Stalvey’s Restaurant

You know Stalvey’s is serious about red meat when you enter and see that the primary decorative element in the vestibule is red meat: large packs of it piled up in a glass-walled refrigerator case just below the cash register.

Have it your way: T-bone, rib-eye, strip, or filet, in sizes that range from a filet mignon of six or eight ounces to a massive sirloin for two that arrives on a sizzling platter. Our personal choice is filet mignon. It is firm and juicy and endlessly flavorful. On the side you can have a baked potato with butter and sour cream, French fries, or what the menu lists as The World’s Best Fried Onion Rings. They are crunchy battered hoops that virtually melt on the tongue with a light ribbon of sweet onion inside.

Lunch at Jim Stalvey’s tends to be less beef-focused than supper. It’s a meat-and-three affair, with such entrees as turkey and dressing or chicken livers accompanied by your choice from a long list of side dishes that include turnip greens, rutabagas, crowder peas, fried green tomatoes, and four different styles of potato.