Road Tips

Bennigan's Pulls the Plug

Bennigan's, the chain of restaurants that along with T.G.I. Friday's led the "neighborhood bar" revolution of the 70's and 80's, closed their nearly 150 company owned stores this week as they filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy.  Another 140 franchisee owned locations will stay open, but for how long nobody is sure.

Bennigan's parent company, Multimedia Restaurant Group, also owns the Steak and Ale chain of restaurants.  Steak and Ale also closed all remaining company owned stores this week, as well. 

This could be the first of what many analysts see as a wringing out of the theme restaurants that were so popular for a number of years.  Two other chain's - Applebee's and Ruby Tuesday - are reportedly in financial trouble and their stock is trading at all-time low prices.  Earlier this year, the parent company that owns the Baker's Square and Village Inn restaurants filed for bankruptcy and shuttered some of their stores. 

It's a tough time for restaurants these days.  People aren't dining out as much as they have in the past due to belt-tightening with high gas prices and soaring food prices.  And rising food prices are putting a major dent in the profit margins of many restaurants. 

Bennigan's and T.G.I. Friday's helped fuel the emergence of "theme" restaurants that popped up in their wake.  Usually situated near shopping malls, Bennigan's decor was a cross between classy and cheesy.  Set up to look like a fine Irish bar, the dark wood paneling and brass furnishings gave the place an upscale look.  But the over-friendly and often insincere wait staff, the boring food and the stupid birthday celebration songs gave Bennigan's a goofy image, as well.

Bennigan's was famous for their Monte Cristo sandwich, which is basically a ham, turkey and swiss cheese sandwich served on egg-battered bread and grilled.  Their potato skins were a big item, as well.  But the rest of Bennigan's menu was the usual over-priced pub-style grub with some main entrees mixed in for good measure. 

Years ago, I had a boss that I worked for who just loved to go into Chicago and go to the Bennigan's on Michigan Ave. (which happened to be the largest grossing Bennigan's in the whole chain).  Now, I don't want to say this man had simple tastes, but there are hundreds of so much better restaurants within the downtown Chicago area.  However, he was sucked into the Bennigan's "casual elegance" theme like many were in the 80's, even though he could have walked two blocks in any direction and found better food in just as nice an atmosphere as Bennigan's.

The biggest problem Bennigan's faced was that they didn't change with the times.  They kept a lot of the same menu items for years and years, they didn't update their image or theme, and they plodded along hoping to keep the baby-boomers who fueled their growth in the 70's and 80's coming back through the doors.  In the end, it proved to be a disastrous combination of corporate planning. 

We have a Bennigan's not far from our house.  It's a franchise-owned store, owned by Kinseth Hospitality, which owns hotels and restaurants throughout the Midwest.  There are no plans by Kinseth to shut down their seven Bennigan's restaurants in Iowa and Illinois, but they do admit the Bennigan's corporate demise has caused them to go into a damage control mode with the public.  

We've been to the Bennigan's near our house once.  For those of you who are regular readers of Roadtips, you know that I am averse to national chains and prefer to eat at local establishments.  We tried it, the food was good, not outstanding.  The food wasn't exciting, nor was it memorable.  It's just the same old "cookie-cutter" food you find at a number of similar theme restaurants across the nation.  

Now, we have friends who swear by the food at Applebee's, Chili's, Texas Roadhouse, and T.G.I. Friday's.  (As an aside - I have to admit that I have a certain affinity to Friday's Hot Sicilian sandwiches - an item not on the menu, but is still in the corporate cookbook.  Some Friday's restaurants will make them for you if you ask, others will say, "Sorry, we only do what's on the menu.")  While I mentally turn up my nose at the suggestion by friends the food is great at these places, I know exactly why they like to go into those places time and time again.

The atmosphere at the restaurants is hip, festive and somewhat of a sensory overload.  The wait staffs are attentive, overly-friendly and usually good looking.  The beer is cold and the game is on the TV.  And the menu is like a security blanket - they like the same things over and over again.  That's the kind of person these theme restaurants are looking for - the ones who are comfortable in the place and who aren't usually willing to try anything new.  

Well, that's not me.  Give me a great little out-of-the-way place the locals go to and I'll put up the food in that place against any of the national chains at any point in time.  It's sort of my goal in life to teach those who frequent the national chains that there is a lot better food, sometimes at cheaper prices, with just as good of a homey atmosphere as the cookie cutter restaurants found in any big city across America.  

While it's not a good time for restaurants like Applebee's and Ruby Tuesday, Chicago Sun-Times restaurant critic Pat Bruno pointed out on a recent interview on WBBM radio in Chicago that a lot of the independent, upscale restaurants in the Chicago area are flourishing.  A number of new restaurants have opened and Bruno said that a number of new upscale restaurants are slated to open by early 2009 in the downtown area. 

It's like what Cindy and I say when we go to Chicago - why eat at a place like Bennigan's when we don't even eat at the Bennigan's at home?  I'll only eat at a national chain when it's late at night and I don't have time to find a good local place, or if it's convenient for a business meeting meal.  But other than that, show me the way to the locally owned places. 

Along with the announcement of store closures by Starbucks earlier this month, we could be seeing a trend among American consumers that they've somehow wizened-up to the fact that they've been taken by the huge corporate mentality of paying for mediocre products at premium prices.  We have a place here in Davenport, Red Band Coffee, that Cindy just swears by.  It's a premium coffee, but it's half the price of a Starbucks.  I don't drink coffee, but this stuff smells so good that I'd probably start drinking it just because of the smell.  

And that's what American consumers may be finding out in these tough economic times.  They've smelled the food and the coffee on the other side of the fence and it ain't Bennigan's or Starbucks. 

The Death of ROKNROL

I'm kind of weird in that I get pretty attached to the cars that I drive.  Since I drive all over the Midwest for my job, I usually get cars that are big and comfy - ones that get great gas mileage.  And I usually run 'em into the ground.  And with that, I write today to tell you that my 2000 Chevrolet Impala with 265,000 miles on it is dead.  It's been sitting in St. Louis for the past couple of months with transmission problems and it's going to cost a lot to fix it.  I don't want to pay that kind of money to get it fixed, so it's time to let it go and get a new ride. 

And with that, I'm pretty sad.  I've driven that Impala since it had 43 miles on it.  It was great in the snow and ice, it got 26 to 30 miles per gallon on the open road, and it had a sort of sexy and tough look to it.  It was beginning to nickle and dime me over the past few months having to replace the front axles, put in a new windshield wiper motor and a couple of other nuisance-type things.  Over the past couple of years, a few little things started to go out on.  But they were mostly creature comforts that I really didn't need in the first place, such as an external thermometer to tell me how hot or cold it was outside.  But the gas gauge was always registering between full and half-full, even when I was driving on fumes.  It was going to be nearly $600 bucks to replace the sensor in the gas tank.  I had to watch the mileage and the fuel used on my driver's information center just so I didn't run out of gas.

But driving the Impala was like walking two miles in a pair of old comfortable shoes.  It was a great car.  My boss even commented a couple three years ago that he couldn't believe how smooth and solid it was for a car that was approaching 200,000 miles.

I actually bought the car more for comfort and reliability, not just for the looks.  But I have to tell you that during the first couple years I owned the car, I had more people stop me when I was walking to or from the car and ask me about it and comment how nice it looked.  One time when we were going to Chicago for a weekend, an Illinois Highway Patrolman pulled me over for speeding - 74 in a 65.  He just gave me a warning, but then he said, "Say, how do you like this car?  They're talking about getting us Impala's for squad cars here in the coming months." 

As I said, I usually run my cars into the ground.  I take exceptional care of them, changing the oil every 3000 miles, making sure maintenance is kept up.  My cars have been my livelihood.  The car I had before the Impala, a 1994 Chevy Lumina Euro, had 242,000 miles on it when Cindy's dad bought it off of me as a "mud car".  As far as I know, it's still going today.  I had a 1986 Chevy Celebrity Eurosport that had 186,000 miles on it when I changed cars.  As you can see, there's a common thread of my cars that I've used since I've been on the road.  They're all Chevrolet's.  That's nearly 700,000 miles on three cars in a 20+ year period.  

That's a lot of road miles.  And with each of them, the motor was as sound on the last day I drove it as the day I drove 'em off the lot.   

I have never, ever, named any of the cars I've driven over the years.  I didn't call the Impala "Impy Impala" like some people would call their cars "Tommy Toyota" or "Subie Subaru" or "Mallie Malibu".  (You people know who you are.)  Since I got my personalized plates in 1987, my cars have all been known as "ROKNROL". 

Now, for those of you challenged by subliminal messages on license plates, it simply says, "Rock and Roll."  When Iowa first allowed personalized license plates in the 70's, they only had space for six letters.  Well, I think it's sort of dumb to have either your first name or last name on your license plates.  I think personalized plates should hold some sort of message that's unique to the person driving the vehicle.  The only problem is that the message I wanted needed seven letters.

I had a friend, Christine Moser, who worked at the Jasper County Treasurer's Office in Newton in the mid-80's.  We were talking one time about the personalized plates and I had a great idea for one, but I needed seven letters.  She said, "Well, they're talking about going to seven letters for the personalized plates sometime in the coming months.  What are you thinking about doing?"

I said, "It's so cool that I don't want anyone to get the idea from me.  I'll just wait until they become available."

It was the summer of 1987 and Chris called me at home.  "Willie, they've gone to seven letters.  They just announced it to all the Treasurers offices, but aren't going to make a public announcement for a few weeks.  Come up and get an application." 

I immediately went up to the office and filled out an application.  It only had six boxes and Chris said to just add a letter outside the last box.  My first choice was "ROKNROL" and my second choice was "ROCNROL".  She said, "Oh, that IS a cool plate!"  She then faxed it into the Iowa State Treasurer's Office.

It turned out that my request was one of the first in the state of Iowa - if not THE first in the state - with the new seven letter personalized plate.   Getting "ROKNROL" was going to be no problem.  The plates arrived about three weeks later and I've had "ROKNROL" ever since. 

(By the way, the Des Moines Register has a web site that has every personalized plates in the state of Iowa.  You can click here to take you to the site.)

Now, I had a girlfriend back at that time who thought people would think that "ROKNROL" would be pronounced "ROKE-N-ROLL" other than "ROCK-N-ROLL" because she had friends with the last name of Rokis, with the long "o".  She harped on me about it for nearly a year before I finally went back to Chris at the Treasurers Office and asked her if "ROCNROL" was available.  Christine said, "Nope, sorry.  Some guy up in Sioux City has it."  

Well, the girlfriend and I didn't last long after that, so it stayed "ROKNROL".  Oh, no one else thought it was "ROKE-N-ROLL" except her.  Sometimes I got the occasional old geezer who'd stop me after I got out of the car and say, "Now, what does that say on your license plate?" 

I get waves from young guys passing me who see the plates and I like the reaction some people have when I look in the rearview mirror after I've passed them.  "Rock and Roll!  All right, dude!"

So, I told you that story to tell you this one...

About ten years ago, I was in Sioux City a night before a business meeting.  I had run off from home without any dark dress socks in my travel bag, and I had to go out to Target and get a couple three pairs of socks.  I pulled into a parking stall and I popped out of the car.  A very nice '57 Chevy was rolling by slowly and the guy suddenly stopped and put it into reverse.  He said to me, "Hey, I like your license plates." 

I said, "Thanx.  I get that quite a bit."

He said, "Check out mine."

I went around the back of his car and, lo and behold, he was "ROCNROL".  I said, "Ah, you're the guy from Sioux City who has these plates."

He said, "Did you see mine and get the idea from these plates?"

I said, "Oh, no.  I had my choice of either 'ROKNROL' or 'ROCNROL' when I got these.

He was kind of taken aback my my statement and said, "What do you mean?"

I told him the story of how I had initially picked "ROKNROL" over "ROCNROL", but an old girlfriend was berating me constantly to the point that I had to see if "ROCNROL" was available.  But I was told a guy in Sioux City had the plates.  "And, obviously, you're that guy." 

He said, "Now, what do you mean that you had taken 'ROKNROL' over 'ROCNROL'?"

I told him that I'd had the plates since 1987, long before the official announcement for the seven letters on personalized plates had come out (it didn't come out until early 1988).   I said, "I had my pick of either 'ROKNROL' or 'ROCNROL'.  I took this one," pointing at my license plate.

Well, the guy became all flabbergasted and said, "But I came up with the idea for these plates.  I had them since 1988."

I said, "Yeah, I had a friend who worked in the Jasper County Treasurer's Office and she told me the day the county treasurers knew about going to seven letters that I could get them at that time.  I had 'em for about five or six months before the official announcement came out."  

Now, by this time, I thought the guy was going to cry.  He began to protest, "How can you do that?  I had these plates since the day they announced they were going to seven letters!  I thought this one up!"

I said, sorry, but I had inside information and if I had taken "ROCNROL" instead of "ROKNROL", he would have been disappointed back then to find that someone had already beaten him to the punch.

The guy was just beside himself.  It was like a little kid's reaction when they find out there really isn't a Santa Claus.   He put the car in gear, goosed it a bit, spun his rear tires and drove away.  I was just amazed at the conversation I'd just gone through.  The guy was seriously emotionally hurt that I had "ROKNROL" before he did.  He must have seriously thought that no one other than him could come up with that idea for a personalized plate.  While I'm not quite that psycho about my plates, I still think they're pretty cool. 

Now I'm in the hunt for a new car.  I've been driving some mini SUV's for the past few weeks from Hertz.  I've tried the Ford Edge, a Nissan Xterra and a Toyota RAV 4 - the same RAV 4, it turns out, that I drove in my Dakota Trip from last summer.  I don't like any of them.  Of the three, I liked the Ford the best, Toyota second and the Nissan a very distant third.  But none of them get good gas mileage and none of them are all that comfortable on long trips.  But they can haul big speakers when I need to get 'em from one place to another - much better than my current Impala.

I'm not overly enamored with the new body styling of the current Impala.  But the bottom line is that they're comfortable, they're reliable and they'll run for a long time.  That's exactly what I need.  I'm driving a Honda Accord right now.  While it's zippy, it's not big like an Impala.

The other neat thing I found out about the new Impala is that they have a new "flat seat" function with the rear seats that allow the bottom of the rear seats to tilt forward, allowing the back of the rear seats to come down fully flat to haul big items - like speakers.  The 2000 Impala allowed you to also fold the backs of the rear seats down, but they didn't fold flat.  I may not need to rent a mini-SUV again.

A new and improved "ROKNROL" is coming soon.  And it will have satellite radio now that the merger of XM Radio and Sirius has gone through.  Stay tuned...   

National Air Force Museum - Dayton, OH

I've wanted to go to the National Air Force Museum ever since a couple readers of this blog told me that it was quite the place if you're into military history and airplanes.  Since I'd been to the Strategic Air Command museum between Lincoln and Omaha a number of times, we recently had the chance to go out to Dayton for tour of the National Air Force Museum located on the Wright-Patterson Air Force base (see map). 

We arrived just around 11 a.m. on a warm Sunday in late Spring.  The large parking lot was already filled to about a quarter mile from the main entrance.  The Air Force Museum is broken into three main buildings along with an IMAX theater and outdoor displays.  There's also a part of the museum that is a bus ride away, but I'll get into that later on. 

The great thing about the National Air Force Museum is that it's free to get in.  They have a rather large gift shop that you have to go through as you enter and exit the museum.  Some of the things they have in the shop are pretty interesting - books, DVD's, pictures.  But there's certainly a lot of touristy things in there, too.

The first main part of the museum has to do with early flight.  There were a lot of interesting planes in there.  Of course, I had the wrong focus setting on my camera so none of the pictures I took came out worth a damn.  But they had the wind tunnels the Wright Brothers used in early tests of their planes.  They also had some World War I planes, as well as post World War I planes and other exhibits of aircraft working up to World War II. 

Moving on to the next exhibit, we went to the World War II - or Air Power- gallery.   They had a number of planes on display from the World War II era, including this B-29 Superfortress that dropped an Atomic Bomb on Nagasaki, Japan to effectively end the war.  (As always, click on the picture for a larger image.)  The plane's name was "Bockscar", named after its captain, Frederick Bock. 

And speaking of the A-Bomb, here's a replica of the "Fat Man" bomb that was dropped on Nagasaki.  It weighed just over five tons, was ten and a half feet long and five feet around, and produced the same effect as 21 kilotons of TNT.  The Air Force Museum had a pretty interesting array of weapons - mainly bombs and missiles - that had been used for a number of years, including a replica of the "Little Boy" atomic bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima. 

Moving on in the National Air Force Museum, we came upon the Modern Flight Gallery, a series of planes that were used in the Korean and Vietnam Wars.  Included in this area is the B-52 shown at the right.  While they look huge in the sky, I'm still amazed that the fuselage of a B-52 is not much more wide than most semi-trucks on the road.  But they can sure pack a lot of bombs in those things.

One of the things I like about air museums is seeing enemy planes up close.  Here is a MIG-17 jet that was used by the North Vietnamese air force in the Vietnam War.  The Egyptian air force gave it to the Americans in the mid-80's. How the Egyptians got their hands on it, I don't know.

One of the more cool things was the story of this plane, a MIG-15bis that was flown from North Korea to South Korea during the Korean War.  The U.S. had suffered some pretty heavy air losses due to the advanced nature of the MIG-15's.  They offered any North Korean pilot $100,000 dollars to fly a MIG-15 to the south.  In September of 1953, a North Korean air force pilot flew this plane to the south and defected.  The U.S. took the plane and did a heavy duty inspection of it and then offered to give it back to the North Koreans.  They didn't reply to the offer, so the Air Force Museum has been showing this on display since 1957. 

This is a MiG-21 plane on display in the same area.  Only they sort of cheated on this one.  This was actually made in Czechoslovakia and was used by the Czech air force before the fall of the Soviet Union.  The Czech government gave it to the Air Force Museum, which, in turn painted on the North Vietnamese numbering and insignia.  Still, it was pretty cool to see.

 

Two planes in one picture on this one - the plane above is a Boeing "Bird of Prey", which was a single seat stealth technology demonstration plane used in the 1990's.  And below it is a Lockheed-Martin F-22A Raptor, one of the most dominate - if not THE most dominate - fighter jets in the world today.  This is one of nine F-22A's that were built for testing and engineering purposes. 

Moving on to the Missile and Space Gallery, this is the area that really got me geeked.  Growing up in the early era of the Space Age, I was like millions of other little kids who thought it would be cool to be an astronaut.  This is the command capsule for the Apollo 15 mission to the moon.  Even at my age, I still said, "Wow!" when I read the sign saying it was Apollo 15. 

They also had a Gemini B capsule on display.  Although this capsule was worthy of flight, it never flew in a mission.  It was used for testing and training.  Actually, this craft was designed to be used as a vessel to take astronauts to the first orbiting space station, or Manned Orbital Laboratory, NASA had conceived in the 60's.  However, the MOL never got the funding it needed and the project never got off the ground, literally and figuratively.

Of course, they had a Mercury space capsule on display.  I saw the Mercury capsule that Gus Grissom had flown at the Strategic Air Command Museum a couple years ago and I was amazed at how small those things really are.  A lot of people didn't realize that many of the original astronauts are not tall guys.  It would take a pretty small guy to be able to fit in those things without suffering from claustrophobia.

From the outside of the Air Force Museum, you see a rather tall building on the south side of the complex.  This is where they display the large rockets and missles.  These intercontinental ballistic missles were the main deterrent from Soviet attack, whether it be a fact or perception.  Included in this display was the Boeing Peacekeeper missle, a four-stage ICBM that could disperse up to 10 nuclear warheads at a range of over 6,000 miles and flew at 15,000 miles per hour.  It was a bad-assed weapon and helped bring on the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty in the 90's.  50 Peacekeepers were in place until 2003 when the Air Force began to dismantle them, finishing in 2005.  

The final inside area had to do with planes from the Cold War and current air force aircraft.  This is a picture from the balcony of the missile display area.  In the foreground, not fully visible in this shot, is a U-2 spy plane.  This area housed the most amount of planes, probably because of the unbounded military spending going on during the height of the Cold War. 

This is a Convair B-36 Peacemaker which was the forerunner of the Boeing B-52.  It's a tad larger than a B-52 and uses both rear-propeller motors and jet engines to give it bursts of speed.  They have a B-36 and a B-52 side-by-side at the Strategic Air Command Museum in Nebraska.  They're are two pretty impressive planes to stand next to.  This particular B-36 is the last one to ever be flown when it made the trip from an air base in Arizona to the museum in 1969.

This is the Lockheed SR-71 "Blackbird" high altitude and high speed reconnaissance plane that took the place of the U-2.  These bastards were some of the fastest planes ever built.  It could fly up to 85,000 feet at speeds of over 2,000 miles an hour.  The plane on display is the first operational SR-71, flying it's first mission in 1968 and flew nearly 950 missions in total.  It has been on display since 1990 at the Air Force Museum.

Of course, there was a Lockheed F-117A "Nighthawk" stealth fighter plane on display.  These have been in operation since the early 90's and are primary attack planes that give the American air force such immeasurable power against their foes.  They can fly right in, undetected, drop their bombs, and skedaddle back to the base before anyone knows what hit them.  It was pretty neat to see up close.

And this is a Boeing B-1B bomber plane.  This plane can fly low level and high level missions dropping up to 84 bombs on a target.  It can fly at just over the speed of sound at sea level due to the movable swept back wings on the plane. 

It took us just over two hours to go through the entire indoor area of the National Air Force Museum.  We could have gone through much more slowly, but we decided we didn't want to devote our whole day to the museum.  We knew we missed a lot of stuff, or didn't realize the significance of some of the planes on display.  But we still wanted to see some planes they had on display outside.

There's an area just to the east of the museum buildings that had a number of planes on display on a tarmac called the Air Park.  The display included this Lockheed C-141 Starlifter that was dubbed the "Hanoi Taxi."   This particular plane was the first to transport prisoners of war from Hanoi toward the end of the Viet Nam war.  In two missions to North Vietnam, it transported 76 POW's to freedom.  Now that was pretty cool to see.

Also on the grounds of the Air Park is a replica of a World War II air corps control center that was used by U.S. forces in England.  We went inside and was taken on a short tour by an older gentleman who was serving as a guide for the building.  We were talking to him about going through the museum so quickly and how we'd like to come back to really delve into the whole place at sometime in the future.  He said, "Did you get a chance to go over and see the Presidential planes?"

I said, "What Presidential planes?"

He explained there was a Presidential plane museum off-site of the main Air Force Museum that housed a number of planes used by Presidents from Franklin Roosevelt up to Bill Clinton.  Included in the display was the Boeing VC-137C Air Force One that was the plane used by Presidents Kennedy up thru Clinton.  In fact, the plane on display was the one that transported Kennedy's body back to Washington after he was assassinated in Dallas in 1963, and on which Lyndon Johnson took the oath of office.  Now, that killed me as I wanted to see that plane so bad. 

We walked back to the main museum to see if we could get a ticket on the bus to go see that exhibit, but they had already sold out for the day.  Tickets are free, but are issued on a first come-first serve basis.  I was truly bummed because we got there early enough to see the exhibit, although we may have had to wait a little while to do so.  But that would have given us more time to see more of the planes in the main hall exhibit area.  Oh well.  Next time...

Before we left, we stopped off and saw some of the memorials at Memorial Park.  The park itself is very large with a number of memorials and monuments interspersed throughout the area.  It was getting late and we had a drive ahead of us back toward Indianapolis so we didn't dawdle all that much in the park.  But it was a beautiful setting and very fitting for recognizing those who served and/or gave their lives in defending America's freedom. 

We spent a total of 3 and a half hours at the National Air Force Museum.  And I think we could have easily spent a full day in the place.  Even though there were a lot of people at the museum, just the vast expanse of the place made it seem like it wasn't crowded at all.  I think Cindy had a good time going through the place, but I think she would get tired of it after a while.  I'd really like to get back out there sometime and spend more time.  And to see the Presidential planes.  Now, that would be cool in my book.

Slim McGinn's West - Brookfield, WI

Working for a day with one of our national distributors during a recent visit to Milwaukee, I invited the branch manager out to lunch.  He said, "Where do you want to go?"  I told him some place local, no national chain and who had a good sandwich.  He said, "Come with me," and he promptly drove me to Slim McGinn's West (see map).

Slim McGinn's West is the third location for the original Slim McGinn's that was established in the Walker's Point area of Milwaukee, south of downtown (see map).  But most of the locals call the place just plain ol' "Slim's".  The second Slim McGinn's, known as "McGinn's" is located on West Bluemound near the Miller Park area (see map).

And, yes, there really is a Slim McGinn.  R.J. "Slim" McGinn (right) worked at a number of restaurants and bars in the Milwaukee before opening up his own bar/restaurant in 1995.  The original "Slim's" is housed in a building that has been a bar of one type or another for over 100 years.

Earlier this year, Slim McGinn's opened up the Slim's West location in what was the old Meadow Inn in Brookfield.  It carries on the tradition of the Slim McGinn's in the area with good food, great beer and lots of televisions to watch sports.

We got into Slim McGinn's West around 2 p.m. and there was just a handful of people in the place.  We sat at a table near the bar and carried on a conversation about the audio business.  Our waitress showed up with a couple menus and we were so engrossed in conversation that we didn't get around to ordering for another 20 minutes or so.  I could kind of tell that she was getting a little annoyed when she came back on her fourth time and we hadn't even looked at the menus yet.  I finally said that we needed to order something or we may get tossed out of the place. 

Slim's menu is something a little more broad than most Irish bar fare.  In addition to sandwiches and burgers, they also offer steaks, meatloaf, Shepherd's Pie and ribs.  They also have some eclectic add-ons to their burgers and chicken sandwiches such as an Irish whiskey peppercorn sauce and a spinach and artichoke Florentine topping.

The waitress came back and we said we were ready to order.  My guest asked if they had the Reuben salad that day.  The waitress said, "Yes, we do!"

He asked me, "Do you like Reubens?"

I replied, "I was probably going to get the Reuben."

He said, "You'll love the Reuben salad they make here.  It's unbelievably delicious!

So, I ordered the Reuben and I got one choice for a side and I took the Reuben salad.  I was intrigued by what a Reuben salad could be. 

My guest ordered the Irish beef sandwich - shredded beef along with carrots, potatoes and onion, then topped with a Guinness gravy over an open faced Kaiser roll.  And he got the Reuben salad as his side, as well.

The Reuben salad they make is cole slaw with bits of corned beef and swiss cheese mixed in with a side of Slim's homemade Thousand Island dressing.  When it came to the table with the sandwiches, I sort of looked at it, then gave it a try.  It was great.  Like my guest said, it was unbelievably delicious.

And my sandwich was very good, as well.  It featured large pieces of corned beef that were very tender and juicy.  It was a good sized sandwich, so the Reuben salad was a perfect compliment to the meal.

My guest's sandwich looked absolutely fabulous.  It had large chunks of shredded beef with pieces of potatoes, carrots and onions in a great looking gravy topping.  I think I should have gotten that.  And now that I know they have something like that I'll get it on my next visit.

I've probably driven by the original Slim's dozens of times during my visits to Milwaukee, but I'm going to make a point to go there sometime in the future.  But the one out in Brookfield was very good and had a lot of character to the place, even though it had only been open for about four months.   I'm glad I was turned on to Slim's and it won't be my last visit.

FCC Tentatively OK's Sirius/XM Radio Merger

Late yesterday afternoon, the Wall Street Journal reported that the commissioners for the Federal Communications Commission has tentatively given their blessing to the merger of Sirius and XM Radio, the two satellite radio services who have been competing for customers for the past few years.  The merger will allow the two former competitors to combine their broadcasting services and allow for one format in which to receive the satellite radio signals.

One FCC commissioner, Deborah Taylor Tate from Tennessee, is expected to cast the deciding swing vote in favor of the merger.  However, it was Tate who helped hold up the merger for a long time as she pushed for concessions from Sirius and XM Radio to provide programming for educational and minority groups, and to impose fines on the two services for excessive power output from repeater towers the two satellite radio providers use to extend their signal.  It appears XM Radio will pay $17.5 million in fines, while Sirius will pay $2.5 million for exceeding the power limits set forth by the FCC. 

This will mean that audio manufacturers will be able to make one receiver for one format for home tuners.  Car manufacturers will be able to focus on just one service, rather than picking one or the other for their car radios and hoping their customers like that given provider.  There will be ala carte programming available to subscribers that will allow them to choose 50, 100 or unlimited stations in the system.

To people like me who didn't get either XM Radio or Sirius, mainly because I couldn't make up my mind which service I wanted, this is a glorious day.  However, not everyone is on board with the merger.  Most notably, the National Association of Broadcasters is not too happy with the merger. 

The NAB has been lobbying against this from the start, saying that it inhibits growth of local broadcasters and creates a monopoly for radio.  Sirius and XM Radio have long said their services are just one of the plethora of entertainment options available to people and the merger will allow them to compete against these growing options.  One thing the NAB lobbied  for was to allow local radio stations to provide their digital channels on the local satellite repeater systems.  The FCC didn't see it that way and didn't stipulate the merging companies had to provide for local broadcasting content. 

Radley Balko at Reason.com wrote an in depth analysis last year of why the NAB doesn't want the merger to go through.  You can view the article here.  It's a pretty interesting article about the politics of a large lobbying group and the threat to local stations the organization sees in regard of the merger of Sirius and XM Radio.   I'm guessing that even though the merger is about to get stamped as complete, the NAB will be fighting it for years to come. 

Still, with the aspect of future competition with video and audio being available just about anywhere through the developing WiMAX technology, satellite radio should be the least of the NAB's worries.  Like newspapers, local radio and television stations need to become more competitive in today's digital world.  When WiMAX technology becomes affordable enough to allow for personal viewing devices or notebooks to receive the signal virtually anywhere, the staid old franchises of local broadcasting could be left in the dust.  The NAB and their constituents must realize that technology has passed them by and is on the verge of burying them if they don't get their heads out of their asses. And in some cases, it may be too late.

 

 

Donatos Pizza - Indianapolis

While I'm usually not big on pizza chains, but with over 190 locations in 5 states, Donatos Pizza breaks the mold when it comes to a typical pizza chain.  I tried a Donatos pizza for the first time when I was spending a day with one of our distributors in Indianapolis and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised.

Donatos began in Columbus, OH in 1963 when a college sophomore by the name of Jim Grote (right) opened his first establishment on the southside of Columbus by putting $1300 down on a small pizzeria.  His business philosophy was simple, "To make the best pizza and treat others the way I'd like to be treated." 

Along the way as business grew, Grote found that the way pepperoni had to be cut was both time consuming and somewhat costly.  The thickness of the pepperoni varied from location to location.  He invented the "Peppamatic" cutting machine that cut down on the time to cut the pepperoni slices, and also made them uniform in width and weight.  Grote then noticed that most frozen pizza manufacturers were continuing to cut their pepperoni by hand and he saw the Peppamatic as a unique tool he could market to the industry.  Grote, with the help of engineers, developed a number of industrial slicing and application machines to help stream line not only the pizza industry, but many food product companies, as well.  To say that Grote is a very rich man is, well, a tremendous understatement. 

Grote ended up selling Donatos to the McDonald's Corporation in 1999.  While Grote had always stressed uniformity in his stores, the McDonald's people took it a step further.  McDonald's tried to grow the chain, but ended up closing a number of under performing stores in Florida, Georgia and Michigan.  Seeing that they couldn't quite figure out how to grow Donatos nationally and internationally, they ended up selling the company back to Grote in 2003.  Armed with information he learned on market research from McDonald's, Grote opened up a series of "take and bake stores" where a customer can come in, get a pizza made up and take it home to bake themselves.  The concept has gone over extremely well for Donatos.   

I took five of the guys from the distributor to the 10th and Arlington location in East Indianapolis for lunch one day when I was there recently (see map).   The menu at Donatos is pretty wide open with sandwiches, salads, breadsticks and desserts to go along with their pizza.  I thought about getting the Big Don baked sub, but everyone else wanted pizza.  So I went with the flow and we ordered up three different pizzas. 

On the recommendation of the guys, we ordered a large Founder's Favorite - pepperoni, sausage, ham, hot peppers and provelone cheese.  In fact, Donatos is so big on their pepperoni, they place exactly 100 slices of pepperoni on each large pizza.  We also ordered a Serious Meat pizza, which is basically the same thing as the Founder's Favorite, only minus the hot peppers and adding beef and bacon to the topping list.  And one guy talked us into ordering a Philly Cheese Steak pizza - thin slices of Philly steak topped with onions, peppers and a cheese sauce.  It didn't sound good to me, but a couple of the guys raved about that pizza.  We figured that we'd take the leftovers back to the guys in the warehouse to snack on. 

Donato's certainly doesn't skimp on their toppings.  The Serious Meat had a ton of toppings all over it.  I'm not usually big on bacon on a pizza, but this was pretty good.  And I liked the taste of their sausage.  The pizza crust is thin and they cut their pieces into squares and not wedges - a big plus in my book. 

I really liked the Founder's Favorite, though.  The peppers gave it a little "zing" and didn't detract from the overall taste of the pizza.  I would have liked to have tried their "Classic Trio" of sausage, pepperoni and mushroom, but I can do that another day. 

I did give the Philly Cheese Steak pizza a try.  One of the guys said that not all the Donatos have the Philly Cheese Steak, but he was just hooked by it.  The taste was interesting, but I can't say it would be anything that I would crave in the future.

We did have some pizza to take back to the distributorship and I found myself stealing a couple pieces of the Founder's Favorite later in the afternoon.  It was a good snack to have after a very satisfying lunch.  I was mightily impressed.

While I can't call it the best pizza I ever had, I can probably call Donatos the best chain pizza I've ever eaten.  I will be back to try one of their Classic Trio pizzas sometime down the line.  

Nashville, IN

While out in Indianapolis for a wedding reception recently, Cindy and I took a couple side trips to see some sights.  One of the places we ended up in was the town of Nashville, IN, a little artist's colony in the heart of the picturesque Brown County area of Indiana (see map).  Nashville is just down the road from Bean Blossom, IN, and just over from Gnaw Bone, IN.  (It's true!  You can look it up on the map!)

Nashville is also a center for music, primarily Bluegrass music.  They have a couple of performance places in the area and the annual Bean Blossom Music Festival takes place in Bluegrass legend Bill Monroe's adopted hometown.  In addition to music, there are a number of museums, shops, restaurants and other tourist places in the Nashville area.  And Brown County State Park, the largest state park in Indiana, is located just outside of Nashville.

We stayed the night before at a Comfort Inn near the entrance of the Nashville's city limits.  It was getting late in the day and we thought we'd better just take the first thing we saw.   It turned out there were more eclectic and interesting hotels in Nashville to choose from.  We had a great dinner that I'll fill you in on later, but our next day was to explore the nooks and crannies of Nashville before we headed back to Iowa.

Our first stop was breakfast at a place called That Sandwich Place which is basically a shrine to the former Indiana University basketball coach Bobby Knight.  It has, arguably, the highest concentration of Bobby Knight and Indiana memorabilia any where.  The owner, Larry Hawkins, has been collecting the memorabilia since Knight first coached the Hoosiers in the early 70's.  The waitress explained to us that Bob Knight used to frequent the place when he was living over in nearby Bloomington.   The above picture shows where Knight would sit and "hold court" duing his visits to the restaurant. 

Cindy and I had pancakes - I had blueberry pancakes and Cindy had their specialty oatmeal pancakes. The food was OK, nothing special.  But it was filling and a good start to the day. 

Most of the shops didn't open until 10 a.m., but we found a few places that were opened at nine.  This was the back of a little flower/gardening shop that didn't open until 10.  But you could walk into the back area and look around at anytime.  They had a bunch of plants, statues and garden knick-knacks just sitting out.  Obviously, the shop owner must have trusted the people who came to visit Nashville. 

Here is one of the stately houses on the main street through town that has been turned into a shop.  Driving around the town, we found a lot of older houses like this, in addition to contemporary houses and basic log cabins.  Many of the small shops and larger homes were built in the early part of the 1900's. 

Here's Cindy checking out a number of roses a flower shop had at half-off.  Some of them were very pretty and it was tempting not to buy a couple at $12 to $15 bucks each.  But as I pointed out to Cindy, the 23 or so rose bushes that we now have will work for the time being. 

The town started to get filled up with tourists by the middle part of the morning.  A lot of motorcyclists come to Nashville on the weekends as the roads leading to the city are twisting ribbons through picturesque valleys and over the small southern Indiana peaks.  There are a couple shops that cater to the motorcyclists, but many of the shops are artist galleries and touristy places that sell t-shirts and fudge. 

A number of the shops share common courtyards off the street.  There are benches and lots of shade to help the most weary walker get some rest.  There's a few hills in Nashville, but nothing really bad.  This little courtyard had a sock shop, an antique place, a pottery store and a bird store in it.  I was just happy to be able to sit and hang out while Cindy explored every nook and cranny of a lot of the little shops. 

We also went to the Chateau Thomas Winery tasting room they have in Nashville.  Although I was familiar with their wines through my friend, Steve Somermeyer, I wanted to go in and check the place out.  It turned out there was an art gallery on the second floor of the wine tasting area.  We went up and took a look around for a moment.  I think Cindy was getting a good kick out of seeing all the art.  But I was getting kind of bored. 

We walked out of a gallery and it had begun to rain.  We decided that we'd seen enough and it was time to head back home to Iowa.  It's about a five and a half hour trip back to the Quad Cities and a good portion of it was done in the rain. 

Given the amount of trees in the rolling hills and valleys of Brown County, Nashville gets pretty packed on fall afternoons when the leaves are in full color.  But even in the spring and summer when the flowers are in full bloom, it's a picturesque little community.  While it is somewhat of a tourist trap, I got more of a sense of community among the people who worked and lived in Nashville while we were there.  It was a nice visit and a place we'll probably go back to sometime down the line. 

Champps Americana - Schaumburg, IL

Champps Americana is a chain of upscale sports bars that began in the Twin Cities in the mid 80's.  Their focus has been on burgers, beer and sports since day one.  I hadn't been into a Champps for quite sometime, but I recently decided to stop into the one in Schaumburg, IL for lunch after visiting one of the Tweeter stores located next door. 

Champps started out in St. Paul in 1985 when Dean Vlahos opened the first location.  Vlahos grew the business to over 30 locations about ten years later.  Vlahos then sold the company to a corporation that became known as Champps Entertainment, Inc. located in a Denver suburb.  Champps Entertainment then grew the restaurant base to over 60 locations in 22 states.  Earlier this year, the Daka restaurant group, known as Unique Casual Restaurants, Inc. which also owns the majority of the Fuddrucker's restaurants in the nation, bought the chain from Champps Entertainment.  And I do like Fuddrucker's, so they have that going for them.

You'll mainly find most of the Champps American restaurants near large shopping areas.  The one in Schaumburg is just down Golf Road from Woodfield Mall (see map).  If you're heading east on Golf, it's easy to get in and out.  But if you're heading west on Golf, it's probably best to take a left on Meacham or Plum Grove and come around through the back on American Lane.  Traffic at times on Golf Road can be a pain in the ass, especially if you're trying to make a left turn with no stoplight. 

Now, I'm going to tell you that I broke two of my cardinal rules with my visit to Champps.  One - I don't like to eat at national chains that are cookie cutter venues; and Two - I ordered the Cuban Sandwich and I wasn't in Miami.  But it was in the middle of the afternoon, I wasn't feeling all that peppy.  I needed food and something to drink and Chammps was right next door to where I was. 

I sat at the bar and watched some of the Cubs game on one of the many televisions in the restaurant.  The bartender gave me a menu and I ordered up a Coke as I still had some calls to make that day.  It was around 2:30 and there were a handful of people in the bar area, many having late lunches or finishing up with lunch meetings.  There was a die-hard Cubs fan across the bar from me, dressed in a Cubs jersey and shouting, "Oh, yeah, baby!" when the Cubs did something good on the field; or he would shout, "Oh, man!  What are you thinking?" when something would go wrong.  He was taking a regular season game a little too hard.

Burgers are what made Champps famous and they have five to choose from on their burger menu.  But I wasn't really looking for a burger during that visit.  I took a look through their specialty entree and pasta menus, but thought that would be too much food for that time of day.  Although I have to say the Cajun Shrimp Penne Pasta and the Peppercorn Chicken sounded pretty good.

I went to the sandwich menu and took a look to see what they had.  Hmmm... Tuna melt.  No, not up for that.  Gyros?  No, come on.  A place like this can't make a good gyro.  Reuben.  Naw, I've been eating a lot of Reuben's lately and I'm getting burned out on them.  Hmmm...  What's this?  Pulled pork sandwich topped with Tabasco onion rings and served on a sesame seed bun.  Crap - I just had barbecue the night before.  It did sound good, though.

But my eyes kept darting to the top of the sandwich menu where they were showing a picture of the Havana - a traditional Cuban sandwich of pulled pork, ham, swiss cheese, dijon mustard and pickles pressed together on a small loaf of sweet bread.  But my brain kept saying, "Hang on a minute.  You KNOW you've never had a good Cuban sandwich outside of Miami."

The picture made it look so good, though.  It LOOKED like the Cuban sandwich I'd had in Miami in the past.  And those things are just incredible.  I kept looking at the descriptions of the barbecued pulled pork sandwich and the Havana.  Barbecue - Cuban Sandwich.  And I don't know what made me blurt out, "I'll take the Havana" when the bartender finally asked me what I wanted.  I knew well before I took the first bite that I'd regret my choice. 

About 10 minutes later, a waitress brought out my Cuban sandwich.  It looked good and definitely smelled good, but the comparisons to the Miami Cuban sandwiches stopped there.  Oh, the roasted pulled pork and ham were fine.  I like the combination of the pickle slices and dijon mustard.  But the bread - which literally MAKES Cuban sandwiches great - was nowhere near as good as the soft sweet bread I've had in Miami. 

Now this is what a REAL Cuban sandwich looks like, picture courtesy of Taste of Cuba and Off the Broiler.  The Chammps Americana Havana sandwich - and other Cuban sandwiches I've had like this outside of Miami - are made with a panini-style bread which is then heat pressed.  It's not that same.

Oh, well.  It was still edible, but I literally kicked myself when a guy down the bar from me ordered the pulled pork sandwich.  It was served open faced with the spicy onion rings on top.  God!  And I'm sitting there eating some northern version of a Cuban sandwich.  

For a chain, Champps is OK, nothing that I would call special.  It's like a lot of other sports bars that have popped up over the past 20+ years.  The food is good, but not great.  The beer selection is good, but not great.  And the ambiance and atmosphere is also good, but not great.  It would be a good place to go watch a game with some friends and to get some serviceable food.  But it's not a place that I would seek out to have a meal at anytime soon.

Rudolphs - Minneapolis

Business in the Twin Cities has been pretty tough for me over the past few years, but I was just able to land a new and good account in the city.  During one of my meetings with the dealer located in the Uptown area of Minneapolis, I proposed we go out to dinner that evening.  There's a lot of little restaurants in the area, but when he said, "We could go to Rudolphs", I eagerly said yes.

It had been, possibly, 20 years since I'd last been in Rudolphs, a restaurant on Lyndale Ave. (see map) that features ribs and other barbecued specialties.  Actually, you can't call Rudolphs a rib joint - it's far from that.  It's a very nice, somewhat upscale restaurant.  And that's what the owner designed it to be when he first opened in 1975. 

Jimmy Theros was a restaurant veteran in the Twin Cities working with his parents in a couple of places they owned.  He knew that people in the area loved barbecue.  But at the time in the mid-70's, most of the barbecue joints in the cities were just that - joints.  And most of them were in places that weren't in the greatest sections of town.  Theros envisioned a more elegant setting for barbecue, something that would be comfortable and non-threatening to diners.  It's more of a supper club than a rib joint.

In 2002 when Jimmy Theros decided to retire at the age of 74, his son, Charlie, took over the day-to-day operations of Rudolphs.  Charlie actually made Rudolphs more of a entertainment destination with revamping the bar area and adding bar specials to the mix, and adding a D.J. on the weekends. 

Rudolphs is named after the great silent screen star, Rudolph Valentino.  Many of the pictures on the wall of Rudolphs are of old movie stars and movie scenes.  But the lighting is subdued, the chairs are comfy and the tables are big. 

We got into Rudolphs around 8:30 one evening and were shown to a table in the dining room.  It was a nice night in Minneapolis that evening with a lot of people out and about.    The bar area was nearly full and the dining area was a little over half-full when we sat down.

While barbecue is the main focus at Rudolphs, the menu also features steaks, seafood and pasta, something you definitely don't see at most barbecue-based restaurants.  Many of the barbecue entrees are named after movie stars or characters in movies.  One of the items featured on the menu was the Godzilla - 1 1/2 racks of ribs, 6 pieces of chicken, cornbread, cole slaw and garlic mashed potatoes for $64 bucks.  I understand they get a few takers of that meal from time to time. 

Since it had been a long time since I'd been to Rudolphs, I wanted to try the barbecue again.  I ordered the hickory smoked brisket, topped with Rudolphs sweet and smoky sauce.  It came with a side of their garlic mashed potatoes that were then topped with onion straws.  And their gumbo intrigued me, so I asked for cup of that, as well.

My guest got the Ron Burgundy - named after Will Ferrell's character in "Anchorman" - which consisted of three spare ribs and a strip steak barbecued and brushed with Rudolphs' sauce, then sliced before serving.  He also ordered up a side of the cole slaw with the meal.  He said, "It's a big helping, so you can help me eat it." 

When the waitress brought out the cup of gumbo, that's exactly what I got.  It was served in a large coffee cup.  And the gumbo was very good.  It had a lot of flavor to it, but I added a little "zing" to the taste by throwing some Tabasco into the gumbo for good measure. 

When our main entrees came out, I was ready for the meat.  My guest's strip steak, sliced in diagonal pieces, was cooked a perfect medium rare.  My brisket was OK, I can't say it was great, but it was more than edible.  I got some of Rudolphs' hickory smoke sauce to put on the brisket and it helped.  But Rudolphs' sauces are no where near being as spicy as I like my barbecue sauce to be.

The garlic mashed potatoes with the onion straws were good, although it could have been a little more garlic-flavored for my tastes.  The cole slaw we shared was good, too, but it was nothing outstanding. 

Afterward, I was definitely full and happy with my barbecue fix.  With beers and food, the bill came to a little over $65 bucks before tax and tip.  But it was everything that I remembered Rudolphs to be.  Good, serviceable barbecue in a nice setting. 

While I'm sure there is better barbecue in the Twin Cities, it's probably not going to be on the same par as Rudolphs' ambiance or food selection.  There's a reason Rudolphs has been going strong for over 33 years and a lot of it has to do with the service, the food selection and the comfortable nature of the restaurant.  It truly is a staple of the Twin Cities' food scene.  

Diana Krall - Vienne, France

As part of our trip to France recently, Focal took the North American sales managers and the handful of dealers who made the trip to Vienne, home of Jazz a Vienne, one of the largest jazz festivals in the world.  And it turned out the evening we went, the Grammy Award winning jazz artist, Diana Krall, was performing that evening.  

Jazz a Vienne takes place at a number of venues in the city, but the main venue is an ancient amphitheater built by the Romans some 2000 years ago.  When it was originally built, it held 13,000 people.  Today, the Roman Theater, as it's called, holds just over 8,000 for concerts.  The slope of the amphitheater and the sight of the old fortress above was just breathtaking.  It could be the best venue I've ever been to for a musical concert.   

Before the concert, Focal hosted the North Americans to a V.I.P. party at the old university near the Roman Theater.  It was called "Jazz en Vignes" (Jazz and Wine) and featured a winery from the rich Rhone Valley wine making region.  They served white and red wines along with hors d oveurs for about an hour and a half before the concert.  It was set in the courtyard of the school and it was a pretty cool deal.

Now, a lot of people were asking me what this V.I.P. party was all about.  Honestly, I didn't know much about it, but I sort of wondered if this was going to be a meet and great with Diana Krall.  I wasn't all that certain as to what the party would entail, even up until the time we got there.  However, there was another group sharing the party area with us that evening and one of the ladies in the group looked strikingly like Diana Krall.  So, I'm standing at a table with one of my colleagues, Chris, and a couple of the dealers and I said, "Oh, so Diana Krall DID show up for this thing." 

The guys turned their heads and looked at the lady.  One of them said, "That's not Diana Krall."

I said, "Bullshit!  That's her, all right.  This is a meet and greet before her show.  That's how much pull Focal has with this jazz festival." 

I was pulling their leg, for sure, but for a moment I had those guys and a few others believing it was Diana Krall.  This lady looked very much like her. 

But then I noticed that a LOT of ladies in the crowd that evening looked like Diana Krall.  I don't know if it was just coincidence, or if they were purposely trying to capture her look.  It was pretty uncanny. 

Our seats at the ancient Roman Theater were a bit off to the side and Diana Krall would have her back to us.  Still, they were good seats.  And the P.A. system was manufactured by a French company called L'Acoustics.  It turns out that Focal makes the speaker drivers for L'Acoustics' P.A. system.  Some of the same components that go into some of Focal's higher end home loudspeakers are part of the L'Acoustics P.A.  

Even though Diana Krall would have her back to us for the performance, we had a large monitor right next to us to be able to watch her facial expressions as she played the piano and sang.  It actually worked out pretty well as we could catch the action live on stage or on the huge monitor not more than 30 feet away. 

I wouldn't say I was a huge Diana Krall fan, but I do enjoy her work.  And I think she has genuine fun playing her music along with her back up musicians.  There was a lot of smiling on stage when she was playing.  I love it when musicians look like they're truly having fun playing music than some of the more serious or angry looks some performers will give during a show. 

But the highlight of the show had to be the venue.  It was a beautiful night in France, low humidity, light wind, not a cloud in the sky.  The sun sets late there so it was still a beautiful sun lit evening well up to 10:30 p.m.  The seats at the Roman Theater are the original stone seats, so Focal provided us seating pads for the evening.  Those things certainly came in handy because there would have been no way I would have been able to sit there for the nearly three and a half hours we were there.  I just found myself staring up at the crowd and taking in the majestic beauty of the ancient amphitheater.  I'm in still in awe of the process the Romans went through to build the place 2000 years ago.

Opening for Diana Krall was Avishai Cohen, a world-renown jazz bass player who was the bass player for Chick Corea's jazz trio and who has accompanied the likes of Herbie Hancock and Bobby McFerrin.   Accompanying Cohen this even was the 21-year-old piano prodigy Shai Maestro.  Cohen played his upright bass with such energy and conviction that he had the crowd on its feet at the end of his performance.  Many of the songs they played that evening were from Cohen's recently released album, "Gently Disturbed".  I really liked the free form nature of his music and his passionate playing helped draw me into the music.

Sometimes I bitch and moan about my job - the travel, the long hours, the politics involved.  But a night like this certainly makes me put a different perspective on my job.  We were treated wonderfully, it was a superb evening, the venue was awesome and the music was great.  I turned to my colleague, John, during the performance and said, "It certainly doesn't suck to be us this evening..."

Triple XXX Family Restaurant - West Lafayette, IN

Given the name of the place, one wouldn't immediately think of the Triple XXX in West Lafayette to be a family restaurant.  But the Triple XXX in the name has to do with root beer quality, not the type of films they're showing. 

The Triple XXX Family Restaurant has been an institution in West Lafayette since 1929.  It was built above the levee of the Wabash River near Purdue University (see map) and is the oldest drive-in restaurant in Indiana.  Bert Wright served burgers, root beer and shakes to a number of Purdue students and local residents for a number of years.  Today, Greg Ehresman and his wife, Carrie, run the Triple XXX using the same business practices Bert put in place nearly 80 years ago.  The restaurant really stands out as the main two-story building is painted with orange and black stripes. 

Where the Triple XXX name came from started back in 1895 when Anheuser-Busch - yes, that Anheuser-Busch - established the Galveston Brewing Company in Texas to brew their beers.  The beer was designated as "high quality" and three X's were put on the beer barrels to signify their quality.  When Texas began their own Prohibition in 1916, Galveston Brewing Company was shut down.  However, in it's place, the Southern Brewing Company sprang to life making high quality root beer and ginger ale.  The owners of the Southern Brewing Company trademarked the "XXX" designation, but in their infinite wisdom felt that "if XXX is very good, then Triple XXX must be the very best!"

Triple XXX had a number of "thirst stations" in 35 states primarily across the middle and western parts of the U.S. in the 20's where "distributors" would sell the brands root beer and ginger ale.  When Prohibition ended in 1933, the Galveston Brewing Company came back to life and began to brew beer again.  But the company continued to make the Triple XXX brand of root beer, as well.  It's a pretty fascinating story and to learn more about the Triple XXX brand and full history, click here. 

The Triple XXX in West Lafayette was one of those "thirst stations" and is one of only two remaining remnants of the Triple XXX root beer chain (the other being in Issaquah, WA).  And not much has changed from the time it opened.  The original car port is still in place, as well as the original counter and stools.  It really does have a lot of history behind it.

My first trip to the Triple XXX was in 2001 when we went out to West Lafayette for the Iowa-Purdue football game with our friends Scott and Marcia Schroeder, and Dave and Pat Heusmann.  Scott had heard about the Triple XXX and was intrigued by the place.  It turned out that it was just up the hill from our hotel.  We ate breakfast there on the Sunday morning before we left to go back home.  The inside of the Triple XXX is adorned with pictures of former Purdue athletes and other pictures of the place from over the years.  It is truly a diner in every sense of the way.  Oh, and the breakfast was very good.

On a recent trip between Indianapolis and Chicago, I stopped off in West Lafayette to try one of the Triple XXX cheeseburgers.  Since the opening day in 1929, the Triple XXX grinds their own high quality sirloin meat.  They use real cheese and fresh ingredients for toppings for their burgers.  The menu consists of primarily their "Prime and Choice Cuts", which is the Triple XXX's names for their various burgers and sandwiches.  The Prime Cuts are primarily larger sandwiches and burgers served with "side cuts" (fries), while the Choice Cuts are sandwiches or burgers sold alone. 

And the burgers are not called "burgers" at the Triple XXX.  As they grind their own sirloin, they call them "chop steaks".  So, during my recent visit, I ordered a chop steak with cheese and a glass of the Triple XXX root beer that is still the same recipe after over 90 years. 

As I sat and waited for the burger, I had a sip of the root beer and looked around the place.  The history of the restaurant is told in pictures on the wall of the Triple XXX.  I could just imagine the thousands of students who have sat at the counter having a burger during the noon time, or a late night breakfast after the bars closed.  It's a pretty cool place.

I got my burger, which is cooked on a very old grill top, probably helping lend an even more distinct taste to the burger.  It was moist and tender.  It wasn't all that big after starting out as a 1/4 pound hamburger.  But it was good, nonetheless.  I can't say that it was anything that I would crave, but given the history of the Triple XXX I was very happy to have stopped in and tried one. 

The Triple XXX is one of those cool places that you could just go in and take in the historical experience of the restaurant.  The food is above average and the atmosphere is fun.  The Triple XXX is truly a piece of Americana at its best.

La Hacienda - Indianapolis

I've always liked going out to Indianapolis and I'm starting to like it even more now that I've got a dealer who is doing some business and we're working with a distributor who has a warehouse in Indy.  The guys at my dealer told me there was a great Mexican restaurant not far from their store called La Hacienda (see map).  While I was in Indy recently, we met up there after work for some great Mexican food. 

Now, I believe there are three or four La Hacienda's around the Indianapolis area.  I believe all of them are connected in some way, but I couldn't find much information about the company when I did my research.  In any event, La Hacienda may be the most popular Mexican restaurant in Indianapolis since El Sol de Tala shut down for nearly a year and a half doing renovations at their original East Washington location.  I understand the place is now open again and I'll have to try it to see if it's as good as it was before.

I met three of the guys from Ovation Ultimate at La Hacienda off of Binford Blvd. after they closed the store for the evening.  Duke, the store manager, was telling me how great this place was and he had me convinced that we had to give it a shot.  He said, "Great food, great margaritas. Cold beer.  La Hacienda has it all."

We sat down at a table in a 1/3 full restaurant around 8:30 one evening and we were greeted with menus, a basket of homemade chips and some great salsa that was loaded with cilantro and had a nice kick to it.  I ordered up a Sol beer for starters while the others got margaritas.  I knew I would get one of their margaritas later, but for now I needed a cold beer. 

The menu is certainly authentic Mexican when it comes down to La Hacienda.  It's not your typical American-ized Mexican restaurant.  There are a lot of excellent choices on the menu with lots of pork, beef and chicken dishes.  Duke wholeheartedly recommended the roasted pulled pork tacos with refried beans and Mexican rice.  He said, "It's not on the dinner menu, but they'll make it for you." 

They slow cook the pork in a number of spices until it literally falls apart.  They have a pulled pork dinner, but Duke said, "Oh, man, the tacos at lunch are even better, I think.  And if you ask them, they'll make 'em for dinner."   So Duke and I went with that. 

One of the guys went with the carnitas dinner - pork tips cooked in spices and served with grilled onions, guacamole, peppers, rice and refried beans and accompanied by three tacos to make them fajita style. And the other guy went with the Cancun special - chicken strips marinated then grilled and served with rice and hot peppers in a creamy cheese sauce.  It looked damn good.

I had to have a margarita before they brought my food and I had to agree with Duke - the margaritas were great.  In fact, I ended up getting a couple pitchers of them for the table during our meal.

And I have to say the meal was outstanding.  The pulled pork was tender and tasty.  Topped with goat cheese and lettuce, the pulled pork tacos were just killer.  Along with the margaritas, it was a Class A "spot-hitter". 

The bill before taxes and tip was about $100 bucks for the four of us.  The margaritas were about half the bill, but they were worth it.  I'm sure there are a lot of good Mexican restaurants around Indianapolis, but La Hacienda showed me why they're arguably the best and most popular of Mexican restaurants in the area.  

Red Crow Grille - Bettendorf, IA

For our 13th wedding anniversary recently, Cindy wanted to go out to dinner at a place that she's wanted to dine at for quite some time, the Red Crow Grille in Bettendorf (see map).  I'd eaten there once before with one of my local dealers after a training session and I thought it was very good, but very high priced.  Still, whatever Mama wanted for an anniversary dinner, Mama got for an anniversary dinner.

Laura Sandoval, the owner/manager of Red Crow Grille, is a Quad City native who moved back to the area in the 90's with her husband from California.  She had been involved in a number of restaurants during her years out west and her dream was to open a fine dining restaurant that had an exquisite wine list she helped cultivate from her learning about various wines during trips to California's wine country.  Sandoval opened the Red Crow Grille in 1999 and in 2002 the restaurant achieved Wine Spectator's Award of Excellence in food and wine. 

The executive chef at Red Crow Grille is a local Quad City native by the name of Brian Olsen.  Olsen studied at the prestigious Le Cordon Bleu school in Minneapolis and then worked at various places in Minnesota before moving back to Iowa to work at Red Crow Grille.  He started as a prep cook, quickly working his way up to sous chef in a matter of months.  And one year later he was named the executive chef.  Olsen's style of cooking involves a lot of homegrown and farm fresh items that he buys locally. 

We had made a 7 p.m. reservation earlier in the day, but it was mid-week and the place was less than half full when we walked in.  We were given a seat at a table near the front window and given our menus.  I noticed that we didn't get a wine list and I asked our waitress, Sara, for one when she came over to introduce herself.  Sara pointed out that their wine menu was printed in the back of the menu.  I took a look at it and was surprised to see just a handful of wine listed - good wines, mind you.  But just a handful compared to what I thought they'd have.  I thought it was rather odd for a place with such little selection to be given the Award of Excellence by Wine Spectator. 

Nonetheless, I found a Judd's Hill 2005 Merlot on the menu.  Hoping that it would be ready to drink, I ordered that for our meal.  I found out much later, however, that Red Crow Grille has a reserve wine list.  I suppose I should have asked earlier, but she made it sound that all the wine they had was from that small list in the main menu. 

Red Crow Grille offers four course dining with the first course being an eclectic batch of appetizers.  Although we were tempted to get something, we just went straight to the second course and ordered our main entree.  The soup of the day was a creamy tomato soup with basil and small chunks of jalapeno's.  Cindy thought that sounded great and took that.  I got the bibb lettuce salad with creamy bleu cheese topped with applewood smoked bacon chunks and fresh tomato wedges. 

For the main entree, Cindy order the salmon topped with a caramelized sauce and sided with potato confit and caramelized onions.  I went with the bone-in rib eye steak, medium rare, with a side of brie whipped potatoes, topped with a caramelized onion cream sauce.  And that evening they also had fresh morel mushrooms offered a side.  I couldn't pass those up, so I ordered some mushrooms, as well.

Red Crow Grille is laid back for a fine dining establishment, which is the kind of place we like.  It's not too loud in the place and it's very comfy and cozy.  The atmosphere is upscale, but there's a lack of pretentiousness about the place.  Cindy was happy with the restaurant from the moment we walked in. 

The 2005 Judd's Hill Merlot was still too young to drink, however.  I've found that most of the Judd's Hill wines we've had in the past really need a good five to seven years to fully age before opening up and giving their best.  I was hopeful the bottle would open up some after it was initially opened, but it never really did.  It turned out to be the only disappointment of the evening. 

Well, that and the fact that I never knew about the reserve wine list until Sara offered the reserve list to a table ot well-dressed gentlemen seated next to us later in the evening.  Now, Cindy and I weren't overly dressed up - I had a pair of shorts and a nice shirt on, Cindy had jeans and a nice top.  Sara made the common mistake of judging her customers by the way they dress. 

Our main entrees showed up and they were wonderful.  The steak was cooked a little more medium than medium-rare, but that was fine.  I was really happy with the mushrooms.  They really tasted great.  Cindy was very happy with the salmon and offered me a bite.  It was very good. The meal was everything she expected it to be.

By the time Sara brought around the dessert selection, we were contemplating skipping the course.  But Cindy talked me into sharing some tiramisu with her.  She had an espresso and I ordered a Macallen 18 year scotch on the rocks for an after dinner drink. 

When Sara brought us the bill, I said, "Can I ask you something?  I'm just curious.  When we came in and sat down and I asked about the wine list, you said it was in the back of the menu.  Yet, when those gentlemen came in, you immediately offered them the reserve wine list.  Was there some reason why you thought they would be interested in the reserve list and we wouldn't?"

Obviously caught and starting to feel a little embarrassed, Sara sort of stumbled and stammered an answer out.  I said, "Look, you did a great job tonight.  You seem like a real likable person, you're gonna get your tip.  But I guess I want to know that because we are dressed more casual than those gentlemen, did you not think we would like to see the reserve list because it may be too expensive for us?"

By this time, Cindy was saying, "All right.  You made your point."

I said, "No, I just want Sara to know that she should never judge her clientele by the way they're dressed.  I learned that lesson years ago when working at a stereo shop in Iowa City.  Our money spends just as well and easily as those gentlemen at that table."

I said to Sara, "Just for grins, can I see the reserve wine list to see what I missed out on?"  She said she'd bring one to me right away.  Now, our bottle of Judd's Hill was something like $55 bucks.  There were a couple of wines on the reserve list that were in the $80 to $90 range that I would have picked over the Judd's Hill had I known they had it in their reserve bin. 

I wasn't trying to embarrass the waitress, rather than to make a strong point that she could have easily upped the bill - and subsequently, her tip - by asking a simple question - "Would you like to see the reserve wine list?"  I learned long ago that you'll usually never embarrass a customer by trotting out your best.  Sara did get a good tip - over 20 percent on a bill that came to a little over $140 before tax.  

And it was a good meal.  Red Crow Grille was everything I remember it being from my first visit five years prior and it certainly didn't disappoint Cindy.  I would have to say that if you're looking for the best in fine dining in a completely laid-back atmosphere in the Quad Cities, Red Crow Grille is the place.         

The Aggrevation of Air Travel

I returned from a quick business trip to France on Sunday night and I'm becoming increasingly disillusioned and disgusted with air travel.  Oh, I had great flights over and back - everything was on time with the exception of a 45 minute ground hold in Amsterdam on my way to Lyon because of thunderstorms that had popped up in Europe that afternoon.  What aggrevates me more and more about air travel is the amount of screaming little kids on the flights these days.  And it's not just babies, but kids up to three years of age who are screaming bloody murder for whatever reason.

Now, I've never been a big fan of kids, especially babies.  And it's a well-worn joke by many comedians about screaming kids on flights.  But on my flights to and from France, I was a perfect six for six with flights that had at least one screaming kid on board.  And in most cases, they were in close proximity to my seat.  

I don't usually sleep on planes, especially going over to Europe.  This time, I took a book, a portable DVD player, Cindy's iPod and my earplugs to help keep the interior noise down.  Things were going well from Detroit to Amsterdam.  I was dozing off and getting a little bit of sleep. That is until about half way through the flight when some young boy two rows in front of me just decided to start screaming and crying.  And the parents just didn't want to seem to do anything about it.  Finally, the father picked him up and began to walk up and down the aisle with the kid - thereby disturbing an even more larger segment of the plane.  

On the flight from Amsterdam to Lyon, a young girl across the aisle from me started screaming from the air pressure buildup on our descent.  I know it had to be excruciating for the kid, but she was screaming bloody murder.  It was all I could do to hear Led Zeppelin on the iPod cranked all the way up.  

Coming back home on Sunday, I was very tired.  I didn't sleep all that well the whole time I was in France (I never seem to do), and we had returned to our hotel from the Diana Krall concert at 1:30 a.m.  I had a 4:00 a.m. wake up and a 4:45 a.m. shuttle to the airport so I knew I wasn't going to get much sleep going in to all this.  I dozed a bit on the flight to Amsterdam, until, you guessed it, a kid began to screaming when we began to descend. 

But when I got on the plane in Amsterdam to go to Minneapolis, I put in my ear plugs and began to read my book.  Within five minutes I was out.   Dead to the world.  I didn't hear the safety instructions, I didn't feel or hear the plane push out, taxi or even take off.  I was sound asleep until - you guessed it - a fussy little girl began to scream holy hell about three rows in front of me about an hour into the flight.  And, once again, it was like the parents weren't going to do anything about it.  Finally after about 15 to 20 minutes of blood curdling little kid screaming, the mother took the little girl to the back of the plane and held on to her back there until she finally calmed down.  But I was up for the duration of the flight after that.  

And finally, on our way back to the Quad Cities from Minneapolis, we had not one, but TWO screaming kids on the descent into the airport.  One was seated two rows in back of me and the little girl sounded like she was getting poked with red hot sticks, she was screaming so wildly.  

I don't know, maybe I'm making a bigger deal out of this than I should be.  But it seems to me that when these kids started their screaming, the parents just ignored them initially.  I don't know if disapproving looks or comments from other people finally made them get up and do something about their kids, but it was just aggrevating to hear these kids bellowing on the flights.  

I'm certainly glad my company gives me the option of either driving or flying to my destinations.  The experience I had going to Europe and back more than solidified my contention that I'd rather drive for five hours than fly for one hour.  

But the one thing that still fascinates me about air travel these days - Cindy and I were sitting at a place on Sunday night after I got home and I said, "Geez, I woke up in Lyon this morning and was in Amsterdam today, too!"  That, to me, is still truly amazing...   

Pizza Palace - Elmhurst, IL

I'm really beginning to like staying in Elmhurst, IL when I go into Chicago.  The town is pretty nice, there's a ton of good places to eat within a 15 minute drive and it's centrally located in the Chicagoland area.  I was looking for something new to try one evening recently and I ended up at the Pizza Palace in downtown Elmhurst.

The Pizza Palace is far from new - it's been around since 1955 when Ed Conway bought an existing pizza place on Division Street in Chicago and moved it out to its present location in suburban Elmhurst (see map).  The decor of the place is dated, but there's certainly nothing bad about that.  I sort of like the "old time" places that have some charm and character. 

There's a bar area with booths as you walk in and a main dining room attached to the side of the bar area.  On the walls of the bar are old pictures of Elmhurst from the 50's and 60's, including a picture of the original Pizza Palace sign and frontage.  And each booth has an old time juke box controller with music filled from back in the 50's and 60's.  I don't know if it worked or not, but it was fun to flip through the selection of songs. 

I got a menu from the waitress/bartender and ordered up an Old Style beer.  In addition to pizza, Pizza Palace also serves up appetizers, salads, sandwiches and main entrees of pasta, steaks, chops and seafood.  I was in the mood for a pizza that evening and they offer their original thin crust along with a pan pizza and a stuffed pizza.  I almost ordered up a pan pizza since I hadn't had one for a while, but I just got a 10" thin crust with the good ol' standbys of Italian sausage, pepperoni and mushroom. 

After I gave the waitress my order, a large group of people who I noticed were over at the rather large hobby store next door - Al's Hobby Shop - came over for dinner.  I'm guessing it was some sort of hobby enthusiast group in for a meeting.  Since the waitress waiting on me was the only waitress for the whole place, my beer ran dry and I didn't get a re-fill for quite some time. 

Also, they had a hockey game up on the television behind the bar when I first came in.  The waitress/bartender turned it to a movie.  There were two other couples seated in the booths on either side of me.  At one point, the "F" word was very loudly emitted on the television thoroughly offending a lady in one of the booths.  It wasn't long before her and her male companion were up and walking out the door.  I thought it was rather strange to have a movie like that up on the screen in what a lot of people would call a "family" restaurant. 

In any event, I got my pizza about 20 minutes after I ordered.  It actually looked larger than 10" in diameter.  It had thin crust cut into 16 square or triangular pieces.  It was topped with the thick sausage chunks and large pieces of pepperoni and fresh mushrooms.  The cheese looked good, as did the Italian seasonings they sprinkled on top. 

And the pizza was, well...  It was OK.  It wasn't outstanding, it wasn't great, but it certainly wasn't bad.   To me, the taste was sort of dull and lifeless.  The crust wasn't crispy crunchy, but it wasn't grease soaked, either.  Compared to pizzas I've had in the Quad Cities, it would smoke a lot of those.  But for the Chicago area, it was serviceable, at best. 

I can see why the place has been in business for over 50 years.  The pizza is good, but not outstanding.  Roberto's and Armand's in Elmhurst have much better pizzas.  I'm glad I gave Pizza Palace a try, but I'll go elsewhere next time I get a pizza hankering while staying in Elmhurst.