Though I had a severe case of get-there-itis after a day away from home, I had to stop for lunch somewhere and to rest for a hard morning driving north on Highway 281. Always one for a culinary experience, beginning at 11:00 am, I looked out for a local cafe or restaurant for a good meal. In Stephenville I ran into great luck. I caught sight of the Hard Eight BBQ, and carefully avoiding a collision with the yahoo in the truck on the cellphone tailgating me, I turned off the road and drove up to the already crowded parking lot. (You guys, quit yapping on the cell phone while you drive.)
Inside the building, I saw animals mounted expertly, then hung on the walls. I saw the characteristic head and shoulders of deer, but I also saw full bodies of deer mounted to look as if they leapt over streams. The animals made me imagine them as they lived in the country. The motif seemed unabashedly masculine and country, showing framed images of cowboys and ball players all along the walls. Included among the photos I saw were photographs of 4H youngsters with their prize-winning pigs. Many portraits of ball players and bull riders hung along the walls of the halls, most inscribed by the subject. One of them wrote, "Hard Eight -- the only joint in town you can pay for your meal with the money you won off the owner on the golf course earlier that day." Another inscription, this one written on an artistic rendering of a cowboy astride his horse ready to throw his lasso said, "Good friends are hard to come by."
Looking around I tried to memorize everything I saw, and sought, too, a good possibility for a photograph. Up on a corner, hanging high from the banister of the second story, I saw a decoration that seemed worthy of study. A skull of a deer, antlers and all, affixed to a frame, perhaps an old window shutter, caught my eye. After staring at it for a while, my jaw lax and my mouth lay open, my nose wrinkled, and my eyes squinting, all in an attempt to concentrate to assimilate the sight above me. I noticed, too, rope as part of the art, and, What were those white sticks? Bones? Eew. My grimacing face perhaps caught, I assume, by the security camera directly below the objet d'art.
As I put my camera down, the manager, Matt, approached me and gently informed me that they do not allow photography in the restaurant. My smile and wide-as-saucers eyes, showing friendly interest, may have compelled him to chat with me about why they do not allow pictures. Their goosiness, understandably, stems from past visits by other restauranteurs who take pictures of this restaurant, inside and out, fetching ideas from the unique decor at the Hard Eight BBQ for their own buildings.
On behalf of Hard Eight BBQ, other restaurants may decorate to high heaven, but they will be hard pressed to match the quality of the food. I had a pork sandwich on jalapeno sourdough bread, so delicious that it convinced me to tell my friends about the Hard Eight BBQ. Standing before the bbq pits and looking upon several kinds of meats available to eat seemed impressive, too, as a culinary experience. The chefs at the Hard Eight augment the usual fare of chicken and ham with brisket, turkey, sausage, ribs, Rib Eye and Sirloin steaks, and pork chops. And no, though they claim "to go" boxes are popular, in spite of the size of my sandwich, I deemed it too delicious to share with MyMrMallory, waiting for me at home. And while there, glancing at the decorations on the walls offers a unique distraction to look at between mouthfuls.
Having managed only two images, I show them here. (Sorry, Matt!) The Hard Eight also sells memorabilia to remind you of your journey there. Visit them on the web to whet your appetite: www.hardeightbbq.com.
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