Ride Blazing Saddles for Tex-Mex, live music

STANWOOD -- You have to have an earthy sense of humor to name a restaurant Blazing Saddles, considering one of a couple of culinary scenes in the movie of the same name finds horse laughs in the aftermath of cowboys sitting around a campfire eating beans.

So count on entertainment along with the Tex-Mex fare at Blazing Saddles Restaurant and Lounge in downtown west Stanwood. Open for two years, the eatery pairs a calendar of live music with Texas barbecue and Mexican favorites.

On a recent Friday night, my wife and I arrived before the band's 9:15 start time, but we enjoyed watching the line-dancing lessons that preceded the entertainment as we pecked at an appetizer of guacamole, freshly made salsa and tri-color tortilla chips. Country music, of course, is king, so expect to hear the Rednex techo-county anthem "Cotton Eye Joe" or Brooks & Dunn's "Boot Scootin' Boogie" at least a couple of times during the evening.

As the lesson continued, we ordered "Bar-B-Que" beef brisket ($12.95) and the evening's special, a prime rib steak ($22.95).

I was a little disappointed to learn later that Blazing Saddles meats aren't smoked in-house; they're ordered from a Hormel smokehouse. Even so, the brisket was moist, had a good smoky flavor and was served with a tomato-based barbecue sauce that balanced tang and sweetness well.

The brisket was served with a baked potato, a cornbread muffin and a choice of vegetables or barbecue baked beans. I, of course, ordered the beans.

My wife's prime rib steak was a generous and tasty slab, half of which made a nice steak sandwich the next day. It was served with garlic mashed potatoes, slices of roasted and caramelized acorn squash and the cornbread muffin.

While the meats are smoked elsewhere, Cookie Spirk, co-owner of Blazing Saddles with her husband Jim Leslie, said that many of the other dishes are her own recipes she developed while running a kitchen and bar at a fishing lodge in Alaska.

While she gave in to customer requests a few months after the restaurant opened and revamped the menu to include steaks, burgers and garlic fries, she said she kept the healthier dishes she opened with, including a turkey enchilada ($10.95). The enchiladas are filled with turkey, fresh salsa, chili verde, cheddar and red enchilada sauce and served with a chili relleno and Spirk's brown Spanish rice and black beans. A pork carnita burrito ($10.95) also sounded good, with shredded, show-cooked pork, rice, black beans, roasted peppers and Cotija and pepper Jack cheese.

Spirk also offers tilapia with a chipotle and lime tortilla crust ($11.95) and cedar-plank baked salmon ($17.95), served with either a tequila aioli or barbecue sauce.

Spirk leads one of two house bands, Silvana. The other, Electric Barnyard, is led by her husband. Both bands, which feature musicians the couple have played with for years, trade off Fridays and Saturdays when other local and national acts aren't featured. Dance lessons are offered at 7:45 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays before the live music.

Earlier in the week, the restaurant offers a kids-and-family karaoke on Tuesdays; an open-mike jam on Wednesdays and a DJ dance night on Thursdays.

Some fairly big names have played recently at Blazing Saddles, including country stars Trent Tomlinson, Highway 101 and Danny O'Keefe.

Gerry Andal and the Roughriders, a Western Washington standard for many years, plays Blazing Saddles at 9:15 tonight.

Spirk noted that fewer restaurants offer a place where live music gets its due.

"As musicians, we think live entertainment is important," she said.

It certainly beats cowboys sitting around the campfire.



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