The U-Drop Inn Cafe, housed in the landmark U-Drop Inn building in Shamrock, Texas, will hold its grand reopening with its new operators from 4 to 8 p.m. on Feb. 15.
The restaurant will serve a smoked brisket dinner with samples of new menu offerings for $25 per person. The operators ask prospective customers to RSVP on the event’s Facebook page.
After the reopening, the restaurant’s hours will be from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday during the tourism season from March through October. During the winter, it will be from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Lianne Halpern, owner and operator of the U-Drop Inn Cafe with her husband Aldo, described the forthcoming menu as “Americana” cuisine, with brisket, pulled pork, meatloaf and roasted chicken, with sides — all made from scratch. The restaurant also will offer salads.
For breakfast, the restaurant will offer homemade granola and several baked goods.
Halpern, who has extensive experience in the restaurant industry, and her husband moved from Southern California to Shamrock in December 2023. She has deep roots in the Texas Panhandle, with several family members and ancestors in Wheeler and Gray counties.
Knowing the long history and stature of the U-Drop Inn, she said she’s excited about running a restaurant there.
“It’s overwhelming, not in a negative way,” she said in a phone interview. “This is a place where generations of people know about and have connections to.”
One year to the day after closing on the purchase of their house in Shamrock, they received a multiyear lease offer from the Shamrock Economic Development Corp. in November to open a restaurant in the U-Drop.
“We jumped at it,” she said. “There was no question in my mind.”
The U-Drop Inn Cafe reopened in summer 2021 after being closed for decades, then closed late last year.
The U-Drop Inn building was built as a gas station, restaurant and retail store in 1936 along Route 66 by J.M. Tindall and R.C. Lewis at the cost of $23,000.
Though the building underwent an extensive restoration about 20 years ago, its diner remained inoperable for many years. The space instead contained displays that included the booth where Elvis Presley dined during one of his cross-country trips from Memphis to Hollywood or Las Vegas.
(Image of the U-Drop Inn Cafe in Shamrock, Texas, by Hawthorne M. via Flickr)
Very cool, can’t wait to go and eat and tell stories!