By Anne Chovey
Special to The Herald-Mail
Crazy Horse Steakhouse & Saloon bills itself as a “true taste of the old West.” Located in the shopping center off Railway Lane near Valley Mall, the restaurant focuses on steaks and fun.
The fun is apparent from the minute you open the door. The surprisingly vast dining room and bar area is covered in wood paneling and decorated with Western-style paraphernalia: wagon wheels, barrels and such. Throughout the restaurant are the bottoms of ties cut off patrons who didn’t understand the meaning of “casual.”
My dining companion, Pap Ricka, and I were greeted at the door and shown to a booth in the dining area. We crunched our way across the floor littered with peanut shells from enthusiastic diners who had preceded us. Once seated, we were given our own little galvanized bucket of peanuts and encouraged to shuck them and toss the shells.
There is a full bar at Crazy Horse including a number of specialty drinks such as Outlaw Punch and Texas Tumbleweed as well as a large selection of beer, both bottled and on tap.
Our waitress took our drink order while we checked out the menu. The appetizers included wings, cheese fries and a Rose of Texas onion among other things (prices ranging from $5.99 to $8.59), but what caught our eyes was the Louisiana gator tail: “caught fresh in the swamps, filleted, breaded and deep fried.” Interesting, we thought.
The rest of our meal was more predictable. It being a steakhouse, I decided to have a steak and chose the General Custer’s Filet. It came in two sizes: an 8-ounce General’s cut ($18.99) and the 6 -ounce Private’s cut ($16.99.) On the steak side of the menu were also an 8-ounce sirloin, an 11-ounce New York Strip (both at $18.99), a 1-pound Porterhouse ($19.99) and an 11-ounce ribeye ($17.99.) The steaks could be topped by mushrooms or onions or both for an additional $2.29.
Pap is not a big fan of steaks, so he got a 1-pound rack of baby back ribs, a Crazy Horse “signature item” for $17.99. Other choices on the menu included pork tenderloin or chops, barbecue chicken, chicken Parmesan, chicken or shrimp fettucine or campfire chicken: two chicken breasts topped with Canadian bacon, melted Swiss and American cheeses, mushrooms and gravy. Wow.
There were also a number of fish and seafood items on the menu and actually, the restaurant was promoting its crab festival when we were there. The menu also invited patrons to choose from an assortment of fresh wild game including elk, antelope, caribou, venison, moose and kangaroo. We decided to leave that for another visit.
After a short wait, our gator tail arrived. It had a substantial number of bite-sized pieces, hot and golden brown. It was served with a spicy cocktail sauce. The flavor was mild and the texture was like that of shrimp, a bit muscular but not chewy. It was perfectly cooked and delicious.
Next came a house-tossed salad and warm bread. The salad was the usual lettuce, carrot, cucumber, etc. but everything was crisp and fresh. The bread was accompanied by a little dish of honey butter. Yum.
While we waited for our entrees to come, we looked at a little booklet at the table, which was full of trivia questions. Pap is a bit of a sports nut so it was fun to question him about the baseball rookie of the year in 1973 and other such vital information.
I had ordered my filet rare. I really do like my steaks rare, but I often find that it is a bit like telling your hair dresser to cut your hair “short.”
No one is ever sure if you really mean it. This steak was pretty rare, if not totally rare, and was tender and flavorful.
Although it did not need it, I experimented with some of the variety of steak sauces at the table, just for fun. To me, a good steak needs a good baked potato and I got one loaded with butter and sour cream. It was also supposed to have chives on it, but instead there were scallions. Not a big deal to me.
Pap’s huge plate of ribs was nicely done. They were tender and delicious with a nice bit of crispy browned parts. He got french fries to go with the ribs and they were rather ordinary, but fine.
Our waitress was attentive, filling our drinks often and checking with us frequently to see if we needed anything.
Crazy Horse has been open since 1997 and is beginning to show some wear and tear. Things looked a bit old and worn about the edges and the bathroom, for example, could use a serious update.
The food, however, was very tasty and I liked the novelty of the restaurant’s theme.
And the next time I go, I think I will try the moose or maybe kangaroo.
Anne Chovey is a pseudonym for a Herald-Mail freelance writer who reviews restaurants anonymously to avoid special treatment.
Restaurant review
Crazy Horse Steakhouse & Saloon
Overall: 3 1/2 stars
Food: 3.5 stars
Service: 4 stars
Ambiance: 3 1/2 stars
Value: 3 1/2 stars
Address: 116 Railway Lane, Hagertown
Hours: 4 p.m. to 1 a.m. Mondays and Thursdays; 4 p.m. to 11 p.m. Tuesdays and Wednesdays; 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. Fridays; 3 p.m. to 2 a.m. Saturdays and noon to 9 p.m. Sundays
Food: Steaks, ribs, chicken and wild game with some fish options. There are no vegetarian entrees on the menu.
Bathrooms: Need updating.
Parking and handicapped accessibility: Parking is available near the restaurant in the shopping center. It might be crowded on the weekend.
Reservations are not necessary during the week. Parts of the restaurant would prove challenging to anyone with mobility issues as there are steps up to one section. The peanut shells on the floor also might be an issue. Other parts of the restaurant were totally accessible.
Website: Crazy Horse has a website at www.crazy horsehagerstown.com and is also on Facebook.
