More than just ‘Giant' prices

ALPINE What didn't fly in California works just fine for Alpine.

The Brewster County seat is the home of the first Reata restaurant, opened in 1995. A second is currently in Fort Worth.

Reata owner Al Micallef opened restaurants in Beverly Hills and then Woodland Hills, Calif. But Alpine location general manager Jim Ruth said dishes like carne asada topped with cheese enchiladas were more than Californians could digest, and the locations closed.

"It's hard feeding people in Beverly Hills this type of food," he said.

But feeding people in West Texas chicken fried steak with black pepper cream gravy is a different story.

"There's a lot of ranches around here," Ruth said. "A lot of ranchers want to come here and eat a big fat steak and a stack of calf fries.

"We kind of associate that with the ranching style," he said. "That's what they like."

Reata even took its name from the mythical ranch in the 1956 epic "Giant," filmed in nearby Marfa.

The early-1900s rustic home the restaurant occupies is adorned with a movie poster from "Giant," as well as Life magazine covers with stars Elizabeth Taylor and Rock Hudson. The wait staff wears retro western wear, remi­niscent of the film.

Then there's the large tree in the middle of Reata's bar. Not wanting to cut it down when adding the bar, owners decided to just build around it, sealing it as best they could.

"When it rains, we have to kind of move the tables around because the drops drip all around," Ruth said. "That's definitely a spot where the tourists take all the pictures."

Along with the calf fries, Ruth recommends the tortilla soup, complete with sliced limes, and salad wedge with goat cheese to start out with. Then they should try either a ribeye or tenderloin steak.

And should they have room left over, Ruth said they can try the chocolate chunk bread pudding tamale.

And the prices at Reata can be steep. Entrees range from cheese ravioli with smoked tomato sauce and sautéed spinach for $13.95 to the ribeye, at $2.15 an ounce with a 14-ounce minimum.

Simon Trevino, a chef at Reata, has worked all over Alpine. He said the people he works with there are what makes the place special, and that is reflected in the food.

"We have consistency in our food," he said. "We try to keep our recipes the same."

David Rogers of Alpine said Reata is also good for lunch, when prices go down.

"It's great because there really aren't many places like this around," he said. "There's certainly other places to eat, but this is where you go when you want something special."

His wife, Shelly Rogers, said everything on the menu is good.

"Anytime we hear of anyone traveling through this area, the Reata is one of the stops they want to make," she said.

The Reata could add locations again, Ruth said. Midland is among the locations it's looking at.

But Alpine will always be where it started. And service, with its two-to-three week training program for workers, will be crucial.

"Service is one of the things that will bring people back," Ruth said. "People may say, ‘My steak was a little over­cook­ed, but I loved that waitress.' "