RESTAURANTS / Max Jacobson : Two Steak Places Offer Western Flavor; One of Them Is Hard to Tie

It’s 5 o’clock on a Saturday night--opening time at Pinnacle Peak in Garden Grove--and the Western-style steak pit already has a long line of families waiting outside the door. Pickups, trailers, RVs and several Mercedeses line the dusty parking lot. A smoky smell from the mesquite grill wafts through the restaurant’s wooden doors; I can tell we are in for some serious beef.

The dining room, filled with Western memorabilia, is like a folksy log cabin, and to say the atmosphere is casual is an understatement. Ties, for example, are not required--or even welcome. Wear one to this restaurant and someone will sneak up on you with a pair of scissors and clip it off. As proof, there is a tie graveyard with the bottoms of tie remains hanging like trophies. Even a string tie, the kind Louis L’Amour might have worn to dinner, isn’t safe here.

Safely dressed in open collars, we are seated at one of the long tables draped with red-and-white checked tablecloths, and the simple menu is brought. There are only three real choices here: chicken, ribs or steak. I go for the “trail boss,” the biggest steak Pinnacle Peak serves. My friend chooses the rack-o-ribs. When the dishes arrive, we are both shocked.

My steak is a char-broiled monster; it must be at least 20 ounces, and is cooked exactly (charred outside, medium rare inside) the way I requested it. My friend’s rib rack looks to be about 2 feet long; it spills out over both sides of the large white plate it comes on. The waiter then puts down an enormous bowl of smoky, peppery beans; thick slices of white bread to mop the beans up with; and salads that come with large blobs of dressing on top. After that we are on our own.

My steak is delicious, although I suspect there is more than a bit of tenderizer on it. My friend’s ribs are on the dry side, but their flavor is outstanding, enhanced by a spare, saucy glaze. Pinnacle Peak serves no steak sauces, barbecue sauces or condiments, except for a green salsa verde that can be ordered on the side. The management seems confident that the meat can stand on its own. And the customers look in no mood to argue.

I should warn you of the dried-out, a-la-carte baked potatoes. The artificial sour cream served on the side is like shaving cream. Save room instead for a crusty apple cobbler with vanilla ice cream, the only dessert available.

Pinnacle Peak is inexpensive. The various cuts of steak and the other entrees are $3.95 to $11.95, and served as complete meals. Apple cobbler is $1.25.

With all the high-concept energy and enthusiasm that has been put into Crazy Horse Steak House in Santa Ana, you would think the food might be a little better. I wish I could say it was.

The rooms inside the large, cheerful building that houses the restaurant have been designed to resemble small businesses in a frontier town: a barber shop, a general store, a livery and others. It’s a pleasant, clever concept and it works. At the far end of the long hall doubling as Main Street is the saloon/showroom that regularly features such top country and pop music performers as Buck Owens, Waylon Jennings, Jerry Jeff Walker, even Helen Reddy.

Service at Crazy Horse is friendly and relaxed, but the servers may not be able to answer your questions about what you will be eating. It took three of them to determine whether or not the salad dressings were bottled or freshly made, whether the french fries were frozen, and whether the beef was cooked over an open fire. You don’t want to know the answers.

I enjoyed a fine, well-marbled rib-eye, served in an iron cooking pan smothered with grilled onions. I happen to like grilled onions, but no one told me they were going to be on top of my steak. A friend ordered prime rib--a generous, juicy slab served with a cup of rather salty clear gravy (the type so often referred to as “ au jus sauce”). According to a sign in the restaurant, the beef is high quality, strictly corn-fed from Kansas.

Salads come drenched with dressing and are practically inedible. There is just one dressing made at the restaurant (honey mustard), and it is quite tasty. Ask for it on the side. But skip those frozen, limp french fries and have a large, meaty baked potato instead--here served with real sour cream. As far as the rest of the menu is concerned there are ample choices, including good burgers and chicken-fried steak at lunch; fresh fish, glazed ribs, and the usual dinner-house specials in the evening.

There are only two desserts: a chocolatey mud pie and a creamy cheesecake. Both are made on the premises, and both are excellent. They are likely to be the best things you will taste in this restaurant.

Crazy Horse Steak House is moderately priced. Lunch entrees are $6.95 to $8.95. Dinners are $12.75 to $18.95.

PINNACLE PEAK

9100 Trask Ave., Garden Grove

(714) 892-7311

Open for dinner Sunday through Thursday 5 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.; Friday and Saturday until 10 p.m.

MasterCard and Visa accepted

CRAZY HORSE STEAK HOUSE

1580 Brookhollow Drive, Santa Ana

(714) 549-1512

Open for lunch and dinner Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 2 a.m.; for dinner only Saturday and Sunday, 5 p.m. to 2 a.m.

All major credit cards accepted