Al's Place For A Mean Steak and Beer

"A delicious steak that reminds you why man
decided to domesticate those dang cows in the first place"
customer's review

I was recently told of a place north of Stockton,Ca. that serves a mean grilled steak. Says they've been serving them since the 1930's. I hesitate to visit because today its supposedly a biker bar in GMC truck country. Need I remind you that I'm a six foot brotha from New York with good grammar who many country folk perceive as an uppity yankee. Of course some of these same folk are still angry they lost the war. The "Civil War" that is.

But what lengths would you go to get your choppers around a mean grilled steak? Especially here in cholesterol conscience California where eating rare cooked meats is like abusing a pet or something. Heck, I'll probably pay a visit to Al's Place just to be able to talk about it in front of those self-righteous salad eating city dwellers I always seem to dine around.

Al's Place, better known as Al the Wop's, is a bar and grill in Locke, California, (added to the historical registry in 1970) near Walnut Grove, Ca. The town was once populated by mostly Chinese and all businesses in town were Chinese. Not suprising since Chinese actually built the town back in 1915. But that was before 1931, before Al Adami bought Lee Bing's Chinese Restaurant on main street making it the only non-Chinese establishment in town.

I can only assume that Al himself was a good ole Italian tough guy with possibly a shady past and the cajones to open up shop where no wasp had ever been before. Coming from New York I know Italians, many good folks who honor family and community. So when I see the term "Wop" as part of a restaurant name I know that it must've been an Italian who posted it. Like with many cultures, you can call each other a term, but just don't let an outsider call you by it. I suppose Al must've figgah'd it be good for business.

Well, Al was right, he's outlasted many a business in town I'm sure. Were he still alive he'd be welcoming customers as he must've done from day one. Wait, is Al still around? I'll get back to you on that.

I only hope my cajones can match up in size with Al's though, because as much as I feel brave enough to tred into unknown territory, there's this distinct cautious flutter I get when I find myself around trucks with gun racks, hunting dogs, Confederate flags, gun show signs and signs with "Zeke For Sheeriff "on poles. Any chance there's some wise guy Italian running the joint these days? He I understand, "It's just business."

So, how far are you willing to go for a great juicy steak? Goto reviews on Al The Wop's to convince yourself its worth the travel and potential risk.