The Willo Steakhouse (also called The Willo) is a

steakhouse A steakhouse, steak house, or chophouse refers to a restaurant that specializes in steaks and chops, found mainly in North America. Modern steakhouses may also carry other cuts of meat including poultry, roast prime rib, and veal, as well as f ...

and roadhouse located in

Nevada City, California Nevada City (originally, ''Ustumah'', a Nisenan village; later, Nevada, Deer Creek Dry Diggins, and Caldwell's Upper Store) is the county seat of Nevada County, California, United States, northeast of Sacramento, southwest of Reno and northeas ...

in the United States.

History

The Willo started as a

Quonset hut A Quonset hut is a lightweight prefabricated structure of corrugated galvanized steel having a semi cylindrical cross-section. The design was developed in the United States, based on the Nissen hut introduced by the British during World War I ...

, which was purchased by Bill Davis in 1947. The hut was brought from

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

and set up at its current location on

California State Route 49 State Route 49 (SR 49) is a north–south state highway in the U.S. state of California that passes through many historic mining communities of the 1849 California gold rush. Highway 49 is numbered after the "49ers", the waves of immigrants ...

in Nevada City. Eventually, he sold the bar to two locals named Smitty and Smokey. It was then bought by Peggy and Bob Tucker in 1963. They named it Tuck's Hut. They expanded it to have a grill and served

hamburger A hamburger, or simply burger, is a food consisting of fillings—usually a patty of ground meat, typically Ground beef, beef—placed inside a sliced bun or bread roll. Hamburgers are often served with cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles ...

s. It was then leased to Frank Williams in 1969. Williams named it The Willo, which is a blend of his last name and Lola, his wife's

given name A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, and differentiates that person from the other members of a group (typically a fa ...

. The restaurant was expanded to its current size by Williams and Veda Folden, who partnered to create the steakhouse. It was bought in 1976 by Ken and Jeannie Hiebert. Around 2003, the restaurant was purchased by

real estate broker A real estate agent or real estate broker is a person who represents sellers or buyers of real estate or real property. While a broker may work independently, an agent usually works under a licensed broker to represent clients. Brokers and agen ...

s Mike Byrne and Nancy Wilson. They wanted to purchase a business in the area and decided to buy the Willo. The restaurant averages 150 dinners a night on the weekends. The Willo claims to have sold over one million steaks since the restaurant opened.

Cuisine

The Willo is a

. The house speciality is a

strip steak The strip steak (sirloin in Britain, Australia, and South Africa) is a cut of beef steaks from the short loin of a cow. It consists of a muscle that does little work, the longissimus, making the meat particularly tender, although not as tender ...

Reception

The ''

San Francisco Bay Guardian The ''San Francisco Bay Guardian'' was a free alternative newspaper published weekly in San Francisco, California. It was founded in 1966 by Bruce B. Brugmann and his wife, Jean Dibble. The paper was shut down on October 14, 2014. It was relaun ...

'' called the Willo a "roadhouse extraordinaire," and rated it as the 2nd best reason to "love Nevada City." They describe the Willo as "part

redneck ''Redneck'' is a derogatory term chiefly, but not exclusively, applied to white Americans perceived to be crass and unsophisticated, closely associated with rural whites of the Southern United States.Harold Wentworth, and Stuart Berg Flexner, '' ...

party in the rowdy bar, part retro dream with neon sign shining like a beacon from the dark..." It has also been compared to a place that could be seen in the television program ''

Twin Peaks ''Twin Peaks'' is an American Mystery fiction, mystery serial drama television series created by Mark Frost and David Lynch. It premiered on American Broadcasting Company, ABC on April 8, 1990, and originally ran for two seasons until its cance ...

''. The ''

News & Review The ''News & Review'' is a group of free alternative weekly newspapers published by Chico Community Publishing, Inc. of Chico, California. The company publishes the ''Chico News & Review'' in Chico, California, the ''Sacramento News & Review'' in ...

'' called the Willo one of the "few bastions of culinary

Americana Americana may refer to: *Americana (music), a genre or style of American music *Americana (culture), artifacts of the culture of the United States Film, radio and television * ''Americana'' (1992 TV series), a documentary series presented by J ...

," and the reviewer acknowledges that they were surprised to see that they still serve

Catalina dressing French dressing, in consumer-facing American cuisine and store-bought products in the United States, is a creamy dressing that varies in color from pale orange to bright red. It is made of oil, vinegar, sugar, and other flavorings, with the colo ...

and that the

martini glass A cocktail glass is a stemware, stemmed glass (drinkware), glass with an inverted cone bowl, mainly used to serve bartending terminology#Straight up, straight-up cocktails. The term ''cocktail glass'' is often used interchangeably with ''martin ...

es are smaller than most used today. '' 7x7'' calls it a

dive bar A dive bar is typically a small, unglamorous, eclectic, old-style drinking establishment with inexpensive drinks; it may feature dim lighting, shabby or dated decor, neon beer signs, packaged beer sales, cash-only service, and a local clientele. ...

and called the bartender "surly".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Willo Steakhouse 1947 establishments in California Companies based in Nevada County, California Nevada City, California Steakhouses in the United States Restaurants established in 1947