Road Tips

Timmerman's Supper Club - East Dubuque, IL

Timmerman's Supper Club has been serving the Tri-State area of NE Iowa, SW Wisconsin and NW Illinois for nearly 50 years.  It had been a LONG time since I was last in the place and when Cindy and I were up in Galena for her birthday, we decided to head to Timmerman's for their famous Sunday morning brunch.  Cindy's not big on buffet brunches, but the selection is so extensive at Timmerman's brunch that we knew we couldn't go wrong. 

Bob and Helen Timmerman met in the mid-30's and married soon after.  Not long after World War II broke out, they opened a bar in Happy Corners, WI.  In 1943, they had a chance to buy the Chateau Supper Club just north of Dubuque and they moved over there.  The Chateau was a favorite place for receptions and parties and the place was known for Helen's fried chicken. 

Nearly 15 years after opening the Chateau Supper Club, they leased the Circle in East Dubuque, offering fine dining and live music.  In 1961, they built Timmerman's Supper Club in its current location, high on a bluff overlooking the meandering Mississippi River (see map).  Timmerman's opened Labor Day weekend in 1961 and featured live jazz trios playing on a regular basis. 

Timmerman's modernistic architecture style brought in customers from miles around as it was always busy.  One Saturday evening in the 1960's, Timmerman's served over 900 meals in their dining room.  It was quite the goldmine for the Timmerman family.

However, in 1970, Bob Timmerman passed away and Helen kept running the day-to-day operation.  The road up to Timmerman's opened the top of the hill for development and along with a number of commercial businesses that built new buildings on top of the hill, Helen Timmerman opened Timmerman's Motor Inn (now called Timmerman's Hotel and Resort) at the opposite end of the parking lot.  Helen Timmerman retired from the business in 1985 and passed away in 2002.  The Timmerman family sold the restaurant and the hotel and the two are now run as separate entities. 

I'd been to Timmerman's a couple times before years ago when I took two separate Dubuque-area dealers out to dinner in the 80's and 90's.  Cindy had been there before, as well, and she said it was probably back in the mid-80's for her.  Timmerman's main menu focuses on steaks, fish and seafood, pasta, chops and, of course, Helen's original recipe fried chicken.  One of their features which I've had in the past is their Pork Normandy - pork loin medallions that are covered with a wild mushroom, shallot and pea pod cream sauce.  It's damn good, I'm tellin' ya. 

Timmerman's Sunday buffet has an omelet bar, fresh sliced ham or roast beef, breakfast and lunch dishes, pastries, fruit, salads and even tacos.  It was packed around 11 a.m. when we showed up, but with Timmerman's large dining rooms (they can seat about 350 people) we were able to be seated right away, albeit at a table not next to a window with a panoramic view of the river.  Our waitress came around to take our drink orders and she invited us to go to the buffet at any time. 

While the buffet is huge, there's still a long line of people milling about the two sided buffet.  Quite honestly, I was still pretty stuffed from our dinner from the night before at Fried Green Tomatoes.  I knew that if I had enough food at Timmerman's I wouldn't eat the rest of the day (and I didn't). 

The line for the omelet bar was pretty long, about 8 or 9 people deep and the guy could only make four omelets at a time.  I opted for Timmerman's Eggs Benedict, a slice of roast beef and a slice of ham, and some of their bacon and sausage.  Cindy got a slice of roast beef, some potatoes and some scrambled eggs. 

Quite honestly, the roast beef was overcooked and dry.  The ham was good, however, and for a buffet Eggs Benedict, it wasn't bad.  We went back one more time to try some other things that were on the buffet, but I had another slab of ham to go along with some veggies off the relish tray they had.  I also had one of their cinnamon rolls which wasn't that bad. 

Overall, I'd give Timmerman's an above average rating for their Sunday brunch buffet, mainly due to the large selection of food they have.  In fact, they may have too much food.  If they'd cut back on some items and focus on others it could be a lot better.  But I don't think that Timmerman's would do that.  

As Cindy and I were talking the night before, we're not that far away from Timmerman's and the Galena area.  It's just about an hour drive from our home to Timmerman's Supper Club and we agreed that when the weather turned nice we were going to make the trek up to East Dubuque and order a meal off the menu.  I'm hoping it's just as good as I remember from years ago.    

Johnnie's Beef - Elmwood Park, IL

Chicago is the home of some of the best Italian beef sandwiches anywhere.  Italian beef sandwiches are a passion with many residents of the area and when you ask a person from Chicagoland which one they like the most, more often than not they'll mention Johnnie's Beef.  Johnnie's Beef has two locations, the original one in Elmwood Park (see map); and the one up in Arlington Heights (see map).  While in Chicago recently, I stopped into the Elmwood Park location for an Italian beef sandwich and a hot dog. 

Actually, I first went to the Johnnie's Beef in Arlington Heights last summer.  While I thought it was good, I was told by an acquaintance in the Chicago area that the one in Elmwood Park was better - much better - than the one in Arlington Heights.  But he also told me, "It's best to know what you want before you go in.  The guys at the counter can get kind of surly."  He described a time when he was there and a lady dawdled for about 15 seconds over what to have and the guy at the register just skipped her.  "She didn't order and she left," he told me. 

The original Johnnie's Beef opened on North Ave. in 1961.  (The one in Arlington Heights opened in 2003.)  In a city where Italian beef can be a passion with many people, it quickly became one of the favorites.  But they're also famous for their lemon-flavored Italian ice.  I hear more people may crave their Italian ice more than the Italian beef sandwiches.  It's basically shaved ice with a lemon flavoring.  I understand it can be habit forming.   

There was a line of people standing out the door when I got to Johnnie's around 1:30 on a cold afternoon recently.  If there's a line and the door is shut do not make the mistake of keeping the door open like one lady did who was standing in front of me.  I heard a gruff, "Inside or out, lady!  Close the door!" come from inside Johnnie's.

At Johnnie's, they are rather snooty and provincial when it comes to their Italian beef sandwiches.  God knows you do not order cheese on your Italian beef at Johnnie's.  And my friend is right - know what you want and keep the line moving.  The guy taking the orders at the cash register can be a little brusque.  I didn't find that to be the case at the Arlington Heights location, however. 

I noticed a lot of people ordering the combo - Italian beef with an Italian sausage.  I've tried the combo at Portillo's in the past and found the sausage really detracts from the taste of the beef.  I ordered an Italian beef, both kinds of peppers, dipped; and a hot dog, everything.  I got a bottle of water to go along with it.  They pretty much make up the sandwiches right in front of you.  And it doesn't take long.  They pull the beef out of the tanks full of tender thin slices and beef gravy (au jus, for the novice Italian beef aficionados).  I'm guessing those tanks have been in use since Johnnie's opened up nearly 50 years ago.  And I'm sure they have something to do with the succulent taste of their sandwiches. 

Johnnie's is small and there's no place to sit inside.  (The Arlington Heights location has a dining area inside and out.)  In the summertime, there are some metal picnic tables outside, but they're usually full of people enjoying the Lemon Ice that Johnnie's is famous for.  I had to take my Italian beef back to the car.  Thankfully, I had a blanket in the backseat that Cindy had pulled out of the trunk before we took off to go somewhere just so she would be warm.  I draped that across my lap and used a "smeg towel" as a bib that I keep in my car for multiple uses. 

(As an aside - I learned to keep a towel in the car from an old rep friend of mine from Georgia years ago.  He called it a "chicken" towel.  "You get yourself a hand towel from a Holiday Inn," he explained to me one time, "and you use it to clean your hands and face when you're eating Kentucky Fried Chicken in the car.  Then the next time you're at a Holiday Inn, you just trade towels."  While I don't eat fried chicken in the car, I've found a towel is handy to clean up any "smegma" spills in a car, hence my term "smeg towel".)

While I honestly don't remember the sandwich at Johnnie's in Arlington Heights as being outstanding, I have to say the one at the original Johnnie's was pretty damn good.  I liked the bread as it was alternately crispy and chewy, and it certainly didn't fall apart from being dipped in the beef gravy.  The beef was tender and had a nice garlic after-taste to it.  The giardiniera was spicy, but far from overpowering.  It was a very good Italian beef sandwich.

The hot dog was above average, but I don't put it on the same par as the one at Portillo's.  Because most of the hot dogs in Chicago are from Vienna Beef, there's not much difference between places and their hot dogs.  But it was good, too messy for a car, but good.

Is Johnnie's Beef the best place to get an Italian beef in Chicago?  I'm not certain, but it is very good.  I still like the consistency of Portillo's - not to mention the convenience of having tons of locations all over the Chicagoland area.  But Johnnie's is better than Mr. Beef, Buona Beef or Al's (I think Mr. Beef is severely overrated).  I can see why people keep coming back to Johnnie's.  But make sure you know what you want before you get to the cash register. 

Fried Green Tomatoes - Galena, IL

It was Cindy's birthday just before Christmas.  Since it was on a weekend, she wanted to go away somewhere for her birthday.  And we always seem to go to Chicago, so this time I wanted to go somewhere we hadn't been for quite some time.  A buddy of mine had recently gone up to Galena over the Thanksgiving holiday.  That gave me an idea.  Cindy has always wanted to go eat at a restaurant near Galena called Fried Green Tomatoes.  So I surprised her with a trip to Galena and dinner at the restaurant.

Fried Green Tomatoes was opened in 1993 by Fred Bonnet, a local commodities broker who once worked in the kitchen at the Eagle Ridge Resort near Galena.  When a local restaurant owner decided that he wanted to slow down, he contacted Bonnet and asked if Bonnet would be interested in taking over his restaurant situated in a historic building south of Galena.  The building was formerly the "Poor Farm" for Jo Daviess County dating back to the 1870's.  Bonnet moved into the restaurant and named it after the film Fried Green Tomatoes, which had been released a couple years before. 

Bonnet was renting the building out south of Galena and he wanted to move to a building that he could own.  A building on Main Street in Galena came available.  The building was a former leather store that was owned by Jesse Grant, the father of President Ulysses S. Grant.  U.S. Grant, fresh out of West Point, moved to Galena in 1860 to help his father's growing business.  When the U.S. Civil War broke out, the younger Grant left to fight for the U.S. Army.  

Over the years, the building has been used as a theater, a saloon, a grocery store and a dozen other businesses since 1838.  Fred Bonnet, and his wife, Mari-Kristen, bought the building in 2004 and moved the restaurant into Galena.  Soon after vacating the old farm building south of town, the owner of that property had the building demolished, much to the consternation of many locals who viewed the structure as historic. 

Fried Green Tomatoes is situated on two floors in downtown Galena (see map).  The main floor has an ornate bar and a dining room area.  Upstairs is a larger dining room, a smaller room that can be used for private dining and a large reception room.  The Bonnet's purposely stripped the walls down to the original bricks and gave it a rustic look, similar to the old farm the restaurant used to be in. 

We had reservations that I made through the Open Table web site for 7:45 p.m.  Actually, Cindy had no idea that we were going to Fried Green Tomatoes for dinner.  It was a big surprise for her .  Downtown Galena was packed with holiday shoppers and people walking around participating in the annual holiday lumenaria celebration.  Parking was going to be tight, but we found that Fried Green Tomatoes has valet parking for $5.00.  We did that and went into the restaurant.  The restaurant was full, there were a ton of people in the bar area and I wondered if our table would be ready at our requested time.  The hostess told me that it would be a short wait and directed us to leave our coats at the coat check room.  Fancy place! 

It wasn't more than two minutes later that the hostess told us to go to the top of the stairs and we'd be seated in the upstairs dining room.  We were met at the top of the stairs by a man who directed us to a table back in the corner, a nice and cozy location.  He left off menus for us, as well as a wine list. 

Our waitress came over to greet us and asked if we wanted anything to drink.  I told her we were going to get a bottle of wine at some point.  She asked, "Have you dined with us before?"  We told her we had not, but were looking forward to it.  She explained that their Fried Green Tomatoes appetizer was something that most people ordered to start their meal.  "It's our most requested item on the menu."  She said they lightly bread and saute green tomato slices in olive oil, then cover them with a homemade marinara and mozzarella cheese, then bake them until the cheese is melted and caramelized.  Ohhhh....  That sounded good.  We signed up for a plate of those while we looked through the menu. 

Fried Green Tomatoes is probably more of an Italian restaurant than anything.  They feature a number of Italian entrees and pasta on the menu.  They also have steaks, chicken and seafood to choose from.  The special that evening was a 6 oz. filet topped with butterflied prawns and served over a bed of garlic mashed potatoes.  A dinner salad and soup also come with the meal. 

When the waitress came back with our Fried Green Tomatoes, she took our order.  Cindy went with the special.  I was torn between veal marsala, veal piccata or the seared scallops.  The waitress said, "Our veal dishes are very good.  You get a large portion of veal with it."  So I went with the veal marsala.  For our wine, we went with a bottle of the Ruffino Chianti, a good hearty Italian red that I like and it was fairly priced at $59 a bottle. 

Now, I recently got a new Blackberry Tour with a camera in it.  I've been wanting to get a camera phone for a long time to be able to take pictures of places where I'm eating and plates of food that I'm having.  The only problem is that the Blackberry Tour has a flash feature that is pretty damn bright and lights up everything for about two seconds before the picture is taken.  If it flashed when the picture was taken, that would be better.  In a fancy place like Fried Green Tomatoes, it's rather intrusive and obnoxious.  Here is a picture of the plate of Fried Green Tomatoes.  In a dark room with the flash feature off, the camera doesn't take very good pictures.   

The Fried Green Tomatoes with the marinara and mozzarella were extremely rich.  It was way too much for two people.  But we finished up the plate by the time our waitress brought out the salad, which was served family style.  It was a large bowl of mixed greens and some veggies topped with a raspberry vinaigrette salad.  It was a good salad, but more than we could finish.  

The waitress took the salad away and then came out with two cups of a homemade pepper/tomato cream soup that was filled with ham, chicken and green peppers.  It was very good, but, once again, very rich.  We weren't certain how we were going to be able to eat our meal with all we'd had up to this point. 

As we were finishing up our soup, a large group of people came up the stairs and began to filter through the dining room.  I looked over and saw the only open table in the room was a four-seater.  There were more than four people heading to that end of the dining room.  By the time the last person in the large group came up the stairs there were about 25 to 30 people.  I wondered what the deal was and suddenly a man in the group announced, "Merry Christmas from the Main Street Carolers!"  And they launched into a Christmas carol.  They sang two carols and then sang, "We Wish You A Merry Christmas" as they exited the dining area.  It was kind of a nice touch during the holiday season.   

Not long after that, our main entrees were brought out by the waitress and a helper.  She wasn't kidding that the veal portions were large at Fried Green Tomatoes.  I had two rather large veal cutlets topped with sauteed fresh mushrooms and swimming in a marsala sauce that seemed to be darker than marsala sauces I've had before. 

Cindy's filet with butterflied prawns looked great and she said the steak was cooked perfectly to her liking.  My veal marsala, however...  Well...

Years ago, my grandmother used to make Swiss steak for nearly every family dinner that she had.  It got to a point that it became a family joke, fully knowing that for every birthday dinner she'd have for one of our immediate family, she'd have Swiss steak.  My sister was born two weeks before me, my cousin was born a week before me and I was born in late April.  Each time my grandmother would have a dinner for our April birthdays - each week - we'd have Swiss steak.  But no one could bring themselves to tell her that we were really burned out on Swiss steak.  To this day, I have a strong aversion to Swiss steak.

The marsala sauce at Fried Green Tomatoes had a tomato base to it, something I'd never ever had before with a veal marsala.  The first bites brought back bitter memories of my grandmother's Swiss steak.  To me, it was almost repulsive.  Not that it was bad, it was very flavorful and the veal was very tender.  But I'd never had a marsala sauce that was so tomato-heavy. 

The waitress came around and asked how our meals were.  I said, "I should have gotten the veal piccata." 

"You don't like it," she asked.

I said, "Well, it's not that it's bad, it's just that I was sort of surprised to find your marsala sauce was a tomato base.  It's sort of heavy and it's tastes like my grandmother's Swiss steak." 

Cindy said, "Oh, God!  And that's not a good thing!"  She knows the story of my grandmother's Swiss steak by heart.  She knows to never make Swiss steak in our house.

She said, "Well, we can certainly rectify that situation.  I can get you the veal piccata."

I replied, "Oh, no.  No, no.  I ordered this, I'll eat this.  I'll just remember the next time I come here I won't order the veal marsala." 

Actually, I have been spoiled by the veal marsala at Ristorante DeMarco's in the western Chicago suburbs.  It's, by far, the best veal marsala I've ever had.  I should just not order veal marsala at any other place because I know I'll be highly disappointed.

The heavy marsala sauce was very rich and filling.  The veal cutlets were served on top of broasted potato wedges.  I didn't have a bite of the potatoes.

(By the way, Fried Green Tomatoes does not have a child's menu.  They also do not have high chairs or booster seats.  Head chef Joe Kuhse doesn't have a deep fryer in the kitchen so they don't make french fries.  Fred Bonnet has said that it isn't that they don't like to have children in the restaurant, it's just that they don't fully accommodate to people with young children.  "If a kid needs fries and a hamburger," Bonnet once said, "we'd go next door to the Paradise bar and get them a burger and fries from there."  In other words, Fried Green Tomatoes is a grown up place.)

Our waitress came around when we were finished with our meals and tempted us with the dessert tray.  We were both stuffed from the meal and I wasn't certain that could do any dessert.  But she said, "All our desserts are made in house.  We're especially known for our tiramisu." 

I began to cave in.  I said, "OK, bring us a piece of tiramisu with two forks."

Cindy said, "Hold on a second, buddy.  I think I want to try the creme brulee."  

I kind of groaned and said, "I don't know if I want creme brulee."  

She said, "OK, get the tiramisu and I'll get the creme brulee.  Then we can share."  

When the waitress brought out the desserts I about died.  The piece of tiramisu was huge.  Cindy's dish of creme brulee was manageable, but I knew there was no way I could even finish the tiramisu, even with Cindy's help.  And we couldn't finish either the tiramisu and creme brulee, but we made a big dent in it.

Other than the veal marsala - which, I'm sure, most people would absolutely love - everything about Fried Green Tomatoes was excellent.  The service was wonderful, the waitress was friendly and accommodating, the food was great, the ambiance was wonderful.  Our car was right by the back door ready for us when we went down to leave the restaurant.  The only thing Cindy regretted over the whole night was that she never got a chance to eat at the original Fried Green Tomatoes out in the country.  Oh well.  Sorry, babe.  We just didn't get it done.  But in the grand scheme fo things, I have little to complain about with this version of Fried Green Tomatoes. 

We remarked many times during our visit to Galena that we were amazed why we didn't come up more often.  We're only 75 minutes away and we've gone a lot further just for dinner before.  With a place like Fried Green Tomatoes, it will be easy to get back up there more often.  And I can't wait to get back. 

The Varsity Club - Columbus, OH

I wanted to talk a bit about our visit to one of the more famous watering holes in the Big Ten Conference, The Varsity Club in Columbus, OH.  It's one of my more favorite places I've found during our trips to different schools when Iowa plays football.  It was our first stop the weekend we went out to see the Hawks play Ohio State in November.

I had been to the Varsity Club - officially called "The Original Varsity Club" - during our previous visits to Columbus.  The hotel we stayed in was literally down the alley from The Varsity Club, so it was easy access to that bar, along with a number of other ones along Lane Ave. near the Ohio State University campus (see map). 

The Varsity Club celebrated their 50th year of existence in 2009, and boasts one of the largest tailgate parties before and after Ohio State home games.  Located just over a quarter mile from Ohio Stadium, the streets and alleys around The Varsity Club are packed with people of all ages on game day.  It's truly a spectacle to see.  Here's a picture of a pre-game crowd in the alley way on the East side of The Varsity Club complements of my friend, Jay Christensen and his great college football web site, The Wiz of Odds.

My friends, Scott Schroeder and Dave Heusmann are big on finding "the" bar when we go on the road for our football trips, so going to The Varsity Club was a no-brainer.  The original building has a bar area and a dining area with a number of tables and booths.  The bathroom is a little dinky and they put port-a-potties outside along the alley for the huge crowds they get on game day.  They have a patio out back that has a roof and some heaters when it gets sort of chilly out.  The patio also has a stage and they'll feature live music out there from time to time. 

There's memorabilia and pictures all over the walls of The Varsity Club.  Scott is a huge history nut when it comes to sports and I know he had a great time just wandering around and looking at all the old pictures of great Ohio State athletes from over the years.  Dave and I were up by the bar looking at a picture of a huge crowd and a lady walked up to us and said, "That taken was right back here in the alley at a game about 10 years ago."  It turns out the lady was a day manager at The Varsity Club. 

She told us some of the history of The Varsity Club, beginning in 1959 when the bar opened, the expansion and the subsequent tail-gate parties they put on since the 70's.  She said, "We get tons of alumni back each weekend there's a game and the crowd here skews a little more older than younger.  We get our share of college kids, but it's the alumni that pack it in on game days." 

One thing that's always struck me about The Varsity Club is the friendliness of the people there - both the workers and Ohio State fans.  We talked with a number of Ohio State fans the night before the game and it was interesting to get their perspective of how their team may do against Iowa.  Frankly, I think a lot of Ohio State fans feared the worst for Saturday's game.  But they also seem to have a kindred emotional dislike with Iowa fans regarding Michigan football.  I think that's what draws the two fans together. 

Dave, Scott and I were standing out at the outside patio bar having some beers and watching some sports on some of the flat panel televisions they had above the bar while the women enjoyed the relative warmth of the inside.  It was actually a very nice mid-November evening in Columbus with temps in the 50's.  It was getting later in the evening and we were trying to figure out where to go for dinner.  I had picked up a menu inside The Varsity Club to see what they all had.  It features some typical sports bar food - appetizers, salads, burgers and sandwiches, primarily.  I did see some people getting pizza and it looked pretty good.  But pizza was voted out by the group.  We were thinking of going to get ribs, but the same day manager that Dave and I had talked to earlier inside was the one who gave us the tip on going to El Vaquero.  We're glad she did. 

Both before and after the game on Saturday, we tried to get close to The Varsity Club.  We sort of walked over by there on our way to the stadium, but with the huge crowds down Lane Ave. and all around the bar, we decided it would be too much of a hassle to get in.  After the game, we'd driven over there, but we were having a tough time finding a parking spot that wouldn't get our rented SUV towed away.  Plus, we saw that the place was still overly packed long after the game was over.  We decided to cut our losses and go get dinner. 

I've always enjoyed The Varsity Club on my visits to Columbus.  It's sort of "ground zero" for football fans, but it has a great sports bar atmosphere, too.  But it's truly a monument to thousands of Ohio State alumni and fans.  And one that appears will endure for years and years.   

Rastrelli's - Clinton, IA

We'd been hearing about Rastrelli's in Clinton, IA for a number of years.  We'd heard that their Italian food was very good, but their pizza was the thin crust with the big chunks of Italian sausage that we crave in a good pizza.  On one recent Sunday afternoon, Cindy suggested we take a little drive up the river road and find Rastrelli's to have a pizza.

Pete Rastrelli was an Italian immigrant who ended up in Clinton in the late 20's as a candy maker.  In the candy shop where he worked he met a daughter of Italian immigrants, Ida.  In 1929, they married and ten years later they opened their own candy store - Rastrelli's Revere Candy Shop - in the old Revere Hotel in downtown Clinton.  In addition to selling candy, Pete and Ida also had an old-fashioned soda bar that sold homemade ice cream, burgers and sandwiches. 

When the Revere Hotel was sold in 1950, Pete and Ida were forced to move to a much smaller location in the Lyons neighborhood area on the north side of Clinton.  But they also expanded their menu with spaghetti, chopped steaks and chicken.  Their son, Bob Rastrelli, came home from the Navy and was telling his parents about this new food that he had during his travels, something called Pizza.  With the candy business struggling, Pete began to learn how to make pizza and traveled to Chicago with a friend to look at different pizzerias and how they conducted business.  Armed with enough knowledge on how to make pizza, Pete and Ida changed their business nearly overnight.  Suddenly, Rastrelli's Revere Candy Shop became Rastrelli's Pizza Shop.  It was an instant hit with the locals in Clinton.  

Pete and Ida ended up buying and moving into the old Madden building in 1964, not far from their small shop.  They added a number of items to the menu and the business boomed in the expanded location.  Rastrelli's is located in the same building today. 

The Rastrelli's, with the help of their children, made their own sauces for their Italian dishes and pizzas from scratch.  They also ground their own sausage and beef for the pizzas and Italian food.  That continues today as Pete and Ida's son, Peter, runs the family business. 

One thing I found out is that Clinton's Main Street is nowhere near the downtown area.  We were trying to find Main Street, but Cindy thought it was up to the north side.  I didn't have Rastrelli's address, but I knew they were on Main Street.  I punched in 220 Main in the GPS and it took us up to the north side and literally right to Rastrelli's which is located at 237 Main (see map). 

It was about three in the afternoon and there was a number of people in the restaurant.   We were seated in a booth in the main dining room and given menus.  Our waitress came out with a basket of homemade bread - a Rastrelli's trademark.  I had a piece and it was wonderful.  So wonderful that I had to have another.  I had to stop or I would have gotten full on bread and not been able to have the pizza.  

Even though we were going to get pizza, I got to looking at the large amount of pasta dishes they have at Rastrelli's.  My stomach took notice at the Pasta Carbonara - they take strips of smoked pork loin and saute them with garlic. Then they add fresh bacon, parsley, cheese, and creamy besciamella sauce served with homemade penne rigate pasta.  Ooo, that sounded great.  They also make a chicken carbonara instead of the pork carbonara. 

Rastrelli's also does steaks, fish, chicken, sandwiches and burgers.  They also have a pretty impressive salad bar toward the front of the dining area.  I also noticed something on the menu called a Pizzaaaaaaaaaaarelli - it's basically a deep fried calzone stuffed with Italian sausage, pepperoni, mushroom,  mozzarella cheese and sauce.  I'm not certain how a deep fried calzone would really taste. 

But we were going to get pizza, so we ordered up an Italian sausage and pepperoni pizza, a large (14").  Cindy also wanted a tossed house salad, but didn't want to go through the salad bar.  She said, "The bread was bad enough.  If I go through the salad bar I won't want to have any pizza!"  The waitress said she'd bring a small dinner salad out topped with Rastrelli's homemade Italian dressing. 

Cindy's salad was not bad and it wasn't long after she finished the pizza showed up at the table.  It looked promising.  There were big chunks of Italian sausage.  There were a lot of pepperoni slices on top.  The cheese had caramelized perfectly on top.  I couldn't wait to dig in. 

From the first bite I was sort of perplexed.  Yeah, the crust was crisp, yet chewy.  The sauce was, well, sort of bland.  It wasn't tangy, it wasn't sweet.  It wasn't even all that tomato-y.  It was just sort of there.  The Italian sausage was also bland.  While Cindy said she could taste a hint of fennel in the meat, I got nothing.  It was lifeless and flavorless.  I was highly disappointed from what I was eating.  After being told that Rastrelli's had some of the best thin crust pizza around, I have to say it was average, at best.  There was no pizazz to the taste. 

Although our waitress was thorough and pleasant, and Rastrelli's was a nice place to eat, I have to say that I was not impressed by their pizza.  I was hoping that it would be worth the 45 minute drive up to Clinton from time to time, but I won't be heading to Rastrelli's for their pizza anytime soon. 

Schmidt's Sausage Haus - Columbus, OH

After a tough overtime loss to Ohio State, the six Iowa fans in our group were pretty much wrung out during our weekend in Columbus.  We made it back to the SUV, parked about a mile and a half away from Ohio Stadium, had a couple quick beers and waited for the traffic to die out.  We had talked about going over to The Varsity Club for a couple beers, but by the time we got over there it was past 8:30 p.m. and we decided we needed to go get something to eat.  One spot that we'd heard of that was on Man vs. Food on The Travel Channel was a place back over in the German Village area of Columbus, Schmidt's Sausage Haus.  (To see that episode, click here.)  We programmed the address into the GPS and took off. 

In 1886, German immigrant J. Fred Schmidt opened a meat packing house in the heart of the German Village.  Schmidt's meats and sausage became the staple of thousands of German people who had come over to America in the late 1800's and early 1900's.  Schmidt's meat has been sold in grocery stores throughout Ohio for years and years.  Fred Schmidt's son, George, took over the meat packing business in the 1920's and the business continued to thrive through The Great Depression.  Schmidt would regularly have his men go to areas in Columbus and hand out free meat and sausage to the unemployed. 

Fred Schmidt's grandson, George F. Schmidt, opened the restaurant in 1967, just around the corner from the family's meat packing plant.   Schmidt hired a number of German ladies to work in the kitchen using old world German recipes that were handed down from generation to generation.  The recipes for making Schmidt's sausages, bratwurst and other meats are the same that J. Fred Schmidt used when he opened the packing plant nearly 125 years ago.  Today, Geoff, John and Andrew Schmidt - great grandson's of J. Fred, run the family's restaurant.  And a fifth generation Schmidt, Kyle (Geoff's son), is the head griller at Schmidt's Sausage Haus.  Now, to me, the family lineage through the place is pretty neat. 

One of Schmidt's more famous sausages is the one they call the "Bahama Mama".  It's a blend of beef and pork, and then ground jalapenos, mustard seed and other secret ingredients are added to make it possibly the most popular sausage they feature.  While it's spicy, it doesn't burn your taste buds.  I couldn't wait to try one. 

We found the restaurant (see map) and even before 9 p.m. there was still an hour wait for a table.  Schmidt's Sausage Haus doesn't take reservations, so the wait can be up to two hours we were told.  We talked to a couple who went to school at Ohio State and they lived up in Michigan.  When they'd come down to see a football game, which was a couple three times a year, they would always have dinner at Schmidt's.  "I've been coming here for years," the man told us.  "I graduated from Ohio State back in the early 70's and the food is as good today as it was when I was going to school years ago."  That night, they had their two teen-aged children with them. 

We ended up over at the small bar area as we waited for our table.  They had a number of German-style beers on tap to choose from.  One beer that caught my eye was a local beer from the Columbus Brewing Company.  They had a pale ale and I tried that.  It wasn't bad, but a little too sweet for my taste.

At the bar, we started up a conversation with two brothers from near Philadelphia, one of which had got his doctorate at Ohio State.  They chatted us up about the times they've eaten at Schmidt's Sausage Haus over the years.  The non-doctor brother said, "We don't have anything even close to this from where we're from.  I mean, there are German restaurants and the like.  But none of them are anything close to as good as this place is."

By the way, I just want to mention that each time we've gone out to Columbus, the people there have been so friendly and appreciative that we made the trip out to Ohio State.  Oh, you still get the occasional jack-asses.  But for the most part, the people have always been great to us.  One guy told me a few years back that he enjoys coming out to Iowa when Ohio State plays in Iowa City.  "By far, the best trips we have in the Big Ten is the one out to Iowa City," he said.  "You people are always great to us." 

It wasn't quite 45 minutes when we were called to get our table.  In the main dining room, they had an accordion player and a drummer dressed up in traditional lederhosen playing German polka music.  While it was fun to listen to, we were hoping that we didn't have to sit near them while they played.  Thankfully, they put us in a far back room at a table for six.  At the table next to us was the family of four from Michigan.  It was well past nine p.m. and the huge burger that I'd had earlier at Thurman Cafe had worn off long before. 

We were given menus, but the hallmark of Schmidt's Sausage Haus is their "Autobahn" buffet.  The Autobahn allows patrons to try a little bit of everything from their sausages to their tantalizing sides such as red cabbage, homemade sauerkraut with pork bits, and green beans with spatzel.  And it's all you can eat for, I think it was, about $12.95.  But I was thinking of something more along the lines of traditional German food like a schnitzel or sauerbraten and they didn't have that on the buffet.  But I did want to try one of the Bahama Mama's, too.  I was completely torn as to what to do.

When our waitress came over, I said, "I want to try a Bahama Mama, but I'd also like to get sauerbraten or weiner schnitzel, something like that." 

She said, "Oh, we have something called Fred's Special that isn't on the menu.  We give you a Bahama Mama and then your choice of a traditional dinner with sides.  The portion of the traditional dinner is smaller.  You get all that for $12.50."

Almost simultaneously, Scott, Dave and I said, "Sold!"  I ordered the weiner schnitzel, but I had a hard time deciding between that or the sauerbraten, German meatloaf, or their cabbage rolls stuffed with ground beef, pork and rice.  I got red cabbage and the sauerkraut for my sides.  Cindy ordered up the sauerbraten and she got the red cabbage and green beans with spatzel.  We could tell we were in for a memorable evening. 

When our food showed up, I was pleasantly surprised with the portions they gave me on the plate.  The schnitzel was good sized and I got a full sized Bahama Mama sausage.  When I cut into the Bahama Mama, it had a wonderful "snap" to it.  It was thick and juicy.  And I wouldn't have called it all that spicy.  Oh, it did have a little "bite back" after you swallowed it, but it wasn't anything that was overly spicy. 

My weiner schnitzel was excellent, as well.  The veal cutlet was pretty good sized and very tender.  I could easily cut it with my fork.  But what made it was Schmidt's mushroom gravy they put on top of the schnitzel.  Oh, man!  Was it great.  I wanted to see if I could find the recipe for it.   It was just outstanding. 

Cindy offered me a bite of her sauerbraten in exchange for a bite of a Bahama Mama.  She said, "Oh, my God, Will!  That's fabulous!  And I don't like sausage all that much!"  And her sauerbraten was just scrumptious, as well.  They used a ginger gravy on the sauerbraten that I liked almost as much as the mushroom gravy I had on my schnitzel.  

After dinner, we were tempted by one of Schmidt Sausage Haus' signature items - their legendary cream puffs.   The cream puffs are baked in house and weigh about a half pound.  They're huge.  Cindy and I decided we'd share one, but I was so stuffed from my meal that I knew that I wouldn't be able to eat maybe more than two bites.  We'd seen the cream puffs earlier in the case, but you don't really know how big they are until they plop one down in front of you on a plate.  We got the vanilla cream puff.  I'm not big into cream puffs, and I have to say that  I can't quite figure out what all the hoopla was about them.  I found it to be somewhat bland and the puff was kind of chewy.  I did have just a couple bites and I thought it was vastly overrated.  

All in all, our meals with beer, tea and the cream puffs (times 3) came to just over $105 bucks.  I found that to be overly reasonable.  I paid for it on my credit card and the other guys just threw in cash for their part of the bill.  I gave our waitress a $20 buck tip for the effort she gave us.  She was very good.  

I wouldn't mind heading back out to Columbus to try Schmidt's again at some point.  It was a fun place.  I was intrigued by their German meatloaf and I really liked the Bahama Mama.  They ship Bahama Mama's from Columbus all over the United States.  I may have to break down and get a box of them shipped to me.

Van's Pizza Pub and Grill - Davenport, IA

One of my first posts on "Road Tips" had to do with the dearth of good pizza places in the Quad Cities of Iowa and Illinois.  You can see that post by clicking here.  (For those of you who are geographically challenged, the four cities that make up the Quad's are Rock Island and Moline, IL; and Davenport and Bettendorf, IA.)  Until very recently, for as many pizza places there are in this town, there were only two or three that I would deem as worthy.  But those two or three are still not what I would call great pizza. 

Quad City style pizza is usually a thicker, chewy crust and they use ground sausage instead of Italian Sausage chunks on top.  That is, unless you're Happy Joe's Pizza that uses a form of processed sausage pellets on their pizza.  Harris Pizza is still the King of Pizza in the Quad Cities with thousands of devotees still going through their doors to get the same type of pizza they were brought up eating.  Over the years, Harris Pizza has spawned a number of "me too" pizza places that make pizzas almost exactly like Harris.  As one friend told me recently, "Why would I want to go to a Harris Pizza 'clone' when I can just get the same damn pizza at Harris?" 

Antonella's in downtown Davenport has good thin crust pizza, but there's still something missing in the taste of the dough and the sauce that I'm looking for.  Lunardi's has very good deep dish pizza, but it's nowhere as close to Lou Malnati's in Chicago.  We really like the calzones at Stashu's and Son's, but they also use ground sausage.  When I order a calzone from Stashu and Son's, I order it with their cajun sausage where they just take a link and cut it up into pieces.  It's better than their ground sausage, but it still ain't the big chunks of Italian Sausage that I'm looking for. 

The 11th St. Precinct in the East Village of Davenport, just down the hill from where we live, has a good thin crust pizza with Italian sausage chunks.  But they have a funky tomato sauce that they use on their pizza that isn't overly pleasing to my taste.  Plus it's pretty expensive.  There was a Nancy's Pizza franchise in Davenport for a number of years and they had good stuffed and thin-crust pizza, but it wasn't as good as what I'd find in Chicago.  It went out of business about four or five years ago and there's been a void in the market ever since. 

Things had been getting so desperate in regard to what I would call "good" pizza in the Quad Cities that Cindy and I had talked countless times over the past couple of years about opening our own pizza place just to show how real pizza should be made in the Quad Cities.  But we also realized that the large number of people who think Harris Pizza is "real" pizza would probably hurt our chances.

About four months ago, a new place opened up in Davenport called "Van's Pizza Pub and Grill".  It opened in what was the old Pat McGuire's location on Harrison Street (see map).  The people behind Van's Pizza are the guys who are behind Kelly's Irish Pub on 53rd Ave. in Davenport - Marc Van Severen and Dan Kelly.   They brought in Dan's brother, Dave, to be the managing partner of Van's.  (Marc and Dave are pictured at the left.) Dave Kelly used to own and operate The Hub in Cedar Falls, and before that he managed The Other Place on the Hill near the Northern Iowa campus.  Dave moved back to the Quad Cities a couple years ago and was helping Dan out at Kelly's from time to time.

(Update - I've since been told that Dave Kelly recently left Van's to pursue a vocation that is more in line with his degree from Northern Iowa.  Something that is closer to a real "9 to 5" job.  The hours one puts in while running a restaurant/bar are just horrific at times.  Marc and Dan Kelly are still involved with the business.)

 

Now, I have a personal "in" with the Kelly boys through my friendship that I forged with Bob and Leo Kelly who play in Wicked Liz and the Bellyswirls, one of the more popular groups in the Quad Cities.  (Leo, Bob and Greg Hipskind also play in Superfly Samurai when Liz isn't fronting the Bellyswirls.)  I've come to know Dan and their other brother, Jerry, pretty well over the years, and I've got to know Dave by running into him at various places around town.  When I found out that Dan, Dave and Marc were going to open a new place in the old Pat McGuire's - and that they were going to specialize in pizza - my initial fear was that it would be another place that sells the same style of Quad City pizza like everyone else.

But in talking with Dan one evening last fall, he told me, "We're going to fashion it after a Chicago-style, thin-crust pizza.  We'll have Italian beef sandwiches, Italian sausage sandwiches, Chicago-style hot dogs, the works, man.  We're bringing a bit of Chicago to the Quad Cities.  For as close as we are to Chicago, there's no one that is embracing that style of food here." 

When I asked him if he was going to have real big chunk Italian fennel sausage for their pizza, Dan said, "Oh, you bet!"  I couldn't wait. 

The Kelly's and Van Severen bought Pat McGuire's from Mike and Pat Shouse, the original owners of the business they opened in 1986.  Pat McGuire's was one of our favorite places to go for a quick bite on a late Saturday night, they had a great beer selection with over 100 different beers to choose from and they also had a pretty good Sunday brunch that we used to hit from time to time.  I especially liked their $1.00 vodka bar where you could make your own Bloody Mary's. 

When the Shouse's retired in 2004, they ended up selling out to a cousin, Pat Kilfoy, and his partner, Pat Doyle, who own and operate Rookies Sports Bar in Davenport.  Kilfoy and Doyle opened up a new place couple years ago called Jersey Grille not far from our house.  (Surprisingly, Jersey Grille also has pretty good pizza and calzones, too.)  Once Jersey Grille opened, Kilfoy and Doyle defaulted on their contract and the business went back to the Shouse's. 

The Shouse's initially said that they welcomed getting back into the business because they found retirement in their early 50's as "boring".  (I sure as shit wouldn't think being retired in my early 50's would be boring!)  It appeared they were all set to reopen the restaurant, but suddenly the Kelly's and Van Severen swooped in and took the business off their hands.  Dan said that he didn't want to have Pat McGuire's be in competition as a second Irish bar in Davenport, so they decided to go another way and that's how they came up with the concept for Van's Pizza Pub and Grill.

We had gone to Van's a couple times after it opened to get salads or a sandwich, but had never tried the pizza yet.  One Sunday night recently, we met our next door neighbors, George and Hanna, at Van's, specifically to get pizza.  

The lay out of the restaurant is similar to what Pat McGuire's had.  The big changes are the menu, which is smaller than Pat McGuire's, but still a work in progress according to Dave and Dan Kelly; the televisions, which are all new flat panel TV's replacing the old, worn out tube televisions that were the same televisions in the place when I first started going there over 18 years ago; and the restrooms have been enlarged.  The restrooms at Pat McGuire's were notoriously small.  The Kelly's and Van Severen tore out the two restrooms and made it the men's room.  The ladies restroom was built from scratch toward the back corner of the restaurant that was sort of a "catch-all" area when it was Pat McGuire's.  Believe me, the larger bathrooms are welcomed as I sometimes stood six or seven deep waiting to use the men's in the past. 

We took a booth up on the upper level of the dining area and we saw Jerry Kelly sitting at a table near the bar.  He came over to talk with us for a bit and then Dave came over.  Dave greeted us and I said, "Well, Dave, I have had some world class pizzas in my day.  Tonight, I'm hoping to find out if your pizza passes the test."

He said, "We'll try our best to please you, buddy." 

I ordered up a large (14") Italian sausage and pepperoni and had them put mushrooms on one half as Cindy doesn't like mushrooms.  George and Hanna got the same size and had Italian sausage and black olives.  George said, "I love black olives on everything."  

Now, we have a rule in our family that we don't go to a restaurant that has been opened for less than three months.  We want to give them time to shake out the process, making sure that everything is working on all cylinders before we give the place a try.  On this visit, I think Van's had been open for about 10 weeks.

When Dave brought our pizza out, he said, "Well, Will, I've got good news and bad news.  The good news is that I have one pizza here - I don't know whose it is, but it's here.  The bad news is that the second pizza, well, they forgot to put cheese on the pizza.  We're remaking it right now."  

After Dave left, George sort of snickered and said, "Man, what kind of people does he have working in the kitchen?  How can you forget to put cheese on a pizza?"

Fortunately for Cindy and me, it was George and Hanna's pizza that they screwed up.  We offered to wait on their pizza, but George said, "Naw, that's OK.  Go ahead and eat!"

And from the first bite I could tell - this was not another Harris Pizza clone.  This was unlike any pizza I've ever had in the Quad Cities.   The crust was crisp on the edges, but chewy in the middle.  The sauce was rich and tangy, and the Italian sausage was GREAT!!!  The chunks were large, meaty and had that great fennel taste.  I was in ecstasy.  FINALLY!  A great pizza in the Quad Cities! 

I told George and Hanna as I was devouring my pizza that the wait would be well worth it.  Dave brought out their pizza to them, apologized profusely for the screw up and offered to take something off their total on their bill.  Dave then asked me, "So, what do you think?"

I said, "I think it's the best f***ing pizza I've ever had in the Quad Cities, Dave.  That's what I think." 

George and Hanna also loved their pizza.  When asked if he liked it, George said, "Oh, yeah.  This is great pizza." 

And he was amazed at the value.  Their pizza was just a smidge over $13 bucks.  George said, "This is a lot of pizza for $13 bucks."   

Since our initial visit to Van's Pizza Pub and Grill, we've gone back a couple more times for pizza.  One evening, we were with our friends Scott and Marcia and we each ordered a 14" pizza.  The waiter came back and said they were out of 14" pizza dough.  Hmm... OK, I'm sort of bewildered as to how a pizza joint can run out of dough.  They were very busy that evening, so I'm guessing they make up the dough beforehand and ply it out as the pizzas are ordered.  So we ended up getting three - 12" pizzas.  We ordered an Italian sausage and mushrooms; Italian sausage and pepperoni; and an Italian sausage and jalapenos. 

The Italian sausage and jalapenos was the first to come to the table.  They could have taken it out of the oven a couple minutes earlier as the outer crust was almost burned beyond recognition.  The Italian sausage and pepperoni came next and it wasn't much better on the crispy scale.  Then our waiter said that they screwed up the third pizza - a troubling trend in that we've been there for pizza on four visits and they've screwed up a pizza twice.  When the third pizza finally showed up at our table, the edges were almost black.  We could still eat it, but we just didn't eat the crust.  The toppings were still plentiful and fresh, but the pizzas were definitely overcooked.  If they had taken 'em out of the oven three minutes sooner, they would have been much better. 

Overall, I think Van's pizza is very, very good - that is, when it's not overcooked.  It's not the best I've ever had as far as a thin crust is concerned.  I still think Salerno's on West Grand in Chicago has the best thin crust pizza I've ever had.  Other than my concern that the pizza is inconsistent on my visits over the past couple of months, I think Van's quite possibly has the best pizza in the Quad Cities.  When they're on top of their game, it's the best.  When they aren't, it's still better than the majority of pizza places in the area. 

Schoop's - Monee, IL

Once again, I apologize to whoever it was who told me to try a Schoop's hamburgers and write about my experience.  I rely upon suggestions and when I can't remember who it was who told me so I can publicly thank them, well, I feel like a heel.  Actually, I was surprised I'd never heard of Schoop's before.  When I did some research into Schoop's, I found out a lot about the Indiana-based burger chain that began in 1948. 

Allen Schoop had a vision that he would sell hamburgers made with only the freshest of beef when he opened his small burger shop in Hammond, IN.  He had only burgers, fries, chili, soup and pie on his menu when he started out.  In 1959, Schoop opened a second location in nearby Munster, IN, a 36-seat establishment that was always full.  Ten years after he opened the Munster location, he doubled the size of the restaurant.  People would still stand in line to get one of Schoop's burgers. 

Mark Schoop took over for his father in the 70's, and in 1982 he welcomed Rick and Randy Newell on board to help with an expansion of Schoop's throughout Northwest Indiana and the southern suburbs of Chicago.  Today, there are 15 Schoop's locations in Indiana - mainly in the NW corner of the state - and 5 locations in south suburban Chicago.

I had to drive between Chicago and Champaign recently and found that there was a Schoop's not far from Interstate 57 in Monee, IL at the Monee-Manhattan Road exit (see map).  I timed my trip so I would get to Schoop's in the middle of the afternoon. 

The Schoop's in Monee is more like a 50's style diner.  In fact, there were a lot of pictures and posters on the wall of celebrities from the 50's and 60's.  I sat in a booth and a 60-something year old waitress came over carrying a menu.  She asked, "Do you need to see a menu, hon, or do you know what you want?"  I took the menu from her since I'd never been to a Schoop's before. 

In addition to burgers, Schoop's also offers a number of sandwiches, salads, shakes and malts.  Their signature burger is called the "Mickey" (right) - a burger patty topped with two slices of American cheese.  And they basically had two different double cheeseburgers.  The "Special" cheeseburger has two patties with one slice of cheese, while the "Double" cheeseburger had two patties with TWO slices of cheese.  It was 50 cents more than the "Special" cheeseburger. 

Since I hadn't had a thing to eat all day and wasn't planning on having dinner that evening, I got the Double cheeseburger.  The waitress asked, "Do you want everything on that, hon?"  I said that sounds fine.  "Pickle, mayo, lettuce, tomato," she asked.  I told her to hold the mayo.   I found out later that everything is ketchup, mustard, pickle relish, and onion.   I should have told her to hold the pickle relish.  Relish is good on a Chicago-style hot dog, but I don't know about putting it on burgers.  

Similar to Smashburger, Schoop's takes a 1/3 pound ball of fresh - never frozen - ground beef and the cook literally smashes it into the grill.  The juices that come out initially help put a crust on the outside edge of the burger - a true 30's style burger.  Like I've said in the past, smashing a burger just goes against every rule I've ever learned for making a burger, but it seems to work when they do it on a flat griddle-style grill. 

It wasn't busy in Schoop's at that point of the day, so I was able to get my double cheeseburger pretty quick.  About 10 to 12 minutes after I ordered it, the waitress brought it out to me.  It was big.  Man, it was big!  I thought, "Well, you ordered it.  Now, eat it."

From the first bite, I found out what the fans of Schoop's have known for over 60 years.  This is a damn fine burger.  The edges were crispy, the burger was still juicy, the bun was light and tasty.  Even with all the toppings, I could still get the taste of the fresh burger meat in every bite.  Heck, I didn't even mind the pickle relish, either!  I liked the diner feel to the place, the waitress was great.  There was nothing to not like about Schoop's.

All in all, the Schoop's burger was very good.  Very, very good.  I was pleasantly surprised and somewhat taken aback by how good it was.  I'm still surprised that I'd never heard of Schoop's before.  Add to the fact that I've probably driven right past a Schoop's in my travels on the south side of Chicago or over in NW Indiana over the past few years. Once again, thanks to whoever sent me the message turning me on to Schoop's.  This visit to Schoop's will definitely not be my last one. 

El Vaquero - Columbus, OH

There are times when I go to a restaurant where the expectations are high and the food is not all that good.  Then there are times when I visit a place where the expectations are not as great that completely blows me away.  I had the latter experience recently during our trip to Columbus, OH at a Mexican restaurant by the name of El Vaquero.

El Vaquero is an 11-location chain in and around the Columbus area.  El Vaquero means "the cowboy" in Spanish and the motif of El Vaquero is styled after a northern Mexican ranch.  The menu is one of the largest I've ever encountered in a Mexican restaurant and it offers a number of different Mexican specialties.  They have the usual beef, chicken and combination entrees.  But they also offer seafood and a number of house specialties.  One other thing they do at El Vaquero is offer the customer to "mix and match" their own combinations.  And they also have a number of vegetarian entrees to choose from.

We'd gotten into Columbus, got checked into the hotel and ended up going to The Varsity Club near the Ohio State University campus to get a few beers before we decided where to go for dinner.  I've found on these trips that when you're with a group of people and there's not much of a consensus as where to go to dinner, it's best to just go with the flow and hope for the best.  The pizza at The Varsity Club looked good, but a couple people didn't want pizza.  There's a Damon's Ribs not far from the place and my friend Scott was sort of up for that.  OK, we can go.  I've had Damon's Ribs before and they're not that bad.  Not that great - but not that bad.  

We were standing around finishing our beers talking with one of the managers from The Varsity Club who was off duty and drinking a beer with her boyfriend at the bar.  She said, "Where are you going for dinner?"

Scott said, "I think we're going to go check out Damon's."

She said, "Oh, honey.  Wait a minute.  That Damon's over there isn't all that great.  There's a number of other better places in the area to eat than Damon's."

She asked, "Do you guys like Mexican?"  We all said we did.  She said, "There's a place just down the road from Damon's on the opposite side of the street called El Vaquero.  It's got the best Mexican food in town.  But go to the one over here on Olentangy River Road.  There's a bunch of 'em around town, but that one is the best of them all."   

So, our dinner plans changed just like that.  When we told the ladies that we were going to get Mexican instead of ribs they all voiced their pleasure over that. 

Now, I'm always a little leery of people who claim that something's the "best" in town.  When we pulled up to the restaurant on Olentangy River Road (see map) there were a lot of cars in the parking lot.  That was a good sign.  Entering the restaurant, it had the typical Mexican decor - lots of stucco on the walls with lighted beer signs all over the place.  It was sort of loud and manic in the place, but it was still inviting.   In short, it looked like any other Mexican restaurant we've been to.  We got our menus along with chips and salsa.  I was hoping this place didn't suck.   

Along with a Dos Equis Amber beer for me, we ordered up a pitcher of El Vaquero's house margaritas.  The chips were OK, but the salsa was very good.  The house margaritas weren't bad, either.  In fact, they were pretty damn good. 

The menu is so vast and varied that I had a hard time figuring out what I wanted.  They had so many specialty dishes on the menu that I knew I couldn't just get a chimichanga or a burrito for dinner.  One thing that stuck out was something called a Birria Estilo Jalisco.  It was shredded machaca beef with a red Jalisco sauce served with rice, refried beans and pico de gallo.  Soft shell flour tacos came with the plate so you could make your own fajita-style tacos.  That sounded really good.

They also had a carnitas (pork) dinner on the menu, along with Zarape - marinated strips of steak or chicken, paired with ground pork sausage and topped with mozzarella cheese and served fajitas style.  They also had "Fajitas del Mar" - grilled shrimp and scallop fajitas.  I'd never had scallops on fajitas before and that sounded rather intriguing.  A lot of stuff sounded great.  But one thing caught my eye - fish tacos.

They grill three soft corn tacos and fill them with fish and mango pico de gallo, then put a dollop of chipotle cream sauce on top.  The only question I had was if the fish was breaded or unbreaded.  Breaded fish tacos are always a deal breaker for me.  

When the waiter came around to take our order, I asked him how they prepared their fish for the tacos.  His English skills weren't very good, but I was able to figure out they were grilled and not deep fat fried.  Sold!

It wasn't long after we all ordered - well less than 10 minutes - when our food showed up at the table.  While my fish tacos weren't overly big, they had ample grilled white fish in the shell.  From the first bite, oh man!  I was in heaven.  The taste sensations of the grilled fish, the fresh corn tortilla shell, the mango pico de gallo and, most importantly, the chipotle cream sauce were just out of this world.  Actually, I believe the somewhat spicy and smoky flavored chipotle cream sauce is what made the tacos so good.  I've had fish tacos before, but I never had that many taste explosions in my mouth with each bite.  I added a couple drops of Cholula to the tacos to give them even more of a zippy taste. 

Similarly, everyone at the table agreed that their selections were "very good" to "excellent".  I made short work of my three fish tacos and drank another beer while everyone finished their meal.  Cindy gave me a bite of her chile relleno.  It was had a smoky taste to it and was very good, as well.  But I was digging the afterglow of my fish tacos. 

I went into El Vaquero with an open mind and an empty stomach.  I hoped the place would be OK.  It was better than OK, it was outstanding.  It was some of the best - if not THE best - fish tacos I've ever had in my life.  I've got to figure out how they make that chipotle cream sauce.  It was what made those tacos fabulous.  We never did see the manager back at The Varsity Club to thank her for turning us on to El Vaquero.  But I'm sure she knew that we liked it.  It was a much better choice than Damon's would have ever been.   

Smoking Harry's - Creston, IL

On my continued quest to find a great burger when I travel, I found a place in Creston, IL - a small town of about 550 people near Rockford (see map) - by the name of Smoking Harry's.  I was doing some on-line research and found that Smoking Harry's was named by WIFR-TV, a local television station, as having the best burgers in the greater Rockford area.  Given that it's about 15 to 20 miles from Rockford, it's sort of a stretch.  But I thought I'd stop in there for lunch recently. 

Harry Coleman (left) is the "Harry" in Smoking Harry's.  I thought that the place was possibly a barbecue place with the term "Smoking" in the name.  But I soon found out when I walked into the small restaurant/bar along Highway 38 that was far from the reason.  The real reason was wafting through the air.  Harry was sneaking drags off a cigarette behind the bar - a no-no in any public place in Illinois.  But this just didn't seem to be a public place.  It was like the Coleman's opened their first floor up, put in a small bar in the front living room and took one of their back rooms and put four tables into it.  And that's basically what happened.

Harry and his wife - both well into their 70's - bought the place in 1988.  Harry's wife, who was seated at the bar with an oxygen tank attached to her nose, told me that they lived upstairs.  "We actually have quite a bit of room up there," she told me.  Harry's son works the grill during the day and evening.  There was some argument between Harry and his wife as to when they open up for the day.  "We open up at 8:30 every day," Harry said.

His wife countered, "Oh, when have we ever opened up at 8:30?!  You may be down here at 8:30 having coffee, but the doors ain't open!"

I immediately liked them both. 

I was the only person in the place when I got there around 1:30.  I told Harry, "I understand you have a pretty good burger here."

He said, "They tell me that.  We won an award for our burger."  He pointed out the plaque and a copy of the article from the local paper proclaiming Smoking Harry's as having the best burger in Rockford. 

I said, "Well, let's try one.  I'll take one of your cheeseburgers with everything."  Everything is adding lettuce, tomato, pickles and onion.  Mustard and ketchup are available upon request.

While Harry's son worked the grill, I got to talking about Harry's signature 3/4 lb. burger with him.  "We worked on trying to find a good burger for 13 years," Harry said.  "We finally found one in 2001.  We had a food salesman come in here with a meat rep.  They dropped off a box of burgers.  Frozen burgers.  All our meat is frozen.  We don't have the room to keep fresh hamburger meat here." 

Harry told me the meat rep said to him, "I understand that you've been looking for a good burger.  Tell you what.  Try these and if you don't like 'em, don't pay for 'em.  If you like 'em then keep orderin' 'em up.  Well, we liked 'em - a lot.  And we kept orderin' 'em."

He said he finally found the burger that he wanted to sell, "but I wasn't happy with the buns we had."

I said, "I subscribe to the theory that the bun is what makes a great burger."

Harry said, "So do I!  So do I!  It wasn't until about a year and a half ago that we found a good bun."

He said that a food salesman who knew Harry was looking for a good bun came in with a few samples of one style.  It was a big bun, light and not very chewy.  It was made by an Italian bakery in the Western suburbs of Chicago.  Harry said, "It's expensive - about 50 cents a bun - but it don't fall apart like the other buns we used to get.  I don't like it when a bun falls apart."  

Harry said that as soon as they served up the first burger with the new bun, they new they had a winner.  He said, "And it helps that we still have the same flat top griddle that has been in here since well before we bought the place."  I agreed with him that the griddle can help enhance the taste of a good burger. 

The order was up and Harry brought out the burger.  It literally covered the whole basket he served it in.  It was big.  But I was hungry.  Harry sat back down at the end of the bar with his wife and continued to watch "The Beverly Hillbillies" on the small television near the kitchen.

From the first bite, I was definitely impressed with Smoking Harry's cheeseburger.  It was juicy and flavorful.  The bun was just excellent.  And it didn't fall apart just like Harry said it wouldn't.  It was huge - as I said 12 oz before cooking - but Harry said that the meat is so lean that it doesn't cook down very much on the grill.  Usually, lean burgers have a tendency to be somewhat dry.  This wasn't it was very good.  

As I finished, Harry's wife called down the bar to me.  "So, was it good?"  

I said, "It was damn good, ma'am.  It was very damn good.  I am impressed and pleasantly surprised."  

She said, "Well, good.  That's what we want to hear."  

Creston isn't that far off of I-88, just east of I-39.  I told Harry and his wife that I go into Chicago all the time and that I would be back.   And I will be - it was a damn good burger at Smoking Harry's.  Make no mistake, the place is a small town dive.  And Harry sneaks smokes when there's no one in the place.  (Hell, he probably smokes in there when he has familiar customers in the place.)  Even though I enjoy having places that are smoke free, I didn't mind it that much at Smoking Harry's.  The burger trumped the ambience and the tinge of tobacco smoke in the air.  It was very, very good.   

Firehouse Pizza - Peoria, IL

On our way back from Columbus, OH, I had hoped to take our group to Lucca Grill in Bloomington, IL for world-class pizza.  Unfortunately, it was around 12:30 p.m. when we were going through Bloomington and Lucca's didn't open until 4 p.m. on Sundays.  With pizza on our mind, we tried to find some places on cellphones via the Internet in nearby Peoria that would have pizza.  My friend, Scott, came up with one suggestion - a place called Firehouse Pizza.  We got the address, I programmed it into my GPS and we headed off toward that direction. 

It wasn't very busy when we got into Firehouse Pizza in the North Point shopping center just after 1 p.m. (see map).  The interior of the restaurant is filled with firehouse and fireman memorabilia and decor.  The walls are a fake brick material covered with t-shirts, patches and other insignias from fire departments around the U.S.  There are a number of booths that feature small 13" televisions that allow you to watch your favorite program or sporting event. 

As there were six of us, we sat at a larger rectangular booth in the corner.  Unfortunately for the guys - and fortunately for the women - there was no small television at that particular booth.  Most of the 4 seater booths had the televisions. 

Our waitress came over and handed us menus and we ordered up some drinks, as well.  In addition to their pizza, Firehouse Pizza also offers a number of appetizers, wings, calzones and salads.  Their pizzas are all made from scratch and they also offer thin and crispy, New York-style hand-tossed and deep dish pizzas. 

Our friends, Scott and Marcia, as well as Dave and Pat wanted the deep-dish style of pizza.  Cindy and I went with the thin and crispy.  Cindy and I ordered up Italian sausage, pepperoni and jalapenos (Cindy doesn't like mushrooms, even when they're fresh).  The two other couples got the deep-dish pizza.  The waitress said that it would be a while on the deep-dish pizzas and wanted to know if we wanted them all at the same time since our pizza wouldn't take as long.  We said that was fine to bring everything at one time. 

As we were waiting, the waitress came back to check on our drinks.  I said, "OK, so tell me about this place."

She told us that Firehouse Pizza is owned by local firefighter Kelly Couri and his brother, Shane, hence all the firefighter stuff on display.  She said that a "mom and pop" pizza place in a small town near Peoria was getting ready to close up as the owners were retiring.  Kelly Couri bought their pizza recipe from the couple and then opened his first pizza place in 2003.  It was a small location, but the pizza became the rage in Peoria.  Firehouse Pizza moved to its present location in 2007.

She said that the Couri brothers have sold the concept of Firehouse Pizza to local franchisees and there are now five locations throughout the greater Peoria area.  She said, "Honestly, I think they're growing too fast.  I've been to a couple of the other Firehouse Pizzas around the area and they aren't as good as this one."   

When they did bring out the pizza, well, ours was a little overdone.  The crust was almost too crispy and had some major burned spots on the bottom.  I'm figuring that the pizza cook didn't time the pizzas right so that the deep-dish pizzas and our thin-crust would come out at the same time.  Ours actually came out first, then she brought the other two pizzas on subsequent trips.

The crust was thin and crispy, albeit a little overcooked.  But the toppings - including the big chunks of Italian fennel sausage - were plentiful and the jalapenos were definitely fresh.  The one thing I most certainly didn't like about Firehouse Pizza was the sauce.  It was too sweet.  Oh, it was OK, but I don't care for an overly sweet sauce like that on a pizza.  

The other couples declared their pizza as "very good" and they both got to go boxes from the waitress to take the leftovers home with them for snacks later in the evening.  The waitress asked us how our pizza was and I said, "Quite honestly, it was overcooked a bit and the sauce was way too sweet for my taste." 

She said, "Oh, so you don't like the sweet sauce.  You know, we have a traditional sauce that we put on pizzas, too."  

I said, "Oh, I guess I didn't know that."

The waitress said, "Between you and me, I don't like the sweet sauce either.  But that's what they grew their business on.  They had enough people ask for a sauce that wasn't so sweet.  I know they weren't happy they had to offer a sauce other than their sweet sauce, but they knew they had to do it because they were losing customers." 

I would like to try Firehouse Pizza again at some point.  If they would have pulled it out of the oven about three or four minutes sooner, I think I would have liked the crust a little more.  Plus, the sauce was just way too thick and sweet.  If I didn't have the choice of going with a traditional sauce, I probably wouldn't go back.  But some people must like the sweet sauce at Firehouse Pizza.  That's been their signature for over six years and that must be fine with some people.  But I think they're going to garner a lot more fans by having a choice between the traditional and sweet sauces.  I'll let you know what I think when I go back at some point later this year. 

The Thurman Cafe - Columbus, OH

We ventured out to Columbus, OH in mid-November to see the Iowa Hawkeyes play the Ohio State Buckeyes in football.  Cindy and I have been out to Columbus a couple times prior to this visit to see Iowa play Ohio State, but both times we went out on a bus with a large group of people from around the Quad Cities area.  We really didn't get to see or do much other than just hang around the hotel and stadium area.  This time we went out with our friends Scott and Marcia Schroeder, along with Dave and Pat Heusmann in a rented SUV so we were able to go try out some places while we were there. 

Marcia had told us that Adam Richman had visited a couple of interesting places when he was in Columbus for a "Man Vs. Food" episode he shot there a couple years back.  One of the places that looked very interesting was The Thurman Cafe, a long-time Columbus tradition known for their burgers.  We decided to head there for lunch before the game. 

The Thurman Cafe has been around since 1942 when a Macedonian immigrant Nancho "Nick" Suclescy opened the small restaurant on Thurman Street in the heart of Columbus' German Village  (see map).  The Suclescy family has been in control of The Thurman Cafe ever since.  Nick's grandchildren - Mike, Paul and Donna - took control of the business in the early 1980's.  Donna DeVol runs the day to day operation while Mike and Paul sort of work in the background. 

The Thurman Cafe doesn't open until 11:00 a.m., but we'd heard it was a rather small place and we wanted to get there early so we could get in and out as quick as possible.  We got there around 10:30 and were literally the first people in line.  Scott and I initially sat on one of the benches out front while the rest of the group walked around the quaint old German neighborhood to pass the time.  Before long, more people showed up and the crowd in front of the place grew to about 25 to 30 people just before The Thurman Cafe opened up.  We're glad we got there early because had we come when it opened up, we probably wouldn't have been seated.  It's that small on the inside.

As we were waiting, a couple came out of the restaurant and the lady said, "Oh, people from Iowa!  We love it when you folks come out to see us!"  It turned out the couple was Mike Suclescy and his wife (right).  Mike didn't talk much, but his wife was filling us in on the history of The Thurman Cafe, how Adam Richman still wears a "Thurman Cafe" t-shirt when he does his show, and how Ohio State grads come back nearly every year when they're back for a game.  She said, "We go through over 1500 pounds of beef in a week.  And that's just for our hamburgers!"

The front door of The Thurman Cafe soon opened and we were suddenly inside a small waiting area where a waitress greeted us.  She said, "Oh, we have some Hawkeyes in our place!  Well, let's get you guys seated back here."  She took us to a pretty good sized booth toward the back of the very small bar/restaurant.  I would say that The Thurman Cafe would seat, probably, 50 to 55 people.

The interior of The Thurman Cafe was rather interesting.  There was all types of memorabilia, kitsch and other busy stuff on the walls.  There was a bar that went nearly the length of the west wall of the dining room and those seat were the first to fill up when we were seated in the booth.

The waitress had dropped off menus for us to look over and she took drink orders.  I asked if they had good Bloody Mary's and she said, "I think they're pretty darn good."  Five of the six in our group ordered up Bloody Mary's.  I got mine spicy and ordered up a Bud Light to chase it back.

The big draw at The Thurman Cafe is their signature burger - The Thurmanator.  This is how a Thurmanator is made from the bottom up:  Bottom homemade bun, mayo, lettuce, tomato, pickle, hot pepper cheese, 12 ounce burger, bacon, cheddar, another 12 oz burger, sautéed onion, mushroom, ham, American and provolone cheese, then a top bun and served with fries.  It's truly for the very hungry.  Many people try it, and while we were there two people ordered a Thurmanator.  One of them - a younger guy in his 20's - devoured the burger and fries in less than 20 minutes!  I went over to him and asked him if he was still hungry after eating all that and he said, "Not now!  But I was before."  He said he hadn't eaten in over 24 hours just anticipating getting a Thurmanator on Saturday morning before going to the game. 

A Thurmanator wasn't quite what I was looking for, but I did want to try one of The Thurman Cafe's burgers.  They have 20 different types of burgers to choose from on the menu including some interesting ones like the Johnnie Burger - topped with blue cheese, bacon and horseradish cheese.  While they grill the burger, they pour a splash of Cuervo 1800 tequila on the burger.  Yow!  They also have something called the Jaeger - an open-faced burger topped with sauteed onions and mushrooms, then topped with their homemade onion dip.  One thing that I almost got was their "Rad Shroom" burger - loads of sauteed mushrooms on top of the burger, then covered with horseradish cheese.  Man, my stomach was just growling!

I decided to go with The Thurman Burger - a burger topped with ham, mozzarella, American cheese, lettuce, tomato, mushrooms, onions, pickles, hot peppers and mayo.  I figured that would be more than enough to tide me over for the rest of the day until we had dinner later that evening.

The waitress had dropped off our drinks and took our orders.  Everyone ordered burgers even though The Thurman Cafe also has sub sandwiches, hot or cold conventional sandwiches, chicken breast sandwiches, chicken wings and something called "pizza thins" that they tout as an appetizer.  It's basically a very thin crust pizza that they top with different toppings.  It got my interest, but I was there for a burger. 

My Bloody Mary went down pretty quickly.  The waitress came back and said, "So, how do you all like your Bloody Mary's?"  She looked down at my glass that was empty, save for the ice and my pickle spear, and she said, "Well, it's obvious HE liked the Bloody Mary!" 

She left and about two minutes later she came back with a shaker with more of the spicy Bloody Mary in it.  She said, "I had some more of the spicy mix left over when I was making these up for you.  May as well not let it go to waste!"  And she poured some more in my glass, filling it to the top. 

The place was packed and the kitchen was obviously overwhelmed as it took us nearly 30 minutes after we ordered to get our burgers.  We didn't mind, though.  The waitress was friendly, attentive and took good care of us on our drinks.  She even brought back more of the spicy Bloody Mary to pour into other people's glasses.  Cindy suddenly found herself with a full glass and she said, "My God!  I'll be plowed before we get to the game!"  She couldn't drink all of her second one, so I helped her out. 

Our burgers finally showed up at the table and this is what my Thurman Burger looked like.  The bun was very light and not very chewy.  It was a freshly baked bun, probably baked overnight at a bakery and brought to The Thurman Cafe.  The burger was juicy and flavorful.  Very flavorful.  The toppings didn't detract from the taste of the beef.  It's a griddle grilled burger and I'm sure the same griddle has been in use for over 65 years.  That helps make the taste of the burger, I always say.

The others in our group all declared their burgers to be good to excellent.  Actually, I was probably the one who declared mine to be in the excellent category.  It was, hands down, one of the best burgers I've ever had.

The Thurman Cafe was a fun place to get a burger.  The crowd of people waiting in the small lobby waiting area was a testament to how good their burgers really are.  I am now going to have to revise my Top Ten Burgers list because The Thurman Cafe has just made it.  No question.  And I hope to get back there someday to try the "Rad Shroom" burger.  It's too bad that Columbus isn't part of my territory.  But I'd go back to Columbus just to get a burger from The Thurman Cafe.