Rural Missouri - May 2022 - 30

by Heather Berry | hberry@ruralmissouri.coop
photos by Heather Berry and Zach Smith
T
inside.
Once inside, Keith nods to a trail of cattle hoof imprints
they added when pouring the floor years ago. " It was too
much trouble to stamp those things all over the place, "
says Keith, displaying a bit of his dry sense of humor.
Then shaking his head, he adds: " We just let people
think cattle ran through while we were working. It adds to
the experience. "
The Hoof Family Restaurant is a laid-back country
gathering spot where friends and family visit over a meal
and visitors discover why it's the place everyone enjoys
meeting in the small town.
Open since New Year's Eve of 2014, The Hoof offers a
small menu with good variety of eats options for everyone
to enjoy.
For meal starters, you can choose one
of nine hearty appetizers, including Cactus
Needles - huge onion pieces hand breaded
and fried to a golden brown and served with
The Hoof's housemade Boom Boom Sauce
(which is a bit addictive) or fried whole button
mushrooms lightly coated with a butter breading.
Other options include hand-battered fried
dill pickles or jalapeno corn nuggets filled with
fire-roasted corn, diced jalapenos and red peppers
combined with a creamy blend of cheddar and mozzarella
cheeses which is lightly battered, then fried. But ask Keith
what his favorite appetizer is and you may raise your eyebrows
in wonder.
here are two entrances leading into The Hoof Family
Steakhouse in Madison and it doesn't matter
to co-owners Keith Thomas and Charles Wheeler
which one you choose as long as you come on
selections keep their loyal customers coming back for
more. Telling you the breed might seem like getting in the
weeds, but to a cattleman, it's important stuff.
Options include a 12-ounce KC strip from an Angus/
Hereford crossbred cattle known as " Black Baldy " and
is hand cut and grilled to your preference. Center-cut
sirloins, in 4- or 8-ounce portions, come from certified
Hereford beef that's been aged more than a month. A
10-ounce chopped sirloin also comes from choice Hereford
stock and is ground and served topped with sauteed
onions and mushrooms. The flavor-filled 8-ounce bacon
wrapped filet comes to the grill aged for 35 days and is
one of the most tender Angus steak cuts, coming from the
center of the tenderloin.
The popular prime rib offered only Friday and Saturday
in 10- or 14-ounce portions comes from certified Angus
stock and is seasoned and slow-cooked to your preference
of doneness. But the mega-steak is a hearty 14-ounce ribeye
from Hereford lineage which has been aged 40 days
before it touches the grill at The Hoof Family Restaurant.
People often ask Keith and the staff for
Madison
recommendations on how to order their steaks prepared.
" Personally, I like medium to medium-rare, " he says. " A
steak that's ordered well-done is a just a shade above
beef jerky in my opinion. "
Steaks come with buttered and grilled Texas
toast and two sides, which can include baked
potato (loaded or not), house-cut fries, steamed
vegetables, applesauce, cottage cheese, coleslaw,
soup (offered seasonally), grilled asparagus,
sweet potato fries, house salad, onion rings or
sweet potato.
Other menu offerings include a salmon filet seasoned
and grilled and served with a Wild Turkey Bourbon sauce.
A boneless 10-ounce center-cut pork chop is another
option for pork fans.
" It's gotta be the turkey fries, " Keith says. " Oddly
enough, they're good. "
As a farmer and longtime cattleman, Keith knows what
it takes to raise good beef cattle and is proud The Hoof can
offer guests the choicest cuts of steak. " We serve a lot of
certified Hereford that's been wet-aged for up to 43 days, "
Keith says. Wet-aging is when beef is placed in vacuumsealed
bags under refrigeration so the meat can tenderize
from within and deepen in flavor.
Aaron Neale, the chef for the restaurant, once asked
Keith if he'd ever counted how many steaks were grilled in
one evening.
" Aaron cooked 117 steaks alone, " says the member of
Consolidated Electric Cooperative. " People love our steaks.
On Friday and Saturday nights, it's not unusual to have
250 people or more waiting in line for two or more hours
just to get a table, " Keith adds, which is a large number,
considering Madison has around 500 residents.
According to Keith, many guests drive up to two hours
or more to enjoy a meal at The Hoof. He adds unless you're
coming to Madison for a reason you're likely lost, so he's
glad when people stop by for a meal.
That said, let's jump to the main attraction: steaks.
" You're in the Corn Belt and steak is pretty much what
90% of the people are going to eat, " he says.
The menu only boasts six steaks cuts, but those
30 RURAL MISSOURI | MAY 2022
Fans of seafood can enjoy skewers of grilled shrimp or
deep-fried jumbo shrimp, fried catfish, deep-fried oysters
or a grilled salmon filet, which is best served with a side of
Chef Aaron's Wild Turkey Bourbon sauce.
" We sell a lot of salmon. But I couldn't tell you if it's
good or not because I've never eaten it, " says Keith, who
admits to being a die-hard steak and potato fan.
Chicken addicts can enjoy jumbo southern-style
breaded strips served with house-cut fries in a basket or
an 8-ounce butterfly breast grilled and smothered with
sauteed onions, mushrooms and provolone cheese. You
can also come on Friday or Saturday and fight to get some
of the fried chicken.
" Frying chicken must be a dying art, " Keith says. " I've
been married 40 years and I can count on one hand the
Clockwise from top left: Popular with salad fans, the Grilled
Shrimp Salad comes with fresh mixed greens, cucumbers, tomatoes,
sliced onion, shredded cheese, croutons and a skewer of freshly grilled
shrimp. A 14-ounce USDA Choice certified Hereford rib-eye is one
of the favorites among the six steak options currently offered on The
Hoof Family Steakhouse menu. Beer battered onion rings are fried to
a golden brown for patrons to enjoy. Turkey Fries are hard to find on
many menus but are popular at The Hoof. Here, they've been served up
with a lunch special of grilled, shaved prime rib served on a fresh hoagie
bun with au jus.
Rural Missouri - May 2022

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