The Stallion Grill

Hardworking food at easy prices: barbecue, burgers and the comfort of Southern-style sides

By Mike Sutter
AMERICAN-STATESMAN RESTAURANT CRITIC
Thursday, July 16, 2009

When I was a kid, my uncle owned a motorcycle shop in Lake Jackson. I'd go stay with him some summers, pretending to `work' at the shop, but mostly fouling the spark plugs on the little dirt bikes he let me ride out back. They even let me go on lunch runs with them, a bunch of mechanics and parts people in work pants and dirty boots.

I didn't get to express my dietary eccentricities. I got the same thing everybody else was getting, on a plate or in a basket, at places with checked tablecloths and worn-out tile floors. The guys were tired and dirty, they needed cheap, decent food and they needed to get out as fast as they could.

We ate at places like the Stallion Grill on Airport Boulevard, where you order from a cafeteria-style line on a steady walk, picking from a daily special (smothered pork chops, maybe, or turkey, or meat loaf), barbecue plates, chicken-fried steak, catfish, burgers and 10 or so steaming sides.

In front of the Stallion, a sky-scraping marquee shouts out `bar-b-que' in big letters, followed in smaller letters by `burgers.' Flip that, and you get a sense of how good the one-third pound burger is here. The beef has just the right amount of fat, seared outside, with a thick, lightly toasted roll with a hint of sweetness. It's $4.49 by itself, $6.98 with medium-cut, skin-on fries, a drink and a blanket of melted cheddar cheese. A basket of thick, hot onion rings with a breading that tasted almost like turkey stuffing was $2.39.

On the barbecue side, the fatty brisket came in big, tender chunks with a light smoke and a thin char on the outside. I wish the turkey had been the same. It was sliced off a breast, deli-style, with just enough color to be called `barbecued,' but I tasted mostly salt. The two-meat plate ($9.99) was filled out with two sides and a soft yeast roll or a sweet cornbread muffin.

All the sides we tried earned the comfort-food seal of approval, with big portions, a good mix of salt and sweet, all overcooked just enough to go down without a challenge: sweet cabbage with a hit of pepper, chopped collard greens speckled with pork, creamy macaroni and cheese with a melted crust, yams so sweet with brown sugar they could have been on the dessert menu (and a better bet than the bland banana pudding).

But the sides couldn't completely save the big chicken-fried steak ($7.99). The cream gravy and the meat tasted good, but it was tough, with an oily, overcooked crust that slipped right off when we cut it. We didn't bother with the tired-looking side salad in a plastic bowl.

The Stallion's not meant for salads, though. It's meant for people - and not just motorcycle mechanics with grease under their nails - who need a fast, stick-to-the-ribs lunch at the right price, a few friendly faces and a place to park their trucks outside.

msutter@statesman.com; 912-5902

Stallion Grill

5201 Airport Blvd., 380-9433, www.stalliongrill.com

Rating (casual dining): 6.9 out of 10

Hours: 11 a.m. to 5:45 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.

Prices: Barbecue plates $8.49-$9.99. Barbecue sandwiches $2.99-$5.29. `Homestyle' meals $5.49 (veggie plate) to $8.99 (fried catfish). Burgers $4.49-$5.29. Desserts $1.69-$1.99.

Payment: All major cards

Bar: No alcohol served.

Wheelchair access: Yes

What the rating means: The average of weighted scores for food, service, atmosphere and value