Don't Judge a Book by its Cover

You may have noticed a colorful glow coming from Farmington's Maple Valley area lately. Alison and I did just that the other night while on the way to grandmother's house. But, fear not, upon further inspection it turns out that the new Colton's Steakhouse is now open! No directions needed, just follow the neon glow!

"Wow," proclaimed my beautiful wife Alison.

"Yeah, think they are from Texas?" I responded.

"They obviously are, look at the flags!"

"Cool, Farmington now has an honest to goodness, peanuts on the floor, Texas steakhouse!"

Visions of challenge size hunks of beef raced through my head, followed by ten gallon margaritas and endless buckets of peanuts as we gawked at the neon display announcing the presence of an eating establishment the likes of our town has never seen.

Not so fast.

Upon returning home, I ran to the computer to see if they posted their menu online. They did. And it looks awesome. Steaks, ribs, chicken, seafood and peanuts. The five major food groups!

But, I also learned something potentially disturbing. They are not from Texas nor do they have a Texas location.

From their website:

In 1996 a group of entrepreneurs and restaurateurs put together their combined total of over sixty years of successful restaurant and real estate experience to develop a concept that later became Colton’s Steak House & Grill. Their vision was to open a steak house anyone could walk into and feel at home, have fun, relax, eat delicious food, and enjoy excellent service in an atmosphere with the feel of the “American West.”

Once the concept was completed, they formed what would eventually become Colton’s® Restaurant Group Inc. (CRG), the franchisor of the concept. In August 1996, the first location opened its doors in Conway, Arkansas.

It wasn't long before the second restaurant opened in Searcy, AR. As the sixth Colton’s® opened, a new corporate operating partner came on the scene: Hand Cut Steaks, Inc. (HCS). During HCS’s primary expansion period, the President, CEO and cofounder of CRG was President, CEO and cofounder of HCS. HCS currently operates eight of the twenty-four Colton’s® that are open or under construction.

Today, all Colton’s® Steak House & Grill restaurants operate as franchises, with locations in Arkansas, Missouri, Mississippi, Tennessee and Kentucky. The current owners of CRG also own an interest in over half of the Colton’s now in operation.

With the hard work, determination and skilled management teams of CRG and all the franchise groups, they have created the successful restaurant theme they envisioned from the start. With a broad menu offering exceptional food, service and a casual Western atmosphere, it looks like the group accomplished their goal."

And this was on their menu:

The Legend of J.T. Colton

J.T. Colton was a Texas Ranger in the late 1800s with a passion for big steaks and playing poker. J.T. was a friend, fellow lawman and gambling buddy of Sheriff Matthew Dillon. Matt owned a steak house and gambling hall in Dodge City, Kansas, called Dillon’s Tin Star Saloon. When J.T. wasn’t chasing desperados in Texas, he spent most of his time in Dodge City, playing cards at Dillon’s and trying to tell Matt how to run things. Legend has it that J.T. proceeded to win the Tin Star Saloon from Matt in a four-day poker game that took place in a back room at Dillon’s between J.T., Matt, a guy named Holiday and several other gamblers of questionable character. There was speculation that Matt lost on purpose because he was tired of J.T. telling him how to run his business. J.T. promptly gave up being a lawman, changed the name of Dillon’s Tin Star Saloon to Colton’s Steak House & Grill, and spent the rest of his days cooking up the best steaks west of the Mississippi. In his later years, he returned to Texas where he opened a Colton’s in his hometown of Moose River. J.T.’s legend lives on to this day, as well as his secret to cooking the juiciest, most tender steaks around.

So, not only do they not hail from Texas, according to the legend they were born in Kansas. And no, they don't have a Kansas location either. Wow. Talk about surprises. OK, so their namesake was a Texas ranger, I get that. What was this guy doing in Dodge City? Why wasn't he off chasing Indians in Texas? Why don't they wave the Kansas flag? (Obviously, they aren't selling many steaks in Missouri if they do that.) What do we know about folks from Arkansas pretending to be Kansans pretending to be Texans? I know this: somewhere, Certified Texan Lyle Lovett is very disappointed.

Bottom line is this: If the food is good, who cares? When you get past the flags and neon, what really matters is if you leave there happy and well fed.

As you can tell, I've been way to busy digging stuff up on the internets to actually eat there, but I will definitely let you know when I do. If you have beat me to it, please leave a comment and let us know how it was.

UPDATE: 11/22/09 Visited my grandmother today and she has been to Colton's. She loved the food and didn't care that they weren't from Texas.