In Pursuit of Pepper Steak
On a trip to the Frio River nearly a decade ago, I pulled into Mama Chole’s Mexican Restaurant in Leakey and perused the menu, thinking I’d end up with a plate of enchiladas or another Tex-Mex standard. Then something different caught my eye: pepper steak. Not the stirfried American Chinese version you might think of, but a dish described on the menu as ground beef stuffed with jalapeños and cheese, and then grilled and bathed in more cheese. Intriguing—and delicious.
The next day, as I studied the menu at Neal’s Dining Room, a 94-year-old café perched on a bluff of the Frio River, pepper steak appeared again. This version was an oval
