Rockin’ R Ranch
The Western Experience
The Western Experience (Rockin’ R Ranch: 6163 E. Baseline Rd, Mesa, AZ 85206)
Some of my fondest childhood memories were forged at the home of the Rockin’ R Ranch in Mesa, where my family always celebrated my grandfather’s birthday with a delicious meal and old-West shootouts. So when I came back into town as an adult with my out-of-town wife, I knew I had to take her to see the magic. We went on a regular Saturday evening, and arrived just in time to watch the shootout on Main Street. It wasn’t as spectacular as I remember from when I was a little kid, but it was still entertaining, and my wife seemed to enjoy it. The actors were definitely hamming it up for the crowd, but it was so cheesy it almost wrapped around to being funny again. There wasn’t a huge crowd, so we had plenty of space to stroll down Main Street and take a look into all the old shops while we waited for our dinner reservation.
The Upscale Steakhouse In Mesa, AZ Tasted Great!
My wife especially enjoyed the farm animals—she grew up in the city, and had never had the chance to pet a sheep before! While she got acquainted with our soon-to-be dinner, I snuck off to the sweet shop and picked up some rock candy for dessert. When it was time for dinner, they rang the cowbells and corralled us all into a buffet line, where we served ourselves an authentic ranch-style dinner. I loaded up on cornbread and biscuits with gravy, but my wife’s favorite part of the meal was the steak. She said it was the best beef she’d ever tasted, which shocked me, because the food was never the reason we came to Rockin’ R Ranch! That just solidified in my mind that she needed to take a tour of some of the more upscale steakhouses here in Arizona, right after I visit the Fighter Combat International experience.
Once we all got settled in with our home like cooked meal, the dinner show began. There were some light vaudeville sketches, and then the house band came up to play. They sang old blues and country favorites, rocking out on a 12 stringed mandolin! It was even cornier than my cornbread, but that was definitely part of the charm. In our eyes, the real show of the night was the bachelorette’s party sitting on the picnic table next to ours—they were hooting and hollering the entire night, clearly a rowdy bunch. All in all, we definitely enjoyed ourselves, and I particularly relished the opportunity to share my out-West upbringing with my city-slicker of a wife.