In the car for hours yesterday, Mrs. Burgerdogboy needed to slake her thirst, so we pulled off I-5 in Washington, and into Ramblin’ Jack’s Ribeye Saloon and Cafe. We had feasted on pasta and fruit earlier, but can always find an excuse to have a little nosh, so in addition to the $5 double martinis, I ordered a couple of appetizers, spinach / artichoke dip (yeah, I don’t know what possessed me there, but it was VERY good), and boldly added a plate of chicken fried bacon with a side of sausage gravy for dipping.
Bacon is the new condiment it seems, you see it everywhere and on everything these days. Bacon ice cream, bacon wrapped anything. We’d recently had fried bacon at Portland’s “cook your own flapjack” establishment, Slappy Cakes. Slappy’s version used panko, and went for the sweet segment, by drizzling hot caramel sauce over the bacon.
Ramblin’s Jack’s vision was a more straightforward “chicken fry”, with their idea, apparently, that sausage gravy could be used both as a lubricant and to ‘beef up’ the protein content of the dish.
We got a $5 side of pull tabs and netted $57, enough to pay for both the fuel for our bellies and a spot of fuel for the auto.
I whiled away the time waiting for our food by reading one of those free trivia newspapers some cafes have, and in this edition, I learned there is a beaver damn in Canada that is large enough to be seen from space; and that hares and rabbits should never be mistaken for being the same animal.
Mrs. Burgerdogboy said the cute Asian waitress had the hots for me, and I told her it was OK, it was mutual. She did not get me the waitress’s phone number, regretfully, and it’s unlikely I will ever have enough of a craving for chicken fried bacon that I will make a special trip to Ramblin’ Jack’s.
I passed, but was very intrigued, by their version of a burger challenge. 18 oz burger on an onion roll, fries, large softdrink, and a one pound cinnamon roll: finish in an hour, and it’s free. We did take a cinnamon roll to go tho, seeing as we had the pull-tab jack pot. It’s awaiting consumption…..wait….where is it? Did we leave it on the table? In the car? Hmmmm.
Eye candy spotted at Ramblin’ Jacks (besides the waitress) was an unrestored 57 Ford 300 police car, which the owner informed me had been garaged since 1960 when he found it; he had taken some honors at a car show in Tacoma earlier in the day.
It was fun. Minor exception, two screaming infants in the dining room, triggered the waitress to ask several couples if they wanted to move to the bar. (Thank you!)
1957 Ford 300 Police Cruiser