Road Tips

Smith's Restaurant - London, U.K.

As traveling is still curtailed due to the coronavirus, I've been looking back at some of the more memorable meals I've had during the nearly 15 years Road Tips has been around.  This meal takes us over to merry ol' England and one of the top seafood experiences I've ever had.  And not only was the seafood spectacular, but the restaurant sat next to the Thames River near central London and the views of the city were absolutely sensational.  Please enjoy this look back to the summer of 2014 and the visit to Smith's Restaurant.

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On our trip to the U.K. for Naim Audio training, we finished up on Friday and had planned on flying back to North America on Saturday.  However, we found that if each of us - eight of us in total - flew out on Saturday it would cost our company upwards in the area $10,000 more than if we spent a night in London at a hotel, had a couple nice meals and then flew out on Sunday.  Leaving it up to my colleague Ian to find us a place to eat that evening, he picked out a winner in the Wapping neighborhood of London along the River Thames - Smith's Restaurant.  

Since 1958, Smith's Restaurant has been synonymous with great food and "famous for fish".  Mike Tavener and Darren Leitsch purchased the Smith's Brasserie in Ongar, Essex - north and east of London - in 2007.  Famous regulars of the Smith's Brasserie location in Ongar included David and Victoria Beckham, as well as Rod Stewart.  Tavener had longed to put a second restaurant along the River Thames in central London.  As a boy, he used to sit in a pub with his parents along the Thames having lunch and looking out over the river.  

Tavener bought a building that used to house Smollensky's Bar and Grill at Cinnebar Wharf along the Thames in 2009.  It's walking distance to the Tower of London and the Tower Bridge and offered great views of the bridge, the contemporary Shard high-rise, and Butler's Wharf.  Executive Chef Stephen Bard had trained at Scott's Restaurant in Mayfair and was the head chef at the J. Sheekey seafood restaurant in the Charing Cross area of central London before coming over to Smith's Restaurant.  The first patrons at the new Smith's Restaurant in Wapping were served on May 4, 2011.    

Because of the popularity of the restaurant, we were unable to get a reservation any earlier than 8:45 in the evening.  It was about a 10 minute cab ride from our hotel on London's east end to the restaurant.  From the outside the restaurant was pretty non-descript.  But walking into the place told another story.

The inside was very contemporary with a large wine selection inside a glass-enclosed case to the left as you walked into the entrance hallway.  The hallway emptied into a small bar area.

A few steps up from the bar was the dining area.  Sleek and cozy, the dining area faced the Thames with an outdoor dining patio just beyond the windows.  The day had been a combination of rain and sunshine and the patio was closed for the evening.  

As we sat down at a large rectangular table next to a large window looking west, one of my colleagues remarked, "Holy cow!  Look at that view!"  Just up river from Smith's Restaurant was the Tower Bridge, the ultra sleek skyscraper known as the Shard, along with a number of wharfs across the river.  The sun was peeking out above the horizon as the clouds were beginning to move out for the night.  It was a spectacular sight.

It was so spectacular that a number of us went outside to take pictures along a railing above the Thames.  The scene with the back lit Tower Bridge and the contrast of the sunlight and the gray clouds, along with the contrast of the old wharfs with the Shard looming in the background made for a once in a lifetime shot.  I took four or five photos of the scene hoping that at least one of them came out.  

Gathering back inside the restaurant, we settled down and began to look through the menu that Smith's had to offer that evening.  Seafood was the main focus, but there were also steaks, cornish hen, chicken, lamb and duck entrees on the menu.   They also had a number of tempting appetizers on the menu, as well.  We decided we'd start off with a few appetizers, get some wine ordered and then go from there.  

The wine list wasn't overly extensive featuring a number of white and red wines - more white's than red's because of the seafood focus on the menu.  But our group all loves big hearty red wines - even with seafood.  My colleague Ian picked out a Spanish rioja wine from the Soligamar winery.  It had great body and was a very meaty red.  

We ordered a number of items - onions rings and calamari with an outrageously great garlic mayonnaise were two of the items that were shared at the table.  But some of us ordered individual appetizers.  My colleague Todd order the oysters on the half-shell.  Big and meaty, the oysters were some of the largest I've seen.  However, Todd - playing the "top this" game told us of hand-sized oysters that he ate during a visit to his parent's home on Prince Edward Island earlier this year.  He offered one of the oysters to me, knowing my penchant for a good oyster and I'll have to say they were very good.  

But I ordered the best appetizer of the evening - the John Ross Jr. oak-smoked Scottish salmon.   Actually, I didn't know how much I would be getting but when the waiter brought out a plate covered with thinly cut, but wide slabs of smoked salmon - well, it looked like it could have been a main entree.  And the taste - oh my GOD!!!  I love good smoked salmon sushi, but this was a taste that was unlike any I've had before.  The salmon had a good smoky taste, but not overpowering.  It literally melted on my tongue.  There was a lot of it, so I offered a number of my dinner partners a little piece of it.  Had I not been intrigued with a couple things on the menu, I would have seriously considered getting another plate.  

For dinner, I got the lemon sole in butter garlic sauce with a side of grilled scallops topped with a lobster sauce.  I also got a side of the chips (steak fries) and asked the waiter if he could bring out a side of the outrageously great garlic herb mayonnaise to dip the fries into.  The fries on their own were very good - excellent, as a matter of fact.  It was the third straight night-time meal where the chips were outstanding.  They really know how to make a great steak fry in the U.K.  They were NOTHING like I've ever had in the U.S.  And with the garlic mayo dipping sauce, it made the fries even more sinful than they were.

Here I am - carrying on about the chips like they were the highlight of the meal.  Thankfully, they were not.  The lemon sole was light and flaky with a wonderful citrus taste.  The lobster sauce was a nice complement to the fish.  And the scallops were good sized, meaty and had an excellent butter-grilled crust on the outside.  This was simply an awesome meal.  

Speaking of lobster, one of my colleagues got the 1.5 pound lobster.  The body was cracked open and the claws were cracked for easy access.  It looked very good.  My colleague said it was superb.  

Across the table from me, one of my colleagues got the Scottish Highland beef filet with a side of the peppercorn sauce.  It came with a grilled tomato - I found that to be a staple with steak dishes in the U.K. - and it came with field mushrooms and watercress.  The steaks at Smith's Restaurant are aged 28 days before serving.  My colleague thought it rivaled steaks he's had in the U.S.  

Below left is - I believe - the Scottish Highland prime sirloin steak that one of the guys got.  It featured tender pieces of beef with an au jus sauce drizzled over the top.  It, too, looked pretty damned good.  

My colleague John was seated next to me and he had probably the best idea of the evening.  Since it was getting late in the evening, John didn't want a big meal.  He asked our server if he could just have a North Atlantic white fish - and that's it.  The waiter suggested a grilled cod topped with a lemon butter sauce.  When it was set in front of him, John said, "This is perfect!  This is all I need!"  I leaned over to him when he was about halfway through the fish and asked how it was.  "This is excellent," he said matter of factly.  "This is awesome fish."  

I was pretty full from dinner, but some of the guys wanted to get dessert.  My colleague Todd spied profiteroles on the dessert menu.  He was going nuts that they had profiteroles.  I had never heard of them.  Immediately, Todd and my colleague Ian chastised me for not knowing about profiteroles.  It was like I crawled out from under a rock in their eyes.

Profiteroles are a French pastry that is basically a creme puff in the U.S., only much smaller.  They're filled with either ice cream, whipped cream or a pastry cream.  The ones at Smith's Restaurant were filled with real whipped cream and rolled in powdered sugar.  The profiteroles were then drizzled with a chocolate sauce and served with strawberry slices.  Todd offered me one and I have to say the richness of the deep fried puff filled with the whipped cream was almost intoxicating.  Todd and Ian were continuing to harangue me.  "I can't believe you've NEVER had these before in France," Ian said.  When I get dessert when I'm in France, it's usually creme brulee.  That's probably why I'd never noticed profiteroles on the menu before.  (In France they're known as choux à la crème.)

This was simply a Top Ten meal in my book.  The setting along the River Thames, the stunning views from the restaurant, the smart and elegant decor, the top-notch service and the excellent food made Smith's Restaurant one of my most memorable restaurant experiences. More than three months after my visit, I still have tremendous memories of the place and will put it down as one of the all-time best seafood restaurants that I've ever been to.

(Here's a bonus picture after the meal was finished and we were waiting for our cab to pick us up.  The River Thames, London Tower and the Shard at night.)

Twin Span Brewing - Bettendorf, IA

My wife and I have been cooped up in our house for the past 3 months doing a lot of cooking at home and occasionally getting some food from curb-side pick-up to bring back home.  However, the state of Iowa has been slowly opening up lately and a couple weeks ago most of the restaurants and bars had been allowed to re-open following social distancing regulations.  We had our eye on a place that just opened up a little over a month ago next to the TBK Bank Sports Complex on the northern edge of Bettendorf, Twin Span Brewing.  Last Saturday night, we decided to give the place a try.

Actually, we tried to head out to Twin Span Brewing a couple Friday nights ago - the first day that restaurants were allowed to fully open in the state.  However, on our way out, we were stopped by a road block thrown up by Bettendorf police for a "Black Lives Matter" rally that was getting ready to begin.  We decided to just turn around and head down to the Village of East Davenport and go to Rudy's Cantina for a quick bite that evening.  (Click here to see the Road Tips entry on Rudy's Cantina.) 

After having a couple of drinks at our favorite neighborhood watering hole last Saturday, my wife and I took off to go north to I-80 and on east to the Middle Road exit (Exit 301) a few miles down the road.  The TBK Bank Sports Complex - known as the "Bett Plex" to the locals - is tough to miss as you're traveling along I-80 in that area.  There have been a number of businesses - restaurants, retail stores, convenience stores - that have sprung up around the complex since it opened a little over two years.  Parking was plentiful around Twin Spans when we pulled in off of Forest Grove Rd. just before 6:30 that evening.  (see map) 

Twin Span has actually been open since the second weekend in May when they began to allow "to-go" sales of their beers.  A couple weeks later they opened their carry-out or patio-seating food service under the guidance of Juan Hernandez, a native of Mexico City who is known around the Quad Cities for his work with Steventon's and the Blue Iguana in Le Claire, IA.  Our visit was the second weekend of full seating in the restaurant.  It went against our usual rule of thumb of allowing a new restaurant to work out the kinks for the first three months before we would visit.  

It turns out that the restaurant manager at Twin Span is the girlfriend of a guy my wife works with.  He was telling us when we visited him a couple three weeks ago that the place was "really nice".  He is a beer drinker and he said he thought their beers were very good.  He said he had been part of a soft-opening the ownership group had in May and he was impressed with everything.  

And it was his girlfriend who greeted us at the hostess stand when we first came in.  My wife re-introduced herself to her and we stood and chatted for a few moments.  A storm was brewing off in the distance and she said, "We have a large group in here, so we're slammed in the kitchen for a moment.  And I'm certain you guys probably don't want to sit outside with the storm coming at us."  I saw a four-seat table off to the side and asked if we could sit there.  "Absolutely," she exclaimed as she grabbed a couple menus and escorted us to the table.  

The inside of Twin Span Brewing featured a very open floor plan with a sort of contemporary/industrial decor.  Globe lighting hung from the ceiling and wooden accents and booths were prominent throughout.  A series of high-top tables - all pulled together for the large group eating there that night - were in the center of the dining area.  

Off to the far end of the building was the brewing room featuring a number of large glistening tanks.  Adam Ross - who is a Cicerone Level 2 certified professional; and Glenn Cole - who helped put the Geneseo Brewing Company on the map - head up the brewing team at Twin Span.  We were told that there were a number of investors - up to 15 - who have a stake in Twin Span Brewing, but the manager we talked with didn't divulge who the managing partner was in the group.  

The patio area featured a large expanse of area off to the side of the indoor-outdoor bar.  We were told that they would normally have more tables on both the patio and in the dining area, but due to social distancing restrictions they have cut back the number of tables available.  The outdoor patio was very nice - and it never did rain while we were there.  

Our server for the evening was a young lady by the name of Hayley.  With all the ambient noise in the place, plus the fact that she was speaking to us through a mask, we thought her name was Kaylie.  And I think that's what we kept calling her.  But when we got the bill later in the evening, we saw that her name was Hayley.  We apologized to her when we realized we got her name wrong right off the bat.  

She explained to us that the large group of 20 to our right had thrown the kitchen into a tizzy and it would probably be another 20 to 30 minutes before she could take our food order.  Baseball and softball tournaments at the TBK Bank Sports Complex had started up again and there were a number of people in there from out of town.  We immediately recognized the fact that we probably shouldn't have come here on a weekend evening - especially a Saturday night - with tournaments starting up at the Bett Plex again.  And couple that with the fact that the kitchen and wait staff were trying to work out the kinks.  But, not to worry - we wanted to drink some beer.  

We took a quick look at the beer menu for Twin Span and saw that they had six or seven beers to choose from that evening.  The Ten-Forty was a traditional German lager that was unfiltered.  The Liffey was a combination English ale and Pre-Prohibition American lager that is more of an Irish heritage beer.  The Steel Beam was a traditional Irish stout, while The Gold was a traditional English golden ale.  We've been really getting into hazy India Pale Ales as of late and we both ended up getting a 13-ounce tulip of the 80 East, a wonderful concoction that featured Ariana, Citra and Mosaic hops.  From the first taste, we immediately liked the beer.  

We were told the food menu at Twin Span was evolving, but there seemed to be some interesting items to choose from.  Their appetizers featured blistered shishito peppers served with a sriracha sauce.  There were beer-brined chicken wings tossed with a choice of sauce that included a buffalo sauce, a sweet Thai chile sauce, and a mango/serrano pepper/honey sauce.  And they had barbecued pork nachos, as well as a signature appetizer called The Gift of Bacon which featured hand-breaded fried buffalo mozzarella that was wrapped in bacon and served with a house sauce.  There was a seared tuna salad on the menu that caught the eye of my wife, as well as flatbreads, burgers, and sandwiches including a Nashville hot chicken sandwich and a mahi mahi "poor-boy" sandwich.

Since we had plenty of time to look over the menu, we pretty much were set on a couple three things that we wanted to try.  After a second 80 East for me, Hayley came over and said that the kitchen was no longer overwhelmed and we could order up some food.  One of the first things we ordered was the beer mussels appetizer.  They sautéed mussels in a combination beer and garlic sauce. Fresh parsley and chopped tomatoes came with the mussels with a couple small pieces of garlic bread on the side.  

The mussels were fresh tasting, meaty and all opened up in the sautéing process.  Chunks of tomatoes and fresh parsley added to the flavor of the garlic/beer sauce the mussels were swimming in.  The sauce was absolutely outstanding - so much so that we asked the manager for more garlic bread to sop up the sauce when she came over to check on us.  (Note to Twin Span staff - you can't just serve two small pieces of bread with the mussels.  You need to serve at least six, if not eight pieces.)

One of the other things we got off the appetizer menu was the tuna poké.  It featured sashimi-grade tuna mixed with chopped mango, red and green onions, avocado, and a sesame seed sauce. All of that was placed on a bed of lettuce greens, then topped with cilantro, wonton chips and a sriracha aioli.  The poké was simply outstanding.  We made very short work of the tuna poké.  

My wife was very interested in the moho tacos.  It was a choice of grilled or fried/breaded ancho-seasoned mahi mahi - we ordered grilled - that was topped with a citrus slaw, sliced avocado, and a sriracha aioli.  It came with a side of house-made tortilla chips and a beer cheese dipping sauce.  When I first glanced at the mahi mahi after it was served to us, it had a golden brown covering on it like they were breaded and deep-fried.  

When the manager came over and asked if everything was fine, I said that we had ordered grilled and not the deep-fried mahi mahi.  She immediately ran to the kitchen to get us another order.  But then my wife - who is much more observant than I am - realized that the ancho-seasoning gave the fish a breaded and deep-fried look to them.  We waved Hayley down and told her to tell her manager that we got the right order and not to make us a second one.  We were somewhat embarrassed when the manager came back and we told her that we were fine with what we had ordered.  Rookie mistake at a new restaurant, I'm calling it.  But the mahi mahi tacos were also very good.  

But everything we had was also very expensive.  When Hayley came by to present us with our bill - which was not on paper, but on the screen of a handheld point-of-sale device - I about jumped out of my seat when she said we owed $73 before tip and tax.  I was incredulous, but it was true.  My wife and I had 5 total glasses of the 80 East at $7 a glass, the mussels were $13 bucks, the tuna poke was $12 bucks, and the moho tacos were $13.  I sort of shuddered a bit, but paid it - along with a nice tip for Hayley who had a great attitude while working her butt off the whole time we were there.  Plus, the fact that we kept calling her "Kaylie".  But, as my wife said, "It IS Bettendorf, and it IS next to the sports plex.  They have a captive audience out here and food is going to be more expensive out here than most other places."  

So, be forewarned - if you go out to Twin Span or stop by the place as you're driving by the Quad Cities on I-80 - expect to spend some money.  But I have to say that everything we had - from the 80 East hazy IPA, to the moho tacos, to the tuna poke, to the excellent sautéed mussels - was very good.  We could tell there were some kinks that needed to be worked out in terms of the overall operations, but we sort of expected that going in.  As the menu continues to evolve, it will be interesting to see what they add to the choices of food in the future.  But for right now, they've hit a home run at Twin Span in terms of their food, beer and ambiance.  

 

Villa Wellington - Verdun, QC

As the travel bans amid the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic continue, I've been stuck at home for the past 3 months and have ventured out to local restaurants a handful of times.  Actually, it's been kind of nice hanging at home - and saving money - while cooking in our kitchen or on our Weber grill.  Hopefully, things will begin to open up soon and I'll be able to get back onto some sort of a travel schedule.

In the meantime, I've been re-posting some of the more memorable meals I've had over the past nearly 15 years that Road Tips has been around.  The company that I have worked for over the past 18 years is based out of Montreal and I've visited that wonderful city a number of times over the years.  Colleagues have taken me to some of their favorite places to eat while I've been there and this Road Tips post from March of 2013 described how I broadened my culinary horizons by having Peruvian food for the first time in my life.  And as an added surprise with the meal that evening, it was also my first - and only - time that I've enjoyed Mate de Coca, an herbal tea made from the leaves of a coca plant.  And it's not supposed to be legal to export the tea out of Peru.  But this place had it!  

So, please re-enjoy the account of my first Peruvian meal at Villa Wellington in the Montreal suburb of Verdun.  

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Last May, the chief technician for our company up in Montreal, Michel, came out to Iowa to pick up a treasure trove of old short-wave magazines that I had picked up for him in the Chicago area and transport them back to Canada.  His wife, Marisa, came back with him and I decided to cook some good ol' Iowa prime beef steaks on the grill when they came.  Michel is my partner-in-crime who shared the 40 oz. porterhouse for two with me at Stack Steakhouse in Las Vegas a couple years ago.  (Click here to see that entry.)  I had to be up in Montreal just before Christmas for a meeting, so Michel asked me if I could come in a day early and we'd go out to dinner.  He told me a couple days before that we'd be having dinner at a place in suburban Verdun called Villa Wellington.  He asked me, "Do you like Peruvian food?"  I told him that I'd never had Peruvian food before, let alone I didn't know what it was.  He said, "If you like seafood, you'll like Peruvian food."  

After landing at Pierre Trudeau International Airport and getting through customs quicker than any time I'd flown into Montreal before, I took the ramp from the customs area and immediately saw my bag on the carousel waiting for me.  After dropping off my declaration card with the customs agent at the baggage claim exit, I quickly got out to my rental car and set the GPS for Villa Wellington on located on Wellington St. in a nice little neighborhood of shops and restaurants in Verdun. (see map) Traffic - as it always seems in Montreal - was a bitch and it took me over an hour to go about 11 miles and I got to the restaurant around 6 p.m.  I parked just down the block from the restaurant and walked along the brightly lit street with large green and red Christmas circular lights hanging up and down Wellington Street.  With a little snow coming down - the first I'd seen in the season - it was almost a festive winter atmosphere.   

Meeting us for dinner that evening was Michel's wife, Marisa, and one of our customer service guys, Francois, who actually lived in Peru for five years working for the Peace Corps.  It was Michel who turned Francois onto the restaurant, I found out.  Michel said he has been coming to Villa Wellington for nearly 20 years, about the same amount of the years the Saravia-Ramirez family has been running the restaurant.  (One of the Saravia-Ramirez sons has opened a small Peruvian restaurant just down the street - Augusto al Gusto.)  Francois has worked for us about five or six years.  Once Michel found out that Francois lived in Peru for five years, he brought Francois to Villa Wellington one evening.  Francois said it was as close to the real type of Peruvian cuisine as what he had in his years in Peru.  

Francois - in addition to being fluent in English and French - is also fluent in Spanish.  And that helped.  The waiter spoke a little English, but was more comfortable in Spanish and French.  And the menu at Villa Wellington was in both Spanish and French.  Now, I can make out some words in both languages, but I was going to rely upon both Michel and Francois to guide me along this evening.  

The first thing Francois and I had to have was a beer.  I understood the waiter when he said, "Rickard's Red", the so-called leading red beer in Canada, brewed by the Molson brewery based in Montreal.  I asked the waiter if he had any Boreale beers, specifically the Blonde.  Unfortunately, he did not.  I fell in love with the Boreale beers on my last visit to Montreal the previous year.  

Starting off, they ordered up two different types of soup - a shrimp soup and a sort of seafood soup, kind of like a cioppino.  And Francois also ordered ceviche - raw fish marinated in a lime juice that cooks the fish.  I hadn't had good ceviche in years and Francois said Villa Wellington's was very good.  

While we waited for the first course, I took a look through the menu to see if there were things that I could pick out with my limited knowledge of Spanish and French.  Interestingly, they had a section for Mexican food (fajitas, mostly), Italian food (fettuccine alfredo, spaghetti, etc.), and something called "Canadian" food that featured fish and chips, a hamburger steak and, quite curiously, souvlaki.  I guess I didn't know souvlaki was a Canadian dish.   

Two large bowls soon came onto the table.  The first, at the lower left, was the Chupe de Camarones, a traditional Peruvian chowder with shrimp and potatoes in a cream sauce.  I was told by Francois that potatoes were a national staple in Peru with over 200 different varieties throughout the country.  "It's like each village has a special type of potato," he told me.  "Because of the difference in altitude and climate, the potatoes can change in texture and taste from area to area."  

The soup above right is called Parihuela - also known as "Peruvian Bouillebaisse".  It consists of a variety of Pacific whitefish and shellfish seasoned with Peruvian chiles and a Peruvian brandy called "pisco".  Both, I have to say, were just excellent.  The Chupe de Camarones was rich and flavorful with large pieces of shrimp and nice chunks of potatoes.  But the Parihuela featured large chunks of whitefish, shrimp and mussels.  It was much lighter in taste than the chowder-style soup.  In fact, Michel - who is a big eater - told me that he'll sometimes just order a big bowl of the Parihuela just for himself.  

The ceviche - Ceviche Mixto - was a combination of lime marinated shrimp and whitefish served with pickled onions and served on a bed of endive with some sauces off to the side.  I first had ceviche on a trip to Isla Mujeres off the Yucatan coast in Mexico about 15 years ago.  I had never had anything like it before and the ceviche I've had since then has never come close to the taste of what I had in Mexico.  But I will say the ceviche at Villa Wellington was superb. We made short work of the ceviche.  

After finishing what was basically the first two courses of the meal, Francois started to ask me what I fancied in food.  I said, "Come on, you know me, man.  I won't do like raw squid or octopus, but I will try about anything.  You seem to be doing pretty well turning me on to Peruvian food already." 

Francois called the waiter over and began to talk to him in Spanish, the two carrying on an animated conversation.  When Francois finally said, "Si! OK!" after a minute or so, the waiter smiled and left the table.  He said, "I ordered a couple things for us to try.  Both are true Peruvian dishes."  

I asked Francois if he spoke any Spanish when he first went to Peru.  He said, "No, none.  Just French and English."  He said working with Peruvian farmers taught him that he had to learn Spanish, and learn it fast.  "I just picked it up along the way," he explained.  "It was all out of necessity."  He said he was conversing in Spanish in about six months.   

About 15 minutes later, the waiter brought out the first of the two entrees.  It was called Lomo Saltaldo - basically Peruvian fajitas with grilled beef strips, sauteed onions, peppers and tomatoes, and - surprisingly - potato strips, sort of like French fries.  It was served without tortillas and each of us just grabbed a spoon full and put it on the plate.  It was actually very good.  And the French fries in the mix were really the highlight.  

While we were noshing on the Lomo Saltaldo, the waiter brought out the second plate - this one a diverse house entree mix of beef and seafood called Piqueo Wellington.  It featured a mixture of anticuchos - basically grilled skewered meat; seafood ceviche; fried calimari; grilled octopus; and causa - a sort of hybrid "catch-all" type of Peruvian food that features potatoes, herbs and marinated onions.  For good measure, Francois also had a small dish of beef off to the side and he offered me a bite of it.  It was sort of chewy and tough, but it wasn't unpleasant.  He said, "Do you know what it is?"  I said I didn't.  "It's beef tongue," he said.  Ugh!  I probably wouldn't have eaten it had I known, but I will say it wasn't bad.  I didn't have another bite, however.     

But the other stuff was pretty good.  I focused on the Lorno Saltaldo, the antichucos and the ceviche.  It was all very wonderful.  It was definitely a horizon-broadening experience for me. Michel looked at me and said, "Isn't this just great?"  It certainly was.  I'm glad he invited me to join them for dinner.  

As we were finishing up the meal, Francois turned to me and asked, "Do you like green tea?"  Sure, I'll drink some of my wife's green tea from time to time, especially when I have a cold.  And since I was on the back side of a nasty cold that I had caught the week before, I thought some tea would be nice.  Francois and the waiter began to speak in Spanish and speaking back and forth for a few moments, Francois said, "Ah!  Good!  They have it.  This will be a treat."  

A few moments later, the waiter brought out some coffee for Marisa, a glass of milk for Michel ("I don't know," he said.  "I just like having milk after a meal like that."  Hey, I like milk, too!), and a couple small tea pots with a couple tea bags.  Francois took the tea bags and put it in my small tea pot to steep for a few minutes.  When I finally poured the tea and took a sip, it was sort of a refreshing experience.  He said, "Do you know what you're drinking?"  

He showed me the outer pouch that the tea bag came in.  It was called Mate de Coca  (ma-TAY day Coke-ah) - basically an herbal tea taken from the leaf of a coca plant - the same thing that cocaine is extracted from.  Quite actually, Francois was surprised that Villa Wellington had Mate de Coca at all.  "It's supposed to be illegal to export any coca leaf product from Peru," he told me.  "Somehow they're able to get it from somewhere."

When the waiter came back, Francois asked him in French where they were able to get the Mate de Coca.  The waiter replied and Francois started to laugh.  "He said, 'I don't know! It just shows up,' " Francois told me.  While it didn't have any effect like cocaine would, it was a very refreshing tea to drink.  Francois explained to me that shepherds in the higher elevations chew on coca leaves "from the time they get out in the field each morning."  They'll put four or five in their mouth and it helps them stay energetic throughout the day.  "And at those high elevations, and we're talking 3000 meters (about 9800 feet) above sea level, they need all the help they can get," Francois explained.  I have to say not only was it a wonderful dinner, the conversation was great and I learned a lot about not only Peruvian cuisine that evening, but Peru, as a whole.    

My first experience at a Peruvian restaurant was fun and certainly educational.  The food was interesting and very good at Villa Wellington.  I went over to Michel and Marisa's house for a nightcap and Marisa kept trying to get me to eat some Christmas cookies, but I was so full and satiated from my meal that I couldn't have any more than one.  I couldn't thank them enough for the hospitality they showed me all evening long.  Villa Wellington was one of those very memorable meals.    

Heggies Pizza

Since we haven't been able to dine out during the COVID-19 pandemic, we've been doing a lot of home cooking.  Sometimes we'll take short cuts when we don't want to put a lot of effort into what we're making and go the easy route - as in something like a "take-and-bake" meal.  Costco has some wonderful lasagna in their frozen food section that we've made a couple times during the pandemic, but they also have something that I was very skeptical of when I was first told of this product - Heggies Pizza.  We happened to find a two-pack of Heggies Pizza in the freezer during a trip to Costco in late March and we decided to give it try.  

Heggies (pronounced with a hard "g" as in "egg" and not a soft "g" as in "hedge") is sort of a phenomenon across the Upper Midwest.  Found primarily in backwoods bars, small town taverns, lakeside resorts and bowling alleys in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa and the Dakotas, Heggies got its start in humbled fashion after a failed attempt by Don and Polly Hegedus at running their own pizza restaurant in the Minneapolis suburb of Anoka.  

After closing their restaurant, the Hegedus' moved to the small town of Onamia, MN near Lake Mille Lacs.  They went out to some of the small bars in the area that catered to boaters, fishermen and - in the winter - snowmobilers and found that the places had limited to no options for food.  Talking with friends of his in the area, Don was encouraged to start making pizzas in his garage, freezing them, and delivering them to the bars in the area for them to cook and sell to their customers.  Don and Polly started Heggies Pizza - named after Don's father's nickname - in 1989.  (Completely disregarding fate and any sense of bad luck, Heggies was also the name of their defunct pizza restaurant.)  

Heggies first customer was the owner of a lodge on Mille Lacs who was friendly with Don and Polly.  Using fresh ingredients and a crust that didn't taste like cardboard or get flimsy during cooking, Heggie's pizzas were an instant success with those who tried them.  Soon, many other small bars, VFW halls, bowling alleys and seasonal resorts in the area were stocking Heggies Pizza and making them on little single pizza broiler ovens that the Hegedus' provided to their customers.  

As Heggies grew, the Hegedus' continued to work out of their two-car garage in Onamia.  At one point in time, they had to get certified by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in order to make and sell their pizzas wholesale.  It was written in articles I read on the Heggies legacy that the Hegedus' garage may have been the smallest USDA-approved facility in the nation.  

Don set up delivery drivers to transport his pizza to the bars in and around North Central Minnesota.  He tried to control growth with Heggies allowing bars to buy not more than $250 worth of pizzas at a time.  As Heggies continued to grow slowly, it came to a point where he knew he needed to expand his operation.  The Hegedus' added onto their garage not once, but twice in order to keep up with growing demand as they began to branch out to bars as far away as the Twin Cities, nearly 90 miles to the south.  

And Heggies also gained somewhat of a cult following in the process.  Since they were only available for sale at bars, the stories of people stopping Heggies delivery drivers in tavern parking lots to buy pizzas directly from the truck were abundant.  There were also stories of how cops would pull over Heggies drivers along the road only to see if they, too, could buy pizza directly off the truck.  

By 2003, the Hegedus' were on the verge of outgrowing their garage operation in Onamia and they weren't certain they had it in their heart for another expansion.  Don and Polly decided it was time to retire.  This is where Shawn Dockter comes into the story.

Dockter grew up in South Dakota and attended the University of Minnesota where he graduated with a degree in aeronautical engineering.  Over the following years, Dockter worked for the likes of Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics and with a small start-up company that marketed satellite images.  By 2003, he was ready to do something else and when he heard from a friend back in Minnesota that Heggies was for sale, he became intrigued with the possibility of taking over the operation.  He'd had his first slice of Heggies pizza at a VFW hall in Chaska, MN a number of years before and was hooked.  Once he heard it was for sale, he started to look into what it would take to purchase the business.  In 2004, Dockter - along with a small group of minority partners - purchased Heggies Pizza from Don and Polly Hegedus for an undisclosed sum.  

Dockter immediately saw the limitations of working out of a expanded garage in the small town of Onamia.  He knew that the first rule in taking over a successful business was to not mess with the formula.  But in order to grow, he knew he needed to expand beyond bars and VFW halls.  He started to distribute Heggies pizza to grocery and convenience stores.  He did away with the $250 maximum limit that Don Hegedus imposed on pizza purchases for bars.  He added production line workers and delivery drivers to meet the demand.  It wasn't long before Dockter knew that he had to expand the facility in order to continue to grow the business.  And it wasn't going to be in the expanded garage where Don Hegedus started Heggies Pizza.

In 2008, Heggies Pizza moved to a new building in the small town of Milaca, MN, about 20 miles to the south of Onamia.  The new facility was extremely bigger than the expanded garage - 25,000 square feet in total, or more than 3 times the space they had in Onamia.  Even more production workers were hired, more delivery drivers were hired and the further expansion of Heggies Pizza across the Upper Midwest was underway.  

Heggies is also instrumental in working with local groups, schools and charities providing pizzas for community fundraisers.  Heggies works with organizations around Central Minnesota in the planning of selling pizzas as a fundraising option and will deliver the pizzas once the group order has been made.      

I first heard about Heggies when I was with a buddy having a beer at a VFW post in Newton, IA about six or seven years ago.  He pointed to a Heggies sign behind the bar and said, "You ever had one of those Heggies pizzas?"  I told him that I had never heard of them before.  He said, "They're a frozen pizza..." and I sort of turned up my nose at the notion of a frozen pizza.  I had graduated out of frozen pizzas years ago, with the notable exception of a couple three frozen deep-dish pizzas I've brought home in the past from Lou Malnati's in Chicago.  My take on frozen pizza is that while some were good, they just aren't THAT good.  I would rather wait 45 minutes on a delivered pizza (and NOT from one of the national chains) than have a frozen pizza in less than 30 minutes.  

But my buddy was adamant.  "No, no," he assured me.  "They're actually pretty good."  And over time - and liking to get a burger in dive bars every once in a while when I'm on the road - I noticed that Heggies was available at more and more places that I stopped at.  It intrigued me enough to want to try one, but preferably not at a bar. 

So, weeks ago when my wife and I were looking through the frozen food section at our local Costco to try and find some of their very good frozen lasagna, I looked over and said, "Holy crap!  They have Heggies Pizza here!"  My wife didn't know what Heggies was and I gave her the quick explanation of hearing about how good it was.  "I've always wanted to try one of these," I said as I admired the box holding 2 sausage and pepperoni pizzas inside the glass door of the freezer.

"Well, grab one," my wife said somewhat enthusiastically.  I was sort of surprised by her eagerness of wanting to try a Heggies Pizza because her ideology of frozen pizza parallels mine.  

The instructions for cooking a Heggie's Pizza is pretty straight-forward - get your oven to 450 degrees, put the pizza in the oven when it hits that temperature, and cook it for 12 to 15 minutes, depending how done you want the cheese and other ingredients.  

Out of the plastic wrap the pizza is in, it doesn't look much different than other frozen pizzas I've seen in my lifetime.  The cheese appeared sort of waxy, but there was a lot of it.  I couldn't tell how much sausage or pepperoni was on the pizza.  But I could see some of the tomato sauce peeking through the shards of cheese on top of the pizza. 

We don't have a pizza stone, so we decided to put it on a 12"x20" baking sheet.  It fit perfectly inside the side edges of the pan.  We set the timer for 12 minutes, popped it in and waited.  

After 12 minutes, we sort of looked it over and it seemed to not be all the way finished.  The cheese wasn't fully melted and there was no caramelization of the cheese on the pizza.  We popped it back in for another 3 minutes.  

We figured that it had to be cooked after 15 minutes, but the cheese still wasn't browned all that much on top.  So I turned on the broiler for a couple three minutes to quickly melt the cheese.  And that did the trick. 

For a frozen pizza, it smelled pretty good out of the oven.  We let it cool on the baking sheet for a moment before transferring it to the round cardboard base it came on out of the box.  It cut pretty easily with the crappy pizza cutter that we've had for years.  

The crust was a little bit chewy.  We determined that it probably needed to be on a stone or possibly on a pre-heated baking sheet to give it a little more crunch to the crust.  We liked the thickness - or lack thereof - of the pizza.  Anything more thick in the crust would have made it very doughy in taste.

It turned out that there was ample amounts of sausage and pepperoni under the cheese.  The cheese was - maybe - a little too caramelized, but it was still creamy in its taste.  The pizza sauce I liked a lot.  It was tangy and had a bit of a spicy taste to it.  The sausage and pepperoni tasted very fresh to me.  We were both impressed with the taste quality of the pizza.  And the most important part - and a test I use with every new pizza I try - it tasted very good with a cold beer.  

Well, we had a second one that we needed to eat at some time.  And that some time was about two weeks later on a Friday evening.  Only this time, we had fresh baby bella mushrooms that we sliced up to put on the pizza.  Then I put some shredded Italian-blend cheese on top of the pizza.  We preheated the baking sheet this time along with the oven, then cooked it 15 minutes at 450 degrees and 3 minutes of low broiling to caramelize the cheese.  

This time, the crust was almost too crunchy.  We accomplished our goal of making the crust more crispy, but I thought it was probably in there for 3 or 4 minutes too long on the pre-heated baking sheet.  And my wife complained that there was too much cheese on this pizza - the shredded Italian blend overpowered the overall taste of the pizza for her.  OK, well, like trying anything new, there's always trial and error.

We did go back to Costco about three weeks ago and picked up another 2-pack of the Heggie's sausage and pepperoni pizzas.  The third one we did about two weeks ago was spot on - 450 degrees on a pre-heated cookie sheet for 12 minutes, then 3 minutes at low-broil to caramelize the cheese.  We didn't add anything to the pizza and let it set on the cardboard after cooking for a couple minutes to cool it down.  It cut pretty easily and the taste quality was very good.  Even my wife likes it, which sort of surprises me knowing her discerning palate for pizza.  In fact, one evening last week she suggested just making the other one out of the second 2-pack that we bought.  And it, too, was good.

So, now we have to go back out to Costco and get another 2-pack of Heggies Pizza just to keep around the house for those times we just don't feel like futzing with anything for dinner.  It's probably the best store-bought frozen pizza I've ever had.  

Hudson's on the Dock - Hilton Head, SC

With the COVID-19 pandemic, I haven't been able to travel and, subsequently, eat in any interesting places that I can write about on Road Tips.  So, I thought I'd keep things going for the time being and look back at some of the more fun and memorable places we've found in our travels over the past nearly 15 years that Road Tips has been up and running.  I'm hoping that we'll begin to start traveling on a limited basis in June, hopefully finding restaurants that are open along the way.  

When my wife and I go on vacation, we like to eat where the locals eat.  And we love seafood, so much so that we sometimes have a goal of a "seafood overload" where we gorge ourselves to near pain from eating too much seafood.  During a trip to Hilton Head, SC 11 years ago, we found this great little seafood place on what was a working shrimping/oyster dock in the area.  This is a look-back at our wonderful evening at Hudson's on the Dock in Hilton Head in May of 2009.

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While on Hilton Head, my wife decided that I needed a pair of swim trunks for our walks along the beach.  For some reason, she deemed my khaki shorts as "inappropriate beachwear".  I didn't pack any because I wasn't going to get into the water above my knees since I couldn't be immersed in water for four months after my second hip replacement a little over a month prior to our trip.  But she was adamant that we go get a pair of swim trunks for me. 

We found a Wal-Mart on the island and went in to get some trunks.  When we came out, there was a kiosk where a lady dispensed information on condo rentals, time-shares and local restaurants.  The lady was trying to entice us to go to a couple of restaurants by offering coupons for free drinks, half-price appetizers, whatever.  We had read up on a local seafood place, Hudson's on the Dock, where they had their own fishery and fleet of crab/shrimp boats.   My wife asked the lady, "What do you think about Hudson's?"

The lady sort of turned up her nose and she said, "It's OK.  But I don't like to go to places where I can make the same food at home."  

Well, we were on vacation, we didn't have a home - let alone a kitchen - to cook in.  We declined her offer of the other restaurants and went with our instincts and went over to the west side of the island for dinner at Hudson's that night.  

Hudson's isn't fancy or high-brow compared to other places on the island.  It's located at the end of road next to a marina full of fishing boats. (see map) There's a small parking lot near the building, but a larger one down the road where overflow parking can go.  We saw the place and immediately fell in love with it. 

The history of Hudson's dates back to 1912 with the construction of an oyster factory next to the water.  In 1920's, a local gentleman by the name of J.B. Hudson bought the little oyster factory.  The Hudson family served oysters to the locals right in the factory.  Part of the Hudson's on the Dock restaurant is where the old oyster factory used to be.

In 1955, J.B. Hudson's son, J.B. Hudson, Jr., had now taken over the operation and added shrimp to the menu.  He also expanded seating in the restaurant a few years later.  In the early 70's, Brian and Gina Carmines, who had grown up on Long Island, but had been transplanted to Atlanta for Brian's business, bought Hudson's on the Dock.  In the early days, Brian was the cook, chef, and manager.  Family members waited on and cleared tables, washed dishes and glasses and manned the bar area.  Over the years, the Carmines added to the restaurant to a present day capacity of 345 seats.

The view at Hudson's is just stunning.  Being on the back waters of Skull Creek, the water was clear, placid and pristine.  Evening time thunderstorms were brewing off in the distance and the weather that evening was absolutely perfect.   We walked down to the dock and looked in the windows of the fishery where the fresh seafood would come off the boats each day.  Outside the fishery, next to the dock, was a large pile of oyster shells.  There had to be a half-ton of oyster shells in the pile.  They certainly do go through the oysters at Hudson's and we couldn't wait to give them a try.  

(Added May 2020 - In 2013, Brian Carmines' son Andrew established his own sustainable oyster farm - Shell Ring Oyster Company - in Port Royal Sound north of Hudson's.  With daily harvests for same-day dining, Hudson's claims to have the freshest oysters in the world.)

We entered the building and found there was a bit of a wait for a seat in the dining room, specifically a table near the windows looking out over the bay.  We went early - around 6 p.m. - and it was pretty busy at that time.  While waiting for a short time to get a table near the windows, we found the nice bar area of Hudson's.  A few people were having dinner in the bar area, but we wanted to wait to sit in the dining room.  I thought about ordering a beer, but I really didn't see a bartender while we were in there.  I did notice the servers going behind the bar to grab beers and drinks, so maybe they make and fetch their own drinks at Hudson's.  

As I said, it wasn't long before we were able to be seated.  Above right is the main dining room at Hudson's, with huge windows that looked out onto the docks with the fishing boats moored to the docks.  There was a nautical theme to the dining room with fishing nets hanging around the room.  The old wooden tables also had comfortable high-backed chairs to go along with them.   

We were seated at a corner table near the window and were given menus by the very friendly hostess.  As soon as our server came around, I immediately ordered up a Palmetto Pale Ale, a beer brewed up in Charleston.  It turned out to be a very good beer paired with the seafood we had that evening.  

My wife and I were on a mission being from the landlocked Midwest.  We decided to go for the "seafood overload" that evening.  The menu had all different types of seafood combinations from a catch of the day, to steamed or grilled shrimp, fresh crab, oysters, fresh fish - anything that you could think of and basically prepared anyway you wanted it. 

One of their featured fresh catches that day was 1 lb. of soft shell crab claws served cold.  I talked my wife into that.  I wanted shrimp, steamed and seasoned with Low Country spices.  But we also started out with a dozen of freshly caught oysters on the half shell.  With her meal, my wife also got a side of what they called "Seven Day" cole slaw - a sweet and peppery 7-day marinated cole slaw.  We were told by our server that Hudson's is famous for their hushpuppies - deep fried balls of cornbread, for the uninitiated - so she got an order of those, as well.  And my wife also ordered a side of sweet snap peas to go along with her crab claws.  She was looking for all different things to try that evening.  Me - I just wanted a pound of the seasoned steamed peel-'n'-eat shrimp.

My wife also decided that she wanted some wine that evening, so I ordered up a bottle of the Franciscan chardonnay, one of our favorite white wines.  The waitress - an older lady who had worked at Hudson's for over 20 years - brought it chilled to our table when she brought out the oysters on the half shell.

Oh, my god!  The oysters were plump, meaty and flavorful.   They were served with a side of fresh ground horseradish along with Tabasco.  We had eaten a couple before my wife suggested we take a picture of the oysters before they were all gone.  Our waitress, who had a great sense of humor, assured us the oysters were caught earlier that morning and put on ice in the trawler.  She said, "We save the 7-day-old oysters for the people we don't like."  They were just outstanding.  And they went very well with the Palmetto pale ale.  

It wasn't long after we finished off our oysters when the waitress brought out my wife's soft shell crab claws and her sides, and a heaping order of boiled shrimp for me.   The crab claws were huge and came with a slightly spicy remoulade sauce.  Hudson's also provided a nutcracker to get all the crab shells cracked.  She had some trouble getting some of the crab meat out, so I had to help her.  As my reward for helping her, I got to sample some of the crab claw meat.  Oh, man!  Was it great!

She also tried of Hudson's signature hushpuppies.  The look on her face told me they were good.  She offered me one and I said that I really didn't care for hushpuppies.  She said, "They put some sort of seasoning or herbs in them.  They're not like regular hushpuppies."

My wife was right.  They were excellent.  They had a hint of an onion taste to them along with some other herbs that I couldn't quite identify right away.  They were completely different from the hushpuppies I'd had in the past.  In fact, they were the only hushpuppies that I can say that I ever really enjoyed.  

The story on the hushpuppies is that Brian Carmines had heard of a restaurant in a small coastal town in North Carolina who had great hushpuppies.  He went there with his father a number of years ago to try the hushpuppies.  Finding that they were as good as he heard they were, Carmines bartered with the owner for his hushpuppy recipe with a few bottles of high-dollar whiskey he had in his possession.  Most people in the South will dip hushpuppies in a sauce and consume them that way, but Carmines claims that no sauce is needed with his.  And he is correct on that.  

This is my plate of steamed shrimp.   They were huge!  And they were great - by far the tastiest shrimp I had during our whole vacation.  I really liked the salty/spicy Low Country seasoning they put on the shrimp.  Once again, our waitress told us the shrimp were caught earlier that day.  She says, "We never have to freeze our seafood.  We usually sell out of our daily catches."  I found out that Hudson's sells over 5 tons of oysters and a ton of crab each year.  They'd sell double the amount of crab if they could catch more, she told us.  And many of the items they have on the menu are also available in bulk from their market including 4 pounds of the steamed shrimp for around $75 bucks.  Now, THAT would be the ultimate seafood overload.  

The steamed shrimp was so good I easily finished the pound I had on my plate.  I motioned for the waitress to come over and I ordered up another pound.  Less than 10 minutes later, the second pound came to our table. It was just as good as the first.  But between the shrimp and oysters, I was nearing seafood overload after that.  

Of course, with all the food we ate, my wife wanted to try Hudson's homemade Key Lime Pie.  We ordered a slice with two forks.  It was good, sort of heavy, but not as good as what we'd had earlier in the week at Uncle Bubba's and The Lady and Son's down in Savannah.  Honestly, we never had Key Lime Pie the rest of the week that came close to what we had at Paula Deen's restaurants.  

After dinner we felt we needed to move around as we were stuffed.  We walked down the dock looking at the boats and enjoying the evening along the water.  I'm telling you, I certainly achieved seafood overload that evening.  A couple pounds of peel-and-eat steamed shrimp did the trick.  But I really wish I would have been able to try the blackened cajun scallops they had on the appetizer menu.

As we left Hudson's, my wife said, "You know, we should really go back to Wal-Mart before we leave Hilton Head and tell that lady at the kiosk that she was completely nuts!"

And my wife was right as Hudson's on the Dock was just outstanding.  It was, quite possibly, the best seafood restaurant we ate at during our vacation.  And we ate at a LOT of seafood places between Savannah, Tybee Island and Hilton Head.  We loved the laid back atmosphere at Hudson's, the wonderful views and the great seafood selection.  And our waitress was outgoing, efficient and fun.  If you're looking for a fancy place to eat in Hilton Head, Hudson's ain't the place.  But if you want GREAT seafood in any setting, Hudson's would be my choice.

Cajun Connection - Utica, IL

Once again, I haven't been able to travel or dine-in at restaurants for over two months thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic that continues to wreak havoc across the country.  Because of that, no new Road Tips entries have shown up for the past few weeks.  But in order to keep things going, I decided to dip into the nearly 15 years of Road Tips archives to take a look back at some of the more memorable experiences I've come across in my travels.  

Today's story is about a Louisiana native and his authentic Cajun restaurant located halfway between the Quad Cities and the south Chicago suburbs outside of Utica, IL.  The food is excellent, the atmosphere was cozy, yet fun, and the owner - well, he's worth the trip alone.  As the first line says, it was a fun visit.  Here's the Road Tips entry from 8 years ago on Ron's Cajun Connection.

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This is gonna be a fun one...

Outside of the small north central Illinois town of Utica, IL is an authentic Cajun restaurant  - the Cajun Connection.  It's just off Interstate 80 south of the Utica exit (Exit 81) at the crossroads of Illinois Highway 178 and US Highway 6 known as "the Four Corners" by the locals.  (see map)  Actually, this was the original location when they first opened over 24 years ago.  After outgrowing that location, they moved into a converted farm house about a mile east of this location in 2001.  However, in researching the Cajun Connection for this look-back, I found that they had moved back to their original spot in June of last year.  

Actually, we had been to the Cajun Connection once before, a number of years ago.  About 13 years ago (over 20 years ago now), a co-worker of my wife had told her that we needed to make the 95-mile drive from our house to go try the Cajun Connection.  We did and came away not too enamored with the place.  They didn't have much as far as Cajun food other than a lot of fried shrimp, alligator, chicken strips and other items.  It never crossed my mind to try the place again until I was driving across Illinois one rainy fall evening and I was getting hungry.  I thought about stopping into Duffy's Tavern in Utica to get one of their good burgers.  But when I got off the Interstate at Utica, I remembered the Cajun Connection.  I found the place on my GPS took a left at US Highway 6 off of  instead of going straight into Utica.

The man behind the Cajun Connection is Lake Charles, LA native Ron McFarlain.  McFarlain started out as a pipefitter and traveled around the nation with his crew.  While out on the road, Ron - who learned how to cook from his mother and grandmother - would work up some of his Cajun specialties for his workmates. Wanting to get off the road and settle down, he ended up in - of all places - LaSalle County in north central Illinois in the mid-90's.  Seeing that there wasn't a Cajun restaurant for 100 miles in either direction between the Quad Cities and Chicago, Ron opened the Cajun Connection in November of 1995. 

At right - Ron McFarlain holding an alligator tail in the kitchen at Cajun Connection.

Ron McFarlain takes trips back to Louisiana to get Cajun staples such as fresh crawfish, alligator and shrimp.  The Cajun Connection is famous for their annual crawfish boil and for their blackened alligator bites.  

McFarlain is sort of a character known to many people in the area.  In fact, many of the locals and regulars just refer to the Cajun Connection as "Ron's" and McFarlian as "Cajun Ron".  McFarlain is always interacting with his customers - whether they're regulars or first-timers.  It's his down-home Cajun-friendly style that makes him an immediately likable guy. 

It was around 7:30 when I pulled into the parking lot at Cajun Connection.  I was sort of confused because I didn't quite remember this building as the one we were at years ago and when I went in, I was even more confused.  I didn't remember one thing about this place.  It turns out that I hadn't been in THIS incarnation of Cajun Connection.  When McFarlain opened the Cajun Connection in 1995, it was housed in a small building at the corner of Illinois Route 178 and U.S. Highway 6.  In 2001, he moved down the highway to the east to what was the former Lone Street Inn, a former bar, and before that, a gas station.  It gave him more room in his kitchen and more seats for his diners.  And because he had more room in his kitchen, it allowed him to expand his menu with more Cajun-inspired fare.  

The manager of the Cajun Connection, Amy Martin (who is now Cajun Ron's wife) greeted me as I walked in and took me over to a table in the corner of the front room of the restaurant.  Another waitress came over and asked if I wanted anything to drink.  Being a true Cajun restaurant, I saw that they had Abita beer from Louisiana.  When I asked which styles of Abita they had, she pulled out a list and it turned out they had about four or five different varieties.  I ordered up an Abita Golden, a beer I hadn't had in a long time.

The Cajun Connection has three dining rooms, all of them not too big.  There are a combination of booths and tables throughout the place - some booths offering bench seats and chairs.  A number of Cajun signs and witticisms were splayed upon the walls.  A juke box near the cash register had a number of Cajun tunes on it, but the background music playing that evening was - interestingly enough - 70's classic rock.  

The menu at Cajun Connection is much larger than the last time we were there.  The first time we went to Cajun Connection they didn't have jambalaya or gumbo on the menu.  This time, they had a plethora of Cajun foods to choose from, as well as blackened steaks, pork chops (the special that night), and chicken tenders.  

My head was spinning from the selections on them menu.  Po-boy sandwiches, blackened shrimp, alligator scampi, crawfish etoufee - I couldn't make up my mind.  Something called Jamba-2-Fay - shrimp or crawfish etoufee served over jambalaya and paired with either fried alligator or grilled shrimp - got my attention.  As did the blackened ribeye steak served with jambalaya.  The great thing about my first visit to Cajun Connection in years is that they have a "make-your-own" combination platter.  You can choose between 2, 3 or 4 items such as shrimp creole, crawfish etoufee, boudin sausage links, catfish, oysters or another nearly dozen items for your combo entree.  I wanted to do that, so I ordered up the jambalaya, red beans and rice, and the "bubba" shrimp, blackened.  I also got a cup of the gumbo.

The waitress brought out the gumbo with a small basket of fresh French bread slices and crackers.  From the first taste I wished I would have upped it to a bowl.  It was just fabulous gumbo.  It wasn't spicy in the least, but there were nice smoked boudin sausage slices, shredded chicken and pork chunks in the somewhat thick roux broth.  I spiced it up with some hot sauces that were on the table to give it a little kick.  It was some of the best gumbo I'd had in a restaurant.  And it also reminded me that it was time to make some of my own gumbo at home.  

While I was enjoying my gumbo, Ron McFarlain came out to the dining room to hob-nob with the patrons.  Three guys who were seated at a table next to me caught a ration of good-natured shit from him.  "Boys, boys, boys," Ron yelled in his Cajun drawl.  "I know y'all haven't been here before, so let me tell you our rules.  You order, you eat, you pay, you get the hell out!  What the heck y'all doin' on your cellphones?  Eat up!"

He came over to me and asked, "How's the gumbo, big guy?"

"Killer," I replied.  "I could eat this all night."

He fist bumped me and said, "That's good to hear!"   

Almost as soon as I finished up my gumbo, the waitress brought out my combo plate.  Left to right across the plate was the red beans and rice, the jambalaya and the blackened "bubba" shrimp that featured three large shrimps on a skewer on a bed of white rice.   A small container of Cajun Connection's "voodoo sauce" sat on the side.  It had worcestershire sauce, butter and mild Cajun spices in it.  

I tried the jambalaya first and I have to say that I wasn't too impressed with it.  It was sort of bland.  Even with copious amounts of Tabasco and some of Cajun Connection's "Hot Damn!" seasoning, it didn't liven it up.  It did have some nice smoky tasting slices of boudin sausage, though.  

Going on to the red beans and rice, well, they more than made up for the disappointment of the jambalaya.  With more smoked boudin sausage with the beans and rice, there was a nice sort of sweet taste to the combination.  I immediately liked the taste of the red beans and rice.  It was much better than the jambalaya.  

But the best thing on the plate was the blackened "bubba" shrimp.  It was covered with a generous amount of homemade Cajun seasonings.  Even without dipping them into the voodoo sauce, the taste was just excellent.  And I took some of the leftover voodoo sauce and poured it over the white rice and it was just fabulous.  Even with the bland jambalaya, it was a very good meal. 

My waitress came over and asked if I wanted any dessert.  "Key lime pie?  Pecan pie?  Bread pudding," she kept asking me.  It all sounded good, but I was stuffed.  Then she said, "We have pumpkin bread pudding."  Oh man!  I about pulled the trigger on that.  I just asked for my check.

I told you this entry was going to be fun and this is where it happened.  

I was looking at an article in a frame on the wall of the dining room I was in and Ron McFarlain came over to me and said, "You've never been in here before, buddy?"   He introduced himself and I did the same back. 

"Well, actually, I was here a long time ago," I replied.  "But I don't remember it being like this.  How long have you been here?"  

"11 years," he said.  "But we've been in business since 1995.  We were in a small building down on the corner."  

"Aha," I exclaimed.  "That's why I don't remember this building.  We were in the old place."  

I then said, "I seem to remember that you only had fried food."

Ron said, "Yeah, when we first opened up we didn't think the people around here would like the gumbo or jambalaya.  We kept it simple.  But we started to do other things and when we moved over here we started to do more things.  We just added some more things to the menu." 

He asked me what I had and I told him.  He said, "How'd ya like the jambalaya?"

I said, "Quite honestly, I found it to be kind of bland."  

Ron said, "Well, we make it that way.  A lot of real Cajun restaurants down in Louisiana (except with his noted Cajun drawl, it came out as "Looz-ee-anna") don't make their food all that spicy.  I'm all about the taste of the ingredients, the smoked sausage and the cooked-in flavor."

While he was talking, I got out my phone to take a picture of the dining area.  He said, "Well, shoot, buddy.  You want some pictures.  C'mon back here with me."  He guided me back toward the kitchen area.  Before we went into the kitchen he asked me my name as he introduced me to Amy.  He asked, "You ever have bread pudding before?"

I said, "Oh, I sure have."  

He said, "No, you haven't."  I sort of looked askance at him.

Then Ron asked, "Have you ever had key lime pie before?"

I said, "Oh, yeah."

Ron replied, "No, you haven't.  You haven't because you haven't had our bread pudding or key lime pie.  Amy makes the bread pudding and key lime pie, I make the pecan pie.  It's the best, son." 

We went back into the kitchen and I was amazed to find six young guys back there all doing different things.  There were two line cooks, a couple of prep cooks, and one guy who was cooking up a big pan of chopped pork for the gumbo.  I had never thought of using chopped pork for my gumbo.  Ron said, "Looky here.  He's simmerin' the pork with liquid smoke and our homemade spices."  He pulled a couple pieces of the pork out of the pan (he had cooks gloves on) and handed me one.  The spices got my attention.  

"I thought you said you don't cook anything spicy," I said to him after eating the chunk of pork.

He said, "The spices cook down during the simmering process and when we finally put it in with the gumbo."  

I asked him how often he makes gumbo and he took me back around the corner to a round cooker on a counter top.  He said, "We made this yesterday and just let it simmer until we need to make more."  He opened the lid and said, "We'll need to make more tomorrow."  The cooker basin was about a 1/3 full.  

Ron said, "Hold on a second."  Every sentence he ended it with my name.  It was kind of a funny, yet folksy Southern thing.  He went back into the cooler and he came out with this humongous alligator tail.  It's the same one that is in the picture of Ron earlier in this entry.  I said, "How do you get alligator all the way up here?"

He said, "It ain't easy.  I've been goin' down for years and gettin' it from the guys on the docks.  But they've been a little more protective of their alligator meat down there.  So, it's costin' me a little more and with the price of gas to get down there and back..."  He sort of hesitated and said, "Yeah, it's tough."  

He asked, "Did you try the alligator?"

I told him, "Not this time.  I had the fried alligator on my first trip years ago, but it tasted like chicken."  

Ron gave me a stern look and said, "My fried alligator doesn't taste like chicken.  It's better than chicken."  I told him that the next time I wanted to try some of the blackened alligator.  I told him, "If it's anything like the "bubba" shrimp, it's got to be fantastic."

I asked him what seasoning he uses and he should me a pan of mixed Cajun spices.  He held it up for me to smell and it was all I could do to stop from licking my finger and sticking it in the mixture.  It smelled like Cajun heaven.  

He said, "You didn't have the pork chop special tonight, did you?  Shame on you."  He showed me the pork chops they were using for the special that evening.  "We cut 'em thin so they'll cook quick.  We roll 'em in the spices and grill 'em up.  Hoo boy!"  

Ron was like a little kid showing off all the toys he got at Christmas time.  "Hey, come on back here."  He led me back to the cooler and started to root around on the shelves.  He pulled out a pan of sausages and he said, "We smoke our own sausage here."

I asked him where his smoker was and he said, "Oh, we just smoke 'em in the oven.  You can do that, you know."  Actually, no. I guess I didn't.  He took a sausage link and broke it in half to show me the texture of the sausage.  When I asked him about andouille sausage he said, "We found that's too spicy for most people around here.  We do the boudin sausage with a more mellow and smoky flavor."

I asked him if that was why his jambalaya was sort of bland and he said, "You must like spicy foods.  Yeah, that's one of the reasons why.  But I like the flavor of the ingredients and not the hot taste."  Just like he said before.

When I told him that I really like his red beans and rice, he asked, "What did you like about them?"  I told him I liked the sweetness.  "Oh, man, we didn't make 'em right."  I was sort of taken aback by that as I thought they were outstanding.  "We do sweeten 'em up, but they need to cook long enough to get the sweetness out."  I told him I thought they were damn fine, as is.  

I must have spent about 20 minutes back in the kitchen area with Ron as I picked his brain about Cajun food, his techniques, some of his specialties and what has worked and not worked in his restaurant.  Now, he didn't know me from Adam.  I could have been a spy for another restaurant, I could have been a health inspector, I could have been anybody looking for free samples.  But I got to thinking afterward that I'm guessing he's done that before with a number of people.  

The Cajun Connection's hours are kind of funky - they're open 4-9 on Thursday thru Saturday, and 12-6 on Sundays.  Ron told me that they'll open at noon on Saturdays in the summertime.  I noticed that they had a little patio off to the side and I asked him if they do outdoor dining.  He said, "Naw, that's more of an overflow area for us in the summer months.  It can get pretty busy in the summer, but slacks off pretty good in the winter months.  You think we're crowded in the kitchen now, you should see how many people we got hoppin' back there in the summer."  

Like I said, this was a fun visit.  The food was great, Ron was a wonderful host and I have to get back to try other things on the menu.  I wonder if my wife would be up for a Sunday afternoon trip to Cajun Connection at some point?  Like Ron told me, "Just call ahead and see if we're here!"  (Photo courtesy the Ottawa Times.)

Osetra (The Fishhouse) - San Diego

My wife and I just celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary and, of course, due to the COVID-19 pandemic we weren't able to celebrate the way we wanted.  We had planned on a trip back to California - quite possibly to the San Diego area where we celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary five years ago.  But when it became more and more evident that our vacation plans would be eclipsed by the coronavirus, we pretty much canceled our anniversary trip.  Still, being together for 25 years of a marital partnership is something I can say I'm proud to have accomplished.  And I'm hoping for many more.    

And with the pandemic, I haven't been traveling or eating in restaurants that I can write about on Road Tips, so I've been digging into nearly 15 years of archived blog posts to find some of the more memorable restaurant visits I've experienced.  As my wife is part of many of my exploits when we find new and interesting places to eat, I wanted to have her be part of a look-back at the wonderful and very unforgettable meal we had in San Diego on the night of our 20th wedding anniversary at Osetra - the Fishhouse.  

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My wife and I celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary in mid-May when we went out to San Diego for our first ever visit there.  We knew we wanted to do something nice for a meal that evening, even asking the concierge at the hotel we were staying to give us suggestions.  He gave us a couple three ideas, but during a walk around the historic Gaslamp Quarter in downtown San Diego later that day, we came upon a restaurant that had its menu posted outside - Osetra.  It was a combination Italian seafood/steakhouse/sushi restaurant with some pasta dishes, as well.  We talked with a young lady who was standing out front about the restaurant and immediately made reservations for two later on for 7:30 p.m.  

Since the summer of 2006, Osetra (named after one of the most sought after caviars in the world) has been serving patrons in their chic and contemporary setting at the corner of E Street and 5th Ave. in downtown San Diego.  (see map)  Restauranteur Alex Minutella and his partners were one of the first groups to open upscale restaurants in the Gaslamp Quarter, restaurants that included Osteria Panevino and Greystone Steakhouse.  The group moved on to Las Vegas to open more restaurants including one of my favorites - Panevino (click here to see my entry on Panevino).  

The young man who Minutella and his partners put in charge of the kitchen at Panevino in Las Vegas was Alberto Morreale, a native of Sicily who moved to Northern Italy to study culinary arts in Milan.  Moving to the U.S. in 1995, he started as the sous chef at the Panevino in San Diego, as well as overseeing the kitchen staff at the former Trattoria Portobello restaurant in San Diego before moving to Las Vegas to open that Panavino location.  

When the group sold their Las Vegas interests, Morreale moved back to San Diego to become the head chef at Osetra.  He eventually became the General Manager and co-owner of Osetra, as well as becoming involved in other restaurants such as the Fig Tree Cafe in the greater San Diego area.    

One of the things that Minutella and Morealle brought back with them from Las Vegas was the flair of theatrics - the concept of Wine Angels from Aureole at Mandalay Bay.  These "angels" literally fly (via a wire harness) up to the top of a three-story "wine tower" storage unit in the center of the E-5 Lounge on the main floor of Osetra.  We didn't see any wine angels flying at Osetra the night we were there.  

We went back to the hotel to freshen up and change into something a little nicer than shorts for dinner and got to Osetra just before 7:30.  We were greeted by a hostess who took us through the chic and contemporary lounge area and up a long set of stairs to the second floor of the restaurant.  As we were going up the stairs, the hostess asked us if there was any special occasion as to why were dining with them that evening.  We told her it was our 20th wedding anniversary and she said, "Oh, that's great!  Congratulations!"  And that was that, or so we thought. 

We were seated at a table next to a large window that looked out onto the Gaslamp Quarter.  (The window tables on the second floor, I found out later, are prime real estate for patrons of Osetra.)  Not long after dropping off menus for us, our server for the evening - a pleasant middle-aged man by the name of Andrea who had a thick Bronx accent - came over to greet us.  He explained a few things about the menu and said he'd come back to let us know about the specials that evening in a bit.  

I was looking through the wine list and I had to say that they were pretty proud - price-wise - of the bottles of wine they served at Osetra.  We had decided on getting a dry white wine since we were leaning toward going with seafood.  I ordered up a bottle of the Ferrari Carano Fume Blanc which was still rather overpriced (in my opinion), but better than some of the prices of other Fume Blanc wines they had.  (Someone's gotta pay for those wine angels.)  

And they're pretty proud of their entrees at Osetra - price-wise - as well.  When they opened nine years ago, they were billed as the most expensive restaurant in San Diego.  I don't know if that is still the case, but their prices were making a strong case that if it still wasn't the most expensive restaurant in San Diego, it was damned close.  An 8 ounce filet steak was $46 bucks.  A bowl of cioppino was $38 dollars.  An order of jumbo sea scallops clocked in at a cool $40 bucks.  I would have hated to find out the market price of the Alaskan king crab legs or the live Maine lobster they featured on the menu.  But, hey!  It was our 20th anniversary so we were going to live it up for the night.  

I pretty much knew what I was going to get even before Andrea tried to tempt with a seafood and a pasta special that evening.  I ended up getting the blackened ahi tuna for my main entree.  My wife ended up ordering the sea bass on risotto.  But before we got our entrees, we had a couple of things as a warm up for our meals.  

My wife ordered a bowl of Osetra's lobster bisque.  The rich butter and cream broth had a hint of a spiciness to it thanks to the paprika with chunks of lobster coming up with every spoonful.  For a garnish in the center of the bisque was a dollop of Tabiko caviar with some sour cream.  After she made a significant dent in the bisque, I had a couple bites and it was some of the best lobster bisque I've tasted.  But it was very filling and my wife was worried that if she ate the whole bowl, she wouldn't be hungry for her sea bass entree.  

I got the wedge salad topped with crumbled Maytag blue cheese dressing.  Of course, I had to tell Andrea that I grew up in the town where Maytag blue cheese is made and that the process of making the cheese smells ungodly.   He wanted to know if it was the same people that made the washing machines.  "Same family, not the same company," I told him.  The salad wasn't large, but that was fine.  There were copious amounts of the crumbled Maytag blue cheese on the salad with fresh chunks of tomato and real bacon bits. It was a nice start to the meal.

Our entrees came out and my wife was amazed at the size of the chunk of sea bass lying on the risotto on her plate.  The sea bass was covered with fennel and came with a side of grilled asparagus.  The risotto was drenched in a pomegranate reduction sauce.  The sea bass broke off into large flakey chunks and she declared it to be absolutely delicious.  

My ahi tuna was grilled rare and was also a large chunk of fresh fish.  A ginger soy sauce reduction was drizzled along the outer edges of the plate.  This looked excellent.  

For a side, I got the wild roasted mushrooms mixed with truffle oil.  I like mushrooms a lot - my wife has detested mushrooms for years but has gotten to a point where she tolerates them, especially if they're fresh and not canned mushrooms.  (She actually does like the morel mushrooms that grow in the Midwest each spring.)  These mushrooms were thick cut and very tasty in the rich truffle oil sauce.  Even my wife liked them.  

There was a problem with my ahi tuna, however.  I had the impression that the tuna was going to have a blackened crust outer shell - at least that's what I was led to believe from the description in the menu.  Earlier, I'd heard a lady at a table near us say to her server that she didn't think there was any blackening on her fish that she'd ordered.  I began to sort of think the same way with my ahi tuna.  

I had taken a couple three bites of the tuna and was sort of turning it around with my fork and knife.  My wife asked what was wrong and I told her that I couldn't detect any blackening seasonings on the tuna, either by sight or by taste.  I sort of shrugged my shoulders and kept eating the chunk of fish because it was still very good and very fresh.  When Andrea came over to check on us, I told him that I thought the chef had forgotten to put blackening seasoning on my tuna.  "Not that it's a deal breaker," I said. "This is still an excellent piece of fish."  

Andrea said, "That's strange.  I'll have to go check with the chef on that."  (I didn't want to tell him that I overheard a lady a couple tables over say the same thing.)  

Now, I don't know exactly where the kitchen was in the restaurant, but I could hear Andrea and the chef directly below us over the railing talking about my ahi tuna.  "I swear I put the seasoning on it," said a voice I assumed belonged to the chef.  "This is the second person who says they didn't get any seasoning on theirs tonight."  I just sort of chuckled when I heard that.  Obviously there was a difference of opinion between the chef and his customers as to what constituted blackening seasoning. 

Andrea came back to report and I didn't want to say, "Yeah, I heard."  He said that the chef swore there was blackening seasoning on the ahi tuna.  I said, "Look, that's fine.  Like I said, this isn't a deal breaker.  The tuna (I'd finished it by now) was excellent.  I can't get a cut of tuna like this that is this fresh and tasty back home in the Midwest."  

My wife was having trouble finishing her sea bass.  "My god, this is a lot of fish," she exclaimed as she sat her fork down with a small bit of the fish left on top of the bed of risotto.  "I haven't hardly had any of the risotto or the asparagus because I've been concentrating on finishing the sea bass."

We'd both thrown in the towel - I couldn't even finish half the mushrooms even with my wife taking a couple of bites.  The wasabi mashed potatoes didn't quite have the forward wasabi taste that I thought they should have, but that didn't quite matter.  I was more interested in the ahi tuna and the wild roasted mushrooms.  

After Andrea cleared the tables and we were finishing up the last of the bottle of wine, a younger lady came to our table and identified herself as the manager.  She said, "I understand that your meal was not to your liking..."  

I cut her off and said, "Oh, god, no.  It was fabulous.  I was just under the impression that a crust of blackened seasoning was just that.  Like I told Andrea, it was far from a deal breaker."  

The hostess who sat us obviously told her that we were there for our anniversary and the manager said, "Well, I understand that it's your 20th wedding anniversary.  Congratulations!  We'd like to make it up to you for not only your dinner but because of your special day."  She proposed free desserts for us and we just sort of groaned.  We were both so full from our meals that we couldn't possibly eat any more.  

Then the manager started to go through the list of desserts that she had.  When she said that she had creme brûlée I sort of jumped.  "You like creme brûlée, I take it," she said to me.  I said that I did, but there was no way that I could eat creme brûlée in the state of overeating discomfort that I was in.  Then she mentioned they had tiramisu and my wife's automatic question at any restaurant where they serve tiramisu - is it homemade tiramisu?  "Yes, it is," the manager replied.  "We make it fresh here every day."  I sort of shook my head knowing this would be a big mistake.  The manager said, "Let me get you a piece of our tiramisu to try, on the house."  

Well, when Andrea came out he not only had a piece of the tiramisu with a small candle sticking out of the middle of it, but he also had a bowl of the creme brûlée.  He said, "We decided to give you both.  Congratulations on your anniversary.  Enjoy!"  

The tiramisu was rich and fabulous, as was the creme brûlée.  My wife is a big fan of strawberries and the slices on top of the creme brûlée and surrounding the tiramisu were very fresh.  It didn't cost them much out of pocket for the free desserts, but the gesture was deeply appreciated.  

There was no way we could finish either one of the desserts, but we enough of a dent in them to figure out that both were very good.  Our whole experience for dinner was one that was very memorable - not only for the fact that it was our 20th wedding anniversary but because everything was very good.  The food, the service, and the atmosphere were all superb.  Even the scene below as we gazed out the large windows after the sun set and the lights took over the streets was riveting.  It was pricey - yes.  But even with the question about the blackening seasoning, everything was great.  Osetra was a great find and one we'll remember for a long time.  

Central BBQ - Memphis, TN

During the COVID-19 pandemic, with travel curtailed and restaurants shut down except for carry-out, I haven't been able to visit any places to write about on Road Tips.  Hopefully, in the coming weeks that will be rectified.  However, for now, I've decided to dig back into the nearly 15 years of Road Tips posts and bring up some of the more memorable places we've been over the years. 

Today, we go back to Memphis, TN and one of the more popular barbecue places in the city.  It seems like locals in Memphis have their own favorite places for barbecue and can be adamant about their reasons why.  On a trip to Memphis about six years ago, we started to ask the locals their favorite place and the vast majority of them mentioned Central BBQ which first opened nearly 18 years ago.  Here is a look back at a memorable barbecue experience in Memphis, one of the meccas for barbecue in the U.S.

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We took a late summer trip down along the Mississippi River to Memphis.  We hadn't been to Memphis for about 14 years and we decided on this trip that we'd stay away from the tourist-trap places in the downtown area and branch out to see the rest of the city away from the lights and glitz of Beale Street.  Of course, Memphis barbecue is part of the Mid-South/Midwest BBQ triangle of St. Louis and Kansas City - at least to me.  We wanted to try a couple three places while we were in town, and after talking amongst some locals when we were there I was particularly interested in giving Central BBQ a try.  

Memphis-style barbecue features dry-rubbed ribs and other meats.  The Rendezvous is the most famous place, but we didn't think it was all that great when we first went there years ago.  We checked on other places and found that Neely's Bar-b-cue had closed (I ate at the location in Nashville - click here to read that entry), we were told their uncle Jim Neely's Interstate Barbecue wasn't as good as it used to be, and that some of the really good places for barbecue aren't places you'd necessarily go to at night.  But the consensus with people that we talked to was that Central BBQ was quite possibly the best in town.  (Some people will dispute that, I'm sure.  We found that almost everyone in Memphis has an opinion on their favorite local barbecue joints.)   

As I've found with a number of barbecue joints I've visited over the years, Central BBQ came about from the barbecue competition circuit.  Back in the mid-80's, Roger Sapp and Craig Blondis met on the competition trail.  The two began to compete in the annual Memphis in May World Barbecue Championships and got the bug for competition-style barbecue where you have to do everything - smoked meats, sauces, sides - very well.  

In 2001, Sapp and Blondis formed a company - Central BBQ LLC - and began to look for buildings for their first barbecue restaurant.  They found a small place on Central Ave. about a mile from the University of Memphis and opened on April 1, 2002.  The inside of the place only sat 45 people, but they built an outdoor patio area for additional seating in warm weather.  

A little over four years after opening their first location, the partners found a building that housed a former Red Lobster restaurant on Summer Ave. on Memphis' east side and opened their second location in the fall of 2006.  The kitchen area was appreciably larger than their original location allowing for two large smokers to be installed.  Plus, a lot of the kitchen equipment was still in place from the old Red Lobster so the move in was a snap.  The second location also seated about 220 people more than tripling the seating capacity of the original location on nice days.  

A couple years ago, Sapp and Blondis opened a third location in an old warehouse location in the South Main Arts District near downtown Memphis.  The downtown location is the biggest of the three Central BBQ locations seating over 250 patrons.  The two also continue to do barbecue competitions as the time allows.  

Even though we said we didn't want to visit Beale Street during our visit, we decided to head down and walk up and down the street to see if anything had changed since our last visit well over a dozen years before.  Some things had changed - most had not.  It was bike night on Beale Street that evening and a number of large motorcycles - many of them were tricked out - were parked up and down the block.  We grabbed a beer from one of the many street vendors and sauntered up and down the street looking at the bikes.  

After about a half hour of doing that, we decided to go get some barbecue from Central BBQ's original address on Central Ave. (See map)   (Actually, we didn't know the downtown location wasn't far from where we were.  See map)  We got out to the Central BBQ location around 8:30 p.m.  It turns out that they quit serving on weeknights at 9 p.m.  

As you come into the Central BBQ location there's a large outdoor patio area.  On warm weekend nights, I understand Central BBQ has live music on the patio.  We thought about eating outside but it was rather buggy, especially with the hanging lights above the tables.

The main dining room inside is small, but well lit.  There are a handful of booths and tables in the room.  It's cozy and has a little bit of a good ol' funky vibe to the place.  Classic soul music from the likes of James Brown and Sam & Dave were playing on the sound system in the dining room.  A mixed crowd of urban hipsters and middle-aged people were in there that evening.  


Entering the building, the ordering area up front has the menu on a board above the counter and a small bar area off to the right.  The focus meat at Central BBQ is pork, but they also feature beef brisket, chicken, turkey, bologna and sausage from their smoker.  Central BBQ is also somewhat locally famous for their smoked chicken wings and their barbecue nachos that feature pulled pork, cheese, jalapenos and barbecue sauce on tortilla chips.  (You can also get beef, chicken or turkey for a meat topping on the barbecue nachos.)  We noticed a lot of the younger people in the dining area noshing on the barbecue nachos.  They actually looked pretty good.

We decided to get a combo plate - a half-rack of ribs with one side wet (with barbecue sauce) and one side the traditional Memphis-style dry rub along with sliced brisket and pulled pork.  For sides we had our choice of items such as fries, green beans, potato salad, pork rinds, onion rings, collard greens and mac & cheese.  They also had baked beans - a must for me - and cole slaw, which is what my wife wanted.  

We also got a couple beers with the dinner.  They had Yazoo Brewing Company products on hand, a small brewery located in Nashville that I've had a couple times before.  They had a limited release beer - the 10 Year IPA - that signified their 10-year anniversary of being a brewery that I got.  My wife wanted to try the Summer Seasonal beer they had on tap.  After we placed our order and paid at the front counter, we were given a number and found a booth in the small dining room.

A young lady brought out our food about five minutes (or even less) after we ordered.  We should have just ordered the ribs completely dry because Central BBQ has a couple of barbecue sauces that turned out to be very good.  The mild sauce was sweet, but it had a little bit of a spicy bite on the backside of the taste buds.  The spicy sauce, well, it certainly got my attention.  You immediately got the spicy taste on the front of the tongue.  Both were very good.  (We ended up buying a bottle of the mild sauce before we left as my wife doesn't go for the spicy sauces like I do.)  

The ribs pulled apart easily and were moist and meaty with a hint of a smoky taste on top of the dry rub that they used.  It wasn't loaded with the dry rub like you find with other Memphis-style barbecue places.   The pulled pork was moist and almost melted in your mouth.  The brisket was a tad more dry, but still good enough with some sauce added.  Out of the three I would say the pulled pork was the best, the ribs a close second and the brisket was an even closer third.  

The baked beans featured chunks of pulled pork.  I added some of the hot barbecue sauce to the beans to give them a little kick.  I had a bite of the creamy cole slaw and while it was good, the beans were much better.  My wife - who is somewhat of a cole slaw connoisseur - thought the cole slaw at Central BBQ to be just "all right". 

Much has been written about Central BBQ since they opened over 11 years ago, so I really don't have much more to say than other people who have been there.  I have to say that we were both very impressed with Central BBQ.  I loved the fun and funky vibe to the place, the barbecue was very good to outstanding, and the overall experience was excellent.  I knew there had to be better barbecue places in Memphis than the old stand-bys the tourists go to.  Central BBQ showed us why they continually receive honors for some of the best barbecue in Memphis.  

Maid-Rite (Mr. Dan's Sandwich Shop) - Newton, IA

I haven't been able to travel since mid-March - and subsequently eat out in restaurants - due to travel restrictions and the suspension of dining-in at restaurants.  Because of that, I'm out of new material to share on Road Tips for the time being.  However, I decided to start a - hopefully - short series of looks back at some interesting places that I've visited over the past nearly 15 years of Road Tips.  

Today, we look back at the oldest continuous Maid-Rite sandwich shop in existence.  Although it is no longer a Maid-Rite franchise, the loose-meat sandwiches that are made here are the same as they were back when I started eating them as a child.  The owner, Dan Holtkamp, recently celebrated his 80th birthday and as of this past Monday, he and his wife, Pam, have owned the restaurant for 50 years - more than half of the time this location (now in its 94th year) has been open.  

Please re-enjoy the story of the Newton Maid-Rite, now officially known as Mr. Dan's Sandwich Shop, originally published in May of 2012.

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If there's anything that causes more food arguments in the state of Iowa, it has to be Maid-Rites. Maid-Rites are, quite simply, loose meat beef sandwiches served on buns. It's like a hamburger, only the meat is steamed in bins and falls out on wax paper as you eat them. In the 1900's, nearly every town of any size in Iowa had a Maid-Rite and natives from each of those towns will swear that their local Maid-Rite is the best. I grew up in Newton, IA and the oldest continuous Maid-Rite-style shop is located there. And while the sign out front still says "Maid-Rite", the official name of the place is now Mr. Dan's Sandwich Shop. But to the locals in Newton, it's still the Maid-Rite.

The Newton Maid-Rite has a long and interesting history behind it. Here it is -

After he opened the original Maid-Rite sandwich shop in Muscatine in 1925, Fred Angell was looking for a location to put a second restaurant. He settled upon the Central Iowa town of Newton, home of the burgeoning Maytag Washer Company.  Fred figured the workers would love his loose-meat sandwiches.

The Newton Maid-Rite opened in 1926 and it was originally known as the Maid-Rite Hamburg. The original building was a stucco and wood structure with two entrances on the front side. To get from one side of the counter to the other, patrons would have to walk out the front door on the one side and re-enter in the door on the opposite side.  There was a wooden sign out front cut in the form of a lady with a broom. I believe this may have been the Maid-Rite Maiden that Angell's wife used as the first logo of Maid-Rite shops. Angell ran the Newton location for six months before selling it to Gus Foster. 

Mr. Foster ran the Maid-Rite in Newton until 1937 when he sold it to Ethel Shelley, who was described as a "colorful lady." Some older people in Newton remember Ms. Shelley and fondly remember her running the shop in the late 30's into the early 40's.

Also in 1937, two years after franchising the Maid-Rite name (the first food franchise in the Midwest), Fred Angell decreed that all Maid-Rite's add a seasoning to their meat.  Ms. Shelley and Cliff Taylor, who founded and owned the Marshalltown Taylor's Maid-Rite location since 1928, decided that they didn't want to use the seasoning. I understand they fought Angell who finally backed down on his decree. Actually, I believe every Maid-Rite that was franchised after 1937 had to use the seasoning, but the Newton Maid-Rite and Taylor's Maid-Rite in Marshalltown were "grandfathered" in to not having to use the seasonings.

In 1944, Cliff Taylor passed away and his son, Don, took over Taylor's Maid-Rite.  In the early 50's, Don Taylor bought the Newton Maid-Rite from Ethel Shelley. A young man by the name of Quentin "Bud" Holland who worked for the Taylor family in Marshalltown was asked to move to Newton to run the operation there. Bud and his wife, Marty, moved to Newton where they raised two girls, Mardy and Chris.  Bud and Marty Holland eventually purchased the Maid-Rite in Newton from Don Taylor in 1958 and promptly renamed it Bud's Maid-Rite. 

In 1962, the front half of the Maid-Rite in Newton was reconstructed. While it was being built, patrons ate in a screened-in room in the back of the building. The locals referred to it as "the shack in the back."  After the renovation, it became the present day building with a single entrance in the front.  

In 1964, Mardy Holland was a junior in high school and her younger sister, Chris, was a sophomore. Bud and Marty decided to add a room in the back of the building.  This became sort of the defacto "teen center" in Newton. It had a serving counter in back, a jukebox and booths for the teen-aged kids to hang out. With sisters who were Mardy and Chris' age, I remember this part of the Maid-Rite very vividly. It was the place to go if you were a teenager in Newton in the mid to late 60's. 

In 1970, Bud and Marty retired and sold the Maid-Rite to Dan and Pam Holtkamp. The Holtkamp's had moved to Newton in 1968 as Dan had taken a job as an accountant for the old Parsons Manufacturing. They fell in love with Newton and wanted to make the town their permanent home to raise their kids. The Holtkamp's jumped head first into the business. Dan had a degree in business and one of the golden rules in business school is not to tamper with success. The Holtkamp's did little to the Maid-Rite after they took over and the transition was smooth. In fact, for years people still referred to the Maid-Rite as just "Bud's".

About the biggest change the Holtkamp's did was to take out the teen room in the back, change that into a full service seating area and open a back entrance to the restaurant. They also put in a drive-up window for people to get their Maid-Rites, fries and shakes. The Holtkamp's also introduced a smaller Maid-Rite - the Joey Rite (named after their son) - for smaller appetites. The Danielle Special (named after their daughter) was a Joey Rite, small soft drink and ice cream. The Holtkamp's also put in the Jaarsma Connection, a small counter in the back of the restaurant that served fresh Dutch pastries from the Jaarsma Bakery in Pella, IA.

Today, the back room has pencil sketches on the wall above the booths of the four owners of the Maid-Rite since late 1926 (below left).

One thing that Dan did not do was change the way the meat was prepared at the Maid-Rite. He told me one time that he doesn't use any seasonings in his meats, the way his predecessors did in their day. And the key is that he buys his meat from the same supplier who Bud Holland was using for years before Dan became the owner. Dan continues to grind his own beef in the basement. The taste of the Newton Maid-Rite comes from the old steamer that is used to cook the meat (above right). The steamer has been internally seasoned over the decades that it's been used to make countless Maid-Rites. The only thing that is added is a little bit of salt added to the top of the meat before the Maid-Rite is wrapped up in wax paper.

In 1982, the Angell family sold the Maid-Rite franchises to a company in Des Moines. The Maid-Rite franchise company was eventually bought by a gentleman by the name of Bradley Burt who insisted that all Maid-Rite franchises have uniformity in the way they prepared their sandwiches. He wanted - no, demanded - that all Maid-Rites buy their meat from his company and prepare it in a specific way. Dan Holtkamp and Don Short, the grandson of Cliff Taylor, resisted the changes and were allowed to continue to do business they way they had.

However, in 2006, the Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals decided that the bins that the older Maid-Rites around the state used were deemed to be "unhealthy" as they allowed for the cooking of raw meat next to fully cooked meat. This is a process that Maid-Rites have used for well over 70 years, and they usually have a stainless steel partition in the bin to keep the cooked meat from the raw meat. Once the raw meat is cooked through, the partition is removed and the meat is all mixed together. As far as I know, no one has ever gotten sick from this type of cooking method.

Both Short and Holtkamp said that the changeover to new steamers would be cost ineffective for their businesses and Short led the appeal to the state of Iowa to overturn the ruling. However, it was determined that the original Maid-Rites were in violation of the administrative guidelines set forth by the Iowa Department of Inspections. But, both the Newton Maid-Rite and Taylor's in Marshalltown use the same old steamers and cooking process, so I'm guessing they were able to beat the ruling somewhere along the way.

The biggest change happened a few years ago when Dan Holtkamp (pictured right) silently changed the name of his shop to "Mr. Dan's Sandwich Shop". For years, Holtkamp's workers referred to him as "Mr. Dan" and the nickname stuck. Dan is still running the place daily, his big smile and friendly demeanor greeting customers as they come in. Dan told me, "You know, I'm 72 years old and I've owned this place for 42 years. If I'm able to - and I plan on doing it - in five more years I'll have owned this business in the same amount of years that all three of the previous owners owned it."  (Spoiler Alert! - He accomplished it...)

Sadly, one of the biggest changes to Dan's business has been the downturn thanks to the closing of Maytag in 2007. Lunch time at the Newton Maid-Rite was an adventure and scene of much jockeying of seats throughout the place trying to get a Maid-Rite and get back to work at the office or factory. I learned a long time ago that you just don't go to Maid-Rite between noon and 1 p.m. on weekdays. Unfortunately, that isn't the case any longer. Business at the Newton Maid-Rite is still steady, but it's not at the same level that it was years ago.

During Newton High School reunion weekends, the Maid-Rite is overrun by former residents back in town for their class reunions. The blackboard on the east side wall has been there for years announcing food specials, game scores, events and even allowing patrons to post their own notes on the board. The menu boards on both walls, I have to believe, are the same ones that have been in the place since Bud Holland refurbished the place in 1962. The front part of the Newton Maid-Rite hasn't changed much - if any - since the building was reconstructed 50 years ago.

I was passing through Newton on my way home recently and decided to stop in and have a Maid-Rite. Actually, I like their Cheese-rites - basically a Maid-Rite with a slice of American cheese on top. And I love to drink milk with my Maid-Rites and/or Cheese-rites. Don't know where I got that from, but I always order a large milk when I have a Maid-Rite.

The Cheese-rites are wrapped in an outer wrap with yellow stripes to denote the cheese on the sandwich. When the Cheese-rite is unwrapped, the excess meat falls out. A spoon is provided to pick up the loose meat on the wrapper. In the winter time, the Maid-Rite also has chili and it's good chili. What I like to do is get a bowl of chili and pour the excess meat into the chili after I have the Cheese-rite.

Some people will ask for the Maid-Rite/Cheese-Rite moist. I like mine a little dry, just as ordered. Like the original Maid-Rites, everything is mustard, pickle and onion. I put a little ketchup and, surprisingly, a little more salt on my Cheese-Rites before I eat them. I hardly EVER put salt on anything, but I like my Cheese-rites salty. The buns that Dan uses are pretty basic, but it's never really been about the bun at Maid-Rite all the way back to the day of Bud Holland. The meat is the thing that keeps bringing me back to the Newton Maid-Rite.

It's sort of like the people in the Quad Cities who grew up eating Harris Pizza and thinking that it is the best pizza in the world. Being from Newton, I think the Maid-Rites from the Newton Maid-Rite are the best in the world. I will admit there are others who think Taylor's in Marshalltown is better. Of course, there are thousands of natives of Ottumwa who think the Canteen's at the Canteen Lunch are the best. People in Sioux City think the "taverns" at Miles Inn are the best. But I could easily be accused of being provincial when it comes to the Newton Maid-Rite, or more correctly Mr. Dan's Sandwich Shop. It's the oldest and, I think, the best.

Let the debate continue...

Boozie's Bar & Grill - Davenport, IA

The COVID-19 pandemic has put a halt to dine-in options for restaurants and bars across the nation.  Travel has also been curtailed as social distancing practices have become the new norm for the time being.  If you've noticed a slowdown in my posts, that's pretty much why.  My wife and I have tried to do our best to support some of the local restaurants by getting food or craft beers to-go during the crisis, but we do miss having the option of heading out for dinner and relaxing with a couple drinks or beers with the meal in a restaurant.  

The night before the mandatory shutdown of restaurants and bars for dining in was to take effect in Iowa, my wife and I decided we had better go out somewhere and get something to eat.  Actually, I was to meet a couple three friends for burgers and beers that evening over in Iowa City, but that was canceled at the last moment.  I had been craving a good burger all day long and with that rug pulled out from underneath me, I still wanted a burger.  My wife suggested we give a place in downtown Davenport another try - a place we had not been back to in over 20 years before of, well, slow and indifferent service.  However, they stayed in business in spite of that - and I heard that they still had a pretty good burger - so we ended up going to Boozie's Bar & Grill that evening.  

Boozie's has been a staple in downtown Davenport since 1979.  Evidently, the first owner of Boozie's had a cat by the name of "Boozie".  That's why there's a cat on the logo.  I've never been able to find who the original owner of Boozie's was, but I do know that Mark McClintock became the owner of the place in 2007.  

Friends of mine who knew McClintock said that he was a gregarious and fun-loving person.  And he transformed Boozie's into a fun place and away from its former "upscale dive-bar" reputation that included slow service and an aloof waitstaff.  

Unfortunately, Mark McClintock is no longer with us.  A couple days after Christmas in 2018, McClintock was driving home at 2:30 in the morning after closing Boozie's for the night.  He veered off the road and struck a telephone pole.  He was found unresponsive by first responders.  Investigators surmised that he may have had a medical condition that caused the crash.

The Boozie's staff, clientele and McClintock's family were devastated by his death.  However, Boozie's was open again the next day because the staff knew that's what McClintock would want them to do.  Soon after his death, his sister Monica McKown took over the ownership of Boozie's.    

When I first moved to the Quad Cities in 1991, I heard from many of the locals that Boozie's had the best burger in town.  They certainly won their fair share of "Reader's Choice" awards from local publications, but I had learned years before that usually means the owner is having employees, friends and family stuff the ballot box.  My wife and I finally did try a burger at Boozie's around 1994 - it was during a lunch break and we met at Boozie's and each ordered a burger almost as soon as we sat down.  The place was not very busy as it was after the noon lunch rush, but it took forever for the burgers to get to our table - as in nearly a half-hour after we had placed our order.  And my wife only had a had a half-hour for her lunch.  She had to end up taking hers back to her office to eat it.  She wasn't happy as she caught some grief from her boss for coming back 15 minutes late from lunch, PLUS having to eat her lunch at her desk.  

We thought we'd try them out again one evening a few months after.  The waiter we had was dressed in a snap-button tuxedo shirt with a crisp black vest - that's how they used to dress their waiters at Boozie's over 25 years ago as the owner at the time somehow tried to "class up" the joint.  Once again, we both ordered their signature "Boozie Burger" and, once again, it took nearly 30 minutes for the burgers to show up to the table.  The waiter was sort of condescending when we inquired about our burger order, intimating that they were busy in the kitchen.  Looking around the dining area, there weren't that many people in the place.  The burger was good, but the experience left a sour taste in our mouth.  

Our final visit to Boozie's occurred in 1998 on a drunken outing with friends on a Friday night.  We didn't eat there that night - we probably should have - but the place was packed with people of all ages enjoying the start of the weekend.  Since then, we just never thought about giving Boozie's a try.  Until this particular evening.  

We were able to find a parking spot in front of Boozie's on the north side of W. 3rd St. - the eastbound one-way street in downtown Davenport.  (see map)  Boozie's is easy to spot with their large awning out front and stairs that lead up to their front door.  

The building that Boozie's is in dates back to 1899 when it was initially used as the offices of the Davenport Water Company and a doctor's office on the street level entrance.  A livery stable and a brothel may - or may not - have been housed in the property at some point in time.  A construction company used the space for their offices a number of years ago and it also housed the Trio Restaurant.  By the 60's, the space was converted to a retail boutique, then it became an antique store.  In the mid-70's, the-then owner put in a tavern - the Ballister Pub - before the original owner of Boozie's bought the business and named his bar after his cat.  

It was pretty sparse in terms of people in Boozie's that evening - Monday nights are usually not a hot time for many restaurants.  And coupled with the growing uncertainties of the COVID-19 pandemic, not a lot of people were out and about.  Boozie's main floor dining/bar area was festooned with St. Patrick's Day banners and bling for the annual celebration that happened to be the next day.  However, the announcements that all bars and restaurants would be closed came the next morning and very few revelers were out and about before the bars were shut down at noon.  

We took a table on the walk-up level close to the front of the building.  Boozie's also has an upstairs dining/party area and I understand that they also have a small outdoor patio area attached to their building.  It has to be in back because Boozie's is locked in by other buildings on either side.  

Our server that evening was a young lady by the name of Kelly.  She gave us a couple menus to look over and also said they had $3.00 23-ounce domestic draws that evening as part of their happy hour.  Not one to pass up a good bargain, I took one of those.  My wife went with her usual Tito's Vodka and cranberry juice.  

As I said, Boozie's is famous for their eponymous burger which starts with a grilled 1/3 pound beef patty that's topped with three different types of cheese, bacon, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, mayo and a house-made sauce.  It's served on a sesame seeded bun with a side of your choice.  But Boozie's also has a number of other sandwiches on the menu including a reuben, either a grilled or breaded pork tenderloin sandwich, a cheesesteak sandwich, and a BLT.  They also have wraps and salads on the menu.  Appetizers such as chicken wings, fried pickles, mozzarella cheese sticks, nachos and Santa Fe-style egg rolls stuffed with smoked chicken, black beans, corn, and pepper jack cheese were available, as well.  

My wife was thinking about getting an appetizer and she proposed getting a basket of the fried cauliflower.  But, quite frankly, I didn't really want any deep-fried appetizers that evening.  She ended up ordering a cup of Boozie's baked potato soup.  It was a creamy concoction with chunks of potatoes in a thick butter/cream base.  Chopped green onions, bacon bits and shredded cheddar cheese garnished the top of the soup.  She thought it was very good.  In fact, my wife raved about how good the soup was.  After a bit, she ended up offering me a bite.  And I will say that it was pretty good - rich and hearty with that creamy/butter taste.  She seemed to like it better than I did, however.

We both ended up going with the Boozie Burger.  My wife got the pasta salad that she thought was very good.  She offered me a bite of the pasta salad and I sort of recoiled at the taste.  It had somewhat of a fishy taste to it - at least it did to me.  My wife thought I was nuts as she thought it was some of the best pasta salad she had ever tasted at a restaurant.  It did nothing for me and I'm glad I didn't order it for my side.  

My Boozie Burger came with basic crinkle-cut fries.  (Cottage cheese, sweet potato fries and cole slaw were the other options.  A few more sides were available for an upcharge.)  I knew I wouldn't be interested in the fries when I first saw them. Like my wife's burger, American cheese was melted over the top of the patty.  The sesame seeded bun was lightly grilled and the crown was slathered with mayo.  A pile of veggies came on the side of the burger platter.  

By the time I was finished putting on the veggies and some condiments, the burger was piled high.  And my first bite told me that this was a pretty good burger.  The patty was juicy and had a robust beef taste that wasn't overpowered with everything on top of it.  Multiple napkins were needed as the juice and cheese oozed with each bite.  The bun wasn't really up for the rigors of the juicy and cheesy nature of the burger - especially with the mayo and the house sauce (which I really couldn't taste) adding to the mess.  The bun sort of disintegrated about 3/4's of the way through me eating it.  It didn't hold up well.  

On this visit, our service was impeccable.  The burger was served to us less than 20 minutes after we ordered, and that may have been because my wife had ordered a cup of soup to start out giving her some time to enjoy the soup without the burger coming out way too early.  Nonetheless, Kelly's service was friendly and prompt.  

Since it had been over 20 years since the last time we'd been to Boozie's some things changed and others didn't.  The biggest change we noticed was that service was much more quick and friendly than the previous times we'd been there (and chose not to go back because of it).  But what stayed the same was the atmosphere and the taste of the Boozie Burger.  I can't call it the best burger in the Quad Cities - things like that are all so subjective - but I did think it was very good.  My wife raved about the house-made pasta salad and the baked potato soup.  Either my taster was off that evening or her tastes are vastly different from mine as I felt the pasta salad had a fishy taste to it and the potato soup was good, but not as good as she thought it was.  Nonetheless, for our first visit back to Boozie's in over 20 years, we decided that we could put them back into our rotation for weekend afternoon burger joints that we like to visit.