Review: Stagecoach Inn Restaurant

After stopping at the Czech Stop, we continued on with a brief detour to drop off some things with family in Waco and made it to Salado, Texas by lunchtime. Salado is a quaint little town on the South side of Waco just before you get to Austin. When I was growing up, Salado was about all the vacation my parents could afford and we visited at least once or twice a year. Stagecoach Inn got its name because it was a stop on the stagecoach route where travelers would stay overnight before resuming their trip. As time wore on, buildings were added and the original house expanded to include all of the area known today as Stagecoach Inn.

There is a long history of staying and eating at Stagecoach in my family. My grandmother went there for decades before she ever took my mom. My mom’s first visit occurred in her late teens and she introduced me to the experience as an infant. Now, I have taken my boys there. It is a sweet legacy with wonderful memories for all of us.

The original house has been updated and turned into a restaurant. Every trip sees at least one visit to this restaurant not only for the ambiance but because the food is truly unique. You begin with hot hush puppies and chilled butter. We always order their tea and fix it up just right with sweetener and lemons while we wait for the waitress to take our order. The cost isn’t cheap; the entrees usually start around $16.95 but the experience is well worth it. After deciding which entree you would like, you are given a choice of fruit salad or green salad. Then you are given a choice of shrimp cocktail or fruit cocktail. Once you work your way through these two courses, your entree is served usually accompanied by twice baked potatoes, squash casserole and fried plantain. Our favorite part of the meal is dessert. The restaurant makes several of its own pies including a chocolate pecan and a lemon chess. But the best, in our opinion, by far is known as the Strawberry Kiss. Baked meringue covered in ice cream, strawberry sauce, fresh strawberries, and topped with whip cream has been a special treat since I was old enough to be taken to the dining room.

Unfortunately, time has not been kind to Stagecoach Inn. Last fall, we stayed in the rooms and found the charm has tarnished. The Inn was sold in 1999 and apparently maintenance, upgrades and appearance are not high on the list of priorities any longer. The room smelled musty. The comforters and wall hangings were dated. The plumbing was old and stained. The rooms that once welcomed me with a warm glow seemed to have allowed the embers of charm and hospitality to die.

Although our family had collectively decided to no longer stay in the hotel, we still made it a point to visit the dining room and try to rewind the clock to the days of glory it used to offer. We were  saddened today to experience a similar fading of that essence in the food quality and choices in the dining room. Although we do not usually go for a “lunch” – it is normally dinnertime or Sunday lunch that we eat there – today we thought we would stop and eat our lunch in historic Stagecoach Inn dining room.

The hush puppies were hot and melted in our mouths. The tea was great. But once we placed our order, we knew something was amiss. We weren’t asked about the salads and the cocktails. No one explained how the courses are served and what to expect. Then we realized, that was because there were no courses. Your meal was it . . . and even the meal didn’t come with the normal choices. No twice baked potatoes, no squash casserole. We quickly finished our entrees, eagerly anticipating dessert.  Dessert would make it all worthwhile. Except dessert wasn’t the same either. No chocolate pecan pie. No chess pie. No Strawberry Kiss. The desserts we were brought were not very good, and we quickly wrapped up our meal and moved on to the next step in our journey.

As we left, we remarked on how much has changed in this once grand place. Time marches on. Places outlive people. Sometimes all you’re left with are memories of what once was.

Maybe one day someone will make this place back into the remarkable experience it was before, but in the meantime our visits will probably be curtailed. It’s too sad to go with high hopes and expectations, only to have them dashed and be reminded that the past is no more.

I wish the hotel and dining room were as sharp as the Stagecoach Inn website. I’m not sure that it’s fair to advertise with the pictures that are used because they aren’t an accurate portrayal of the hotel. There are no pictures of the front of the hotel anywhere on the site. All of the pictures on the homepage are of the original hotel that has now become the restaurant.

While in the past the food at Stagecoach has been something special, it has never been gourmet and apparently this is a stock image they put out there because the only resemblance it holds to the meals in the Dining room is that they both include food.

I wish the rooms looked like this. If they did, we would be staying there tonight and I would not be sharing a fold out couch with my baby.

And there are no spa services at the hotel so apparently this picture is supposed to represent what you might be able to convince your spouse to do for you if you stay at their hotel?!?!?

The end of an era is sad. Our family can only hope that someone will come along who loves the Inn like we do and wants to help it return to its former glory. Until then, I would recommend staying in one of the local bed and breakfasts . . . and only eating in the Dining Room if it’s an evening meal or a Sunday lunch.