Friday, November 08, 2013

Steak With A Side Of History

Tonight we had dinner at El Corral, a very old, very well-known steakhouse in Tucson, Arizona. 

Ed decided he was in the mood for steak and this is where he wanted to go - I had pointed it out the last time we passed by saying that I hadn't been there in years.  And I mean years - it's been at least thirty - I think the last time I had been here was when we first visited Tucson, before moving here.  It was the place to take visitors to enjoy the famous prime rib in an authentic territorial ranch house.
In the lobby of El Corral is the white suit of Tom Mix , famous silent-film star cowboy. I've never heard of this actor - probably because I don't watch a) silent films and b) westerns.  Apparently, he was a pretty big deal back in the day - Wikipedia says he "was Hollywood's first Western megastar and is noted as having helped define the genre for all cowboy actors who followed".
History.com says he was "one of the greatest silent-film stars in history. Along with his famous horse Tony, Mix made 370 full-length Westerns. At the peak of his fame, he was the highest-paid actor in Hollywood, earning as much as $17,500 a week (about $218,000 today).  Unfortunately, Mix and Tony had a hard time making the transition to talking pictures".

He died on October 11, 1940 in a car accident while traveling from Tucson to Florence, Arizona.  They named a wash (dry river bed) after him - the Tom Mix Wash.  How nice.

The meal was good, not the best I've ever had but decent enough.  The Porterhouse Steak was a little on the pricey side ($24.99, not the $18.95 listed on the online menu), but I guess that's because it's served with a side of silent-screen star history. 

Well, that's another Tucson attraction for Ed to cross off his list.  We're on a roll.


~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
2012: 
300 Ways To Roll Vintage Style 
2011:
I Have A Crush On A Boy-d
2010: Accentuate The Positive
2009: How The Train Derails
2008: Good Thing He Didn’t PAINT This On His Truck
2007: Red Snap
2006: Convexly Jackson
2005: Marriage Criterion

1 comment:

Pat said...

There's a roadside marker on 87 where Mix left the road and died.