Sandy Calls it the “Biker Bar.”

Others have called it a “Cowboy Bar.”

And one person on line described it as a “Hooters for Cowboys.”

It's Texas Lil’s in Old Town Temecula, CA.

And it is all three. On weekends it is a favorite hang-out for bikers and the patio fence has signs conveying a cautionary admonition about proper bike exhaust protocol. (In short, don’t blow your bike exhaust on those eating on the patio.)

And the Wild West motif immediately brings cowboys to mind.

And Hooters? That refers to the somewhat skimpy and rather tight attire worn by the female servers. But that isn’t something that I would normally notice. And Chuck? His version of “taking the fifth” was to say that it was too dark inside to see what they wore.

And Texas Lil’s is one of Temecula’s Top 5 Pet Friendly Restaurants and has a special K-9 menu that includes a beef rib, a grilled chicken breast, half and quarter-pound hamburger patties, and a bunless hot dog. All menu items are enjoyed on the porch.

We had driven up to Sun City to spend time with Chuck’s Aunt Margaret and cousin Sandra and part of the plan was to drive down to Temecula for lunch. And they had taken us to Texas Lil’s three years ago and we had fond memories of our 4.5 Addie lunch on that day.

Margaret began her lunch with a cup of the chicken tortilla soup that was garnished with tri-color tortilla chips.

Then both Sandra and Margaret ordered the BBQ Pork sandwich which came on an onion roll. These were very large sandwiches and both Sandra and Margaret took half of each home for a later meal. Each came with one side and from a list that included fries, yam chips, ranch beans, chili, and cole slaw, Margaret chose the beans

and Sandy the fries.

I studied the menu in vain looking for the breaded pork tenderloin sandwich that I had so enjoyed on our previous visit. It wasn’t there. So, instead, I ordered the beef tamales covered in Texas Red. “In Texas, a bowl of Texas Red refers to Beef Chili, WITHOUT BEANS. End of discussion. This is a meal in itself but adding some hot, buttered, jalapeño cornbread is always a winning combination” (texmex.net).

“Tex-Mex is a popular cuisine that originated from a mix of authentic Mexican and Spanish dishes prepared Texas-style. Waverly Root and Richard de Rochemont of Eating in America describe Tex-Mex as a ‘native foreign food.’ The term ‘Tex-Mex’ first appears in print in the 1940s, though it was no doubt used for some time prior. According to historians, it commonly described anything that was influenced by or derived from both Texas and Mexico, and did not necessarily have a positive connotation. Tex-Mex was neither authentically Mexican nor Texan” (wisegeek.com).

The dish contained two large shredded beef tamales and the Texas Red was medium spicy and had a strong taste of cumin.

Like Margaret and Sandy, half of my lunch came home, and I reheated the leftovers for dinner that evening.

I am not sure that Chuck realized that he ordered the same meal as at our visit three years ago. And not believing in “reinventing the wheel,” I’ll just repeat what I said in that blog: “The minute I saw Chicken Fried Steak on the menu, I knew what Chuck would be eating. This was a lightly breaded steak deep fried to a crackling crispness.

Deep frying is Chuck’s favorite way of preparing Chicken Fried Steak, and he was in crunch nirvana. And under this crackling crust was a third of an inch thick piece of tender and juicy meat with nary a speck of fat or gristle. With it came a good-sized serving of mashed potatoes with country gravy and a side of steamed broccoli, snow peas, onions, and cauliflower. (The cauliflower went uneaten.)” (thewandererschuckandkate.blogspot.com 9/22/09). And while carrots seem to have replaced the snow peas in the vegetable medley, the cauliflower still went uneaten.

While I was disappointed that the pork tenderloin was no longer available, the tamales more than made up for this loss and Texas Lil’s remains a 4.5 Addie spot for lunch.

To review the role of Adler, Kitty Humbug, and the Addie rating system, read the November 14, 2011 blog.