Road Tips

Sammy's Lounge - Cedar Rapids, IA

First of all, I have to apologize to whoever suggested I go to Sammy's Lounge in Cedar Rapids to try one of their pork tenderloin sandwiches. I finally did make it into Sammy's a few weeks ago and here's my story -

Sammy's Lounge is located just off of Interstate 380 in a strip mall next to a Hy-Vee near the corner of Center Point Road and Blairs Ferry Road (see map). Sammy's is what I would characterize as a working-class bar. Even during the middle of the afternoon there's an hard-scrabble crowd in the place. Not that there's anything wrong with that - I sort of tend to gravitate toward those types of places. But don't go into Sammy's thinking that your son or daughter isn't going to hear some foul language from conversations people are having. It's definitely more of a bar than a family restaurant.

Bob Hamilton was the longtime owner of Sammy's. "Was" is the operative term because sadly Bob passed away last November from cancer at the age of 66. Hamilton owned Sammy's since 1978 and made hundreds of friends over the years. The "Bob-O-Burger" on Sammy's menu is named after Bob. Hamilton's family continues to run Sammy's Lounge today.

Sammy's Lounge gets a good crowd at night with karaoke mainly on Tuesday and Saturday evenings. And you can be sure that if there's a NASCAR race on TV, Sammy's will have it on. And on my visits to Sammy's, I've seen everything from 20-somethings to 50-somethings hanging at the bar. That's a good sign for any successful bar/lounge.

Actually, I went to Sammy's Lounge for a pork tenderloin sandwich late last fall, but I got in after 2 p.m. and the cook, I believe her name is Cathy, had shut the kitchen down for cleaning. Not wanting to wait, I just had a beer and decided to come back at another time. I was passing through Cedar Rapids recently and decided to stop in a little earlier in the afternoon. This time, the grill was on and the fryer was hot. I sat at the long, rectangular bar and ordered up a pork tenderloin sandwich and a beer from the bartender.

It wasn't long before the tenderloin came out, piping hot. It was served with pickles and onion and I put mustard on the sandwich to complete the condiment trifecta. Sammy's Lounge gets their tenderloins from Fareway (there's a familiar theme with pork tenderloin places using Fareway pork - it is damn good), they hand-cut and hand-bread them in their kitchen. The tenderloin hung over the edges of the sesame-seed bun, but it wasn't pounded into submission and flattened into the size of a man-hole cover like some places will do.

The breading on the tenderloin was sort of tasty - it was more of a breading/battered coating on the tenderloin. The tenderloin, however, was a little overcooked and wasn't quite as moist or juicy as it could have been. She could have pulled it out about 30 seconds sooner and it would have been better.

But that's not to say that it's not a bad tenderloin. I don't think I can put it in the same category as Augusta and TC's Point After, but it's better than many that I've had. Sammy's Lounge acquitted themselves very well and their pork tenderloin sandwich is worth a mention.

Starlite Room - Cedar Rapids

One of the very first posts I wrote about on "Road Tips" when I first started out over four years ago was on the Starlite Room in Cedar Rapids and their 1/2 pound "Super Cheeseburger".  As this blog evolved over the years, I decided to add some background on the places I eat at (when I can find the information).  And now that I have a camera phone, I can take pictures of the things I'm served.  I made a decision a while back that I needed to get back up to Cedar Rapids to visit the Starlite once again and do a more in depth report than the short one I did a few years back.

The Starlite Room - or simply known as "The Starlite" by the locals - has been around since the 50's.  In 1959, a young Jim Aossey was working in his father's grocery store in the Kenwood neighborhood of Cedar Rapids when he was approached with an opportunity to run the Starlite.  Although Aossey didn't know anything about the restaurant/bar business, he decided to give it a go.  Aossey eventually bought the Starlite and brought in his sister, Lucille, to help run the place.  Aossey, now nearing 80 years old, is still running the place.  In fact, he was in there the day I was there recently. 

In the 60's, one of the big things Aossey (pictured at right) decided to do is come up with a half-pound burger.  Called "The Superburger" it quickly became a novelty to the patrons who came to give it a try.  A lot of skeptics scoffed at the idea of a huge burger, but Aossey quickly converted a number of people who have enjoyed "Superburgers" for years and years. 

Over the years, Aossey added onto the Starlite, buying up a couple spaces next to the original bar and eventually demolishing a building to make way for parking out front.  A few years back he put a nice little awning in front of the building for outdoor dining.  The interior of the place is broken into two areas - the original bar area and the dining room, shown here.  There's also a little party room that is used for overflow when the place gets packed. 

The Starlite is sort of tucked back in a small strip mall just behind a Dairy Queen on 1st Ave. NE in Cedar Rapids (see map).  I had a meeting with a dealer in nearby Marion one recent day and decided to stop in to have a Super Cheeseburger before I made my way home.  Looking into the dining room (left), I noticed all the booths were taken.  I took a seat in a booth in the bar area.  The bar area has a pretty good sized bar, a number of flat panel televisions and a pool table that I've seen used - maybe - once or twice during my visits to The Starlite over the years.  The lighting is also subdued in the bar area compared to the brightly lit dining room.

 

  
 

 

I first found out about The Starlite from a couple guys who I met on a Iowa Hawkeye sports list serve group nearly 15 years ago.  These guys, Eric Van Fossen and Kevin Gertsen - who have since become pretty good friends - grew up in Cedar Rapids. They found out that I was a burger fanatic and said that I had to go there to try a burger.  When I asked my wife, who is a Cedar Rapids native, about The Starlite, she said, "Oh, God, yeah!  The Starlite makes a great burger!"  On our next trip to Cedar Rapids, we stopped in and had a Super Cheeseburger.  Grilled on a flat grill, the oval-shaped burgers are thick and juicy.  It's very good.  Kevin told me one time that he ate three Super Cheeseburgers in a sitting.  I've had two before and thought I was going to blow up.  He immediately became my hero for eating three.

I met Eric there for lunch one time when he was back from Atlanta visiting his mom.  That's when I was introduced to the concept of putting mustard on french fries by Eric.  He said, "I don't know.  There's something about that vinegary taste on The Starlite's french fries that I like."  Since then, I've met guys who work for Cambridge Audio in England who put vinegar on their french fries.  I'm guessing the mustard thing is similar.  I've tried mustard on fries a few times since, but it hasn't quite tripped my trigger like it does for Eric. 

Over the years, I've eaten at The Starlite many times.  There have been times in the past where we've gotten in the car on a Saturday and driven the nearly 90 miles to Cedar Rapids to have a Super Cheeseburger with any one of Cindy's family members who still live in the area.  We haven't done that much lately, but it's still one of our favorite places to stop when we're in Cedar Rapids. 

I ordered a Bud Light and though the waitress gave me a menu - which isn't very extensive past the burgers, the Starlite's tenderloins (breaded and unbreaded), fries, onion rings and other deep-fried goodies - she asked me if I knew what I wanted, as they seem to do with everyone that comes in.  That's because probably 80 percent of the people will order a Superburger.  I ordered a Super Cheeseburger, everything.  And everything is ketchup, yellow mustard, onions, pickles, lettuce, tomato and mayo.  I told her to hold the mayo. 

It wasn't overly busy when I was in there that day.  It was past the noon rush and only a few late lunch diners were in the place.  It didn't take overly long - about 15 minutes - for my burger to show up.  And from my first bite, I knew it was a Super Cheeseburger from their signature taste.  Juicy and big, the Superburger has won a number of "Best of Cedar Rapids" awards over the years.  The light and fluffy bun is slightly toasted and stays together very well with the juiciness of the burger.  

It's easy to see why The Starlite has stayed in business for over 50 years under Jim Aossey's leadership.  The burgers are great, it's a wonderful neighborhood bar and it's served generations of Cedar Rapidians.  The Starlite doesn't quite crack my new Top Ten list of burgers that I'll be publishing very soon, but they deserve a high honorable mention.  It's one of the best burgers in Eastern Iowa and it's always a treat to stop there when I can. 

Augusta - Oxford, IA

The state of Iowa is nationally known for having some of the best breaded pork tenderloin sandwiches on the face of the earth.  Now, I have to say that I'm not a big fan of these type of pork sandwiches.  But on the recommendation of my local, yet long distance friend, Burt Gearhart, he told me that I had to try one at Augusta in Oxford, IA. 

Oxford is a small town west of Iowa City, southwest of Cedar Rapids and just to the east of the famous Amana Colonies (see map).  Oxford is a small, non-descript town that reminds me tremendously of my hometown of Kellogg, IA.  There's not much to the town.  I didn't exactly know where Augusta was in town, but I figured it had to be in the small downtown area of Oxford.  After coming off the interstate and taking the trip north to Oxford, I easily found Augusta in the small downtown area (see map). 

Ben and Jeri Halperin were living in New Orleans as Ben was working as a chef in some restaurants down there.  Hurricane Katrina pushed Ben and Jeri up to Chicago where Ben worked in a number of restaurants, not finding a particular one that he liked to work for.  When a friend in Oxford told them that a local restaurant was closing it's doors, Ben and Jeri went out to Oxford to inquire about renting the building.  It turned out the rent was reasonable and after some clean-up and refurbishing, Ben, Jeri and a partner, Nathan Ruble opened a year ago.  They named the restaurant Augusta after the street the restaurant is located on.

Ben wanted the restaurant to serve comfort food - Cajun style.  Many items on their menu have a Cajun flair - po' boy sandwiches, crawfish beignets, chicken and andouille gumbo and cornmeal crusted catfish.  They also feature steaks, roasted pork loin and chicken entrees. 

Since 2003, the Iowa Pork Producers Association has handed out an award to the restaurant who has the best breaded pork tenderloin sandwich in the state.  The IPPA focuses more on small family style restaurants and taverns across the state.  Restaurants have to be nominated by two different people and the IPPA officials go out and try the sandwiches.  The winning restaurant receives a plaque of recognition and a $500 dollar check. 

And it also brings in a lot of business.  Since the Town House Supper Club in Wellsburg, IA won the award in 2006, they've served nearly 30,000 of their famous breaded pork loin sandwich.  Other winners include:

2003 - Darrell's Place - Hamlin, IA (I had to look Hamlin up on a map - I'd never heard of it before.)

2004 - Suburban Restaurant - Gilbert, IA (Actually, it's at the intersection of Highway 69 and a county road that takes you into Gilbert.)

2005 - Dairy Sweet - Dunlap, IA (I used to travel between Omaha and Carroll, IA on Highway 30 quite a bit, years ago.  I know I had to pass the Dairy Sweet on each of those trips.)

2007 - Larsen's Pub - Elk Horn, IA (I've been in Elk Horn on a few occasions.  Would have never thought any place in that town would have a good tenderloin.)

I had a meeting in Cedar Rapids recently and I decided to make a side trip to Oxford to have lunch at Augusta.  I walked in and I was the only person in the restaurant, other than a couple of insurance guys talking to Ben Halperin.  Jeri Halperin greeted me and told me that I could sit anywhere.  I took a table toward the front and got a menu from her.  

When Burt visited Augusta last fall, he took along his camera and took a few snapshots of the place.  He sent them out to some friends to show them the place and the delectable sandwich he got.  Here's a picture Burt took of the inside of Augusta.  The tables are topped with table cloths and then a fresh square paper is placed on top of the table cloth each time a table is turned.  There's a small bar that seats two or three people.  They have six beers on tap, including some Goose Island varieties. 

There's not a lot on the menu for lunch items - a burger, a Cajun-style Po' Boy with your choice of catfish, shrimp or roast beef, and a grilled chicken club in addition to the pork loin sandwich.  They feature salads and a kids menu.  But I was in for the tenderloin, which comes with homemade dill pickles, homemade mayo and topped with lettuce, tomato and onions.  You have your choice of either hand-cut french fries or homemade sweet potato chips.  I ordered up a tenderloin with fries.  The waitress asked, "Have you ever had the sandwich before?"

I said, "This is my first time here.  Heck, I went to school in Iowa City for five years and this is my first time ever in Oxford."

She said, "Oh, you're going to love this sandwich." 

I waited for about 15 minutes on my sandwich and the waitress brought it out with a side of ketchup in a small container.  Looking back, I should have gotten a small container of their homemade mayonnaise to dip my fries into.  (That's something I picked up from the Canadians, who, in turn, probably picked it up from the Europeans.  They don't put ketchup on french fries.)

This is just about what my sandwich looked like when it was served to me, only Burt got his with the homemade sweet potato chips.  The pork loin was thick and the buttermilk breaded batter around the loin was light, flaky and flavorful. 

The problem I have with a lot of these breaded pork tenderloin sandwiches is that they take a 12 to 14 ounce, pound the piss out of it, bread it and then deep fry it.  And they're usually too big.  I read somewhere that a true Iowa breaded pork tenderloin had to be three times the size of the bun that is served with it.  Well, the pork tenderloin at Augusta certainly achieved that.  And the breading is usually pretty rich and it's tough to eat the whole sandwich in one sitting.  It's never as good if you take it home and heat it up.  So a lot of it gets wasted.  And I hate to waste food, especially when it's good. 

One other thing that Augusta has going for it, they do their own breaded tenderloins.  I've eaten at restaurants where they have pre-made breaded pork tenderloins and they're usually frozen in advance.  But Augusta's pork tenderloin was definitely pounded out by hand (I could hear them pounding it out in the kitchen) and they have their own breading recipe.  Even though the pork loin was pounded out, it was still pretty thick.  I would have liked to have seen the pork loin before they started to work on it. 

Bottom line - the sandwich was very good.  I didn't care for the mayo on it - even though the mayo was very good - and I didn't use the tomato or lettuce.  A true pork tenderloin is topped with only pickles, onions and mustard. 

As I was paying for my meal, I got to talking to Jeri Halperin.  She was giving me some of the background on the restaurant and how they ended up in Oxford, IA.  It turned out that Jeri was a native Iowan, growing up in far NE Iowa in Clayton County, before she left to go find the world.  We agreed that while places like New Orleans and Chicago are great places to visit, Iowa is definitely home. 

The pork loin sandwich at Augusta was everything that it was advertised to be.  It was a little expensive - $9.00 with fries - but it was worth it.  Every restaurant says they have the best pork tenderloin, but Augusta can really back up their claim.  Augusta is closed on Monday's and Tuesday's, so if you go, make a note of that.  I really want to go back and try the roast beef Po' Boy sandwich sometime.  I'm hoping that with Ben Halperin's New Orleans background it will taste as good as the ones I had at Mother's in New Orleans years ago.   

The Flamingo is Back! - Cedar Rapids, IA

One of my all-time favorite pizza places in the world is back in business.  The Flamingo in Cedar Rapids (see map) reopened a year and a half ago.  Cindy and I were in Cedar Rapids recently for a benefit that she wanted to go to and I said I'd go with her if we could eat at the new Flamingo.  She readily agreed.

I lamented the 2004 demise of the Flamingo in a post here.  I was seriously bummed because they had one of the best brick-oven pizzas this side of New York City.  We had noticed, however, the quality of the food sort of going down hill before they closed the doors and we weren't all that surprised when Cindy's sister, Anita, told us it had closed. 

The history behind the Flamingo is long and pretty interesting.  After World War II, lots were made available along Ellis Blvd. in Cedar Rapids on land that was once a grade school in the neighborhood.  The American Legion post bought the land in the area and began to parcel it out for homes.  The three lots the Flamingo now stands on were perfect for commercial property - primarily a hot dog/root beer stand for people going to nearby parks.

Two gentleman kept bidding higher and higher for the property until neither could go any longer.  The American Legion decided that a coin flip would determine the winner of the bid on the property.  The winner, Dick Berzinski, opened the Park Lane Drive-Inn in May of 1947.  A dining room was added in 1948 and the original building became the kitchen area.

In 1951, a second room was added to the building (the room is now the Flamingo's bar area) and Berzinski added space to the kitchen and increased the storage area.  He also changed the theme from a drive-in to a full service restaurant selling fish and other seafood.  The Hot Fish Shoppe was the first of it's kind in Eastern Iowa.

In 1955, Berzinski moved the Hot Fish Shoppe to a new location in NW Cedar Rapids and renamed the original place the Shorewood.  The Shorewood would be in business for the next seven years at this location before moving in 1962 to the northern part of Cedar Rapids.  It was eventually bought by the Pillsbury Corporation for their chain of growing restaurants and became the Boar's Head - a popular chain of upscale restaurants in the Midwest in the 60's and 70's.   

A gentleman by the name of George Davis bought the Shorewood building in 1962 and renamed it the Flamingo.  Davis owned the Flamingo until the mid-70's.  It was during this time that Davis put in the famous brick oven for pizza making - the original one that is still there today, even after surviving a devastating kitchen fire in 1987.

In 1976, Ron Godwin purchased the Flamingo and carried on the tradition of great pizzas, lunch and dinner entrees, salads and sandwiches.  Godwin also remodeled the restaurant in 1980 and again in 1987 after the kitchen fire.  Some of the locals gave it the nickname, "The Flaming-O" after the fire.

Now, this is where history gets a little fuzzy.  I believe that Godwin sold the restaurant to some people in the late 90's and they ran it, well, they basically ran it into the ground.  The restaurant closed in 2004 with a whimper.  As I said before, it was not all that surprising as we had inconsistent food when we'd gone there in the couple of years coming up to the closing.  One time, the pizza would be outstanding.  The next, it would be lifeless and over-cooked. 

In 2006, Kacy and Beth Smith bought the Flamingo building and reopened the restaurant hoping to recapture some of the magic the place had when Dick Godwin owned the place years before.  They kept a lot of the favorites, changed the menu a bit, and the place seems to be going strong today. 

After the benefit that Cindy wanted to go to, we drove to the Flamingo along with her sister, Anita.  It was a very windy and frigid Saturday night when we got there.  There was one car in the parking lot (it was 9:30 at night) and we wondered if they were open or not.  We walked in and the bartender greeted us.  I asked, "Are you still open?"

She said, "Oh, yes.  We're open to 11, but the kitchen closes at 10."

I said, "So, we can get a pizza then, right?"

She said, "Absolutely!"

There was just one other person in the bar, sitting playing a video game.  That was it.  Anita said, "I don't know if this is a good sign or not.  There's no one in here."

Cindy said, "Well, it is colder than hell outside.  Probably not a lot of people were out."

And I said, "And if they were out, they were out earlier."

We sat in a booth in the bar area and ordered up a large pizza - sausage, pepperoni and mushroom on one half, and just sausage and pepperoni on the other (Cindy doesn't care for mushrooms).  We also ordered a basket of the Flamingo's beer-battered onion rings.  Anita had not been to the place since it had opened, either, so she was hoping that it would be as good as it was.

The bartender, who was also our waitress, brought us out the onion rings.  They were exactly the same as before.  Wonderful, flaky, tasty, greasy onion rings.  Oh, they were just outstanding. 

About 10 minutes later, the bartender brought out the pizza.  At first glance, I was disappointed.  The toppings were sparse.  I mean, there was - maybe - 12 chunks of sausage on the pizza, and there wasn't a lot of pepperoni either.  But the first bite into the pizza made me momentarily forget about that.  The sauce was still the delicious pizza sauce they had from before.  The cheese was the same wonderful taste as before.  And the crust was the same thin-crust New York style where you could fold up a piece and eat it that way.  I was just disappointed in the lack of toppings.

The bartender came over to check on us and she asked how everything was.  I said, "Well, the taste of the pizza is excellent, just like it used to be.  But I'm a little disappointed in the lack of toppings.  I mean look at this."

I pointed out a piece of pizza that had NO sausage chunks on it and only two slices of pepperoni.  I said, "I don't remember ever getting pizzas here that were this sparse on toppings." 

She said, "Oh, well, the guy we have in the kitchen, the owners were on him because they felt he was putting too much of the toppings on the pizza.  So they had him cut back.  It looks like he cut back too much." 

We asked her if business had been slow, given that we were the only people in the place eating.  She said, "It was fairly busy earlier.  But it really started to die out around 8:30.  I'm sure the weather has something to do with it.  Even a lot of our regulars who come to the bar didn't come in tonight."

She ended up giving us a reduced price on our pizza for the lack of toppings.  Cindy said, "Now, you be sure to give her a good tip!"

So, a large pizza, onion rings, three beers and a couple of drinks came to a little over $38 bucks with tip.  Basically, what she took off the price of the pizza I gave it back to her in the tip. 

Other than the scarcity of toppings, the pizza was outstanding.  I'm guessing we got an anomaly and not the usual thing at the Flamingo.  I really want to go back sometime and give another one a try.  When it's done right, it is truly one of the best pizzas I've ever had.  

Hamburger Mary's Coming to Iowa!

Thanks to my friend Al Kern from Iowa Public Radio who alerted me to an article in yesterday's Cedar Rapids Gazette that said Hamburger Mary's, the chain of "gay-friendly" burger joints is coming to Cedar Rapids later this year.  Cindy and I ate at the Hamburger Mary's in downtown Cincinnati (now closed) a few years ago and I wrote about it earlier in my blog.  Click here to read the entry. 

Hamburger Mary's, which began in San Francisco in 1972, espouses the gay-alternative lifestyle where "gay, lesbian, transsexual and trans-gendered people can enjoy good food and entertainment in a fun, open atmosphere without going to a bar."  Their motto is "Eat, Drink and be...  Mary".  The Cedar Rapids location will be in NE Cedar Rapids in a building that has been a number of bars/restaurants over the years (see map).

Even though I thought the burgers at the Hamburger Mary's in Cincinnati were very good, I don't think I'll be heading to the HM in Cedar Rapids by myself after it opens.  Actually, I could go with Cindy and her sister, Anita.  I know Anita would probably get a kick out of Hamburger Mary's.  We could probably get a good burger and a good show at the same time.  But it will be interesting to see how it goes over in East Central Iowa.   

Granite City Food and Brewery

Granite City Food and Brewery is a chain of about a dozen restaurants/brew pubs in the upper Midwest.  By now, you know that I usually try and stay away from chains like the plague.  But Granite City is still small enough that each restaurant has a little bit of local character to it. 

Granite City started in St. Cloud, MN in 1999 by Steve Wagenheim and brew master Bill Burdick.  Both had been involved in the restaurant business for a number of years prior to opening their first Granite City restaurant.  They just opened their 12th Granite City this month next to the Kansas Speedway in Northwest Kansas City.

Now, most brew pubs - I've found - are brew pubs first and the food is somewhat of an afterthought.  That's not the case with Granite City.  The food is really what brings the people in, the beer is so-so to OK.

Their beers are a little too sweet for my taste.  The Northern Light Lager has a smooth taste, but the aftertaste reminds me of a sweet beer along the lines of Falstaff.  Their Duke of Wellington Pale Ale is also a little too sweet for me.  It doesn't have that good pale ale bite that I like when I finish a swallow.

But as I said, the food is what brings the people in. 

They had just announced they were going to open a Granite City in Davenport sometime in 2003.  I happened to be up in Sioux Falls, SD one evening and just down the street from my hotel was a Granite City.  Turns out it was the second Granite City restaurant in the chain.

Granite City - Sioux Falls

As I found with all the Granite City's I've been to (4 so far), the Sioux Falls Granite City was spacious and well-appointed on the inside and the building looked attractive on the outside.  The one in Sioux Falls has a nice outside patio that overlooks a little pond with a fountain.  Nice touch.

I ordered the meat loaf for my first meal.  When they brought me my meal, I couldn't believe the size of the portions.  In fact, it was too much.  But that's been the trademark - and one of my largest complaints - of Granite City's food service.  There's just too much food. 

I do like their Honey Rosemary Filet Mignon, a filet marinated in honey, garlic and rosemary, then broiled.  Their meat loaf is an old stand-by for me - they grill the cooked meat loaf giving it a nice little flavor that you don't expect out of a meat loaf. 

Granite City's blue cheese peppercorn burger is pretty good.  And their Chicken Florentine lasagna is a good get, too.  They also have pretty good garlic mashed potatoes that you can get when you get a steak. 

And ask for the onion straws instead of french fries if you get a sandwich.  They usually use the onion straws - which are thin onion rings - as a garnish on burgers and other sandwiches.  They're much better than the fries.  And don't let them tell you they can't substitute the onion straws - they can.  I still don't understand why they don't have them available on the menu. 

In addition to the one in Sioux Falls, I've been to the one in Lincoln, NE, Cedar Rapids, IA, and, of course, the one in Davenport.  I've never had a bad meal, the service is always good, the beer is, well, it's OK.  Drinkable, but nothing outstanding.  And the one in Davenport is so popular of an eating destination that the wait can be upwards of 45 minutes to an hour on a Friday or Saturday night.

It's probably a good thing that Granite City says "Food and Brewery" rather than "Brewery and Food".  As I said, it's the food, not the beer, that makes Granite City good.

The Flamingo - Cedar Rapids

The Flamingo was one of the best kept secrets for pizza in Cedar Rapids.  Thin crust, big chunks of sausage, great sauce and cooked in an old brick oven, the Flamingo Pizza - at one time - was my favorite pizza in the whole world.  I would have crawled to the place for a pizza.

Actually, the first time I went there, Cindy and I were just beginning to date.  I wanted lasagna one night and she suggested The Flamingo.  So we went there and I noticed that they had some very good looking, thin pizza.  She said, "Oh, yeah.  They have pretty good pizza here."

So, I ate my lasagna that night, but the next time we went back, we got a pizza.  And MAN!  Was it ever good.  No, it just wasn't good, it was friggin' GREAT!!!  It tasted great with a cold beer and it was not too filling, nor was it too thin. 

The Flamingo also had great beer-battered onion rings, too.  When we'd go in there with Cindy and her family, we'd always get onion rings to start out, then get a couple pizzas.  When Cindy moved to Davenport to live with me in 1994, I really began to miss The Flamingo.  I can't tell you how many times I got pizzas to go from there to take back to the Quad Cities when I was in C.R. on business. 

Unfortunately, I began to notice the pizzas were a little uneven.  One time I'd get a great tasting pizza, the next time, well, there wasn't something right about it.  I think this was the beginning of the end for The Flamingo as not too long after that began to happen they went out of business.

I can still taste a Flamingo pizza as I sit here writing this.  They were truly the best.

Note - The Flamingo is back in business!  Check out my return to The Flamingo here.

Starlight Room - Cedar Rapids, IA

Home of the Super Cheeseburger, the Starlight Room in Cedar Rapids (see map) is one of my all-time favorite places for a burger.  The Super Cheeseburger is a 1/2 pound patty grilled on an old flat iron grille.  The meat is always cooked perfect and it's so good that I crave the damn things from time to time.  Great place for a late night burger and beer, or on the go at lunchtime.

My friend, Kevin Gertsen, told me that he ate THREE Super Cheeseburgers in one sitting one time when he was much younger.  I can get through one pretty easily, but I know I'd have trouble getting halfway through number two.   I would have paid admission to see Gertsen eat three of those bastards...