Thursday, July 22, 2010

Frontier Steakhouse turns 50

Posted by Charles Ferruzza on Thu, Jul 22, 2010 at 1:23 PM

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You have to love any restaurant that offers, as a vegetable selection, Jell-O with whipped cream. That's my kind of vegetable! At the family-owned Frontier Steakhouse at 94th and State Avenue, Jell-O is listed along with onion rings, loaded baked potato, the vegetable of the day and cole slaw under the "Extras" categories. The Frontier turned 50 this year -- in 1960, the restaurant wasn't much larger than a tiny bungalow on State Avenue -- and the kind of home cooking it serves evokes the restaurant fare that was so popular back when I Love Lucy was still running in prime time.

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Baked potato or Jello with whipped cream? A tough call
The Laffoon family has run the restaurant for five decades. Mary Laffoon -- who turns 90 years old in September -- continues to make the salad dressings and pies (really superb pies, by the way). The steakhouse is run by Mary's son Dennis Laffoon, who also plays keyboards on Wednesday nights when the house band, the Hole in the Wall Gang, plays the main dining room; Dennis Laffoon's brother Ron plays bass.

The menu isn't complicated: sandwiches and salads, modestly priced steak dinners (a 6-ounce filet dinner goes for $12.99), fried chicken, fried catfish, pork chops -- and prime rib on Friday and Saturday nights. On Sunday nights, the restaurant offers a turkey special: roasted Tom turkey with Mom's homemade dressing, cranberry sauce, a choice of potato, vegetable and roll.

It's not a fancy joint. The napkins are paper, the beverages are served in plastic tumblers and Tuesdays are Biker Nights on the patio. But there aren't many restaurants left that still serve homemade gooseberry pie. After half a century, the Frontier Steakhouse is still going strong.

 

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Outback SteakHouse Coupons are very famous and have great demand for the offer it provides on favourite food items, where people love to pick a pack for themselves and enjoy their favourite and delicious food.

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Posted by arvinlexor on 03/08/2011 at 6:39 PM

They still have pickled beets. I love them. I'm not sure about the crocheted placards.

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Posted by Leslie on 07/23/2010 at 10:58 AM

Oh man, the memories this evokes.....Frontier was one of THE premiere "apres church" dining destinations when I was growing up in the 'dotte (along with Mrs. Peters, The Forum Cafeteria in Indian Springs...or of course there was the long drive out to Joe's Barn). Gotta get back there and see if they still have my pickled beets and the crocheted "JESUS" placards for sale behind the cash register.....

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Posted by Zeemanb on 07/23/2010 at 8:03 AM
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