Abilene Christian College - Prickly Pear Yearbook (Abilene, TX)

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This page, top left: Tobe, of Harold’s Pit Walnut St. Top right: Sparkling fountains family-owned business, located at 1233 N. Treadway. Although the drive-in offers the usual fast food items of hamburgers (four large ones for $3.50 and six small for $3) and french fries, its speciality by far is ice cream. Ask anyone in Abilene where the best ice cream comes from, and you’re sure The homemade ice cream flavors include chocolate, strawberry, banana nut and peach, with plain ol’ vanilla coming from a machine. Cones sell for 30 and 40 cents, while dishes of the cold stuff are 45, 65 and 85 cents. Another of the local restaurants, Harold’s Bar-B-Q, at the in- tersection of North 13th and Walnut, has a culture of its own. Familiar to almost everyone who claims to be a West Texan, this dilapidated, smoke encrusted cafe is frequented during the noon hour by students, doctors,

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cyaUces of ‘Ifie City's cufture’

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lawyers, businessmen and blue- collar workers. The menu isn’t large but the of- ferings are delicious, ranging from a smoked beef-on-bun for $1.50 to a plate of beef, ham, sausage and or ribs mixed to the customer’s pleasing for $3.25. Also available is the beef, sausage or ham plate with beans, potato salad or cole slaw, hush puppies and onion. This establishment also is family- owned. Tobe, Harold’s father started the barbecue house 22 years ago, with his wife making her special hush puppies. Most of the culture at Harold’s is provided by Tobe’s family, all working together behind the counter. They take a great deal of pride in the family barbecue, telling of shipping orders to far-away places such as New York and England. Admittedly, these places have class but not the kind of class for that special “night on the town” with all the elegance of the “big city.” Abilene has something to offer in this area too — the Kiva Inn’s Library and Sidewalk Cafe. The Library is the more elegant of the two and also provides the bigger tab, although reports are that the meal and atmosphere are worth the money. The menu, which would do justice to a fine New York or New Orleans restaurant, has an in- ternational flare with several of- ferings seldom seen in this West Texas city. Among these items are marinated herring and gravad lax, a cold Swedish appetizer of cured, fresh salmon in a sweet dill sauce. Both are $3.25. A $3 appetizer of escargot bourguignonne (French snails simmered in wine with herbs and garlic) also is available. The soup section of the menu includes casserole of onion au gratin, a favorite in many fine restaurants. Entrees of fish, fowl, veal, lamb and beef are available at the Library. Cornish game hen stuffed with wild rice dressing, for example, is $7.75. The steak-eaters aren’t forgotten at the Library, either. Steaks range from filet mignon for $8.50 to roast prime rib for $9.25 or $10.50 depending on the cut preferred. The Sidewalk Cafe is designed for people with smaller pocketbooks. With its bright red and green chairs and red-stripped awnings the at- mosphere is pleasant and the menu is more modestly priced than that of the Library. The ever-standard hamburger is offered in 12 varities, ranging from $2.25 to $3.80. Among the most popular of the different varieties are the Monterrey with guacamole and Monterrey Jack cheese for $3.10 and the Kiva containing jalapeno pep- pers and Cheddar cheese for $2.80. Also available for sidewalk dining are 11 kinds of omelettes, ranging from $1.90 to $2.95, fried chicken for $3.25 and a seafood platter for $5.95. The restaurant is open from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily. For international culture in Abilene the place to go is Guiseppi’s Italian Station, 4109 S. Danville. Atmosphere is one of the restaurant’s finest features, with its small tables, covered in red tablecloths, in a simulated Italian