Dove Creek Welcomes Back “The Lunch Box”.

The Lunch Box

330 US – 491

Dove Creek, CO., 81324

Phone: 970-512-0300

Hours of Operation: Mon – Sat, 8am to 8pm; Sun, 11am to 4pm

 

 

Patio Dining Area

1987, a year dedicated to Michael Jackson being “Bad”, Whitney Houston wanting to dance with somebody, “The Lost Boys” being found and staked, and most historically, Ronald Reagan’s visit to West Berlin, and his famous speech, imploring The USSR’s leader, Mikhail Gorbachev to open the Berlin Wall.  Sorry, cannot resist this side note, but I was a university exchange student in 1979, and we had a guided tour of East Berlin, inside the wall area, and a guard in a turret actually turned his machine gun in our direction.  It was a horrible place just to visit, so imagine trying to live in its confines.

Anyway, while the world was experiencing what I have mentioned, and so much more, Paul Davis, of Dove Creek, Colorado, opened up his small diner, called simply “The Lunch Box”.  Little did he know that it would become an iconic part of Dove Creek’s history.  In 1995, Shelly King purchased the diner, and decided expansion was surely needed. At that time, Highway 491 was known as Highway 666, aka The Haunted Highway, so interest in this brought many a visitor inside the, now, full-service restaurant.  Unfortunately, due to illness, Shelly needed to sell his beloved Lunch Box in 2007, which became The Dinner Bell, and eventually DC Rack Haus.

Grandpa Shelly King

 

In 2023, the restaurant was up for sale once again and fate had a hand in this.  Joshua Robinson, Shelly King’s grandson, had moved from California (born and raised, but his family does have deep New York metropolitan roots) to Monticello.  Fate was knocking at his door and Joshua answered quickly, purchasing in October and wanting a grand opening as soon as possible.  He did not anticipate how much work needed to be done, but November 20^th was the grand day.  This was not just taking on, and continuing, the legacy of grandpa Shelly, this was an act of love for family history.  At six years old, Shelly began teaching Joshua the food business by allowing him to flip burgers in Shelly’s food truck.  For 18 years, Joshua worked in the food industry, but wanted a restaurant of his own due to his grandpa’s influence.

I will be adding tidbits of history in the rest of this article, but I must get to the food; the absolutely most delicious menu items we tried out.  There are three menus: breakfast, lunch/dinner and children’s.  There is so much variety, but here are the favorites: Breakfast – Breakfast Burrito, Country Fried Steak with green chili, Hatch Breakfast Sandwich; Lunch/Dinner – Country Fried Steak (choice of creamy country gravy or green chili), Fried Chicken Sandwich, Patty Melt, Cheeseburger, Hatch Cheeseburger, Chef or Greek Salad.  Now this list is only of local favorites, but there is so much more!  Oh, make sure you are very hungry, and want to take home leftovers; the portions are huge and at very reasonable prices.  Shelly always taught, “Good food + Huge portions + Great prices = Customers continue to come back.”

 

Children's Menu

 

Breakfast Menu

 

 

Lunch-Dinner Menu, Page 2

Lunch-Dinner Menu, Page 1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Visiting The Lunch Box gave me a day off from cooking, so we purchased four dishes to feed us throughout lunch and dinner.  First is Roy’s favorite sandwich, the patty melt, but this was no ordinary patty melt, it was a double (yes, you can order a single).  Two all-beef patties, smothered in a rich and tangy Swiss and white American cheese blend, grilled onions between toasted marble rye bread.  A comfort food addict’s dream sandwich.

 

 

 

The country fried steak was so amazing, I actually woke up during the night craving another platter of it.  This is Angus beef, fresh not frozen, trimmed and cut down on premises.  The coating is so crunchy good, any bits that fall off are quickly picked up and devoured.  Several times it was, slap Roy’s hand, and “this is mine, get your own!”.  It comes with a serving of crispy outside, fluffy inside shoestring fries and green beans.  Oh, but not our average, just picked out of the garden beans.  No, these are Haricots Verts, a French style green bean which contains more vitamins of the B group, vitamins C and K and minerals such as magnesium, iron and manganese.  The country gravy is creamy, smooth with a hint of cracked black pepper, so as to not overwhelm.

 

Dirty Fries are loaded nachos, but using shoestring fries instead of standard tortilla chips.  The toppings are green chili, cowboy beans, green onions, cilantro, cheddar cheese and sour cream.  The pinto beans are purchased locally in Dove Creek and cooked up fresh in-house; pork shoulder is used for the green chili as it is more tender after roasting.  Let me tell you that a bowl of that green chili with pork, plus fry bread, would make a complete meal in itself.  However, while grandpa Shelly did make his own fry bread, that is not an option nowadays.  But hey, get some fluffy housemade biscuits instead!

 

 

 

 

Pork Green Chili and Country Gravy.

 

A huge condiment selection at every table.

 

But I digress, the Greek salad came loaded with Romaine lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, black olives, roasted chicken, red onions, pepperoncini, feta cheese and the creamiest, smoothest dressing.  Every bite was a new taste sensation due to the ingredient combinations the fork picked up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Roy and I are so looking forward to going back and trying out many of the other menu items, like the burgers (1/4 lb. pounders).  One of the waitresses walked by carrying a cheeseburger plate; the burger was actually sitting out the sides of the bun and about an inch thick.  My eyes popped, and you know no one was doing a 1980’s, “Where’s the beef?”, yell.

 

Speaking of the wait staff, the second you walk in, you are greeted with a welcoming and friendly, “Come on in, and sit anywhere you like”.  Joshua opened up the building to make it roomier, airier and the sunlight allowed to brighten up every corner. We sat at the “Grandpa Shelly Memorial Table”, and felt honored, and yet also felt like he was there to make sure we were happy.  The staff are very attentive; depending on experience, they start at the bottom and are trained in every skill needed in a restaurant.  That way, there is always someone to step in when a staff member needs off.

 

So, if you want really good, I mean really good food, welcoming and comfortable atmosphere, a staff who cares about your needs, then you must go to The Lunch Box. If you want to hear more in-depth history, Joshua Robinson will not be shy about pulling up a chair and happily chat with you.

Mary Cokenour

 

 

A Return to the Homestead

Homestead Steak House

121 East Center Street

Blanding, Utah,  84511

Phone: (435) 678-3456

Website: https://www.homesteadsteakhouseut.com/

Hours of Operation:

Dine In or Take Away

Monday - Friday: 11am - 8pm

Saturday: 4pm - 8pm

Sunday: CLOSED

The usual date night for the Cokenours is Saturday; watching anime, scarfing down pizza, and making fun of the commercials.  However, we happened to go down to Blanding on a Friday night, around dinner time, and decided to visit Homestead Steak House.  We had not been there since before the “Covid years”, and wondered how it had fared.

We were greeted by Linda, who also happened to be our waitress for the evening.  She has only been working at the restaurant for one year, but was knowledgeable enough to answer most questions.  What she did not know, she found out as soon as possible.  She is a very friendly woman, and made our dinner out enjoyable.

A steady stream of diners was going in and out, many from out of state and visiting the area on vacation.  Steak and seafood seemed to be the most requested dishes, but we were in the mood for something simpler.  Roy ordered the Mushroom Bacon Swiss Burger with fries, while I opted for the All-You-Can-Eat Soup and Salad Bar.

Roy let me have a taste of his burger and fries, and have to admit that I was jealous; yes, they were that good.  The burger definitely needed two hands to hold it, but it was the charbroiled taste that completely grabbed me.  The mushrooms are sauteed, and the bacon was crispy.  The fries were awesome; crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside, no condiments needed as they were tasty as is.

 

Due to Covid, many restaurants that had salad bars did away with them.  Thankfully, Homestead kept theirs which has a large assortment of vegetables, mixed salads, dressings and crunchy toppings.  Two soups are still served with Friday’s being New England Clam Chowder and Chili.  As much as I like chili, New England Clam Chowder is still my overall favorite, especially when it is chock full of chopped clams and soft potato chunks.  It is a cream-based soup, so very comforting, like a soft blanket around the tongue.

 

The dressings, except French and 1000 Island, mixed salads and soups are housemade; the price you pay is for quality as well as quantity.  Desserts, except for the cheesecakes, are also made in house, but we had not had cheesecake, since the holidays, so ordered Turtle cheesecake.  The cheesecake is simply to die for!  So rich and creamy, with a luscious caramel sauce on top; simply orgasmic!

 

Being a dry town, Blanding still does not allow liquor sales of any kind, and Utah state law prohibits bringing in your own.  While a few customers get angry about this, and leave less than stellar reviews, the majority understand the situation better once it is explained to them.  One funny story that Linda related to us was about a motorcycle touring group, of about 40 people, from Germany.  It is well known that Germans love their beer, and beer is what this group demanded.  How did the Homestead staff handle this?  A non-alcoholic beer, O’Doul’s was served to all, and it was a huge hit.  Even though the staff explained that it was non-alcoholic, the diners did not care; they got their beer, and the Homestead was given huge thanks for the liquid accommodation.

By the way, pizza, which we often went down to Homestead for, has been off the menu for a while; however, it is back.  So, a great excuse to visit once again, and this time to try it out, and see if it is as good as it was before, or maybe better?  Taste testing will tell.

Now here is a hint of what is in store for owners Gary and Sharon Guymon.  No, not an expansion of the Homestead itself, but how about second restaurant?  There are plans, in the works, for opening up a Chinese restaurant, and having a Chinese cooking staff is a definite must.  Two other Chinese restaurants had tried to make a go of it, in Blanding, but failed miserably, and the Guymons have no desire to do the same mistakes.  Speaking with Gary, we were able to give him a few pointers on where to find the cooking staff they needed.  Also, a push towards bringing in Chinese baked goods as appetizers and desserts, as they are always huge sellers.

So, there you have it if looking for a lunch, dinner or pizza, visit Homestead Steak House in Blanding.  The tourist season is in full swing, so do not be surprised if you have to wait a bit as the do get busy, busy, busy.

Mary Cokenour