God eats steak & eggs

One morning out in Citrus Heights, while eating a hearty breakfast of steak and eggs and hash browns and toast at Our Western Coffee Pot, I thought I discovered the secret of life. The occasion was the monthly meeting of the River City Beemers motorcycle club, and my attention had been diverted from the club raffle by a sword-shaped farming implement hanging on the wall. Could it be a plowshare, thus explaining the archaic phrase, "Beat our swords into plowshares?" Probably not, says owner W. J. Ricks. He bought the place—which had been in operation as the Ranch Café since 1942—in 1996, and runs it with the help of his sister, Julie, serving breakfast, lunch and dinner. Ricks admits he doesn’t really know what the piece is called, but it’s not a plowshare. Oh well. So I didn’t discover the meaning of life at the Western Coffee Pot. But I did discover some damn fine steak and eggs.