Tuesday, June 21, 2016

The Last of the Old West Steak Houses


Since 1957 the Pinnacle Peak Patio has been serving up mesquite grilled steaks, their signature steak being a 32 ounce porterhouse.  I've had the pleasure of dining there at least two times but both times were a very, very long time ago.  The restaurant developed a reputation for snipping off the neckties of any gentleman who arrived formally dressed.  After all, it was a cowboy place, not a dress-up place.  All those ties got tacked to the ceiling and there were thousands of them.  As you can guess, guys wore a tie just so it could get cut off and left hanging in the restaurant.  The property sold a while ago and the restaurant is now closed.  There were a couple of other similar places in the north Scottsdale area but they all closed a long time ago.  This was the only one left.  The owners are supposedly looking for a new location but, I recently heard that an auction has been scheduled to sell off a lot of the restaurants memorabilia.  That sounds to me like there might not be a new place after all.


By the way, this is the near-by rocky outcropping that is called Pinnacle Peak that gave the old restaurant it's name.  It's not going anywhere!

12 comments:

Stefan Jansson said...

Ha, that was a fin gimmick they had with the ties. Bummer that they are out of business now. Oh, and I don't own a single tie.

Christine said...

That would have been a fun restaurant to visit. Pinnacle Rock itself is a landmark that looks more permanent!

Karl said...

I like the Pinnacle Peak, Sharon, no restaurant needed :)

Steve Reed said...

It's a shame they've closed. Maybe not many diners are in the market for a 32-oz steak in these days of calorie-counting and cholesterol-monitoring! Pinnacle Peak itself looks interesting.

Lowell said...

OMG does this bring back memories. Lois and I moved back to Phoenix in 1959 and left again in 1964. But this was a very famous place. Friends of mine went and ate the whole steak. We went one time but chose a smaller portion. I've often wondered if it was still around. Thanks for posting this. In some ways those were good days.

RedPat said...

It is funny how times change and things go out of fashion.

William Kendall said...

The landscape I think suits me more than the former restaurant.

Catalyst said...

I took my dad there once and warned him that he must wear a necktie. I didn't tell him why. After his was snipped off by a lovely young cowgirl waitress, he told me that he had gone out and bought that tie earlier in the day. I believe he liked the steak though.

PerthDailyPhoto said...

That's a bit of a shame Sharon, looks like it could have been quite the experience dining here 😃 I reckon the restaurant/cafe business must be so tough!

Kate said...

Ha! I almost forgot about that place; we've been there eons ago! We had fun the night we were there, as I now recall.

Bob Crowe said...

There is a place in Tucson that does the thing with the ties. We ate there years ago but I can't remember the name.

Jack said...

A 32 ounce steak? My stomach churns just thinking about that. And I love good steak. Maybe 8 ounces, tops. This kind of restaurant seems to have had its day, but that day is in our rear view mirrors.