The Pear Tree

Unfortunately The Pear Tree burned down in November of 2012.  It was a great steak house in the middle of nowhere Missouri.  

check <a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Fthepeartreerestaurant.com&s=8f95bf1a21e29874f690b7596473009e9fff67115ac39ea367df2e60f56e7fdb" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://thepeartreerestau…</a> for updates, but as of right now, Feb. 2013 this place is still closed.

This is an excellent steakhouse located in an out-of-the-way location about one hour from Columbia, a little further in driving time from Mexico, MO, and about one-half hour from Moberly. Bevier is an interesting historic town with a coal-mining and railroad background; however, other than the PT, there is no much obvious when driving from U. S. 36 to the restaurant, which has parking on the streets. This is a friendly, professionally run restaurant that far outshines anything nearby.

The onion rings are probably the best I've ever had, and the salad, served family-style in a large "frozen" stainless steel bowl, one of the freshest. Adding a small bowl of freshly made croutons and 3 choices of homemade dressing, plus a serving of feta cheese really tops off the salad. On a recent visit, we three had fish entrées, and I can speak to the orange roughy: Nice! ... Dessert was strawberry shortcake, each served in a shallow, wide bowl with the serving stacked (I swear) 5 or 6 inches tall.

Why not 5 stars? (1) Noise. I find the level unacceptable for such a grand eating place. While it is better in the back than in the front (where brick walls richocet the sounds), when the back fills up (in our case, with a prom party), you are practically shouting if your guests are over 50.  (2) Service. The servers have been well trained. I can tell the difference in service from several years ago; however, the servers interrupt diners way, way too much. And it's not just one person doing this over and over, but several people who must be told, "No, I'm not done with my salad."; "Please leave my entree until I finish it."; "Please don't take the last onion ring away." Over and over. About half-way through my entrée, I asked to have the remaining salad in the large bowl to go. I really think no one had ever requested this before. It seemed very odd to them that a person would want left-over salad. (P. S. It was a FULL two lunches for me, even after three of us had had full servings beforehand.) These are small things because it is ALWAYS better to have too much service than too little. But when you are trying to dine with people you haven't seen lately, it does become an irritant and conversation loses its train of thought. (3) Prices. The prices are "worth it" from a city point of view, and I'm accustomed to these prices. However, it would be wonderful if there were some small plates, or vegetarian plates, or lesser choices for diners who are not as hungry. The portions at PT are enormous. Again, better enormous than skimpy! But if you arrive with a big steak-eater and you want only vegetables and maybe fish, there are limited options.

I like this place a lot, and I'm happy to have friends who live not too far away who also enjoy it. It's worth a trip; it's worth the money. The Pear Tree is a destination eating experience.

Excellent food! Excellent service! It would have gotten five stars, except I went on Valentines day and felt I was being crammed  with as many people that could possibly fit in the building. We were practically sharing a table with our neighbors. The atmosphere was not what i expected either. There was a "country" atmosphere, which is fine, but if I'm paying top prices, I expect tablecloths instead of place mats. I would have liked it to be a little more fancy. Overall it was a positive experience though.