Dove Creek Welcomes Back “The Lunch Box”.

The Lunch Box

330 US – 491

Dove Creek, CO., 81324

Phone: 970-512-0300

Hours of Operation: Mon – Sat, 8am to 8pm; Sun, 11am to 4pm

 

 

Patio Dining Area

1987, a year dedicated to Michael Jackson being “Bad”, Whitney Houston wanting to dance with somebody, “The Lost Boys” being found and staked, and most historically, Ronald Reagan’s visit to West Berlin, and his famous speech, imploring The USSR’s leader, Mikhail Gorbachev to open the Berlin Wall.  Sorry, cannot resist this side note, but I was a university exchange student in 1979, and we had a guided tour of East Berlin, inside the wall area, and a guard in a turret actually turned his machine gun in our direction.  It was a horrible place just to visit, so imagine trying to live in its confines.

Anyway, while the world was experiencing what I have mentioned, and so much more, Paul Davis, of Dove Creek, Colorado, opened up his small diner, called simply “The Lunch Box”.  Little did he know that it would become an iconic part of Dove Creek’s history.  In 1995, Shelly King purchased the diner, and decided expansion was surely needed. At that time, Highway 491 was known as Highway 666, aka The Haunted Highway, so interest in this brought many a visitor inside the, now, full-service restaurant.  Unfortunately, due to illness, Shelly needed to sell his beloved Lunch Box in 2007, which became The Dinner Bell, and eventually DC Rack Haus.

Grandpa Shelly King

 

In 2023, the restaurant was up for sale once again and fate had a hand in this.  Joshua Robinson, Shelly King’s grandson, had moved from California (born and raised, but his family does have deep New York metropolitan roots) to Monticello.  Fate was knocking at his door and Joshua answered quickly, purchasing in October and wanting a grand opening as soon as possible.  He did not anticipate how much work needed to be done, but November 20^th was the grand day.  This was not just taking on, and continuing, the legacy of grandpa Shelly, this was an act of love for family history.  At six years old, Shelly began teaching Joshua the food business by allowing him to flip burgers in Shelly’s food truck.  For 18 years, Joshua worked in the food industry, but wanted a restaurant of his own due to his grandpa’s influence.

I will be adding tidbits of history in the rest of this article, but I must get to the food; the absolutely most delicious menu items we tried out.  There are three menus: breakfast, lunch/dinner and children’s.  There is so much variety, but here are the favorites: Breakfast – Breakfast Burrito, Country Fried Steak with green chili, Hatch Breakfast Sandwich; Lunch/Dinner – Country Fried Steak (choice of creamy country gravy or green chili), Fried Chicken Sandwich, Patty Melt, Cheeseburger, Hatch Cheeseburger, Chef or Greek Salad.  Now this list is only of local favorites, but there is so much more!  Oh, make sure you are very hungry, and want to take home leftovers; the portions are huge and at very reasonable prices.  Shelly always taught, “Good food + Huge portions + Great prices = Customers continue to come back.”

 

Children's Menu

 

Breakfast Menu

 

 

Lunch-Dinner Menu, Page 2

Lunch-Dinner Menu, Page 1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Visiting The Lunch Box gave me a day off from cooking, so we purchased four dishes to feed us throughout lunch and dinner.  First is Roy’s favorite sandwich, the patty melt, but this was no ordinary patty melt, it was a double (yes, you can order a single).  Two all-beef patties, smothered in a rich and tangy Swiss and white American cheese blend, grilled onions between toasted marble rye bread.  A comfort food addict’s dream sandwich.

 

 

 

The country fried steak was so amazing, I actually woke up during the night craving another platter of it.  This is Angus beef, fresh not frozen, trimmed and cut down on premises.  The coating is so crunchy good, any bits that fall off are quickly picked up and devoured.  Several times it was, slap Roy’s hand, and “this is mine, get your own!”.  It comes with a serving of crispy outside, fluffy inside shoestring fries and green beans.  Oh, but not our average, just picked out of the garden beans.  No, these are Haricots Verts, a French style green bean which contains more vitamins of the B group, vitamins C and K and minerals such as magnesium, iron and manganese.  The country gravy is creamy, smooth with a hint of cracked black pepper, so as to not overwhelm.

 

Dirty Fries are loaded nachos, but using shoestring fries instead of standard tortilla chips.  The toppings are green chili, cowboy beans, green onions, cilantro, cheddar cheese and sour cream.  The pinto beans are purchased locally in Dove Creek and cooked up fresh in-house; pork shoulder is used for the green chili as it is more tender after roasting.  Let me tell you that a bowl of that green chili with pork, plus fry bread, would make a complete meal in itself.  However, while grandpa Shelly did make his own fry bread, that is not an option nowadays.  But hey, get some fluffy housemade biscuits instead!

 

 

 

 

Pork Green Chili and Country Gravy.

 

A huge condiment selection at every table.

 

But I digress, the Greek salad came loaded with Romaine lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, black olives, roasted chicken, red onions, pepperoncini, feta cheese and the creamiest, smoothest dressing.  Every bite was a new taste sensation due to the ingredient combinations the fork picked up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Roy and I are so looking forward to going back and trying out many of the other menu items, like the burgers (1/4 lb. pounders).  One of the waitresses walked by carrying a cheeseburger plate; the burger was actually sitting out the sides of the bun and about an inch thick.  My eyes popped, and you know no one was doing a 1980’s, “Where’s the beef?”, yell.

 

Speaking of the wait staff, the second you walk in, you are greeted with a welcoming and friendly, “Come on in, and sit anywhere you like”.  Joshua opened up the building to make it roomier, airier and the sunlight allowed to brighten up every corner. We sat at the “Grandpa Shelly Memorial Table”, and felt honored, and yet also felt like he was there to make sure we were happy.  The staff are very attentive; depending on experience, they start at the bottom and are trained in every skill needed in a restaurant.  That way, there is always someone to step in when a staff member needs off.

 

So, if you want really good, I mean really good food, welcoming and comfortable atmosphere, a staff who cares about your needs, then you must go to The Lunch Box. If you want to hear more in-depth history, Joshua Robinson will not be shy about pulling up a chair and happily chat with you.

Mary Cokenour

 

 

Saddlebags That Are Meant for Eating.

One of the best decisions we have made, about entertainment, is to get rid of DISH, and switch to using an Amazon Firestick.  Besides Prime, there are a slew of streaming options that are free for watching like Tubi and Plex.  Oh sure, you have to watch some ads, or pay for the privilege of ad-free (we do not), but they are mainly for products sold on Amazon.  Favorites can be added to lists, and watched any day, any time, at our convenience. 

While watching old episodes of “Man vs. Food”, on Prime, Adam Richman was at The Buff Restaurant of Boulder, Colorado. One of their specialty items was a breakfast called "Saddlebag Pancakes". Two giant pancakes, one with sausage, one with bacon; big deal you say? The meat was inside the pancakes, not on the side; every forkful was a mixture of meat and pancake without having to root around on the plate.

Not being able to travel to Boulder to try the place out, it was inevitable that I would try to create this dish.  The first thing was to decide what type of pancake to use, so I let my hubby choose and he wanted honey wheat. While the restaurant braised their eggs, I did a simple over easy which is Roy’s favorite egg style.  Oh, what is braising?  The eggs are roasted and steamed, over low heat, using oil and another liquid, such as broth or a flavored sauce.  Back to eggs over easy. When mixed with maple syrup, the runny egg yolks helped to create this rich, indulgent syrup for the meaty infused pancakes.

Saddlebag Pancakes with Eggs Over Easy.

 

Thick cut bacon was fried up till just crisp; a little remaining fat was needed for when it was cooking up in the pancake batter.  It would also crumble up into small pieces if too crisp, and bite sized pieces were required for this dish.  The sausages, however, were not the typical breakfast links you find in the supermarket.  Instead, I used an all pork, fresh sausage without the additional seasonings you would find in breakfast sausage.  We love this type as it cooks up in the pan bubbling, squeaking and hopping around; the flavor is awesome and fun to watch, and listen to, cooking. Reminded me so much of making the English dish "Bubble and Squeak", but that is for another article in the future.  An angle cut for the sausages gave more surface texture inside the pancakes. For the six-inch pancakes, three strips of bacon or three sausage links were used; but if you want both meats in your pancakes, then I would suggest just using two of each.

Fresh Pork Sausages without Seasonings.

 

So, let’s get started, first here is my recipe for Honey Wheat Pancakes and then the construction of the actual Saddlebags.

 

Honey Wheat Pancakes

Ingredients:

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 and ½ cups old fashioned oatmeal (ground to flour or use oat flour)

3 tsp. baking powder

2 tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. cinnamon

¼ tsp. nutmeg

2 and ½ cups buttermilk

2 tsp. canola oil

1 egg

2 egg whites

2 Tbsp. honey

Preparation:

In a large mixing bowl, combine all dry ingredients. In a smaller bowl, whisk together all wet ingredients; slowly add to dry ingredient bowl, mixing together as added. Do not over mix batter; let rest 10 minutes while griddle (stove top or electric) heats up.

Lightly oil griddle before each batch if using nonstick appliance. Use a regular ladle (1 and ½ ladles per pancake) to portion out batter; using bottom of ladle to smooth out batter to a 6-inch circle. Each pancake will take 2-4 minutes per side depending on type of griddle used.

Makes 8 pancakes.

 To Make Saddlebag Pancakes:

 

The construction of the Saddlebags begins once the griddle is ready for the batter. Remember to have your bacon and sausage cut up and ready to go. First get the batter on the griddle for two pancakes.

 

 

 

 

 

Add bacon pieces to one pancake, sausage to the other. Depending on how your griddle browns up pancakes, you will know when to flip them over. Once flipped, leave them alone and just let the batter brown up as usual. Remove to a plate once done. 

 

 

 

It was that easy; now have your eggs going at the same time, so everything will be piping hot. Maple syrup goes best with these beauties, and eat enough of these saddlebags, your hips will develop their own.

Honey wheat pancakes not to your liking?  Buttermilk pancakes work just as well, and here is a recipe for that.

Buttermilk Pancakes

Ingredients:

1 and ¼ cups flour

1 egg

1and ¼ cups buttermilk

¼ cup sugar

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

¼ cup canola oil

1/8 tsp. salt

2 Tbsp. butter

Preparation:

Preheat electric griddle, or stovetop griddle, to 300F.

In a large bowl, combine all ingredients, except butter, and do not over mix.  Melt the butter on the hot griddle; use a ladle to pour batter onto the griddle, forming 6-inch circles.

As the batter cooks, bubbles will appear and when the edges seem firm; flip over and cook other side.  Both sides will take 2-4 minutes each; and be golden brown.  Serve with favorite toppings or syrups.

Makes 6-8 pancakes.

Mary Cokenour