Reata Restaurant: The Reata Restaurant in Alpine, Texas is housed in an 1890 adobe house. The Reata logo is displayed on the wooden gable and repeated in the walkway to the front. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
Cowboy Country: Most of the art and decor within the restaurant leave no doubt you are dining in cowboy country. The beautiful wood plank flooring and bead wood ceiling runs throughout the dining areas. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
By GARY WARREN
Photographer
Formerly of Los Alamos
It’s all about the journey, not the destination. That is how we travel. Usually, we are on a very loose schedule if any at all which allows for the serendipitous stops along the way.
We are currently roaming and exploring in west Texas. We have been in the area for a week and have been enjoying warmer than normal temperatures this January. You never know, by this time last winter there was snow on the ground, especially in the higher elevations.
We had not planned on eating lunch at a restaurant, but the thought appeared, and we were searching the internet for a restaurant in Alpine, Texas. We decided on the Reata Restaurant just off the town’s main street.
Housed in an old house built in 1890, the exterior looked inviting. However, when we stepped inside, the structure’s beautiful rich wood and thick adobe walls decorated with western art and artifacts began to shine. This part of Texas is cowboy is cowboy and ranching country and the interior decor left no doubt for the imagination.
Simple square wooden tables and chairs for seating were scattered in the house’s living room, dining room, a bedroom, and a family room, which may have been added to the house later, in the rear of the house. The restaurant’s kitchen occupied other bedrooms and the bar was in what probably was the original kitchen area. A nice size outdoor patio for additional seating occupied what was a backyard.
The restaurant served American and Mexican food. Alpine is located fairly near the Mexican border and most eating choices reflected those choices.
Our lunch choice consisted of chile rellenos and an enchiladas plate. The food was excellent, and we have enough in our refrigerator for dinner.
We love eating at locally owned restaurants when traveling. We are almost never disappointed in our experience and the decor, food, and service often reflects how locals live their day to day lives. We will flag Reata Restaurant in Alpine, Texas and stop in again on future trips.
Editor’s note: Longtime Los Alamos photographer Gary Warren and his wife Marilyn are traveling around the country, and he shares his photographs, which appear in the “Posts from the Road” series published in the Sunday edition of the Los Alamos Daily Post.
West Texas Decor: Visitors enter the Reata in the original living room of the house and are greeted by a Texas Longhorn mounted above the fireplace. Simple western furnishings fill the rooms. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
Local History: Most of the artwork in the restaurant is cowboy and ranching related subject matter. However, some spaces are filled with photos or documents from the town’s historic past. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
Bar: The bar is in the area that was the original kitchen in the 1890 house. A family gathering room that appears to have been added later allows for additional dining in the bar area. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
Patio: The western decor of the Reata Restaurant carries on to the outdoor patio including this wall mural. Western sculptures also can be seen in the outdoor dining area. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
