By TIM WILCOX

Special to the Alpine Mountaineer

The newest restaurant in Lake Arrowhead Village is an establishment pervaded by nostalgia. The Cadillac Cowboy, which opened just in time for last year’s Fourth of July celebration, pays homage to a country-western culture that flourished before today’s trendy musical niche.

Most of the songs you’ll hear are classics instead of current chart toppers. The interior is memorable, too, with an antler chandelier in the entryway, several saddles, photo display of country-western stars in the restroom hall, a tractor seat from Fargo, N.D., and more.

What about the food? It’s hardy southern-style fare that might be described as coming from Grandma’s kitchen with a flourish of West Coast sophistication.

James (“Jimmy”) and Misti Dixon are the congenial proprietors, who grew up with a soundtrack of classic country-western tunes. “I’m definitely a country girl at heart,” Misti admits, noting that she was raised in Fontana, where her father was a dairy farmer, and also spent some formative years in rural Missouri on a 40-acre spread. Jimmy was born in the Pasadena area and, from age 5 to 15, lived in a grain-farming sector of Manitoba, Canada, his mother’s home turf.

The Dixons, who’ve been married for about 10 years, originally settled in Lake Arrowhead, with Misti moving here first a dozen years ago from Orange County and Jimmy following a couple of years later from Apple Valley in the High Desert. Now they’re comfortably ensconced on a secluded parcel in Crestline’s remote Dart Canyon.

Misti admits that, prior to The Cadillac Cowboy, she’d had no restaurant experience. She certainly does now. On the other hand, Jimmy learned the business over the course of several years, playing various roles for a number of eateries. Then, after graduating from California State University, San Bernardino, with a degree in finance, he worked at three high-end properties: the St. Regis in Monarch Beach, the Montage in Beverly Hills and the Hard Rock Hotel in Palm Springs. While it’s an impressive résumé, Jimmy is devoid of pretense.

He and Misti simply want to extend consistent country-style hospitality to their customers. This, too: After a challenging run-up to opening, they’re obviously happy to be humming along now with some 30 employees in winter and nearly 50 planned for summer. Revisiting that “Let’s get started” challenge, Jimmy notes that after signing the lease in February 2022, “it took the Village 11 months to hand the unit over to us.” Then, with full access to the property, “we built it out completely in six months, including five weeks of ‘Snowmageddon.’”

Besides a spacious, high-ceiling interior, the site boasts an enormous L-shaped balcony steps away from the Village’s Center Stage. According to Jimmy: “It’s great for concerts and sunsets and just dining outside in the clear mountain air. It also offers a completely different perspective on the lake from other Village restaurants.”

 

On the Menu

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This is definitely a casual eatery, where “haute cuisine” is a strange and foreign term. Considering its country-western theme, that’s just fine.

Six “Boot Scootin’ Starters” range from $8 to $16. The Backroads salad, lumped with the starters, features mixed greens, tomatoes, sweet corn, black beans, cilantro chicharrónes and your choice of beef brisket, pulled pork or breaded chicken on top. The finishing touch: a drizzle of barbecue sauce. Cornmeal-battered fried okra is served with ranch or blue-cheese dressing. As for the aptly named Texas-size baked potato, it’s loaded with baked beans, shredded cheese, sour cream, chives, barbecue sauce, and even a spoonful or two of macaroni and cheese. As if that weren’t enough, the kitchen adds a topping of pulled pork or beef brisket. Cadillac fries, smoked wings and fresh popped pork rinds round out the appetizer slate.

Four Wild West sandwiches follow in the wake of the restaurant’s starters: smoked beef brisket ($20), barbecue pulled pork ($18), buttermilk fried chicken with Nashville hot sauce ($18) and smoked sausage roll ($17). The last pick invites you to choose between apple-chicken or hickory-smoked linguiça, a traditional Portuguese sausage.

Now for the menu stars: smoked pork baby-back ribs. “We make our own rub in-house,” says Jimmy, “and use wood from post oak and pecan trees in an exact ratio to smoke the ribs.” Misti adds that “the post oak comes only from Texas.” A half rack runs $26 and full rack, $46. The first order comes with one side and the second, two sides. What’ll it be, then? Macaroni and cheese, baked beans, coleslaw, red-cabbage salad or fries?

The menu’s sweet finales are whiskey bent butter cake, served with warm candied pecans and topped with house-made whiskey-caramel sauce ($12), and old-fashioned banana pudding with vanilla wafers and whipped cream ($9).

FYI, kids 12 and under can opt for chicken tenders, fries and a soft drink ($11). FYI, too, the libations lineup is nothing less than tempting. Among the draft beers, two stand out: Cali Squeeze Blood Orange Hefe and Pizza Port Swami’s IPA. A quartet of fruity hard seltzers features White Claw mango, High Noon watermelon, White Claw grapefruit and High Noon pineapple.

Signature drinks bear clever monikers such as Whiskey Bent & Hell Bound, Friends in Low Places, Outlaw Peach Iced Tea and On the Road Again. The last of those concoctions blends your choice of Jack Honey, Jack Apple or Old Camp Pecan Whiskey with honey, lemon juice, a cinnamon stick and hot water. Cheers!

An essential item on the restaurant’s overall “menu” is entertainment: live music (bands and solo artists), DJs, karaoke, line dancing and more. The schedule is ambitious, and there’s no cover charge. For complete details, dial the restaurant’s number or visit www.thecadillaccowboy.com.

You may be wondering about this colorful establishment’s name. It’s the title of a song composed by Chris LeDoux, a famous country-music singer who also was a bronze sculptor and hall-of-fame rodeo star. Perfect!

The Cadillac Cowboy: 28200 Hwy. 189 in Lake Arrowhead; (909) 513-1023; reservations for groups of eight or more; major cards and Apple Pay; $8-$46; 12 to 7 p.m. Mon.-Weds., 12 to 8 p.m. Thurs., 11:30 a.m. to midnight Fri., 11:30 a.m. to 1 a.m. Sat. and 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sun.; special events and catering.