Steakhouses Worth Traveling To For The Established Gentleman/Lady aviator

[Nick Pilotte]

So this week, my friend asked if I wanted to make a quick trip to have dinner at some steakhouse he wanted to try in Oklahoma.  We live in Chicagoland and he wanted to do his part to support “local” restaurants by getting curbside pickup from one and eating in the FBO before flying back.  That ended up not working out for a multitude of reasons, but then I read the Kerrville thread.  And what better to enjoy on a flying destination for food than a good steak.   Yeah, the thought of a breakfast, burger, or even flying to a coast to pick up fresh seafood is always there, but a good steak, a potato (if you eat carbs) and veggies really hits the spot.  I used to travel for work and would try to find a truly special place to eat, not a chain of at all possible that locals recommended.  
 

One time I ended up in Omaha, and the dealer I was visiting advised me to try The Drover. They told me it wasn’t a fancy place but it had good steaks.  Situated just west of downtown it was a short drive for me.  I pulled up and it was a virtually unchanged 1970’s supper club atmosphere.  The wood was dark, carpet burgundy red, and they had those red glass candle holders with tea lights in them on each table.  I could tell that there were a lot of business talks going on around me when I visited middle of the week too.  Sitting solo, I ordered the whiskey marinated filet as recommended by the dealer principal and the server.  It was an excellent steak, just a hint of marinade flavor, the asparagus was perfect, and I enjoyed a baked potato.  Finished off the meal with a neat pour of Woodford Reserve I was very satisfied.  I hear that the restaurant has been renovated but the food is still excellent and on weekends it is jam packed.  
 

You can fly into KMLE or KOMA easily, KCBF would be a little longer drive but the CAF has a museum there too. 

[Stephen]

If you ever get to Tucson be sure to  try https://www.pinnaclepeaktucson.com

Definitely bring a tie...just not your favorite one because you probably won't leave with it. 

[kmyfm20s]

2 hours ago, Nick Pilotte said:

One time I ended up in Omaha, and the dealer I was visiting advised me to try The Drover. They told me it wasn’t a fancy place but it had good steaks.  Situated just west of downtown it was a short drive for me.  I pulled up and it was a virtually unchanged 1970’s supper club atmosphere.  The wood was dark, carpet burgundy red, and they had those red glass candle holders with tea lights in them on each table.  I could tell that there were a lot of business talks going on around me when I visited middle of the week too.  Sitting solo, I ordered the whiskey marinated filet as recommended by the dealer principal and the server.  It was an excellent steak, just a hint of marinade flavor, the asparagus was perfect, and I enjoyed a baked potato.  Finished off the meal with a neat pour of Woodford Reserve I was very satisfied.  I hear that the restaurant has been renovated but the food is still excellent and on weekends it is jam packed.  
 

You can fly into KMLE or KOMA easily, KCBF would be a little longer drive but the CAF has a museum there too. 

Edit-didn’t see you mentioned the Drover which is great also!

You are probably talking about Ross Steakhouse on 72nd street in Omaha. That place was great! It wasn’t the youngest crowd but that’s what gave it the classic dinning and band experience. Start off will a cocktail in the Bar, move on to a steak dinner, then the band would start playing in the lounge and people would go dance off their meal with an after dinner drink:) Another favorite was Jonny’s Italian steakhouse on 170th street, just good food and much more casual at the time I lived there. 

Edited March 27, 2020 by kmyfm20s

[Air pirate]

I grew up in Chicago, the best steak house in America is still Gene and Georgettis , the Chicago Chop house is a close second 

[gsxrpilot]

My personal favorite is Bob's, the original location on Lemmon Ave in Dallas. A flight into Love Field (DAL) and a short ride in the crew car will get you there. 

And while the steak is to die for, eating it at the FBO would cut 50% of the pleasure out of the experience. The other half is the cocktail at the bar before your seating, the ridiculous wine list, and a really nice Port to finish it all off. Before finally falling into an Uber for the ride home.

Another great place in downtown Dallas is Nick and Sam's. 

I've been privileged to travel the world on an expense account where I was expected to entertain customers in the best restaurants. Bob's on Lemmon is still my all time favorite.

[Nick Pilotte]

St. Elmos in downtown Indy is great too.  Dress nice, tie not required but you wouldn’t wear casual attire there.  Reservations are recommended, as well as the shrimp cocktail appetizer.  Fly into KIND, KMQJ, KTYQ, or I80.

[tigers2007]

Peter Luger in Brooklyn or any of the Wolfgang's locations. Nothing beats Wolfgang Zwiener arriving at my table (at his Waikiki location) to make sure everything was good. It was quite unexpected and sure made my day. I'll take your recommendations and stop at the MS locations next time I'm in those cities. I may be a CB Mooney owner but I nice dinner is still cheaper than anything on that plane. 

[mike_elliott]

2 hours ago, gsxrpilot said:

My personal favorite is Bob's, the original location on Lemmon Ave in Dallas. A flight into Love Field (DAL) and a short ride in the crew car will get you there. 

And while the steak is to die for, eating it at the FBO would cut 50% of the pleasure out of the experience. The other half is the cocktail at the bar before your seating, the ridiculous wine list, and a really nice Port to finish it all off. Before finally falling into an Uber for the ride home.

Another great place in downtown Dallas is Nick and Sam's. 

I've been privileged to travel the world on an expense account where I was expected to entertain customers in the best restaurants. Bob's on Lemmon is still my all time favorite.

Ate at Bob's with Don Muncy, Parker Woodruff and Joe DIon last month. (Thanks again, Joe)

Since I cannot get my monthly Texas fix, or go to the old country tavern for some BBQ, I have taken matters into my own hands....Next  up, a 10 # pork butt...

[McMooney]

not close to an airport but absolutely worth the effort is Vic N Anthony's downtown houston.

A Ny or RibEye was so good, it had me dreaming about it for atleast a few weeks.  wife told me to shutup talking about it

[MooneyMitch]

Jocko’s Steakhouse, Nipomo, CA.

No close runway, but if you fly into SMX, SBP, or L52, I’ll take you there.  Once life returns ......

[Air pirate]

Berns in Tampa is also great , killer wine cellar as well. 

[Air pirate]

7 hours ago, Nick Pilotte said:

St. Elmos in downtown Indy is great too.  Dress nice, tie not required but you wouldn’t wear casual attire there.  Reservations are recommended, as well as the shrimp cocktail appetizer.  Fly into KIND, KMQJ, KTYQ, or I80.

The shrimp cocktail is killer there , will blow the top of your head off

[gsxrpilot]

When in the PacNW... fly into Boeing Field (an experience in its self) and you're just a short ride from Millers Guild at 7th and Stewart. Get a seat at the Chef's bar where you have a front row seat for all the action on the kitchen fire.

You can thank me later 

[Nick Pilotte]

3 hours ago, Air pirate said:

Berns in Tampa is also great , killer wine cellar as well. 

Hmmm, Tampa, Mooney Summit?  Sounds like a great idea!

[jlunseth]

You guys are making me feel bad.  My plane went in for the annual in early March and of course they are shut down and it is there until who knows when.  

[PJClark]

We are reduced to dreaming of post-Corona steaks.  My annual is cancelled, I'll  be grounded on Wed at midnight, and then exploring the world of ferry permits "someday".

[aviatoreb]

20 minutes ago, PJClark said:

We are reduced to dreaming of post-Corona steaks.  My annual is cancelled, I'll  be grounded on Wed at midnight, and then exploring the world of ferry permits "someday".

The FAA needs to come out with a directive postponing all calendar events on this one time basis.  Medicals, check rides, annuals.  Everything with a calendar on it needs to be postponed what, maybe 3 months?  6 months?  Especially medicals, since some of those doctors may be busy right now doing something besides Faa medicals.

[ohdub]

49 minutes ago, aviatoreb said:

The FAA needs to come out with a directive postponing all calendar events on this one time basis.  Medicals, check rides, annuals.  Everything with a calendar on it needs to be postponed what, maybe 3 months?  6 months?  Especially medicals, since some of those doctors may be busy right now doing something besides Faa medicals.

Transport Canada has done this with medicals. Not sure about annuals etc.

[aviatoreb]

19 minutes ago, ohdub said:

Transport Canada has done this with medicals. Not sure about annuals etc.

Since I posted a couple of hours ago, I see the the FAA has done this temporarily with medicals, and also ADs I think.  It will need to be done with annuals and other kinds of calendar events, before long.  It is good to see they are being responsive.  

[JohnB]

If anyone travels to the West coast, would highly recommend Harris Ranch 308 for an awesome steak. Fly in to airport, walk to restaurant, with hotel if you need. Relatively narrow runway, but if you're comfortable landing near the centerline, its absolutely no problem for our Mooney's. Discounts for pilots. I'm taking notes as I'll be looking to travel to some of the other restaurants all of you are mentioning above after Corona season.. don't mind a $100 yummy steak stop!

[JohnB]

On 3/27/2020 at 5:02 AM, Nick Pilotte said:

 

One time I ended up in Omaha, and the dealer I was visiting advised me to try The Drover. They told me it wasn’t a fancy place but it had good steaks.  Situated just west of downtown it was a short drive for me.  I pulled up and it was a virtually unchanged 1970’s supper club atmosphere.  The wood was dark, carpet burgundy red, and they had those red glass candle 

You can fly into KMLE or KOMA easily, KCBF would be a little longer drive but the CAF has a museum there too. 

Excellent, was planning on stopping in Omaha on the way to or from OSH one of these years, ill check it out!

On 3/27/2020 at 7:20 AM, kmyfm20s said:

Edit-didn’t see you mentioned the Drover which is great also!

You are probably talking about Ross Steakhouse on 72nd street in Omaha. That place was great! It wasn’t the youngest crowd but that’s what gave it the classic dinning and band experience. Start off will a cocktail in the Bar, move on to a steak dinner, then the band would start playing in the lounge and people would go dance off their meal with an after dinner drink:) Another favorite was Jonny’s Italian steakhouse on 170th street, just good food and much more casual at the time I lived there. 

x2! Wow.. may need a bit of time in Omaha

[Nick Pilotte]

6 hours ago, JohnB said:

Excellent, was planning on stopping in Omaha on the way to or from OSH one of these years, ill check it out!

x2! Wow.. may need a bit of time in Omaha

I’m not a hardcore foodie that requires a white tablecloth and 4 forks when I am seated, but rather like Guy Fieri in Diners, drive ins, and dives.  But I do love a well prepared quality steak.  You could eat in Omaha for several days just sampling the town and eat fantastic meals. There’s a brew pub near the baseball stadium whose name escapes me, but their food was amazing.  Blatt Beer & Table..... that’s it.  And another one in some industrial warehouse near downtown.   All great food, the guys with me were reluctant because I will eat just about anything but they loved all the places I picked. Omaha is a hidden food gem. 

[mike_elliott]

On 3/28/2020 at 11:13 AM, aviatoreb said:

Since I posted a couple of hours ago, I see the the FAA has done this temporarily with medicals, and also ADs I think.  It will need to be done with annuals and other kinds of calendar events, before long.  It is good to see they are being responsive.  

Telehealth is gaining a lot of traction. 3rd class medicals (and 2nd as far as that goes) would be a prime candidate for the FAA to use technology to re-invent the current archaic process.

I wonder if those of us with 2nd class will get a postpone on the medical rolling into a 3rd class also

EDIT PER THE FAA:

Accordingly, as an exercise ofthe FAA’s enforcement discretion, through June 30, 2020, the FAA will not take legal enforcement action against any person serving as a required pilot flight crewmember or flight engineer based on noncompliance with medical certificate duration standards when expiration ofthe medical certificate occurs from March 31, 2020, through June 30, 2020. This discretionary accommodation does not apply to pilots or flight engineers who lacked an unexpired medical certificate as ofMarch 31, 2020.

[MARZ]

Harris Ranch - complete with hotel!!

 

3O8	Harris Ranch Airport Coalinga, California, USA

[AH-1 Cobra Pilot]

In the present situation, I suggest this:  https://www.omahasteaks.com/buy/Steaks/T-Bones-and-Porterhouses?shopsrc=PRMHomeCategoryTBone

Otherwise, Misty's in Lincoln.

Edited March 30, 2020 by Ah-1 Cobra Pilot