The Tractor Room

Meat lovers of the world rejoice!

Karin and I had the pleasure of checking out The Tractor Room on Saturday night. For those familiar with San Diego, The Tractor Room is a new restaurant from the owners of The Hash House, which is famous for huge portions and very good food. Well, The Tractor Room doesn't depart much the game plan of its parent.

We made a 6:30 reservation and decided to sit out on their patio, it being a gorgeous San Diego night and all. We were led through a set of curtains, through the rather small restaurant and to our table. Hindsight being what it is, it probably would have been best to sit inside to really enjoy the atmosphere of the restaurant.

Upon settling in, we were offered samples of their cocktail of the night - their Manhattan done up with Jim Beam Black, in honor of The Kentucky Derby. If I was the owner, I would have done up a special mint julep, but that's just me. Either way, it was delicious. Well, I thought it was delicious. Karin didn't care for it much since she doesn't care much for bourbon. Fortunately, there was a collective 60 house cocktails to choose from. Yes - 60. Karin chose an Orange Cosmo, which she loved, and I chose the mint julep, which was very tasty.

Upon perusing the menu, we realized immediately this was not a place for vegetarians. It was all about meat, and a wide assortment of meat at that. The menu featured, among other things, both bison and boar. And just to confirm this suspicion, we were told the special was (this is one dish) 2 venison chops, on a bed of venison hash, with a side of venison sausage.

We started with the wild boar and mashed potato spring rolls, which were great. Our entrees were the barbequed lamb shank (which was fall off the bone tender) and the venison meat loaf (which was just fantastic.) We also got some mashed potatoes to go along with everything. By the time we were done eating, we had enough left overs for at least 2 more meals.

Huge portions, great food, great atmosphere. A tad on the pricier side, but worth it. We will definitely be going back.