New finds in Winnemucca and Lovelock

Our travels are taking us along I80 East of Reno. I am posting this hoping that someone, somewhere can benefit. After all, in a few short weeks the area will have thousands of visitors traveling through on their way to watch a man Burn. Of course, they probably won't see this, because no one in their right mind would call Winnemucca "Southwest." After all, it is further north than New York City or Lincoln, Nebraska. (Look it up). OTOH, that last sentence is part of my continuing personal campaign to have someone, somewhere realize that northern Nevada should never be classified with the "Southwest." Sigh.

But let's talk about food:

1. Several friends have recommended the Griddle Cafe in Winnemucca (center of town on the main drag). So when we were hungry for breakfast on a recent road trip we tried it. Not the cheapest in town, but undoubtably the best. Everything is fresh and made to order. I had "Mo's Hashbrowns" - sort of an "everything in it" housemade hashbrown (including bacon, peppers and onions). Served with two eggs as you like them and toast for around ten bucks. House-made jam is on every table. Yum!! A HUGE serving, but I ate every bite. Service is top-notch. There is outdoor seating if watching the cars cruise the main drag is your thing. They also make their own hotcakes. DH had the Huevos Rancheros "Griddle Cafe Style" That last phrase clued me in that they wouldn't be totally authentic, but they did come with an excellent ranchero sauce (when he was done eating they tried to clear his plate, but I wouldn't let them because I wanted to spoon the last drops of his home-made ranchero sauce onto my eggs:-). They came with a flour tortilla on the side and the eggs on top of hash browns, which is why I say they aren't totally authentic. But that sauce was wonderful!

2. We found ourselves hungry in Lovelock at 7:30 pm, a potentially disasterous situation. Fortunately, the Cowpoke Cafe was still open for another half hour (Lovelock shuts down after dark:-) I had the spaghetti and meatballs special (9.95) and DH had a veggie burger. Both came with routine iceberg salads (DH chose the salad instead of fries). However, the dishes themselves were excellent. A good veggie burger, with lots of very fresh lettuce and tomato (better than what was on the salad). And the spaghetti sauce was home-made and delicious, and the meatballs counted 8 or 9 smallish ones (easier to eat than the usual one to two gigantic ones). More food than I could eat, but we still managed to find room to split a serving of home-made cherry cobbler (who can resist home-made cherry cobbler?). I would return just for more cobbler. Check it out if you are traveling through and hungry. Friendly, efficient service. You order at the counter and they bring you food. Hysterical reading material on the tables (joke books that kept us well-entertained). Beer and wine available, but don't expect anything fancy. It is, after all, Lovelock.....The house Merlot was drinkable.