I just stopped to check out an interesting looking restaurant recommended to me by friends as great "biker eats". The name alone had me interested, Quaker Steak and Lube. I was a little "weirded out" because I wasn't sure if this was going to be a greasy spoon (lube) or a gasoline station (Quaker Steak). To my surprise and delight, it looked like an old time gasoline station from the outside, white cinder block design with green design, but the inside was anything but a greasy gasoline station.

As for the history of Quaker Steak and Lube, in 1974 two guys in Sharon, Pennsylvania decided to open a restaurant. The two friends were muscle car enthusiasts and thought that buying an abandoned filling station would make a good backdrop for a restaurant. That was forward thinking for the seventies and it turns out that they were right. They began with steaks and now have a full selection of items to please any taste buds. They are famous for their wings and have one wing sauce called "Atomic sauce" that you actually have to sign a release form to eat.

I visited the Milford, Ohio restaurant on a rainy Tuesday night. Although the parking lot looked full, and this was with a Texas Roadhouse, Ruby Tuesday's, and Cracker Barrel right across the street, there was ample room inside to get seated quickly.

The first thing I noticed besides all the cool pictures, real cars and motorcycles hanging from the ceiling and tucked in corners, was that the Manager was walking about making sure customers were happy. That is a big clue that it is a good place to eat and that they care about the customer. The Manager on Duty, Gary, made his way to our table and introduced himself. I told him that I was reviewing the restaurant for all the hungry bikers and he took me on a tour of the restaurant.

The restaurant layout was spacious with a large bar inside, as well as a large patio bar that was packed with people. It was raining and cool outside, but the patio heaters keep everyone toasty. There is a handlebar room, named that because of the shape of the room, a corvette room with a smoking corvette perched high above the tables, a Nascar room with a Nascar theme and lots of televisions, and a kid friendly area with a built in tv in the floor and interactive video games.

The menu items are named after car parts, such as the O-ring Ontenna (onion rings stacked on a metal looking antenna gadget), Souped up (soups), Starting Line Up (appetizers), and Side Cars (side items such as broccoli, bourbon baked beans, coleslaw, chips, fries, and baked potatoes). I tried their fish sandwich and it was huge. It was deep fried to perfection with a great tartar sauce on the side and a huge heaping of fries. My husband tried a steak burger and o-rings. Both meals were overly adequate, hot, and delicious. The service was excellent and fast. At the end of the meal, we were provided warm wipes (WOW) and strawberry licorice sticks which beats the heck out of mints.

Quaker Steak and Lube has high octane events all year long. They have a bike night and classic car night weekly. It is not unusual for the Milford store to have over 1500 motorcycles on bike night. They do charity functions for several charities, always giving back to the community. They have lots of information about current rides and car shows. They even have a clothing and merchandise store with really cool designs and low prices. Oh and I can't forget that they have a unique twist on a beer bong, they have what they call a Lube and Tube which is a one gallon beer dispenser with a spigot.

Quaker Steak and Lube has over 30 locations throughout the United States and has sold over 70 million wings. I highly recommend visiting Quaker Steak and Lube at any of their locations. They are so biker friendly. If you visit the Milford store, say hello to Gary, the Manager that I spoke with and Kathleen, the General Manager of the restaurant and let them know what a great job they are doing and that biker-babe Nancy sent you.

Nancy