Loose Wheels of Texas

This is a beautiful establishment that caters to ordinary people, bikers, and participates in some community charity events as well. I was introduced to them on Sunday for the Red Ribbon Ride benefit, November 7, 2009. The music was old country for the most part, which was not to my personal taste, but that wasn't the purpose of this outing anyway. No harm, no foul. The parking area is large and easy to navigate. The Motorcycle art exhibits are amazing just for the sheer size of the objects, as well as their ascetic beauty. Maybe we should just call them 'Horse-cycles', they're big enough. There are patios and awnings that create the comfort of home, and even some picnic tables on the grounds. When entering the wide wooden doors that could allow a small car to enter, you are greeted by enormous 10 ft bladed fans that grace the high ceilings, but they're just proving the point that 'Everything's Bigger in Texas'. There is a balcony that is used to create more atmosphere with mannequins dressed in casual attire, and rough hewn tables for dining. We ordered the chopped beef sandwiches that come with pickle or pepper and potato chips. The chopped beef was really delicious and it was a nice touch with the pepper, but the potatoes chips were plain and there wasn't a choice for any different kind on the menu that I saw. The menu prices for the food are a bit excessive, but the pitcher price for the draft beer was very reasonable and we were presented with thick heavy glasses that kept the beer cold longer than smaller thinner ones would have. Another pleasant thing I noticed was that there were a variety of different people there; young, old, different biker styles, and, of course, the bikes were gorgeous and gave us all some eye candy for the visit. The staff was very friendly and helpful even though they were very busy.

I was so impressed that I asked a friend to come along with me on Friday night. I called in advance to find out about the band playing. This was crucial to deciding if we should go on Friday or Saturday. I was able to check out the Saturday night band online through their MySpace account, but the other was not available to preview. When I called the bar, the girl speaking didn't know anything about the band, so she handed me off to an assistant manager. The assistant manager told me that the band on Friday would be playing Classic Rock and maybe some Country mixed in. I asked her if she was sure that it was not a strictly country band, and she assured me that they were a Classic Rock band. Imagine my surprise when my friend and I arrived and heard very old Country playing in the background. We decided to give them a chance, so went ahead and paid the cover charge, which was a reasonable $5.00, and bought a pitcher of beer, and sat down on the patio chairs just outside of the front doors that were open. The songs became excruciatingly obvious that it was not going to include any type of Classic Rock. When they started playing a Patsy Cline song, 'Crazy', I thought that would be great, but the woman didn't know how to croon like Patsy, so I couldn't even sing along. You've got to sing the song the way it is or you completely mess the melody up.

We were relieved that the band left an hour later and modern low key country played in the background now. They had lots of colored lights strewn up everywhere, a nice shiny motorcycle was suspended from the ceiling, they even had a sort of disco ball out on the patio. Then came the lout, and yes I mean lout. He was belligerent, very intoxicated, and just plain foul in his language which he shouted loud enough to hear over everybody's voices and the music. There was not a soul that even looked up in surprise, not one staff member attempted to defuse the man's rude and offensive behavior. He went off to bother another woman and that's when we made our escape, hoping that the men around the woman would keep her from having to deal with his bad behavior.

The point of the matter is that we would have been perfectly happy to come on Saturday. The staff member should not have misled us and if she wasn't sure what the band played then she should have said so. The guest's bad behavior should have been noticed and dealt with by staff and instead it was ignored. There are many wonderful sites and amenities at Loose Wheels of Texas, and they would have been sufficient if the two problems mentioned above had been curtailed or stopped. That's the low down on Loose Wheels of Texas and I would recommend that you mention any problems or concerns that you may have in the future to the staff, so they can attempt to right the situations to make their customers feel respected and cared for always.

This is an opinion and editorial review that only reflects personal experiences.