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Speak-Easy shows city-dwellers what a real Nebraska country steakhouse is like
by Pam Soreide and Betty Sayers
Did you ever go to a “country” steakhouse in the city? Often as not, they’re in a shopping mall, going by names like “Sodbuster” or “Country Cousin” and distinguished by their weathered barn wood paneling and props like galvanized washtubs and pitchforks. The wait staff is often decked out in red and white checked gingham. On the menu, you find dishes like the Field Hand and the Hungry Farmer Platter, but when they arrive, it’s too often canned corn and instant mashed potatoes with wallpaper-paste gravy, accompanying something most Nebraskans wouldn’t dignify with a word like “steak”.
Now let us tell you about a real country steakhouse.
In the first place, it’s hard to imagine a more country location. Hidden among the cornfields between Wilcox and Holdrege, the Speak-Easy Restaurant is housed in the last building standing in Sacramento, a town built on the now-defunct Polyline Railroad line. The original brick building was built in 1884 to serve as a general store and a post office in Sacramento, which it did proudly until Sacramento died when the railroad line was sold to the Burlington Northern, the rails torn up and hauled away.
Today, the Speak-Easy does have a rustic weathered-wood entrance, but that’s where the similarity to an urban “country” restaurant ends.
A special-occasion destination.
Inside, white linen table cloths and napkins contrast with hunter green walls and wood wainscoting and trim. The décor of local historical photos and sports memorabilia is spare and arranged attractively, and our first impression is one of cleanliness and order. The flatware has a heft to it; we like the “clubby” feeling. The dress is generally informal although we can see the atmosphere lends itself to special occasions and formal dress too.
The restaurant seats 220 guests and a patio room was added a few years ago to accommodate receptions and parties. The patio room, curiously decorated in a tropical motif, seats 60. Windows lining the west and south walls frame the gorgeous colors of famous Nebraska sunsets.
As we contemplate the menu, we order a Chardonnay and a Merlot by the glass and a Tanqueray martini. We’ve been looking forward to our adventure to the Speak-Easy, and even though it is known as a steakhouse, in our short drive from Holdrege, we resolved to order steak, chicken and seafood menu selections in order to offer a fair review.
Thinking about an appetizer, our server told us the Speak-Easy makes their onion rings from scratch, and that it was one of their most popular items. We decided to give it a try. They arrived a few minutes later, piled high on a china plate, steaming, crisp and totally unlike the typical, processed variety, with a light, tasty batter, almost like tempura. We sipped our aperitif, munched on onion rings and talked about memorable steakhouses we have known.
A family business.
T.P. and Theresa Puls own and manage the Speak-Easy. They were high school sweethearts who married after Theresa’s first year in college. T.P. learned to tell a good steak from a mediocre one while working as a meat cutter at the Hinky Dinky grocery in Fremont, NE. When he gained proficiency, T.P. was transferred to a Hinky Dinky in Holdrege, NE where they lived for three years, made friends and felt at home. When Hinky Dinky transferred them again, this time to Grand Island, it didn’t work out.
“We didn’t like Grand Island,” says Theresa. “Holdrege is our home, and we were willing to do anything to come back.” A Holdrege friend of the Puls learned that the Speak-Easy Restaurant was for sale and urged them to buy the business.
“In April of 1980, we were back in Holdrege and in the business of managing a steak house.” Theresa said “It was a way back to a place where we wanted to make our life and our living.”
Their reputation for managing a fine restaurant started to grow from the day T.P. and Theresa opened the doors and grilled their first steak. Although steak is prominent on the menu, chicken, seafood, catfish, salmon, and trout are also well-represented. Crisp, fresh lettuce salads come with homemade blue cheese, ranch and thousand island dressings. Instead of canned corn, guests get fresh broccoli florets cooked tender yet crisp.
“Our vendors tell us that no other restaurant in the area buys the quality of prime beef that we serve our customers,” Teresa says. “T.P. really knows how to age meat to enhance flavor and tenderness.”
To illustrate, Teresa tells the recent story of a visiting businessman from Arizona. He joined colleagues at a dinner at the Speak-Easy on Tuesday evening, and returned again the next Saturday night. “He said, ‘The steak I ate here was more tender and delicious than any I have ever tasted.’,” Teresa said. “He returned the following Thursday with 30 business colleagues, and said, ‘The New York strip was the best I had ever tasted until I ordered the rib-eye...and I think it was even better.’”
Still, only one of us would get steak tonight. But in the end, no one would suffer.
Something for everyone.
For the steak, we ordered one of our favorite Nebraska steaks, the flat iron cut. The flat iron was discovered? created? invented? at the University of Nebraska during research on the muscle-structure of undervalued cuts of meat. Although it comes from the chuck — so it’s a bit less expensive than a New York or rib-eye — the flat iron is exceptionally tender and flavorful. Ours came accompanied by a thick homemade vegetable-beef soup and sour cream wedge-cut fries. Another of us selected the coconut shrimp, fresh steamed broccoli and a green lettuce salad with the Speak-Easy’s signature blue cheese dressing. Lastly, we tried the fried chicken — the Speak-easy is famous for it — with a baked potato and fresh green lettuce salad with Ranch dressing, another Speak-Easy made-from-scratch dressing. The accompanying pumpernickel rolls were excellent.
The flat iron steak met every expectation and was grilled perfectly. We detected a black pepper rub that complemented the steak flavor. We liked the light batter on the shrimp, and the high quality of the shrimp, itself. Steaming hot, tender yet not soggy, the broccoli florets were perfectly prepared and served with a Ranch dressing dipping sauce. We agreed they were so tasty, they could be on the appetizer menu.
By consensus we agreed to return, and although we enjoyed every food we tasted, and could heartily recommend the chicken, fish and seafood choices, the Speak-Easy is about steak. After all T.P. Puls’ reputation in the restaurant business hinges on his steaks.
For the future, Theresa says, there are plans for some maintenance – paint the ceiling, get a new roof – but the Puls also have plans for new tables and chairs. Then, in about fours years, they’re hoping to get their son, who is a professional chef in Seattle, to come home and take over the Speak-Easy.
Frankly, we hope so, too.
Who to Contact
Speak-Easy Restaurant
Open: 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Tuesday–Sunday. Closed Monday
72993 S Road
Holdrege, NE 68949
Theresa and Terry Puls
308-995-4757
308-995 8545
E-mail: tpuls@allolsp.com
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