Back in the Saddle

Star Valley’s best breakfast spot and dining etiquette training ground

Table manners lesson in progress.

The Horseshoe Café is on the road heading south into Star Valley from Alpine in Etna, Wyoming, with a population of 185. We passed by many times before actually venturing in. With a classic Western façade that sports the current trend of fluttering vertical signage, the café is a safe landing place for locals and travelers alike. The staff is warm and hospitable, and the food is unpretentious and tasty-- home-style cooking at its finest.

The Horseshoe Cafe in Etna, Wyoming.

Vicky and Deb are the senior servers in the front of the house, greeting, seating, and overseeing with grace. The Formica tables and chairs are appropriately vintage, and the wall art is decidedly Western. The salt and pepper shakers on each table are distinctive holders and mostly charming, though some favor pistols and bullets. Choose your table carefully.

Sitting at the table and learning patience, Iris plays with some cars.

Since we are on a grandchild-rearing mission, table manners and dining etiquette are priorities. The Horseshoe is an excellent place to practice those skills. Kid-friendly, the café has a battery of children’s toys in buckets to entertain the young’uns until the Mickey Mouse pancake plate arrives. I once asked Deb, who is very attentive to the littles, if she had any grandkids and she answered promptly, “Yes. Thirty-three of them. I can’t remember all their names!”

Last year at the Horseshoe, Kirk enjoyed the pancakes with the homemade raspberry jam that the cafe makes each summer.

The window into the kitchen frames a serious line of cooks who glance up as the front door opens but quickly focus back on their task at hand.  Plates are constantly popping up, ready to serve, and no bell is needed because the waitstaff is waiting and watching as each order is prepared. Those eggs are hot when delivered with a flourish and a coffee refill.

Our breakfast yesterday--Iris's kiddie breakfast plate, John's half order of biscuits and gravy with two poached eggs, and my "Local" sandwich that I deconstructed to enjoy and spread the top with their homemade jam.

Being back in Wyoming is an adjustment for me. I’m with family, which is my choice, but far from what is familiar and from my siblings. However, the Horseshoe provides a certain level of comfort like home. The ambiance is all-inclusive and returns to the hospitality industry's basic tenets. A restaurant is a place that should exemplify the Latin root word, restaurare, which means "to renew." I feel renewed and nourished when I leave the Horseshoe, not just by the tasty food but by the grace of the servers who want me to “Have a good day,” as they say as we exit. Thanks to them, I will.

Visitors Bucky and Janine last year, a stellar Mexican steak omelet, and the Scherba family last spring.

And thanks to the Horseshoe, we may be one pancake closer to taming this wild pony!

John helps with the dining etiquette lesson.