The Yellow Rose of Texas

Location:
Putamayo 180
Iquitos, Peru

Restaurant

By Kris Dreessen

Got the munchies at 3 p.m. or 3 a.m.? The Yellow Rose of Texas has got you covered. Ex-Texan Gerald Mayeaux owns the restaurant, lounge and bar that's going 24 hours a day. He is the ex-director of tourism for Iquitos and is full of useful tidbits, like how to rent a canoe guide in Belén and where to get your laundry done.

He touts his diverse home-cooked meals; and, The Yellow Rose has a huge menu. Helpings are generous and fairly priced and good, if not gourmet. Diners find everything here from Tex-Mex to English fish and chips, his own Texas-style barbecue to thick-cut French toast, made from a family recipe.

The Yellow Rose's decór is even more diverse, there's enough memorabilia and mementos to fill a horse barn. Check out the massive amounts of native drums, leg-long bee hives, 15-foot anaconda skins, stuffed piranhas, taxidermy lizards and indigenous masks. Staff and patron photos tacked to the wall tell The Yellow Rose's story. Appropriately for a Texan, Mayeaux has a longhorn skull mounted prominently on the wall. The life-size dummy dressed as a Mexican mariachi beside the bar is a nice, and nicely weird, touch.

The Yellow Rose boasts more than 100 different drinks and features horse saddle seats instead of standard stools. Beers are served ice cold. Waitresses take orders in University of Texas cheerleading uniforms– white shirts and fringed skirts. Diners are surrounded by the garden's native plants and vines. At night, it's lit by kerosene lamps for a more tranquil atmosphere. It's definitely more rowdy in the bar, among the animal skins and "the largest armadillo shell ever."

The Yellow Rose is also a good place to meet travelers, especially from the United States. There's cable TV, a game room with Monopoly, checkers and comfy Adirondack-style chairs and a well-stocked book exchange.

Price Description: Breakfast from $1.50 (5 nuevo soles). dinners from $5.

Getting There: It is a few stores off plaza de armas.

Contact Information:
Phone: 51-65-231353
URL: www.geocities.com/yellowroseoftexasiquitos

Traveler Reviews of The Yellow Rose of Texas

NOT GOOD

Rating: -10%

Well, Gerald or Pamela weren't there and the rumor is that they are wanted for prostitution and sales of cocaine. Does anyone know more about this?

By V!VA User from france, Oct 16, 2008

Love the Yellow Rose

Rating: 100%

Great place to eat and feel at home. Very relaxing and the owner will help with any questions about the area. Will go back to the Yellow Rose the next time I am in Peru!

By V!VA User from Colorado, Jun 26, 2008

No care for nature

Rating: 25%

Do you think someone who cares about the wildlife would show off all of these items listed on the overview? Think about it. He buys these things from poachers. Why give him more money to buy more things?

By V!VA User from USA, Mar 21, 2008

This place is great.

Rating: 100%

I've lived in Peru for the last year and a half. Because it had been so long since I had had good American food, I ate every single meal of my 3 day stay in Iquitos at the Yellow Rose of Texas... The food is excellent, service is unbeatable and the ambiance is perfect. If you visit Iquitos and don't stop by the Yellow Rose, you´re missing out.

By V!VA User from Pennsylvania USA, Dec 02, 2007