he had to squat to fit in the photo. The resulting photo has everyone smiling, looking good... and then, there's Ryno, squatting and looking like a fool. My folks disliked Ryno for this one reason for a full year. "Who's this friend that ruined this nice photo?" they'd later ask me.
Anyway, there are lots more... but that's enough for now.
Goodbye, Don's Steakhouse. You treated me well.
Cheers, Don’s Steakhouse.
2 comments:
I remember going there to dinner once with Susan. I had just gotten back from California with some really nice wines, so we took a bottle there (I called ahead, they said they that was fine, and that they charged a $10 corking fee) to share. Clearly, this does not happen a lot at Don's. Or ever. Our poor waitress was completely flummoxed by our bourgeois approach. Startled, she looked at us both and asked, "do you want glasses for that?" Ahm, yes, please. Poor girl, she didn't even know how to open the bottle - I had to borrow her corkscrew and opened it myself. Don't remember much about the wine, but the dinner (smoked prime rib) was good as always.
Then there was the time I was slightly inebriated, and Trish and I and the Gaus's went there for dinner. What we loved about Don's was the great sides you get with every meal, soup, salad, bread, etc. Well, I wasn't feeling the soup, so I audbiled...to a corn dog. Again, this does not often - or ever - happen at Don's. After stifling her laughter, our waitress brought me the best corn dog I ever had!
RIP Don's, we'll miss you!
I was there for that Clay story, and it was even better than what Seth wrote here. And Kerry liked that place, as did I. Even clear across the country, I miss that place. I'm bummed that if I'm in Lawrence, Don's won't be there.
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