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When people think of beer, sports, tasty food and a lively environment they often think of a sports bar. But what happens when you add antler chandeliers, mounted deer heads, fishing rods, hunting bows and cheerful and attractive waitresses? The result is Twin Peaks.
Twin Peaks, a national franchise, has just opened a restaurant right here in El Paso, just off Gateway Boulevard close to Cielo Vista Mall.
Twin Peaks is a sports bar just like any other, however, this one is somewhat unique. It appears to be a cross between a ski lodge, man-cave and sports bar. Twin Peaks is proud of their design and they say they carefully designed each of their stores to have a signature mountain-lodge feel. The walls are covered with items you would expect to see in a hunter’s log cabin, with mounted animal heads, bows, fishing rods and other things of a similar nature.
The exterior has a huge deck, where you can relax and watch sports on any of the number of large TVs. The interior is open with a high roof and has an oval-shaped bar in the center surrounded by booths and tables. The restaurant itself has more than 100 TVs and each booth has a TV of its own, surrounded by massive HDTVs to watch any sport imaginable.
It is impossible to look in any direction inside the restaurant without being drawn to a TV.
Yes, this is a sports-enthusiast’s paradise. The volume level in the restaurant was on the loud side and it was fairly crowed around 4 p.m., but this is to be expected in a sports bar.
When I looked at Twin Peaks’ website I assumed that it mainly catered to a male crowd with words such as, “Twin Peaks is the ultimate man- cave.” However, I was pleasantly surprised to see a mixed group of both men and women and I was even more surprised to see families with children sitting down to enjoy a meal and watch some sports. When I asked one of the waitresses about the families, she said that it was not uncommon for families to come. She added that at night, the crowd was mainly single people. However, she also said that at night the crowd is unbalanced with the male patrons outnumbering females most of the time.
Twin Peaks has made it evident that they are different than other male-oriented sports bars like Hooters by stating, “Everything in our kitchen is made from scratch. Our draft beer is served so cold that ice crystals form at the top of the glass.” I decided that I should try their food for myself. I ordered the chicken-fried steak and it was massive, more than enough food for one person, unless you are really hungry. The meat was tasty, surrounded by a crunchy layer of seasoned crust. It came with mashed potatoes and mixed vegetables. The potatoes were flavorful with a nice buttery taste. The vegetables were good as well, but nothing amazing.
Overall, I was satisfied with the food and it tasted as if it was indeed made from scratch, just as they had advertised. When talking to one of the waitresses, I asked if she liked the food served at Twin Peaks and she said she loved it. She then told me that waitresses were encouraged to eat from a special menu to help insure that the Twin Peaks girls kept their attractive figures.
The Twin Peaks’ girls are a major attraction to the restaurant and highly advertised aspect on their website. When describing the waitresses, Twin Peaks says: “The Twin Peaks Girls are not only beautiful, but are fun and talented, with long-term goals and ambitions.”
When I visited Twin Peaks to try their food, I found that all the waitresses I talked to were friendly, cheerful, intelligent and took the time to talk to their customers, some of them even sat down with you to talk. Along with that, their service was good, they checked up on me regularly, refilled my drink—in a timely manner— and insured that I was satisfied with my food and their service.
Besides being a UTEP Gold Digger, Caitlin Cervantes, freshman kinesiology major, just started working at Twin Peaks as a waitress. She said the sports bar is a student-friendly place to work in.
“My managers always work with my schedule. I feel like I’m able to do both school and my job well because of this flexibility,” Cervantes said. “It’s great because I was able to get shifts before and after school activities. If I have a test review or another conflict during a shift, our general manager has been great, making sure I can attend all necessary school functions.”
Not only does Cervantes say she likes to work here, but on her off time she also enjoys the food.
“There are so many things on the menu I love. My guilty pleasure is the chicken-fried steak. It super good!” Cervantes said.
Overall, I found Twin Peaks to have a lively atmosphere, good food and enough TVs to satisfy anyone’s need for a televised sporting event.
The restaurant has a unique design and felt like a good place to hang out with some friends. The waitresses were pleasant and provided great service. The bottom-line is, if you like sports, a lively environment and good food, you should check out Twin Peaks.
Twin Peaks is located at 8889 Gateway Blvd. West Suite 900.
For more information, call 307-8396.
Marcus Seegers may be reached at [email protected]
