Editor Pick
Reata
- August 24, 2008
- Rated 5 of 5 by
ssullivan from Atlanta, Georgia
Reata, named for the ranch in the 1956 epic movie Giant (which was filmed in the area), opened in 1995. The restaurant is arguably the nicest in town, and is the closest you'll find to true fine dining in Alpine. The front part of the restaurant is located in an old house right in the middle of downtown Alpine, and the dining rooms fill several of the rooms of the house. This gives the restaurant's exterior the appearance of being an old West Texas ranch house, which fits right in with the cowboy theme of the interior décor and the menu.
Reata advertises its food as "legendary Texas cuisine," and the moniker fits. The staff will tell you they serve modern cowboy cuisine, which basically amounts to a menu of steak, chicken, pork, and Mexican entrées, with a noticeably Southwestern influence. Everything I've ever had at Reata was excellent. Some of my personal favorites are the pan-seared pepper crusted tenderloin with port wine sauce, chicken fried steak, barbecue shrimp enchiladas, and chile rellenos. All are served with at least one side vegetable, and a basket of assorted biscuits and corn muffins. For appetizers, both the tortilla soup and jalapeño and cilantro soup are both excellent choices. Consider yourself warned, though, the portions here are quite large. However, if you are able to save room for dessert (and I suggest that you do!), the chocolate bread pudding tamale is a divine indulgence. It's a white chocolate bread pudding, filled with nuts and chocolate chips, rolled and baked inside a tamale wrapper. It's then topped with a chocolate bourbon sauce and served hot with a scoop of cinnamon ice cream. Although it's appropriately sized for two or three people, it's so good, I've been known to eat it all by myself. As far as I'm concerned, it's difficult to find a dessert better than this one anywhere.
Reata is open for lunch and dinner. The lunch menu features some of the dinner entrées in lunch portions, as well as a selection of lunch salads and sandwiches. One of the best lunch options is the saddle pack combo, which lets you choose two items from a list of salads, soups, and sandwiches, allowing you to sample more than one item off the menu. Prices at Reata are expensive for the area; dinner entrées average $15-25, but prices at lunch are cheaper. The restaurant also has one of the few full bars you'll find in Alpine. However, because of the local regulations on the sale of alcoholic beverages, you will have to buy a membership to drink, as the Reata's bar is technically a private club. This is different from other restaurants in town that only serve beer, which are exempt from the private club regulation.
If you're looking for a nice dinner, with great food, a wonderful atmosphere, and very good service, it's hard to go wrong with Reata. And, if you'd like to browse their menu before visiting, it is available online on the restaurant's website. The owners also operates a second Reata with an almost identical menu in Fort Worth.
From journal Alpine, TX: Gateway to Big Bend Country