Dewey, AZ 86327
I’ve eaten at Leff-T’s twice – limited experience but I think the place deserves a mention. I stopped there for dinner a few months back and mentioned it in that road trip report. On that particular occasion I had a steak… here’s what I had to say about that experience.
I ordered a rib-eye steak, soup and a salad. The soup was a delicious beef-vegetable, the salad was assorted mixed greens and vegetables with a honey mustard dressing. The steak was thin (their smaller rib-eye). I am a steak cooker of some skill and I know how difficult it is to get a thin steak cooked to order. Leff-T's got it right. The dinner bread was a deep brown-bread soft roll served with both butter and apple butter. The service was excellent and I can't think of a single thing they could have done better. Leff-T's will become one of my favorite "out-of-town" restaurants, I am certain.
I was in Prescott today working and needed lunch before I headed for home. Remembering the earlier good experience I stopped in at Leff-T’s today. I sat in the bar at one of those high tables, as the dining room was pretty busy. The server (Jessica) gave me great service, especially when she had quite a few tables and the bar to keep track of.
I ordered a French Dip, the house chicken and wild rice soup, a salad with prickly pear vinaigrette and cherry pie for dessert.
The sandwich was made with smoked prime rib and covered with a certain amount of melted Jack cheese. Looking at its size I thought I would take half of it home – but didn’t. I ate it all. You know how THAT goes; I am SUCH a pig.
The salad was a bit different than normal restaurant fare – the greens and vegetables were topped with julienned jicama which gave it a cool, crispy texture, and the dressing (both tart and sweet) complemented everything nicely. It was of a decent size, but I still could have eaten more of it!
The soup was thick and had beaucoups flavor. The rice in it added just enough texture and flavor to make it even more interesting and I didn’t leave a drop of it behind. Just like last time – I had the beef vegetable before and it was great also.
For dessert today I had cherry pie a la mode. It was the only thing I had that wasn’t “the best.” The pastry was a bit soggy and so light that it almost melted – and the cherries were too tart for my taste. For my taste. It was clearly made on premises (good). I ate it all – and I think some folks might rave about it. I think if the cherries had just a touch more sugar in them, I wouldn't have anything to say about it.
When it comes to pie, I know I am hard to impress – since I make my own. So that said, I prefer a cherry pie to be more like the prickly pear vinaigrette they put on my salad – a bit tart and a bit sweet.
Pie crust, just in case anyone is listening, should be crusty, not mushy – and it should be flaky. This pastry was more like you find on some cobblers. I am sure this is going to come across like a complaint – it isn’t – not at ALL. I ate it ALL. It’s just not how I would have done it… me bein’ an expert and all…
For comparison, this pie was about 6 notches on the great-pie-scale higher than those over-rated pies everybody thinks are so good at Rock Springs. The last few pieces I've had of those I didn't even finish. So this critique is relative, OK?
Overall experience – like last time, A+. This place has been uniformly good on food and service; it’s unpretentious and friendly and I think it has quite a local following – lots of customers acted and talked like they were regulars (always a good sign). The preparation seems to be executed by someone who not only has some great kitchen skills, but a bit of imagination at the same time. The word excellent comes to mind, but the chef here is probably not going to tell you he's from Paris, unless it is Paris, Texas.
In my experience this is one of the very best restaurants in Arizona, I really like it. So if you find yourself on SR69 a little northwest of the junction of SR169, about ¾ of a mile or so, pay a visit. It doesn’t look like much – it is in a strip center on the south side of the highway – but this little gem is worth a special trip. Like I said, unpretentious - and good. Try the cherry pie – and feel free to write and tell me I’m full of it. (Next time I shall try their version of bread pudding, with a “Kahlua”-laced sauce.)
I cannot believe I passed this place by for years and years! I won’t continue to make that mistake.
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