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Comfortable in the 'Wool'
| Wednesday, May 3 2006 10:05 PM
Last Updated: Wednesday, May 3 2006 10:09 PM
Wool Growers is still one of the kings of the Basque restaurant scene in Bakersfield for a lot of reasons. If you want a pure setup (all the fixings, without an entree), this is the place to go. The support food is fantastic, prices are a great value and the hospitality is first-rate.
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One thing I noticed during a recent visit on a Friday night is how much laughter you hear. People are happy. Maybe it's because it was the weekend, maybe it's because the wine is so inexpensive ($3 for a glass of house red at the bar, and not much more for an authentic Picon Punch) or maybe it's just because the staff (including owners Mayie, Jenny and Danny Maitia) is so hospitable.
All I know is when it comes to off-the-menu Basque restaurants, my favorites right now are Maitia's Basque Café, the venerable Benji's and that old country, old school, never-gon -na-change Wool Growers on East 19th.
The night we visited we did not have reservations. I hoped with all the NCAA tournaments going on at the time that March Madness would clear the place out.
The bar was empty, momentarily, when we arrived, but everyone else was smart enough to make reservations. After an hour wait, they managed to work us in, giving us more chances to see UConn fight off what would be an inevitable elimination.
The prices, as I mentioned, are a nice value. My companion ordered a filet mignon for $21, and it was high-quality beef. Of course for $1 you can get the fresh garlic and parsley treatment. It's a must. I went for the fried chicken ($14.50) with the garlic, as I have fond memories of enjoying it in the back of the banquet room on many occasions.
The first course is particularly strong. I haven't been able to identify why exactly, but I love their cabbage soup more than any others. Throw in some of those soft but husky pinto beans and that fresh salsa, grab a slab of some fresh-cut Pyrenees French bread and you can stop right there and box the rest of it up.
The second course was the weakest link, only because the iceberg lettuce in the salad was tasteless, as were the anemic, pale tomatoes with onion and green pepper strips. The tongue was good, but at this point I feared getting winded. Pacing yourself at a Wool Growers dinner is important if you want to keep laughing.
Then the feast starts. The best fresh-cut French fries in town: twisted, crisp, as long as a witch's index finger and just as fearsome to someone who thinks fries are a fast-food treat. There was the spaghetti with a nice, sweet tomato sauce and way too much grated Parmesan cheese. The canned corn, a bit dark and dry from some reheating, and our glorious entrees. My plate featured three pieces of chicken, one breast and two thighs, dusted simply with flour and deep-fried. The crunchiness seemed to hold the moisture in, and you'd see it rise in a mist when you removed the skin. The steak was regrettably undercooked (rare instead of medium -- a big gap!), but it was so juicy and flavorful, especially with that garlic on top that we just couldn't bear to send it back.
Other great choices on the menu based on previous visits include the pork chops, lamb chops and roast lamb.
Not a lot changes here, from the menu to the focus of the restaurant, but the interior is not dated.
Some tasteful wallpaper and wainscotting cast a warm glow on the room, like it was a sepia-toned photo. Could that be why everyone was laughing? Under such lighting conditions, your face will lose years of wear.
Wool Growers Restaurant can be recommended for a fine dining experience.