If there is a line at the restaurant, get your name on the list and check out the bar area. This is where you will see Linda herself almost every night, like a shepherd watching her flock. Changing the TV channels every once in a while or re-lighting the natural gas fire fountain -- the most popular spot in the place.

Once you're seated in the dining room with a menu, you will soon notice that this is a "meat and potatoes" place. No trendy appetizers or "foo-foo" drinks, here! Just steak -- great steak -- tossed salad for a starter and a homey Southern-style side, such as green beans simmered with real bacon. They also have some seafood and Italian dishes, but nobody seems to notice. They're here for the steak.

As you order your drink, you will receive a basket of sliced homemade bread, warm and ready for buttering. Nice and crusty on the outside, chewy on the inside.

Like everything else at Linda's, the tossed salad is also traditional (lettuce, tomatoes, onions with choice of basic dressings). However, it's refreshing to see that the greens are more than just iceburg lettuce; they combine several leaf lettuces, as well.

The Salute to the Steak

The steak is well honored at Linda's -- so much that they put it on its own separate plate. After taking that first bite, you see why no side deserves to be on the same dish as that steak. The outside is seared and the inside is super tender and juicy.

The "cantina" is not only Linda's, but she's a matriarch to the cooks, servers and wait staff, as well. In fact, most of her family helps her run the place, which might also explain the comfortable environment here.