Road Tips

Pals Brewing Company - North Platte, NE

My wife and I woke up in Colorado Springs during the last part of our vacation in Colorado earlier this year and decided to try to make it to Omaha - a 9 hour drive one-way.  I figured I could make it easily - well, I've done 9 hour drives before for my work and while it was tough, I've made it.  But I was a little worried my wife would have some problems with it.  By the time we got to North Platte, my wife was tired and hungry when we stopped there for gas.  Since most of our trip to Colorado was tied to visiting brewpubs, my wife did a quick search of brewpubs in the area.  She found a place that was - well - I was a little skeptical as to the location.  It appeared to be out in the middle of the country south and west of North Platte.  After gassing up and putting the address into the GPS, it just gave me a general destination to go to.  As we drove down a county highway, I saw something off in the distance - a sort of pole-barn building sitting on a flat plain near the road.  We pulled in and realized we had made it to Pals Brewing Company.  

One day a little over 20 years ago, Paul Oettinger - who was also known as "Pal" to his friends - just happened to be biking down State Street in Madison where he was going to school at the University of Wisconsin.  He saw a small sign in a storefront window that roughly said, "Brew Your Own Beer Cheaper Than You Can Buy It!"  Intrigued because he was becoming somewhat of an aficionado with small batch craft-brewed beers, he stopped into the little shop and found out what he would need to start brewing his own beer at home.  It turned out that he would need $85 bucks for a beginners home brewing kit and $85 bucks didn't exactly grow on a tree for a college student studying microbiology.  But he was able to come up with the money and he began to brew his own beer at home.

After college, Paul Oettinger and his wife, Amy, moved to Kalamazoo, MI which was becoming a burgeoning craft brewery town.  Finding like minded people in a local homebrewing club, Paul Oettinger became fast friends with a man who loved to experiment with different types of tastes in beers.  That's when he really became hooked on homebrewing and it became a passion that was also embraced by Amy.  He had perfected one of his recipes so well that his friends would insist on Oettinger bringing over a couple small kegs of his "Palsbrew" whenever they were invited to a party.   

The Oettinger's had talked about buying or opening their own brewpub.  A microbrewery was up for sale in Kalamazoo, but they didn't buy it.  Nor did they buy a brewpub in their home state of Wisconsin that was up for sale after they moved back to Madison a few years later.  They knew they would have their work cut out for them by starting a brewery in a place like Madison.  

Paul Oettinger's older brother Mark, and Mark's wife Mendy had moved to North Platte in 2006 to be the General Manager of the Walmart store there.  Paul and Amy Oettinger would sometimes come out to North Platte to visit his brother and the two couples would continue to talk about their dream of one day opening a brewpub.  It was during a visit over Thanksgiving in 2015 when it occurred to Mark Oettinger that North Platte was in dire need of a good brewpub.  There were over 175 brewpubs in the state of Wisconsin at that time, but in Nebraska there were less than three dozen.  Paul Oettinger couldn't agree more.  

The Oettinger brothers decided to jump into a brewpub venture with both feet.  Paul quit his job in Madison and moved out to North Platte to pursue his dream.  The Oettinger families found some land south of North Platte in which they built a brewpub from scratch.  They wanted their brewpub to be a little bit of everything - have enough room for outdoor activities and music in the summertime, have a little patio to enjoy a beer on the first warm day in the spring, to have a small tap room that could be used for meetings or special tastings, and to have a menu that wasn't too extensive, but would give people something to nibble on while they enjoyed their beers made from Paul Oettinger's years of homebrewing recipes.  Pal's Brewing Company had a soft opening on St. Patrick's Day in 2017, then opened their doors for normal business in two weeks later.  

As I said, getting out to Pal's Brewing was a bit nerve racking as the GPS was taking us to a general area and not really a destination.  When we saw the building on the flat plain along the west side of the road, we were happy enough to pull into the parking lot.  (see map)  The building didn't look like much from the front - it looked like an industrial pole barn with an awning over the front entrance.  

Inside the building, we found a large space that had a long bar, a brewery facility off to the side, and a number of high-top tables throughout the room.  A guy playing guitar was setting up to provide some music on a Saturday afternoon.

We took a seat at a table toward the corner of the restaurant.  I had to use the facilities before we got settled, and I went into the men's room to find a couple of urinals made out of stainless steel kegs.  They were similar to the ones I've seen at the Lionstone Brewing Company in Geneseo, IL.  (Click here to see the Road Tips entry on Lionstone.)  

After getting back to the table, we were greeted by a young man who came out from behind the bar.  He gave us a food menu and asked us what we'd like to drink.  We had to take a minute because we weren't familiar with their beers.  The beer menu was on a flat panel television on the wall near us and we decided to try a couple of their beers - the Nob IPA and the Palgian Belgian pale ale.  The Palgian Belgian pale ale, well, we didn't really care for all that much.  But the Nob IPA was outstanding.  My wife and I drank at a lot of brewpubs on our trip to Colorado, but we both remarked that the Nob IPA may have been the best beer we had tasted on our trip.  It had a somewhat forward hoppy taste with a very nice smooth finish on the back side.  We were very impressed with the beer.

The food menu at Pals is pretty basic.  No sandwiches or burgers could be found, which was sort of a downer for us.  They had a number of appetizers including Wisconsin cheese curds - both regular and baked.  We figured that they didn't have a fryer in the kitchen as they didn't have wings, mozzarella sticks or french fries on the menu, but they had something called pizza fries that appeared to be nothing more than small bread sticks served with a choice of dipping sauce.  They also had pecan-smoked ribs basted in a barbecue sauce and topped with blue cheese crumbles.  We thought about that for a moment and decided against it.

The signature food item at Pals is pizza.  They have 10" or 14" thin crust pizza (including a 10" gluten free crust for a $3 upcharge or a 10" cauliflower crust for a $5 upcharge) along with 5 different types of sauce, five different types of cheese, six different types of meat, and six different varieties of vegetables.  We ended up getting a 10" thin crust with Mendy's Pizza Sauce - a tomato-based sauce - along with Italian Sausage chunks and Pepperoni slices.  They also had what they called Palsbrew mushrooms - beer-marinated mushroom slice - but my wife wasn't too adventurous in ordering them.  She is coming around when it comes to fresh mushrooms when for years her stomach would turn with the canned mushrooms.  But the beer-marinated mushrooms - as much as I wanted to try them - didn't trip her trigger.    We got the mozzarella cheese on the pizza, but they also had cheddar, blue cheese, goat cheese, or cheese curds for pizza cheese.  

And the pizza was, well, it was good.  Much better than average.  The crust wasn't crisp, but it was chewy and pliable.  There was a ton of the mozzarella cheese on the pizza along with copious amounts of a sweet and tart sauce.  The Italian sausage came in big chunks - just as we like it.  And the pepperoni was salty and spicy, but there could have been more slices on it.  

A young lady from the kitchen brought our pizza out to us and we were both ready to sign up for a couple more beers.  But no one else came out to check on us while we were having the pizza.  It was getting sort of annoying as there didn't seem to be any staff members around either on the floor or behind the bar.  The guy who took our order - we figured he was a manager - finally came back out to the bar area and I had to flag him down to get his attention to get us a couple more beers.  He brought them over to us and asked if we liked the pizza.  We did - and it went together very well with the Nob IPA that we thoroughly enjoyed.  

After we got our bill and paid, we decided to take a look around the backyard of Pals.  We found an area where they had an outdoor bar for events, picnic tables, and a "bags" game area.  It looked like there may have been an area for live music outdoors, as well. 

There was a wrap-around patio on the backside of the building.  It featured a number of picnic tables under an awning and it looked out to the backyard at Pals.  Being that it was Nebraska, you could see for miles in each direction.  There was something kind of relaxing and refreshing within a pastoral setting in the middle the plains.  Quite honestly, we really didn't want to leave, but we had hotel reservations in Omaha that evening.  We were looking at another 4 hours in the car before we'd get to our destination.  

Pals Brewing Company was a great find and a pleasant surprise.  As I said, their Nob IPA may have been the best beer that we tasted on our trip to brewpubs in Wyoming, Colorado and Nebraska.  It had a great hoppy taste, but was smooth on the back side.  The pizza was also very good.  The abundant mozzarella cheese and the sweet and tart tomato sauce was a great combination along with the Italian sausage and salty/spicy pepperoni.  I wouldn't call Pals Brewing Company in the middle of nowhere, but it was out in the country giving it a great laidback rustic feel.  This is a place that I would go back to in a heartbeat and spend some more time enjoying their beers, pizza and country setting.  

Cold Beers and Cheeseburgers - San Diego

While in San Diego for a trade show a couple months ago, our company just happened to stay at the same hotel in the Gaslamp Quarter that my wife and I stayed at when we took a vacation to the San Diego area a little over three years ago.  I pretty much knew that most of the restaurants and shops up and down 5th Ave. were touristy places.  But just around the corner from the hotel was a new place that definitely caught my eye - Cold Beers and Cheeseburgers.  Well, I like cold beer and like cheeseburgers.  It seemed like a match made in heaven for a guy like me.  For a late lunch/early dinner one day while we were there, two of my colleagues went with me to first have some beers, then some food at Cold Beers and Cheeseburgers.

Actually, Cold Beers and Cheeseburgers is a small sports bar chain that originated out of the Phoenix area.  It's parent company - Square One Concepts - has developed a number of concept restaurants throughout the Southwestern part of the U.S. for more than 20 years.  Restaurants such as Bourbon and Bones, The Funky Monk and Waisted Grain are mainstays in the Phoenix/Scottsdale and Tucson areas, while Square One Concepts has also developed Pacific Beach Shore Club and the Bootlegger in San Diego.  The first Cold Beers and Cheeseburgers opened in north Scottsdale in November of 2011 with a second location opening in downtown Scottsdale in January of 2013.  

From there, two more CB-squared (get it? CBCB.  Or, some call it CB&C) locations opened in the Valley of the Sun before Square One Concepts set their sights on a San Diego location in the Gaslamp District.  When the owner of Acqua al 2, a Tuscan-inspired restaurant, sold his business in early 2016, Square One Concepts immediately turned it into the fifth Cold Beers and Cheeseburgers location.  Today, there are 11 CB-Squared locations with another one opening in late 2018 and one more in early 2019 in the greater Phoenix area.  Square One Concepts has plans to open at least three more Cold Beers and Cheeseburger locations in the San Diego areas in the coming months.  

It was just after 3 p.m. when I walked out the back of my hotel and just around the corner to Cold Beers and Cheeseburgers.  (see map)  The front windows of the restaurant were open to the patio along the sidewalk out front.  Large flat panel televisions were hanging throughout the place giving nearly every seat an opportunity to see multiple games if they were on.  I ended up seated at the long rectangular bar and was greeted by one of the bartenders, Scott.  I ordered up my current favorite beer - Kona Big Wave Golden Ale - one of the over 3 dozen beers they had on tap.  (They also have over 40 beers in bottles and over 20 beers in cans.)  Scott served the beer in a 19 ounce chilled mug and I quickly downed that one before the first of my two colleagues showed up about 20 minutes after I arrived.  By 3:30, my other colleague showed up.  Both like their beers and they were immediately impressed with the beer selection at Cold Beers and Cheeseburgers.  

We sat around for about an hour before one of the guys mentioned something about getting food.  We didn't have lunch during the day and I said that if I get something to eat there, I won't be going out for dinner that evening.  My co-workers didn't seem to have a problem with that.  

Looking through the menu, well - of course - they have cheeseburgers at Cold Beers and Cheeseburgers.  They had over 20 burgers on the menu, all starting out with a half-pound of certified black angus ground beef. From there, they had burgers such as the Ring of Fire topped with pepper jack cheese, Buffalo-wing sauce, jalapeños, and spicy mayo; the Denver burger topped with ham and cheddar cheese, along with grilled onions and peppers and finished with a fried egg; and there was the Rocky Point that had pepper jack cheese, guacamole, pico de gallo, jalapeños and sour cream on it.  They had a peanut butter, jelly and bacon burger (uh...no, thanks), a mac & cheese burger, and their own interpretation of the Twin Cities-style "Jucy Lucy" cheese-stuffed burger.  They also had a Steakhouse burger with gruyere cheese, bacon, garlic aioli and a white truffle oil.  They also had a ground Prime Rib burger on the menu.  Appetizers (including mozzarella sticks, tater tots topped with beef chili and a roasted pepper sauce, and Parmesan truffle fries), salads, sandwiches, different variations of mac & cheese dishes, and char-broiled hot dogs were also available on Cold Beers and Cheeseburgers menu. 

I contemplated building my own burger before I ended up getting the All-American burger with onion rings as a side for an upcharge.  (Chips normally come with the burgers.)  The burger was topped with American cheese with lettuce, tomato and onion slices.  For good measure, I had Scott throw on some bacon onto my burger.  Pretty basic, I know - but sometimes too many toppings detract from the overall taste of the burger meat.

The burger was thick and juicy, cooked to a perfect pink middle.  The taste of burger was also very good - juice was dripping with each bite.  It was definitely a multi-napkin burger.  The lightly toasted bun held together very well with the juicy nature of the burger.  The onion rings had a thick breading and were delicious, as well. This was a top notch burger through and through. 

My colleagues went the healthy route - one got the chicken Caesar salad, and the other got the ground turkey burger.  The salad featured chunks of grilled chicken on a bed of greens topped with a house-made Caesar dressing, reggiano cheese, and croutons.  He thought the salad was very tasty.

My other colleague wasn't so lucky with his turkey burger.  It was pretty mushy and tasteless to him.  "Horrible," he said when I asked him how his burger was.  He still ate it, but he wasn't happy at all.  "That's what I get for trying to eat healthy," he told me at the end of the meal.

We stuck around for another beer and I was getting ready to head back to the hotel after numerous beers.  However, our boss called one of my colleagues and inquired as to where we were.  After my co-worker told him where we were, he turned to us and said, "He's coming to join us!"  I decided to stick around and have another beer with the group.  

My boss showed and being that he's not much of a beer drinker, he ordered a Hendrick's gin and tonic.  He also ordered up the pastrami reuben on toasted sour dough bread to eat.  We stuck around with him having a few more beers while he ate his sandwich and a couple of gin and tonics.  He said his sandwich was also very good.  

I'm glad I didn't have far to go to get back to my room from Cold Beers and Cheeseburgers.  After four and a half hours of mainly drinking beers, but having a very tasty cheeseburger along with the beer, I was feeling little to no pain.  While it's more of a sports bar than anything else, they do have cold beers - a lot of different beers - and cheeseburgers - also a lot of different types.  But there's other things there other than beer or cheeseburgers.  But having a name like Cold Beers and Cheeseburgers, well, they do both very well.    

Seedz Organic Cafe - Steamboat Springs, CO

My wife wasn't too whippy on the breakfast our hotel in Steamboat Springs offered, so we decided to look around for a breakfast place one morning.  We found a funky little place along Steamboat's main drag of Lincoln Ave. with a big sign out front that said, "Breakfast" and "Lunch" -  Seedz Organic Cafe.  My wife is always big on organic anything, especially farm-to-fork restaurants.  So, this was right up her alley.  The following is our experience of visiting Seedz Organic Cafe.  

Fawn Racoma was a Midwestern girl who went to San Diego to study art.  She eventually became a personal chef and got her practitioner license in holistic health while in San Diego.  She vacationed in Steamboat Springs and fell in love with the area (much the same way my wife and I did) and envisioned a day when she could make the permanent move to Steamboat.  She did finally make it to Steamboat as the executive chef at the now-closed Sweetwater Grill.  

Pictured at right - Fawn Racoma.  Photo courtesy Steamboat Pilot.  

Before Racoma moved to Steamboat, she had her eyes on a space along Lincoln Ave. that she thought would be a great little place for a restaurant.  When that space became available in 2013, she left Sweetwater Grill after four years as the head chef to open Rootz Organic Cafe & Beverages. The food and juice smoothies at Rootz were all made with naturally grown ingredients, she practiced composting of the food refuse, plates and furniture used in the restaurant were all previously used or reclaimed from second hand stores.  It became a favorite spot in Steamboat for healthy breakfasts and lunches. 

It became such a favorite spot that Racoma realized that the small spot wasn't big enough to do both food and drinks.  She found another spot along Lincoln Ave. - bigger than Rootz, but not by much - that had a full kitchen, more dining space and more parking.  She rebranded Rootz as an organic drink place and moved the food portion of the restaurant over to her new place that she called Seedz.  She added a few items to the menu including traditional breakfast items such as egg dishes, pancakes, and French toast while maintaining a vegan menu, as well as a children's menu.  She continued to use organic ingredients, hormone and antibiotic-free meats, and locally grown foods when available.  Seedz Organic Cafe opened on Memorial Day weekend of this year.  

We pulled into the parking lot of Seedz around 9:30 a.m. one beautiful late summer morning.  (see map)  It was still a little cool outside and the front patio dining area was still in the shade.  Had it been about 10 to 15 degrees warmer out, we probably would have eaten outside.

Inside, we found a small space with a small bar area in the back.  True to the M.O. of Rootz, Seedz featured a number of mismatched tables and chairs in a spot that sat - maybe - 30 people.  

We sat a table near the bar and were met by Danette, our server for the day.  She gave us both a breakfast menu and we took a quick look to see what they offered.  We found a handful of breakfast sandwiches that they call "boats", as well as "towers" that featured one or two poached organic eggs with various toppings including Hatch green chiles, turkey, chicken chorizo, and pulled ham.  The Southern-style tower featured an herbed chicken breast, bacon and sweet onion jam served on an organic biscuit, topped with a peppercorn gravy.  That actually sounded pretty damned good.  

Seedz also featured French toast, pancakes, and a coconut chia waffle, as well as hash platters, scramble plates, and a handful of Seedz own specialty breakfasts with a number of vegetable choices where pulled ham, bacon, chorizo chicken or a chicken breast could be added.  They also had a number of vegan items to choose from on the breakfast menu.  

I got one of the scramble platters with shredded machaca beef.  With the eggs and the shredded beef, it came with diced red peppers and goat cheese.  Warm corn tortillas came on the side with some hash browns.  I ended up getting some of their thick cut natural bacon, as well.  The machaca beef was full of great Mexican flavors and was tender to the bite.  It went extremely well with the scrambled eggs on the taco shells.  

But the highlight of the meal was the bacon.  It was simply some of the best bacon I had ever had.  Slighty salty, slightly chewy, but it had a wonderful flavor that you can't find with most bacon found in grocery stores or butcher shops.  That bacon on a BLT would have been killer.  

My wife went the healthy route and she got the avocado smash on a slice of organic bread.  Ripe sliced tomatoes came with the avocado smash and a fresh greens salad was served on the side.  The bread was slightly toasted and had a crunchy outer crust.  It wasn't too exciting to me, but my wife really seemed to like it.   

Seeds Organic Cafe - a nice little place with healthy choices for food.  But if you're looking for something hearty or sweet for breakfast, they had that, too.   I enjoyed the shredded machaca beef scramble plate, but the bacon I got on the side was outstanding.  My wife was happy with her avocado-smash with tomatoes on crispy organic bread.   It was definitely better than the rubbery cheese omelets and the pseudo bacon they offered at the hotel.  There's a number of breakfast and lunch places in Steamboat Springs, but it you're looking to do something more on the order of a healthy meal, look no further than Seedz Organic Cafe.  

DC Oakes Brewhouse and Eatery - Fort Collins, CO

On our first night in Fort Collins earlier this year, we had hoped to eat at a Mediterranean restaurant near our hotel.  When we pulled up to the place around 8:30 p.m., we discovered that they closed at 7 p.m. on Sundays.  There were a number of restaurants in the immediate area, but most were national chains with full menus or fast casual places that didn't really appeal to us.  I remembered driving past a brewpub down the road on our way into Fort Collins to our hotel on the south side of town.  We drove down East Harmony Road and pulled into the parking lot of DC Oakes Brewhouse and Eatery.  (see map) 

Daniel Chesseman Oakes was born in Maine in 1825 and grew up in Iowa before heading west in the late 1850's.  Oakes was one of the first people to see opportunity in Colorado, panning for gold around the Pikes Peak area south of Denver - he wrote a book detailing what a person would need to survive for six months in the mountains of Colorado looking for gold.  Oakes later built the first sawmill in Denver and his mill provided the lumber for many of the first buildings built in the city.  Even though he built a fort to protect new settlers in the region from possible attacks from Native Americans living in the area, Oakes became a government intermediary who helped keep peace between the local tribes and the settlers.   Oakes later became a member of the first Denver city council and was named the first postmaster of Douglas County, just south of Denver.  

It was because of Oakes' penchant for taking pioneer spirit risks in difficult times which turned out to be successful, it became the name of the brewpub/eatery that five friends who had worked together in the restaurant industry had planned to start in Fort Collins.  Steve Boothe and Gerard Boyle recruited friends and former co-workers to round out their team at their planned brewpub.  TJ Compton actually got his start as a chef at C.B. and Potts, a brewpub and restaurant in Fort Collins, before he caught the brewing bug.  Compton eventually left C.B. and Potts to become the head brewer at Lost Highway Brewery in Denver.  With 17 years of brewing experience under his belt, Compton joined Boothe, Boyle, chef Tony Gray, and Henry Fang - the numbers guy of the group - to open D.C. Oakes in May of 2017, the 20th brewery in Fort Collins and the first one on the southeast side of the city.  

It wasn't too busy at DC Oakes when we pulled into the parking lot of a new-ish strip mall just off E. Harmony Road.  There was a small crowd in the restaurant that featured sort of a mix between modern industrial and rustic architecture.  There were some booths in an area of the dining room, but we took a seat at a high-top table opposite the bar. 

The bar area featured a couple of flat screen televisions either side of spigots coming out of the backbar wall that appeared to be made out of reclaimed barn boards.  The menu of beers on tap were also bordered with what appeared to be old barn boards, as well.  It was an open and somewhat loud place, even though it appeared to be only at a quarter of capacity that evening.  

The hostess had dropped off a couple menus for us when we sat down and our server Erika came over to take our drink order.   Even though DC Oakes has a full bar, we wanted to try one of their IPA's that they had on tap.  I thought it was pretty good - sort of a fruity taste on the back side that helped cut into the hoppy flavor of the beer.  While my wife got a pint of the IPA, I ended up getting the Copper lager, a smooth and malty tasting beer.  

The menu at DC Oakes featured a number of appetizer or shareable platters including chorizo and ale-steamed mussels, a charcuterie board, smoked chicken wings, and skewers of wedged heirloom tomatoes with spicy Italian coppa and fresh mozzarella cheese and fresh basil.  They had a number of salads including ones with grilled salmon, steak or chicken teriyaki mixed in.  There were a number of burgers and sandwiches, as well as entrees such as a smothered steak burrito, pan-seared salmon in a wheat beer sauce,  and a half-rack of slow-roasted pork ribs that were covered in a pomegranate/chipotle sauce.  They also had an adult mac & cheese dish that featured four different types of cheese mixed with orecchiette pasta shells.  You could add items such as shrimp, steak, chicken, pork belly or lobster for an upcharge.  DC Oakes also featured a kids menu and has what appears to be an extensive brunch on Saturday and Sunday mornings.  

My wife has been on a buffalo meat kick as of late because of the leanness of the ground meat.  She ended up getting the white buffalo burger.  It came with whiskey-braised onions and a garlic aioli along with arugula and halved cherry tomatoes.  She had a choice of a side with the buffalo burger and she got the house-made slaw.  My wife's biggest peeve is when the restaurant cooks the life out of a buffalo burger.  But she said the grill chef in the kitchen at DC Oakes cooked it perfectly.  She said there was still some juiciness in the meat and it was a delicious buffalo burger.

I had thought about getting the meatloaf sandwich that was made with a mixture of chorizo sausage and ground beef and topped with a chipotle barbecue sauce.  But I ended up getting the chili verde burger - a flame-grilled patty topped with their house-made pork chili verde, cheddar cheese and a fried egg, all served open-faced.  For my side, I asked Erika if I could get a cup of the green chili instead of a potato choice or cole slaw.  She said it would be a slight upcharge, but that was fine with me.  

The green chili burger was very good - the pork chili verde was a wonderful compliment to the medium-cooked burger, but didn't overpower the taste of the beef.  The cheddar cheese was melted evenly on the patty and the fried egg gave it a another flavor to add to the already delicious mixture of savory and spicy.  The cup of green chili was topped with cheddar cheese and it, too, was wonderful.  

There was little - if anything - we could quibble about our meal at DC Oakes Brewhouse and Eatery.  Their brewery made some good tasting beers, the food selection - and the quality of the food - was a step above most brewpubs we've visited in the past, and the service was fine.  If anything, one could say that it was a little loud with the open layout of the floor plan in the place.  But it was a Sunday night and by the time we were done we were just two of about a dozen people left in the place, so carrying on a conversation wasn't all that bad.  DC Oakes was a nice little brewpub in a city that is famous for their brewpubs and microbreweries.  

Urban India - San Diego

I was back out in San Diego earlier this year for a trade show and I went out with a colleague to have dinner one evening.  I had mentioned seeing an Indian restaurant a few blocks north of our Gaslamp Quarter hotel when I was out for a walk earlier in the day and my colleague said that he would be up for some Indian food that evening.  He was actually one of the first people to introduce me to Indian food a number of years ago, so I knew he'd want to go with me if I suggested Indian food that evening.  We made about a 10 minute walk from our hotel to the front door of Urban India.  

Surinder Singh moved to San Diego at the age of 12.  He got his start working in restaurants as a teenager bussing tables and running food.  When he was in high school, his parents bought a small neighborhood Indian restaurant by the name of The Indian Tandoor.  Surinder started working for his parents part time moving into a full time position when he graduated from high school.  He learned to make many of the traditional Indian foods served at The Indian Tandoor.

The Indian Tandoor was a success and the Singh family opened other locations around the greater San Diego area.  But Surinder was looking to do something on his own - sort of a combination modern Indian restaurant and sports bar.  Partnering with a friend, Surinder Singh looked to open his spot in downtown San Diego and they found a spot on 4th Street that used to house Joey's Smokin' BBQ.  Urban India opened in April of 2012.  

We walked up to Urban India around 7:30 on a nice, but somewhat humid evening in San Diego.  (see map)  Folding front windows were open to the street.  It was a long and somewhat open space with brick pillars in the middle of the room.  With the exception of a family of eight having dinner at a long table and two couples seated up front by the open windows, we pretty much had the pick of where we wanted to sit that evening.  

The bar had a couple of flat panel televisions on the back wall showing the replay of an exhibition football game that was played earlier in the week.  It was a full bar with a large selection of liquor, wine and beer.  There were other flat screen televisions mounted throughout the place.  I thought it was kind of unique to have a sports bar disguised as an Indian restaurant - and vice-versa.  

We found a seat at a table opposite the bar and we were greeted by - who I figured out later on - was Surinder Singh, the owner/chef at Urban India.  He gave us a couple of menus and we ordered up a couple of tall Kingfisher beers to start out with.  

My colleague is still much more worldly and adventurous when it comes to Indian food.  He just started to order a couple appetizers - things I was not familiar with.  The first one was completely confusing to me.  I thought he had ordered papadum - the Indian-style chips made from lentil and chickpea that come with mint or tamarind chutney.  But this was something completely different from what I thought my colleague ordered.  It had the papadum chips in it, but it had some sort of a vegetable sauce on it along with fresh cilantro.  We shared half of the plate each and I'd have to say it was pretty good.

The second appetizer was much easier - onion bhaji, or basically Indian onion rings.  The batter was light and flaky, and had a wonderful taste quality.  The onions were sweet and fresh.  I liked the onion bhaji immensely.

There were so many things on the menu that jumped out at me for my main entree that evening that I was having some difficulty as to what to have.  My colleague had turned me onto Butter Chicken when I was at his favorite Indian restaurant in Montreal with him about three years ago.  (He said that it was supposed to be mild, but it ended up being pretty spicy.  I didn't mind the spiciness, but it did sort of detract from the overall taste of the butter chicken.)  I thought about getting the butter chicken with a bit of spiciness at Urban India, but I saw that they had Lamb Tikka Masala on the menu, too.   And they had Chicken Curry, as well as a spicy lamb vindaloo.  So, you can see that my mind was in a tussle with my stomach as what to order.  

I ended up getting the Rogan Josh, tender lamb chunks in a garlic, ginger and multiple spice gravy.  Surinder asked me how I wanted it, spice-wise.  I ordered it medium - and I'm glad I did.  The sauce was had a distinct spicy bite to it, but it wasn't overpowering.  

We got some garlic naan to go along with our meal and it had a great and forward garlic taste to it.  I haven't been eating much rice lately and I used the garlic naan to dip into the sauce and to put some of the tender and flavorful lamb chunks onto the bread.  I had been suffering from allergies while I was in San Diego and this turned out to be exactly what I needed in terms of a good comfort-style meal. 

My colleague went with the lamb kabobs.  Once again, I was sort of confused with the presentation as I was expecting chunks of grilled lamb with veggies on a skewer.  But it was brought out on a sizzling iron platter similar to how you would get fajitas in a Mexican restaurant.  The lamb chunks were seasoned with a chili sauce before grilling and served with onions, peppers and fresh cilantro.  While it was something that I would have never thought about ordering, he thought it was outstanding.  

My colleague and I were both very happy with our choices at Urban India.  We had passed a couple three other Indian restaurants on our walk between the hotel and Urban India, but I'm not certain if they could have been any better than what we had that evening.  My colleague and I talked up Urban India so much so the next day that another colleague took a couple guests there for dinner that evening.  Urban India was a pretty unique place - an Indian sports bar.  While it wouldn't be the first place I would think of to watch sports, it would certainly be uncommon for me to be eating Indian food while watching a football game.  But the Rogan Josh with the garlic naan, as well as the onion bhaji with a cold Kingfisher beer would be a great meal while watching sports. 

Mi Casa - Breckenridge, CO

My wife and I weren't too enamored with Breckenridge, CO.  We had made reservations to spend the night there during our trip to Colorado earlier this year, but once we figured out that we didn't care too much for the town it was too late to cancel the reservations and move on.  We decided to make the best of it and we went out for a walk trying to figure out what to have for dinner.  We saw a Mediterranean restaurant where we checked out the menu they had posted outside, but decided against it.  We saw a sign for a Mexican restaurant and walked into a building and down a hallway to check out the menu.  My wife and I both sort of shrugged our shoulders and said, "Sure!  Why not?"  And we decided to give Mi Casa Mexican Restaurant and Cantina a try that evening.  

It turns out that Mi Casa is the oldest continually-owned restaurant in Breckenridge.  Alexandra Storm opened Mi Casa in August of 1981 and brought in $737 dollars in revenue for the first evening.  A month after Mi Casa opened, a young man by the name of Dick Carleton came to work at Mi Casa as a server.  It wasn't long that Carleton worked his way up the ladder at the restaurant eventually becoming the managing partner for Mi Casa.  

Carleton - who is a city council member for the town of Breckenridge; and Storm - whose Jane Alexandra Storm Foundation is a non-profit philanthropic organization giving out grants to local agencies - opened their second restaurant - Hearthstone - in 1989.  Storm and Carleton continue to run both restaurants today.   

Through a nondescript front entrance in the hallway of a building along South Park Avenue in Breckenridge (see map) we entered Mi Casa.  We were met at the hostess stand by two young ladies who were rather indifferent when we walked in.  One of the young ladies asked if we would like to sit in the bar or in the dining room.  We took a quick look into the bar area which was kind of cozy, but also pretty loud.  We opted for the dining room.

The dining room was a long and narrow area with large windows that looked out onto a patio and a plaza area.  The hostess took us to a table that was right along one of the windows and wordlessly dropped a couple menus on the table and walked away.  My wife and I thought her attitude was somewhat callous and thought it was rather strange for a first impression of a restaurant.  

We were soon greeted by our server for the evening, a pleasant, but reserved young lady by the name of Cassidy.  We ordered a couple margaritas and took a look at the menu.  

Actually, the little patio area just outside the window where we were seated looked sort of nice.  There were a number of the trendy triangle-shaped sun shades over the patio.  But it was sort of cool outside and no one was sitting on the deck that evening.   

We started off getting a couple of margaritas with Herradura tequila, Cointreau, lime juice and agave nectar.  They had over 100 tequilas to choose from at Mi Casa and a couple of my friends who are tequila aficionados would have had a field day looking over the selection of tequila they offered.  We also had some fresh made chips that came with three different types of salsa.  There was a mild pico de gallo that had a great fresh taste to it, there was a salsa verde that had a bit of a spicy bite to it, and there was a spicy red that at first I didn't think it was all that spicy.  It was like, "Hmm...  it's not that spicy."  Then it was like, "Wait for it... wait for it... wait for it..."  And then, "BAM!!"  The spiciness really snuck up and definitely got my attention.  

The menu was an extensive mixture of traditional Mexican favorites with a modern flair.  They had items such as a mango-braised duck quesadilla, a chorizo-stuffed chicken breast, chile nut-encrusted red trout, and red chile-braised pork belly tacos.  They also had a number of vegetarian selections on the menu including veggie fajitas, sweet potato tacos, and spinach and mushroom enchiladas.  

I wasn't all that hungry as the lunch we had earlier in the day was still sitting somewhat heavy in my stomach. I thought about getting the grilled wahoo fish tacos, but I ended up getting a bowl of the pork chili verde they had at Mi Casa.  I love green pork chili and Colorado has some restaurants that have excellent pork chili verde.  And the one at Mi Casa was good, too.  I thought it was a little expensive ($9.95) for the serving size, but it satiated my appetite that evening.  

My wife was more hungry than I was and she ended up getting the chicken fajitas.  It featured 6 ounce strips of chicken breast in a smoky onion and garlic marinade, then grilled.  (For an additional $4.95, she could have gotten the 10-ounce portion of the chicken fajitas.  But she was fine with the 6 ounce portion.)  It came with guajillo chile-grilled onions, sautéed poblano chiles, and tomato wedges, along with a housemade guacamole, pico de gallo, cheddar jack cheese, rice and refried beans.  She thoroughly enjoyed the fresh flavors mixed with a bit of a spicy bite in her fajitas.  

We were happy with our food at Mi Casa, although I felt it wasn't that great of a value compared to other Mexican restaurants we've been to.  But given the tourist-town nature of Breckenridge, we really should have expected it.  The pork green chili was good and my wife enjoyed her chicken fajitas.  The chips were fresh and the salsa that accompanied them was also fresh and a couple of the sauces were pretty zippy in taste.  Even though the two hostesses showed an indifference that bordered on aloof snobbery, our server was very helpful and pleasant.  We think we made a better choice between the Mediterranean restaurant that we had considered and Mi Casa.   

Accomplice Beer Company - Cheyenne, WY

During our trip to Colorado earlier this year, I decided to head across Nebraska on I-80 to Cheyenne, WY and take I-25 south to Fort Collins.  It was actually a two-fold intent for me - it appeared to be the fastest (but not the shortest) route to Fort Collins, and it gave me another state capitol building that I could see.  (I was - and still am - somewhat of a geography nerd, and I could name all the state capitals by the time I was five years old.  Still can, too.)  As we approached Cheyenne, my wife said she thought she needed something to eat.  Nothing heavy, but just a little something.  I wasn't all that hungry, but I did agree that we could stop somewhere.  My wife looked up local brewpubs on her smartphone and she found a place that sounded pretty interesting - the Accomplice Beer Company.  After checking out the Wyoming State Capitol Building (which was shrouded in tarps and scaffolding as it was undergoing a significant renovation), we went a few blocks south to the Accomplice Beer Company.  

The Accomplice Beer Company opened in June of 2016, the fourth craft brewery to open in Cheyenne after Freedom's Edge Brewing (2012), Cheyenne Brewing Company (2014) and Danielmark's Brewing Co. (April of 2016).  A.B.C., as its known to the locals, is part of the Finally Restaurant Group which oversees the Rib and Chop House restaurants that were founded by Louisiana-native Burke Moran in Bozeman, MT in 2001.  There are 11 Rib and Chop House restaurants in Montana, Wyoming and Utah, and the Rib and Chop House in downtown Cheyenne is arguably the most popular restaurant in the city.  

When Cheyenne Brewing Company closed its doors in the historic Cheyenne Depot Plaza in late 2015, Finally Restaurant Group decided to take over the spot.  Rumors swirled that they would be opening a second Rib and Chop House in the location, but with a somewhat new brew works already in place, they decided to open a brewpub instead.  When the Accomplice Beer Company opened in the summer of 2016, they didn't have the proper federal licensing to brew and serve their own beers, so they had a number of guest brews on tap.  However, it wasn't long before Brewmaster Jerod Day was serving his specialty beers at A.B.C.

We pulled up to the historic Cheyenne Depot Plaza just before 3 p.m Mountain Time on a warm Sunday afternoon.   (see map)  We were able to find parking in a free lot on the west side of the large ornate depot.  The depot was built by the Union Pacific Railroad in 1887 nearly 20 years after the completion of the First Transcontinental Railroad that went through Cheyenne between Omaha, NE and San Francisco/Oakland, CA.  In 1993, the Union Pacific donated the somewhat dilapidated building to the city of Cheyenne who started an extensive refurbishing of the building soon thereafter.  Today, Cheyenne Depot Plaza houses not only the Accomplice Beer Co., but the Cheyenne Depot Museum, an interactive display that shows historical train exhibits, as well as telling the story of how the railroad contributed to the growth of Cheyenne over the years.  A plaza in front of the building, which was designated as a National Historical Landmark in 2006, hosts a number of events year-round.  

Walking inside the Accomplice Beer Company, we found a couple of rooms with large beer tanks with the restaurant just around the corner.  The long narrow space featured a bar, and had a wonderful early 20th century feeling to the place.  High-beamed ceilings, hanging antique lights and a tile floor were the features that stood out most in the space.

There was an outdoor patio that was right next to the working Union Pacific tracks.  Passenger service to and from Cheyenne ended in 1983 and the depot was shut down at that time.  (Amtrak started a new line between Denver and Seattle in the early 1990's using a small depot south and west of Cheyenne for the official local depot.  But that service was discontinued about four years later.)  However, freight service on the Union Pacific is still an ongoing enterprise and there were a number of trains chugging through the yard next to the depot.

Accomplice Beer Company uses a "pour-your-own" system for serving you beer.  While they did have a full bar, being able to pour your own beer for either a sample taste or for a full pint is the fun part of the visit.  The drill is that when you come in, you present your credit card to the person at the front desk.  They give you back a card with a chip in it that tracks how much beer you pour.  You set the card in a little slot underneath the screen and you pour the beer.  There is a wash station under the spigots that allows you to clean your glass if you're wanting to try just an ounce or two of the different beers they have on tap.  There are 14 spigots on the wall, but that day they only had 11 beers on tap including two from the Sierra Nevada brewery, and the rest from Accomplice Brewing Co.  Some of the A.B.C. beers included the Skremin' Eagle American Wheat, the Lady Crimson English Ale, and the 6062 Amber Ale.  I tried the Nue Dogma New England IPA that was fairly hoppy before trying the Merican Ninja American pale ale that was smooth, but not as hoppy.  My wife went right for the Burro Bucker Imperial, a strong IPA with a 9.1% average alcohol content and a bitterness rating of 100+.  She seemed to like it, but switched to the New England IPA for her second beer.

(We were told afterward that they were out of their most popular beer - the Lincoln Railway Coast-to-Coast IPA.  But they had a neat t-shirt at the front counter - "Drinkin' with Lincoln" with a somewhat surreal caricature of Abraham Lincoln on the front.  My wife bought it for me.  It's pretty cool.)

The food menu at Accomplice Beer was decidedly fast casual with a number of appetizers and beer snacks such as a diced-spicy tuna tostada, poutine, chicken wings and boneless pork wings.  The menu also featured salads, as well as artisan pizzas and combo entrees such as grilled cod tacos and fries, one pound of ribs, and a locally-made beer bratwurst.  A kale salad came with the combo plates.  

As I said, I wasn't overly hungry, but my wife was needing something to eat.  She ended up ordering the hot and crunchy chicken tenders.  They were coated with a corn flake and chili powder, and served with a habanero/passion fruit sauce on the side.  There were four or five small chicken strips in the basket that the waitress brought out.  I had one just to try it and l thought they were just all right.  The crunchiness of the outer shell was fine, but I didn't think they were all that spicy.  Even the habanero/passion fruit sauce didn't help the taste of them.  I thought they were somewhat overpriced for $10.95.  

While we thought the food was pretty average for what we got at Accomplice Brewing Company, we thought the beer was very good.  The "pour-your-own" concept is starting to pop up at a handful of places I've been to and it's fun trying different types of beers before deciding upon one to have in either a pint or snifter glass.  But the ambiance of the brewpub in the historic and ornate old depot was really the nicest part of the visit to Accomplice Beer Company.   For a shot in the dark stop, this turned out to be a pretty memorable experience.  Well, other than the chicken tenders being mediocre and over-priced, this was a nice stop for us.  

Back Door Grill - Steamboat Springs, CO

When we checked into our hotel upon arrival in Steamboat Springs, we asked the very helpful front desk clerk for suggestions for lunch.  We were sort of looking for a brewpub or someplace like that.  "Unfortunately, most of our brewpubs don't open until around 4 and some have a limited menu," he told us.  But then he told us about a place that was named as having the best burgers in the United States by Trip Advisor.  Thoroughly impressed by that revelation, he gave us instructions on how to get to the Back Door Grill near Steamboat Spring's downtown area.  

(Well, it turned out that he oversold the award.  But it did turn out that the Back Door Grill WAS named one of the Top 10 burgers in the U.S. by Trip Advisor earlier this year.  Still, that's not too shabby!)   

Dave Eliason has been involved in restaurant management for a number of years.  He worked primarily in steakhouses counting Red Tracton's in San Diego and the Couloir in Jackson Hole, WY as two of the more high-profile restaurants he toiled in over the years.  When the LaRoche brothers (including former major league baseball player Dave LaRoche) decided to open a steakhouse in Steamboat Springs, they recruited Eliason to run the place for them.  Eliason's wife, Brandi, was a pastry chef at the Four Seasons hotel in Jackson Hole and he was able to get her a job at E3 Chophouse as the steakhouse's pastry chef.  (Look for an upcoming Road Tips post on E3.) 

E3 opened in late 2013 serving steaks from grass fed beef sourced from the LaRoche family farm in Kansas.  But both Dave and Brandi were missing a good ol' juicy burger, the kind where you can put different toppings on it to make it a signature burger.  They decided to open a small burger joint, but needed help in doing so.

The Eliason's initially partnered up with E3 to provide the grass-fed beef for their burgers, and with the Ghost Ranch Saloon, an event venue/bar facility with an old West theme in Steamboat that allowed them to use their kitchen in exchange for helping with catering for some events.  In an alley way next to the Ghost Ranch, there was a small walk-up window near the kitchen.  They put in some tables near the window and opened the Back Door Grill in June of 2014.  Brandi made the buns for the burgers and the breads for grilled sandwiches, and the couple used only naturally grown potatoes and onions for their fries and rings.  

Business boomed from the start and it appeared that the couple needed to keep the momentum going into the winter months.  That meant moving into a fixed building and when building housing Spostas World Sushi became available in the fall of 2014, the Eliason's jumped on that location moving in there in November of 2014.  The Eliason's eventually quit their jobs at E3 to focus on the growing business at the Back Door Grill, adding breakfast items to the menu in 2015.  (The Eliason's also own O'Neill's Tavern and Grill - an Irish pub/steakhouse - as well as the Cupcake Mini Bar - a boutique bakery - in Steamboat.  Their plan is to expand the Back Door Grill to other ski resort towns across Colorado.)  

It was just after 2 p.m. when we pulled up in front of the Back Door Grill on Oak Street near downtown Steamboat Springs.  (see map)  It was housed in a large gray stand-alone building that looked like it may have been an apartment or boarding house at one time.  There was a patio area in front of and on the side of the building.  

Entering the restaurant, we found a small area with a bar and a handful of tables and chairs.  The walls were covered with $1 dollar bills where people had written on them.  There was an upstairs dining area, but it was well past the lunch rush that we were able to get a table in a small room off to the side.  

We were met by our server, Jake, who gave us menus and asked us what we'd like to drink.  We both ordered up the Space Ghost IPA from the Equinox brewery in Fort Collins - one of the few breweries we didn't get to when we were there the previous couple three days.  

Burgers definitely rule the menu at the Back Door Grill.  They have a number of signature burgers such as the Mahalo burger that features pineapple slices, Swiss cheese and a teriyaki sauce (ham can be added to the Mahalo burger for an additional $2 bucks), the Afterburner that is topped with chili, cheddar cheese, jalapeños and sour cream, the G13 that is topped with a creamy Sriracha sauce and American cheese, and the Dirty Harry which is topped with peanut butter, a fried egg, bacon slices, hash browns, and cheddar cheese and served on a glazed donut.  (Uh.... no, thanks.)   They also have "build-your-own" burgers on the menu, as well as sandwiches such as a grilled chicken club sandwich, a Philly cheesesteak sandwich with shaved rib-eye steak and provolone cheese, and a seared mahi mahi sandwich.  

My wife got the Dennis Popper (no doubt a play on the name of the late actor Dennis Hopper), which consisted of a flat-grilled burger topped with pepper jack cheese, jalapeño poppers and an onion ring with barbecue sauce.  She asked to get the barbecue sauce on the side.  

The housemade bun was deeply toasted, but not burnt.   Back Door Grill switched to locally-raised all-natural beef when they moved to their present location in late 2014.  From the looks of char on the edge the burger patty, it appeared it was smashed on the flat grill to let it cook in its own juices.  

I ended up going with the Umami burger topped with Swiss cheese and mushrooms (and I added bacon for an upcharge).  The burger came with a sliced onion, a tomato slice and chopped lettuce.  

The burger was big and thick - and very delicious.  It was juicy and full of a great beef flavor.  The bun - which is the key to a great burger - was light and fluffy, but held together very well with the toppings and juiciness of the burger.  

My wife was very happy with her burger, as well.  She said that the poppers weren't all that spicy, but really helped enhance the taste of the beef.  She ended up not using any of the sweet barbecue sauce that Jake brought out on the side.  She said it would have detracted from the overall taste of the burger.  

For our first meal in Steamboat Springs, we couldn't have been happier with the Back Door Grill.  It was a great suggestion from the guy at the hotel and the burgers were great.  The atmosphere was a mixture of funky and cozy, and they had a great selection of craft beers from across Colorado.  The service was laid-back and casual, but also prompt and professional.  Sometimes my stomach does somersaults when I write about places we've been because the food was so good.  As I write this entry, my stomach is doing jumping-jacks wishing we could go back to the Back Door Grill for lunch today.

Kue'd Smokehouse - Waukee, IA

One of my accounts in Des Moines had a client who needed some assistance with a pair of speakers he had purchased earlier this summer.  The client lived about 20 miles north and west of Des Moines and after I had finished there, I took off to go back to Des Moines for the evening.  On the way back, I passed a barbecue place that looked sort of interesting in a strip mall along Hickman Road in the suburb of Waukee.  I turned around and went back to try out Kue'd Smokehouse.  (see map) 

It turns out that Kue'd Smokehouse has some fine Des Moines barbecue in its DNA.  Owners Shad and Angie Kirton used to be co-owners of the award winning Smokey D's BBQ on Des Moines' far north side.  (Click here to see the Road Tips entry on Smokey D's.)  Shad Kirton had grown up in Central Iowa and had gone away for culinary school.  After stints at restaurants on the west coast, Kirton came back to Iowa to run the kitchen at the Hotel Pattee, an upscale boutique hotel/restaurant in Perry, IA that quickly became a destination for food enthusiasts nationwide.  

When the hotel and restaurant fell on hard financial times about a dozen years ago, Kirton left there and got together with Darren Warth - the "D" of Smokey D's - to be the pitmaster at a small barbecue joint and to enter barbecue contests.  Warth had already won awards at a couple of the more prestigious barbecue competitions - the American Royal in Kansas City and the Jack Daniels World Barbecue Invitational in Tennessee.  But it wasn't until Shad Kirton participated in the BBQ Pitmasters reality-based competition on The Learning Channel (TLC) in 2010 that the legend of Smokey D's took off.  Kirton ended up winning the second season of the competition and a $100,000 check for his smoking of a whole pig in a traditional cinder block smoke pit in the season's final broadcast.  

With that type of success, Warth and Kirton - who already had two small barbecue places in the Des Moines area - opened their large Smokey D's location later that year just off Interstate 80 on N. 2nd Ave.  In a city that quickly became known for the barbecue offerings in the area, Smokey D's was considered by many to be the best.  Warth's wife, Sherry, and Kirton's wife, Angie were also partners in the business.  

Pictured right - Angie and Shad Kirton.  Photo courtesy Des Moines CityView.

In 2015, the Warth's bought the Kirton's shares of Smokey D's.  Shad Kirton took a year off from running a restaurant and participating in barbecue contests to concentrate on his family and to plan a new restaurant.  The Kirton's found a spot in a new strip mall in the fast growing community of Waukee and they opened Kue'd Smokehouse in March of 2016.  Earlier this year (and after my visit), Food and Wine Magazine named Kue'd Smokehouse the best barbecue in Iowa.  

It was around 7:30 when I got into Kue'd Smokehouse.  It was a pretty small place with counter service.  The menu was on a chalk board next to the front counter.  

The menu had all the normal barbecue items - pork spare ribs, brisket, pulled pork and chicken, burnt ends, sausage, chicken wings, and smoked turkey.  They had a number of house-made sides to choose from including mac & cheese, loaded smashed potatoes, and a German cucumber salad.  Their meats were all available in serving sizes of 1/4, 1/2 or 1 pound offerings.  They also had a good selection of beer including craft beers.  I got a Pseudo Sue pale ale from the Toppling Goliath brewery in Decorah, IA.

Just around the corner was the dining room with the open kitchen off to the side.  There were big smoker units along the wall and there was a faint smell of smoke in the place.  It was making my stomach jump up and down in anticipation.  

The dining area at Kue'd Smokehouse was long and narrow.  It featured a small number of two-seat and four seat tables.  There was counter/bar seating along the window and all of the two-seat tables were filled, so I took a seat there.  

It wasn't long after I sat down that my barbecue plate showed up.  I got the two meat sampler - brisket and burnt ends.  For my sides, I got the baked beans and the cole slaw - both of which were made in-house.  Two pieces of white bread come on the side with thick cut dill pickles.  They had three sauces available - a Carolina-style vinegar and pepper sauce that was very good, as well as a sweet and tangy molasses sauce, and a sweet and spicy sauce that I liked a lot.  

The brisket was cut thin, and was lean and very tender with a great smoke and spicy flavor to the meat.  The brisket was just outstanding.  But I was more than pleasantly surprised with the burnt ends.  The first few times I tried burnt ends a number of years ago, I felt they were overcooked and somewhat tough.  The burnt ends at Kue'd Smokehouse were tender and had a great smoky beef taste.  The were big and chunky, and pulled apart very easily.  They were simply some of the best burnt ends I've ever had.

The baked beans featured chunks of pulled pork and had a nice tangy taste.  I spiced them up a bit with the sweet and spicy barbecue sauce, but on their own they really didn't need much help.  The cole slaw was all right, sort of creamy and sweet, but I wasn't too enamored with that side.  

As I said, I didn't know until after I went to Kue'd Barbecue that Food and Wine Magazine had recently named them as the best barbecue in Iowa.  And from my visit, I certainly couldn't disagree with their assessment.  The brisket was lean, tender and flavorful, while the burnt ends were simply outstanding.  I really enjoyed the baked beans while I wasn't too crazy about the cole slaw.  Still, they had a nice craft beer selection to go along with their wonderful barbecue.  The dining room is a little small, but they certainly seemed to be doing a brisk business in carry-out orders.  Des Moines is fast getting a reputation for good to great barbecue joints and Kue'd Barbecue may be the best of them all.

 

CooperSmith's - Fort Collins, CO

Our neighbors had made the trek to Fort Collins a couple three times over the past recent years and always talked about how great some of the brewpubs were out there.  We stopped at a number of them during our stay in Fort Collins, but they were sort of spread out and not at all like Asheville, NC where most of the microbreweries and brewpubs are located in the downtown area and within walking distance of one another.  We spent some time in downtown Fort Collins - known to the locals as Old Town - and one evening we decided to head to CooperSmith's, the oldest microbrewery/brewpub in Fort Collins.  

In the mid-to-late 1980's, Scott Smith was the manager of the Old Chicago restaurant in Fort Collins when they introduced their famous World Beer Tour that encouraged customers to try one each of the over 100 beers they had available at the restaurant.  He noticed that many of the same people were coming in on a regular basis trying different beers and making notes on how they tasted.  

Since Prohibition ended, the state of Colorado had a law on the books that prohibited establishments from serving beer that had been brewed on premises.  Backed by the lobbying efforts of a group headed by entrepreneur John Hickenlooper, the law was repealed in 1988.  Hickenlooper and some partners soon opened the first brewpub in the state of Colorado - Wynkoop Brewing Co. - later on that year.  A second brewpub - Carver Brewing Co. - opened in Durango in early 1989.  

Later in 1989, Scott Smith attended a restaurant auction to see if there was anything he could use for his Old Chicago restaurant.  He met a men who introduced himself as the chef at the Wynkoop Brewing Co.  Smith didn't know that the law had been changed allowing for retail sale of on-site brewed beers in restaurants.  He immediately thought about opening a brewpub in Fort Collins.  But he had two problems - he didn't know the first thing about brewing beer, and he didn't have access to capital needed to start his business. 

Smith met with Hickenlooper - who later became the Mayor of Denver and who is now the Governor of Colorado - and his backers to pick their brain as to start his own brewing operation.  The first meeting with the group told Smith something - they didn't know a thing about running a restaurant.  So, in exchange for helping him meet with potential investors, Smith provided Hickenlooper's group with tips on running a restaurant.  

Hickenlooper's Wynkoop group put in some money into Smith's venture, Smith was able to raise some money on his own, and he sold 1 percent shares to 30 individuals.  With the money raised, he had to find a place to put his brewpub.  And he wanted it to be in Fort Collins' downtown Old Town area.  

In downtown Fort Collins, a concept pedestrian mall/shopping district housed in restored 19th century buildings called Old Town Square had just gone into foreclosure and was being operated by a Chicago-based insurance company.  The insurance company had hired a California-based marketing to do a study as what to do to make the property work.  The marketing firm came back with a report that said they really needed an anchor in the largest space - a restaurant or one of these new brewpubs that seem to be suddenly popular.  

One thing led to another and Scott got together with the insurance company where he was offered an incredible deal to open his brewpub in the large space at 5 Old Town Square.  (see map)   Along with brewmaster Brad Page and assistant brewer Dwight Hall, Smith opened CooperSmith's - named after his only son - in November of 1990.  It was the third microbrewery in Colorado and the first in Fort Collins - by only two days.  Doug Odell served his first beers at Odell Brewing Company just two days after CooperSmith's opened their doors.  

In 1993, Smith opened CooperSmith's Poolside just across the cobblestone walkway from the brewpub.  It featured pool tables, pub games such as a shuffleboard table and darts, and it had more of a bar atmosphere with a menu of pizza, burgers, sandwiches and appetizers.  By the mid-90's, CooperSmith's was firing on all cylinders allowing Smith to pay off some of the early investors making himself the prime investor in the business.  Page eventually left the brewery to help open a brewpub in Argentina (he now owns a cider making operation in Colorado), and Dwight Hall became the brewmaster for CooperSmith's with Edward Powers as his assistant brewer.  

After running the business for nearly 20 years, Smith and his wife, Jane Liska, had purchased a second home on a lake in northern Wisconsin.  With employees running the business in a successful manner, he spent less and less time in the brewpub.  By 2014, Smith had sold his shares back to the remaining CooperSmith's investors (there were only a dozen or so of the original 30 "one percent" shareholders left), who, in turn, sold Smith's shares to Dwight Hall and two other longtime workers - Sandra Longton and Chris O'Mara - the brewery's General Manager and Operations Manager, respectively.   Hall is the president of CooperSmith's with Edward Powers now the brewmaster, assisted by Mike Hiatt and Justin Bruditt.  

I understand that parking used to be an issue in downtown Fort Collins when CooperSmith's opened nearly 30 years ago, but we were able to find parking on the street just down from the brewpub.  It was a Monday night and students were still just a few days away from starting classes at Colorado State University.  Walking inside, we found a long bar in a narrow dining room.  But when we were greeted by the hostess for seating, she took us into a back area with a number of booths opposite an open kitchen area.  She dropped off a couple of menus and it wasn't long before our server, Kassi, showed up to take our drink order.  I got the Punjabi American Pale Ale for my choice, while my wife - who was somewhat beered-out from an afternoon of trying some of Fort Collins finer microbrews - got a tart lemon martini from the full bar they have at CooperSmith's.  I liked the Punjabi pale ale - it had a robust hoppy flavor with a nice malty finish.  

CooperSmith's menu consisted of a number of interesting appetizers - I considered getting the applewood-smoked salmon and brie quesadilla just for my dinner that evening.  They also had a number of burgers and sandwiches, as well as main entrees including fish and chips, a grilled salmon filet served on cheese grits and succotash and topped with a creamy poblano sauce, and the Highland Cottage Pie - CooperSmith's take on a Shepherd's Pie made with Colorado-raised lamb.  

My wife ended up getting the Schweineschnitzel - basically a pork tenderloin that was pounded out, breaded and deep-fried.  It was served on top of a bed of mashed potatoes and a housemade bacon-beer sauerkraut, and topped with a lemon-butter cream sauce.  The schnitzel was so large that it hide most of the potatoes and sauerkraut.  The breading was light and fluffy, and my wife thoroughly enjoyed the taste of the pork tenderloin - especially with the lemon-butter sauce.  

I really didn't know what to get.  I didn't want anything heavy, so I got the reuben.  It was your basic type of reuben - sliced tender corned beef with sauerkraut, Swiss cheese, and a Thousand Island dressing served on a swirled-marble rye.  Instead of fries for a side, I asked Kassi if I could get a salad with the balsamic vinaigrette dressing.  The reuben was fine - the bread was cut thick and the corned beef was piled high on the sandwich.  It was a pretty good sandwich.    

We thought our meals were good at CooperSmith's - not outstanding, but worthy enough compared to other brewpubs we've visited over time.  My wife really enjoyed her pork schnitzel, while I thought the reuben was fine.  I did like the Punjabi pale ale that I ordered - twice.  The service provided was friendly and efficient, and the atmosphere in the restored old building was casual and relaxed.  It was easy to see why Fort Collins' oldest brewpub may be its most popular.