Road Tips

Jose Pepper's - Overland Park, KS

Today, I give a shout out to Ryan Davis and his wife, RaeChelle.  I met them earlier this summer during a baseball outing we had here in the Quad Cities.  RaeChelle Davis is the news anchor for WQAD, the local ABC affiliate, and is paired along side with another casual friend of mine, Jason Fechner.  The Davis' grew up in Kansas City and went to school at Western Kentucky.  We talked about places in and around K.C., how beautiful the campus was at WKU, and, of course, my visit to Mariah's in Bowling Green, KY.  (See the post on Mariah's here.)  We began to talk about restaurants around the greater Kansas City area and I was telling them about Oklahoma Joe's and how much I liked it.  RaeChelle asked me, "Have you ever been to Jose Pepper's in Overland Park?"

I told her that it didn't ring a bell.  She said, "Oh, my GOD!  They have the best Mexican food in the whole world!  When ever we go back home, we always stop at Jose Pepper's!"  She was describing this cheese sauce at the place - escindada con queso - that was simply to die for.  As she was describing the taste sensation to me, I thought Ryan was going to cry.  Anything that good deserved a visit. 

I was in Kansas City recently and got into my hotel in Overland Park just after 9 p.m. one evening.  I looked up Jose Pepper's on my GPS and found that it was only 1.3 miles away.  I threw my bags in the room and programmed the GPS to take me to Jose Pepper's.  In a long and round-about way (my GPS has a tendency to do that rather than use the real world approach of taking a left turn instead of three right turns) I found Jose Pepper's (see map).

I immediately realized that I'd been there before. 

About six years ago, I had just put on a new dealer in Overland Park.  It was after closing time one night and I asked some of the sales crew if they wanted to go out and get something to eat.  They suggested this Mexican restaurant that was tucked back in the corner of a strip mall off of Metcalf Ave.  I remember the food was outrageously good and the margaritas were some of the best I'd ever had.  The problem was that on subsequent trips to Kansas City and hankering for Mexican food I couldn't remember the name of the place.  I had an idea as to where it was and driving up and down Metcalf I couldn't seem to find it.  I figured that it probably went out of business. 

However, this recent night when I found it, I realized that one of the big reasons why I couldn't find it was because it was hidden by a big bank at the corner of 103rd and Metcalf.  Sure enough, there it was.  I couldn't remember the name of the place (as I usually can't), but I can sure remember the food and, generally, where it is. 

Jose Pepper's is actually a small local chain of Mexican Food restaurants under the J.P.'s Southwestern Cuisine banner.  The parent company of J.P.'s Southwestern Cuisine is North Star restaurants which runs 8 Jose Pepper's throughout Kansas City, one in Topeka and one in Wichita, and the Cactus Grill in suburban Leawood, KS. (click here to see all the locations.) The original Jose Pepper's - the one at 103rd and Metcalf - opened in 1988. 

Jose Pepper's has been getting some local notoriety lately - and not for the best type of P.R.  They just settled a sexual harassment lawsuit that was brought on by an 18-year-old waitress who accused a former assistant manager at the Cactus Grill of inappropriately touching her and making sexual suggestions. 

And earlier this year, a judge decided that a class action suit against the chain could go forward after Jose Pepper's was found in violation of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction Act by printing more than five numbers of a customer's credit card number on their receipt.  The lawsuit covers over 45,000 transactions between December of 2006 and December of 2007.  The lawsuit could award each person who used their credit card at a Jose Pepper's or at the Cactus Grill during that period up to $1000.  Understandably, Jose Pepper's lawyers say the lawsuit would be "annihilating" to the chain, but the judge allowed the lawsuit to proceed.

Well, I certainly didn't care about any lawsuits when I got into Jose Pepper's around 9:15 p.m.  There were a few people in the bar area and just a handful of people in the dining room.  I contemplated sitting in the bar and having dinner, but I ended up going for a booth along the wall in the dining room.  The hostess guided me to the table, dropped off the menu and told me that they had a 2 for 1 special on Patron margaritas - $10 bucks for two 28 oz. margaritas.  I immediately signed up for one of those.  A young man brought over some fresh corn chips and salsa to get me started.

The menu at Jose Pepper's features a number of authentic Mexican foods including enchiladas, chimichangas, tamales - even seafood tacos featuring grilled mahi or shrimp.  Oooo...  I remember this place now.  They had GREAT mahi tacos!  San Diego style with the cabbage.  Ummm....  That's why I kept trying to find the place.

The original hostess - also a waitress - brought my first margarita to the table.  She said that another waitress would be helping me out.  Not long after that, a younger girl - well below 20 years old - with braces on her teeth timidly approached me to see if I was ready to order. 

I was leaning toward getting the fish tacos, but I'd also been looking over the combination plates.  The one that really caught my eye was the number 4 combo - a shredded beef hard shell taco, a pork tamale and a cheese enchilada.  Only I asked if I could substitute a beef enchilada instead of the cheese enchilada.  The young girl said, "Oh, gee.  I don't really know if we can.  I can ask."  I also got an order of the espinaca con queso cheese sauce.

I'd downed my first margarita and was ready for the second one.  When the young waitress brought out the espinaca, I asked her to bring me the second margarita.  She said, "I'll get someone to get that for you."  It dawned on me that since she was under 21 she couldn't serve me a drink.  The first waitress/hostess brought me my other margarita. 

I do have to say that the espinaca con queso was absolutely outstanding and sinfully rich.  The chunks of peppers they put in the cheese sauce gave it a little kick, but not enough that deterred from the overall taste sensation.  While the bowl wasn't all that big, it was way too much for one person to eat.  But I did take a large chunk of cheese sauce out of the bowl.   

I never really knew if the substitution I requested would make it to my plate or not.  The waitress basically forgot about me and the food took an excruciatingly (it's a word - I looked it up) long time to get to my table.  I was hoping that it was because the food was good and authentic, and not pre-made and micro-waved like you find at some Mexican restaurants.  Finally, about 20 minutes after I ordered, my food showed up.  The wait was worth it. 

She was able to make the substitution of the cheese enchilada for the beef enchilada and the seasoning on the beef was outstanding.  But the highlights of the meal were the pork tamale and the shredded beef taco, which was placed in its very own holder. 

The pork tamale was just this side of heaven - flavorful, a nice corn meal outer shell with loads of seasoned sliced pork meat inside.  The pork literally melted in my mouth.  I'm not big on really doughy tamales, but this one was not that oppressive.  It was sensational. 

For as much as I like grilled fish tacos, I'm about as big a sucker for shredded beef tacos.  And the shredded beef taco at Jose Pepper's was no exception.  The beef was tender and ripe with flavor.  The taco shell was nice and crunchy.  It was as close to the perfect taco that one could ask for.  You're much more likely to find a shredded beef taco on the menu than one that features ground beef.  This one was 4 star taco. 

I couldn't finish my meal - I left a good portion of the corn meal dough tamale on the plate, but picked out the pork.  I made quick work of the shredded beef taco and finished what I could of the beef enchilada.  The meal was exactly what I remembered it to be six years prior - completely outstanding. 

I will say that the biggest drawback was the service at Jose Pepper's.  It took too long for the food to come and I was almost over-gorged on the chips and espinaca con queso dip by the time it finally showed up.  Also, having an underaged girl serving me while I was ordering drinks was a minor hassle.  (I ordered a Dos Equis beer when she brought me out my food and the other waitress didn't get it to me until my meal was nearly finished.)  But the food was just outstanding and it was tough to beat the $5 dollar 28 oz. Patron margaritas.  Times two.   

I certainly have to thank Ryan and RaeChelle for mentioning Jose Pepper's.  And I'm overly glad that I was able to find it once again.  Now that I know what I'm looking for and where it is, it will be a staple during my trips to K.C. - just like Oklahoma Joe's has become for me.  I just hope that class action lawsuit doesn't hurt them in the long run. 

Return Visits to Three Atlanta Restaurants

As I said in my entry for Panahar in Atlanta nearly a month ago here on Road Tips, I let my colleague Todd come up with the places where we were going to eat while we were in town for the annual CEDIA Expo this past September.  Todd wasn't too adventurous as we ended up eating at three of the same places we ate at during our visit a year ago - One Star Ranch for barbecue, Atlanta Fish Market for seafood (actually, the guys from Cambridge Audio picked that place again), and Bones for steaks.  I just wanted to do an update as to how all three restaurants fared in our return visit.

Our first night in Atlanta was the evening we visited One Star Ranch again (see my previous entry here).  Everyone was overly impressed with the barbecue there last year, as was I.  We had a group of 10 of us that visited One Star Ranch this year, up from the six or so that went last year.  And it was just as good as it was during my first visit a number of years ago with my friend Eric Van Fossen who turned me on to place, and as it was last year.  

 

 
Last year, I had to order two dinners just to get a taste of the brisket and pulled pork.  This year, our waitress (who was very good and overly helpful) suggested that I get the pork ribs appetizer and then a meal of my choice.  I ordered the beef brisket along with the pork ribs.  It was perfect, exactly what I wanted.  I got a side of their baked beans and the Brunswick stew - a "low-country" soup that features chicken, pork, potatoes and other veggies in a thick and rich brown sauce that is a favorite of the coastal areas along Georgia and South Carolina.  Of course, we had to get three or four orders of One Star Ranch's sinfully great onion rings, as well.  It was all very good.

 
Also last year, I lamented that I didn't have a camera to take a picture of one of the big-assed beef ribs that One Star Ranch is so famous for.   Now that I have a camera phone I was able to get a picture of one on a plate.  Realizing that a shot of a couple on a plate may not be the best perspective of the size of the ribs, I got one of my colleague Ian holding one the beef ribs, as well.  It's literally bone-in steak.

But One Star Ranch was, indeed, very good again.  Fun place, great service and one of the culinary highlights of our trip to Atlanta.

For the second year in a row, the guys from Cambridge Audio took us out to dinner at the Atlanta Fish Market on Saturday evening (see my previous entry here).  Last year, I ordered the blackened red snapper that I wasn't overly happy with.  However, Paul Masson from Cambridge Audio had ordered the blackened halibut last year and it was great.  I had it in my mind that I would order that on this trip.

I wish I hadn't.  

 
The halibut was not very good on my visit.  I got a side of pureed sweet potatoes and a bowl of their seafood gumbo to start.  Unfortunately, the gumbo and the sweet potatoes were the highlight of the meal.  Once again, I don't know if the halibut was overcooked or what the deal was.  But it didn't taste very good.

What I should of gotten was this - the special that evening that included shrimp, lobster and soft crab.  About four or five guys got the special and they declared it out of this world.  I did have a bite of the shrimp from one of my colleagues and I almost started to cry.  I damn near ordered another dinner for myself.

OK, so my two visits to Atlanta Fish Market weren't very good.  I was telling my friend Eric that I was disappointed in my meal once again.  He said that while the Fish Market has reached the "venerable" stage in regard to its standing among other Atlanta area restaurants, just being "OK" seems to be the standard review he hears from people who have been there.  It could be that the Atlanta Fish Market has literally "jumped the shark".

 

On to our last night in Atlanta, the great and also venerable steak house, Bones.  (See my entry on Bones from last year here.)  I will say that Todd hit a grand slam homer on this one this year.  He arranged for us to have a private dining room in the lower level of Bones - a wonderful little place where we could talk business, laugh at stuff and devour large amounts of beef in our own little world.  We had two young men waiting on us dressed in their white jackets, white shirts with black ties and black pants.

I had the dry-aged bone-in rib eye - a 20 oz. monster of a steak - that was just excellent.  I ordered it rare-plus and it came out that way, perfectly.  It was one helluva steak.

We all shared sides of mac and cheese, sauteed mushrooms, truffle butter mashed potatoes and Bones' great onion rings.  My boss, Daniel, picked out some great wine and the meal was just an overall hit.  Bones is simply one of the finest steak houses I've ever encountered in my travels.

We did also eat again at Fogo de Choa, the Brazilian steak house in Buckhead one evening, as well.  But there's really nothing to add to my experience there (Read my entry from last year on Fogo de Choa here).  It's good and dependable.  And I always overeat when I go there.

With CEDIA moving to Indianapolis next year, it will probably be a long time before I get back to Atlanta to try any restaurants.  If I do make it back, I'll stay away from the Atlanta Fish Market and probably Fogo de Choa (if I'm in the mood for Brazilian steak houses there's a Fogo in Chicago, Minneapolis, Indianapolis and Kansas City - all places that I travel to on a regular basis).  But I would crawl back to Bones and happily make a stop at One Star Ranch.  I'll certainly have fond memories of my visits to those two places.

Alex's Pizza Palace - Rolla, MO

When I first started on the road back in the mid-80's, one of the places that I traveled to was to Rolla, MO. I had a small dealer down there and he was a good guy. After awhile, I'd end up in Rolla on Thursday nights because that was the night that the students at the U-Missouri - Rolla (now called the Missouri University of Science and Technology) would cut loose getting ready for the weekend. Many Friday mornings I hit the road with a massive hangover heading north back toward Iowa. But the highlight of my visits to Rolla was a little pizza place that's been in business since 1964 - Alex's Pizza Palace.

Alex's Pizza Palace could be categorized as a "Greek" pizza place. It was in November of 1964 that Alex and Froso Kallas opened their doors of their little pizza place on W. 8th Street in downtown Rolla (see map). Alex's Pizza Palace became an institution in Rolla with thousands of students and locals coming through their doors on an annual basis. Each year, Alex's Pizza Palace hosts hundreds of UM-Rolla grads who come back to visit campus, but many say it's to get a pizza at Alex's.

The Kallas' sold the restaurant to longtime worker Ellie Makridis and her husband, Lazlo, in 1987. The Makridis' expanded Alex's Pizza Palace putting in a large dining room and revamping the kitchen with new big ovens. Today, Mike Samaras runs the daily operations for the Makridis family. Things haven't changed all that much over the past 45-plus years at Alex's. In fact the same original menu board still hangs over the ovens in the open kitchen area just as you walk in.

I was driving between Springfield, MO and St. Louis one evening earlier this fall when I decided to stop into Rolla for an Alex's pizza. Rolla is approximately half-way between the two cities on Interstate 44 and it's a good little stopping point for gas or food. It was late - about 8:30 p.m. - when I arrived at Alex's. The parking lot to the west of their building belongs to the bank across the street, but they allow for parking at Alex's after 6 p.m. There was only one other car in the place when I parked.

I went into Alex's and the hostess was seated in a booth talking to another customer when I walked in. She sort of apologized for sitting there, but I told her it was no big deal. She took me into the dining room and told me I could sit anywhere. I ended up taking a booth about halfway back in the dining room. She dropped off a menu and she took my drink order. I needed a Bud Light after a long day.

Alex's Pizza Palace categorizes their pizza as "gourmet pizza". Their pizza menu consists of a number of specialty pizzas as well as a long list of toppings to choose from. They have unique toppings such as feta cheese, cotto salami, gyro meat and fresh basil. Surprisingly, they don't offer fresh garlic on their pizzas. No matter to me - I was looking to get my usual Italian sausage, pepperoni and mushroom pizza.

In addition to pizzas, Alex's Pizza Palace also features calzones, sandwiches - including an outrageous looking gyro - appetizers and salads. Alex's Pizza Palace also has a number of specialty entrees including chicken souvlaki, lasagna and chicken parmesana. When the waitress came back with my beer, I was ready to order my pizza.

I downed a couple beers before my pizza showed up at the table. It was everything that I remember it to be - thin crust, loads of pepperoni and mushrooms covered with a thick cheese sauce, and a large chunk of Italian sausage on each party-cut piece of pizza. The perimeter of the pizza was a sort of a rolled crust that is unlike anything that I've encountered before.

It had been about four or five years since my last visit to Alex's and the pizza was just as good as that last visit and all the way back to my first visit nearly 25 years ago. The crust was light, thin and not at all crispy. The toppings were fresh and overly flavorful. And there was plenty of toppings right down to the large chunks of sausage on each party cut. It was very similar - right down to the name - of the same type of pizza at Steve's Pizza Palace up in River Falls, WI that I visited a couple years ago (see that entry here). I will have to say, however, that the taste of the Steve's pizza was a notch above Alex's pizza. And that's saying a lot since Steve's is very good in its own right.

It didn't take long to devour my 10" small pizza. The waitress came over to check on me one last time and she gave me my check. With the pizza, three bottles of beer and a nice tip for the waitress, my bill came to just under $21 bucks. $21 bucks for all that! What a value!

So, if you're driving between St. Louis and Springfield, MO sometime, do yourself a big favor and take the time to stop into Alex's Pizza Palace. It's wonderful that they're still in business after all these years making the same great pizza that I came to love on my first visit there in 1986.

17th St. Bar and Grill - O'Fallon, IL

I was in St. Louis recently doing some training sessions for dealers in the area.  I found myself out in O'Fallon, IL one evening completely wondering where I was going to have dinner that night.  I wasn't overly familiar with the area and have only spent a couple nights on the Illinois side of the river when I've come to St. Louis.  I've been told by a couple of people that there was a good steak house/supper club in O'Fallon and a place that had pretty good gyros not far from my hotel.  I finally a place that I've heard about many times in my travels, but had not been to - the 17th St. Bar and Grill.  The original 17th St. Bar and Grill is in Murphysboro in southern Illinois.  But I don't have any dealers that far south in Illinois that would allow me to get down there to try the place.  I was surprised to find a 17th St. Bar and Grill in O'Fallon not far from my hotel. 

The 17th St. Bar and Grill is run by Mike Mills who is rather famous in barbecue circles.  Mills is the only three time Grand World Champion of the prestigious Memphis in May contest - the Super Bowl of barbecue.  He won his awards in 1990, 1992 and 1994.  And he was only .02 points short of winning his fourth championship one year.  That alone should cement Mills' place among the the all-time greats of barbecue.  But Mills has also won four World Championships in barbecue (Mills' bio doesn't list where these events took place, but I'm guessing it was also at Memphis in May), and has won numerous local, state, regional, national and international contests for both his barbecue and his homemade barbecue sauce.  

Mills got his barbecue genes from his father, Leon, who used to host neighborhood cook-outs in his hometown of Cape Girardeau, MO.  The elder Mills' would dig a hole in the ground, put fire wood in the hole and placed a metal grate over the hole for a true barbecue pit.  This was long before any above ground barbecue cookers were available.   Leon Mills gained a reputation for not only his great barbecue, but his great barbecue sauce - a mustard/vinegar based sauce that was tangy and flavorful.  

Unfortunately, Leon Mills died at the age of 42 so it was up to his family to carry on his legacy.  Mills' wife, Faye, continued to make the homemade barbecue sauce.  It got to a point where enough people convinced her to bottle the sauce and sell it.  She was making the sauce at home for the original 17th St. Bar and Grill restaurant until it became too much for her to keep up with the demand.  I believe I read somewhere that 17th St. Bar and Grill goes through 500 gallons of sauce a week.

The 17th St. Bar and Grill was the culmination of a dream that Mills' father had before he died - he wanted to open his own restaurant to serve his style of barbecue.  Mike Mills opened his first barbecue restaurant in Murphysboro in 1985.  In 1988, along with some friends, Mills formed the Apple City Barbecue Team, a competitive barbecue team that would enter their first competition that year.  Their first effort garnered them 3rd place in the "best ribs" category at a contest in Murphysboro, but they soon found their way and began to win more competitions leading to their first Memphis in May championship in 1990.  

Mike Mills has been featured in a number of print article and has appeared on television numerous times.  In addition to the four 17th St. Bar and Grill locations, Mills also owns three Las Vegas area barbecue restaurants - Memphis Championship Barbecue - and also has been an adviser to owner of the the award winning Blue Smoke barbecue restaurant in New York City.  Mills has also co-authored a book - Peace, Love and Barbecue - that chronicles the passion he and other pitmasters have for their profession.  It features a number of recipes from the Mills family and other famous barbecue masters, as well as a number of stories about barbecuing. 

With a pedigree like that, you'd almost think that any barbecue aficionado would have to make a pilgrimage to one of Mills' restaurants.  So I was pleasantly surprised to find that his O'Fallon location was less than three miles from the hotel I was staying in that evening (see map).  I pulled into the place around 7:30 p.m. and was met by a girl at the hostess counter.  There was a large dining area, but a pretty large bar area, as well.  They had some post-season baseball on the television and I asked if it was OK to sit in the bar.  She said, "Sure!"  She guided me into the bar area and placed a menu on the bar for me to look through. 

 
The bartender that evening, Cassie, asked me what I wanted and I ordered up a Bud Light.  Unfortunately, the draft Bud Light wasn't all that cold.  First strike against any barbecue restaurant that serves beer - it has to be cold.  This was more like about 50 degrees.  Ehhh...

The menu at 17th St. Bar and Grill is wide and diverse with a large selection of appetizers, sandwiches and entrees featuring barbecued chicken, beef and pork.  In addition to Mills' award winning barbecued ribs, the 17th St. Bar and Grill also features steaks, pork chops and grilled seafood.  But I was there for the barbecue.  

After hunting around the rather large menu, I was able to find the combination section of the menu.  I always like to try a couple three things at a barbecue joint that is new to me.  And 17th St. Bar and Grill had the perfect combination for me - the Blue Ribbon Selection combo meal.  I was able to choose three different types of meat along with two of the restaurants numerous sides.  I ordered a combo of beef brisket, pulled pork shoulder and baby back ribs.  I was torn what to get for my sides as there were just too many to choose from.  They had french fries, hush-puppies, collard greens, red beans and rice, sauerkraut, steamed veggies, mac and cheese - the list went on and on.  I was completely confused because I really wanted to try about four or five sides.  Cassie told me the cole slaw was very good.  I took her on her word.  I also ordered up some of the 17th St. Bar and Grill baked beans.

Not long after I ordered, my food was brought out by a waitress.  The plate was large, but full of generous portions of the meat.  The cole slaw and baked beans were in their own serving dishes.  To my chagrin, Mills' original barbecue sauce was poured across the top of the meats.  I'd rather have my barbecue served dry and allow me to add whatever sauce that I wanted.  But I guess the Mills' sauce is their signature and they've been serving it that way for years.  (Mike Mills says the sauce is made from a recipe that's over 100 years old.) 

I tried the ribs first.  17th St. Bar and Grill also features a homemade rub called "Mike's Magic Dust" made from 18 different spices and herbs that Mills conjured up years ago.  They sprinkle the "magic dust" on the ribs before they cook them and the first thing I noticed is there's a lot of salt in it, because that's exactly how they tasted to me - too salty. 

The original Mills family sauce was good, but I'm not big on mustard/vinegar sauces.  (Mills uses white rice vinegar in his sauce - it doesn't have the acidic taste other vinegars have.)   Fortunately, they also had some of their "spicy" sauce that was sweeter, but it wasn't all that spicy.  You got a little kick in the taste buds, but not enough that it was overpowering.

The ribs were very good - the meat was flavorful and tender.  But the saltiness of the "magic dust" was almost a little too much for me.  I'm a guy that hardly puts salt on anything and the salt flavor on the ribs was tremendously heightened on my taste buds.  Any meat rub concoction with a medium amount of salt tastes too salty to me. 

The pulled pork was also a little bit salty to my taste, but it was still very good.  The sweet and spicy sauce helped cover the taste of the salt and was a good complement to the pulled pork. 

The brisket, however, was outstanding.  The thin cuts of beef had a nice little smoke ring at the top and the "magic dust" taste was minimal.  Coupled with the spicy sweet sauce, the taste sensation was the best of the three meats. 

The baked beans were good, especially when I added some of the sweet and spicy sauce to them.  But I was not impressed with the cole slaw.  It was rather bland and, well...  I just didn't care for it.  I'm sure some people - like Cassie - like it, but I wish I would have gotten something else. 

As I finished up my meal, it turned out that one of the managers of the 17th St. Bar and Grill was seated at the end of the bar talking to employees before she went home for the evening.  We struck up a conversation about this particular location and she told me that the building originally housed one of the Super Smokers barbecue restaurants - one of my all-time favorite barbecue joints in the St. Louis area that went out of business a few years back.  (Super Smokers has since re-opened out in St. Peters, MO not far from the old company that I used to work for years ago.) 

She told me that a couple of the former owners of Super Smokers helped Mike Mills procure the place and they opened the 17th St. Bar and Grill in O'Fallon in February of 2007.  She said that she used to work at the old Super Smokers location and that the pit master, Cassie the bartender, and one other person are still left from the old days. 

The Food Network's Food Feuds program pitted (sorry for the pun) 17th St. Bar and Grill up against              Pappy's Smokehouse earlier this fall.  (See my entry on Pappy's here.)  The episode just aired this past week and five judges from the St. Louis Barbecue Society along with host Michael Symon (a former Iron Chef America winner in 2007) named 17th St. Bar and Grill as having the best baby back ribs in St. Louis.  Symon thought that smoking method Mike Mills uses (about 210 degrees for six hours over fruit wood) made the meat on 17th Street's ribs more tender and flavorful.  He also liked the Magic Dust rub over Pappy's herb-based rub. 

  
I have mixed feelings about the 17th St. Bar and Grill.  I thought the baby back ribs were a bit too salty and I didn't care much for the Mills' family sauce - which is probably akin to saying their child is ugly.  But the pulled pork was very good and the brisket was just excellent.  And I did like the sweet and spicy sauce, as well.  I tried to buy some at the little shop they had in the lobby, but for some reason they were out of it.  

I would have to say that while I prefer Pappy's over 17th St. Bar and Grill, I can see why some people would say the opposite - they're both very good at what they do.  And that's not to say that I'll not go back to 17th St. Bar and Grill at some point - I definitely will.  But I'll probably stick with the brisket and not get the cole slaw on my next visit. 

(November 2013 Update - Citing that the restaurant was "not doing what it needed to do", Mike Mills announced that he would be closing his O'Fallon location at the end of November.  Mills also cited the Affordable Care Act as a reason he would be closing the restaurant.  The original Murphysboro location and the Marion, IL location will stay open.)    

Sushi Bar Yu-Ka - Atlanta

While it's tough for me to write about sushi bars and restaurants, it's even more difficult to write about the ones that stick out in my travels.  For a sushi place to get a mention on Road Tips, it has to be outstanding in both selection, menu ingenuity, service and taste.  On my recent trip to Atlanta, I found a place that hits all those marks in credentials - Sushi Bar Yu-Ka, located in the Buckhead section of Atlanta (see map). 

Actually, my colleague, Chris, found this place last year during one of his walking trips near our hotel.  He stopped in to get a taste and said that it was surprisingly good.  Chris is a sushi connoisseur, so when he says sushi is surprisingly good, it's got to be damn good. 

Sushi Bar Yu-Ka is located the southeast corner of a strip mall just off of Piedmont in the Buckhead Triangle bordered by Piedmont, Roswell and Peachtree streets.  (I have long gotten over my aversion to eating at restaurants in strip malls.)  It was a five minute walk from our hotel, the Doubletree Buckhead.   There was a large group of us that evening - 12 of us in total, including a couple guys from Focal Loudspeakers.  Nearly everyone in our company likes sushi with the notable exception of my colleague Ian who views sushi as "fish bait".  But he was assured that Sushi Bar Yu-Ka did have "real food" that could be ordered. 

The decor of Sushi Bar Yu-Ka has sort of a contemporary look with bright walls with minimal artwork and pictures - nothing garish, to say the least.  The only thing that looked out of place were the flat panel televisions that were found in a couple corners.  The light oak tables are overly sturdy and the chairs have comfortable cloth-padded seats.  The place is well lit and features a three-sided sushi bar with three or four sushi chefs working feverously over the chopping boards.  We had made reservations and our large table in the corner was waiting for us when we arrived.

I immediately ordered an Asahi beer and opened the menu to see what they had to offer.  Of course, they had the regular sushi (with the vinegar rice), as well as sashimi (just the fish alone).  And they had a number of interesting sushi rolls to choose from including the Oishi roll which featured tuna, shrimp, rice and a spicy mustard sauce; the Lotus roll which was tuna, yellowtail, and a dash of aioli sauce wrapped in a seaweed ring; and the Volcano - spicy tuna with fried crawfish.  I thought about getting the Volcano, but I'd rather have fresh crawfish versus the fried stuff. 

I ordered up a plate of the spicy tuna roll, some toro (fatty tuna), sake (salmon) and a spicy tuna roll.  And that was just to start off.  After a small bowl of miso soup there was quite a wait before our sushi began to show up at the table.  Actually, Ian had ordered a teriyaki steak with some steamed vegetables.  His steak showed up well before the sushi came out.  (To Sushi Bar Yu-Ka's defense - it was about 3/4's full when we were in there.  And we ordered a LOT of sushi at our table.)  I was able to down the first large bottle of Asahi and a good portion of a second bottle before my sushi plate showed up.

The wait was well worth it.  The toro was very, very good - fresh and flavorful.  It was a little chewy, but I've learned the more chewy toro is, the better it tastes.  The sake was also very good - flavorful, tender, very fresh.  But the spicy tuna rolls were absolutely great.  They had a wonderful taste sensation and combined with soy sauce and the very good wasabi, the taste sensation just knocked my socks off. 

Round two saw me order another spicy tuna roll, some ebi (shrimp sushi), smoked sake (smoked salmon), and some maguro (regular tuna).  While it didn't take as long to get that plate, it was still about 15 minutes before it arrived in front of me.  The smoked salmon was excellent, the maguro was just outstanding, but the ebi was just sort of "eh!".  By the time I was down to about five pieces of sushi/spicy tuna roll left, I had hit the proverbial sushi wall.  I had experienced sushi overload - a very pleasant place to be. 

The guys from Focal picked up the check that night - and I understood that the bill was pretty reasonable for 12 people.  Sushi Bar Yu-ka also features a number of lunchtime specials for the people who work in the Buckhead area. 

Chris was right - Sushi Bar Yu-Ka was surprisingly good.  Just be prepared to wait for your food if it's busy, however.   It's still too bad I was only able to experience it just once. 

Del Frisco's - Denver

I was out in Denver recently for the Rocky Mountain Audio Festival and while we didn't have much time for anything extravagant  in terms of fine meals (we did eat burgers at Cherry Cricket twice - we had to do that.  The Cricket still has the best burgers I've ever had) we did go out to a restaurant that I've wanted to go to for quite sometime - Del Frisco's steak house.   Actually, I'd been to the Del Frisco's in Orlando before.  I was there on business about 10 years ago and my old friend from Colfax, IA, Pat Clarke, a long time television and radio sportscaster in the Orlando market, took me there for a wonderful meal one evening.  I knew there were other Del Frisco's around the country, but I hadn't encountered one since my trip to Orlando years ago. 

Well, it turns out that the Del Frisco's in Orlando is NOT the same Del Frisco's as the one in Denver.  The Del Frisco's in Orlando is a privately owned restaurant while the Del Frisco's in Denver is part of a chain of 9 restaurants located in 7 states.  The Del Frisco's chain is part of the Del Frisco's restaurant group based out of Wichita with the Sullivan's Steak House chain as part of that corporation.  Well, I've eaten at a Sullivan's Steak House before (Cindy and I had a great meal nearly five years ago at the Sullivan's in downtown Chicago.  Click here to see that entry.)  The Del Frisco's and Sullivan's Steak Houses were once owned by the Lone Star Steak House corporation, but they were sold off in 2006. 

The official name of the Del Frisco Steak House restaurants is "Del Frisco's Double Eagle Steak House."  But it's just known as "Del Frisco's" or "Del's" to their fans.  The one in Denver is located very near the Denver Tech Center area on the southeast side of the city (see map).  The Rocky Mountain Audio Fest was being held at the Marriott in the heart of the Denver Tech Center.  We had a reservation for four of us for around 7 p.m.  Of course, we got there well in advance, but like any high dollar restaurant they want to get your money at the bar.  We had about a 30 minute wait for our table to open up. 

Once we did get seated, it was in the heart of the main dining room loaded with dark wood paneling, sturdy tables with white linen table cloths and subdued lighting that was bright enough to be able to read our menus and the wine list.  One of my colleagues, Jon, had taken a dealer of his from Seattle to Del Frisco's the night before.  But he was more than enthusiastic to go back with my boss Daniel and our colleague John for dinner that night.  Except he wasn't going to get the same thing he had the night before.

Daniel, Jon and I all perused the wine list and I was struck at how proud they were of they were of their wine selection.  Similar to the experience we had at the Brooks Steak House in Denver last year, the prices of a bottle of wine were outrageously high.  I don't know what it is about wine prices in Denver, but it seems that restaurants have extremely high prices of their wine.  I saw a couple bottles I was familiar with on the wine list, but I was far from comfortable in ordering a bottle of wine.  I let Daniel do that and he picked out a nice French red that I wasn't familiar with. 

Steak is definitely the prominent item on the menu at Del Frisco's, including their signature "Wagyu" beef longbone steak.  Wagyu beef is similar to Kobe beef, but is primarily grown in America and Australia.  It sounded interesting, but the price - $89.95 - scared me off. 

In addition to beef filets, rib eyes and porterhouse steaks, Del Frisco's offers a dry-aged pork porterhouse chop, a duck breast steak, prime lamb chops and seafood dishes.  Their sides are served family style in large bowls and feature such items as jalapeno bacon mac and cheese, potatoes au gratin and maque choux corn - a Southern/Cajun style dish with corn, tomatoes, celery, bell peppers, onions and garlic. 

The special that evening was a dry-aged bone-in beef tenderloin filet, but I decided to go with Del Frisco's dry-aged bone-in rib eye - rare.  I got a side of sauteed mushrooms with it and a bleu cheese wedge salad.  John and Daniel got the same steak as I - John ordered his medium-rare and Daniel went the rare route with me.   Jon had the bone-in filet the night before and he ended up getting a couple of the prime lamb chops.  We also ordered some of the jalapeno bacon mac and cheese, and potatoes au gratin for everyone to share.   

The wedge salad was very good - a large quarter cut wedge with a generous topping of their creamy homemade bleu cheese dressing with bleu cheese crumbles and bacon bits on top.  The lettuce was crisp and fresh.  I was overly happy with the salad.

Our steaks and chops showed up with four waiters bringing each dinner to the table and simultaneously placing each plate on the table.  My 22 oz. bone-in rib eye, still sizzling on the hot plate was placed in front of me.  Wow!  It looked huge!  And the side of sauteed mushrooms that I ordered was way too much for just me.  It became part of the family style, pass-the-bowl-around sides that we'd ordered for the table. 

The first knife cut into the end of the steak yielded a tough cut of meat.  I thought, "Uh oh."  I hadn't had good luck with steaks in restaurants over the past few months.  I've run into a lot of steaks with hidden gristle that just made the experience a hassle.  But the first cut into the Del Frisco's bone-in rib eye was the worst part of the steak.  It was the fatty end of the steak.  After I got that all cut away, I took another cut into the steak.  This time, it yielded a perfect red center piece of the steak, cool and tender.  And the taste - Oh! My! God!  The dry-aged beef was just out of this world - so tender and flavorful.   The seasoning Del Frisco's uses on their steaks had a slightly salty taste along with a hint of pepper, garlic and other spices.  It was a nice compliment to the taste of the steak. 

The other guys raved about their food.  Daniel and John loved their bone-in rib eye steaks, as well.  John said, "This is one of the best steaks I've ever had."  Jon also said that his prime lamb chops were "excellent".  I'm not big on lamb, but I will say they looked great.

The sides with the meals were also very good.  I really liked the jalapeno bacon mac and cheese.  I thought, "Wow!  This could be easy to make at home!"  The jalapenos gave the dish a little kick, the bacon offered some great flavor and the three cheese sauce was outstanding.  While the potatoes au gratin and the sauteed mushrooms were very good, the jalapeno mac and cheese was just killer. 

Along with the great food, the service was top notch.  We had people constantly checking with us for any needs - not at the point that it was intrusive to our dinner or conversation.  But I've been to many places where the waiter takes your order, someone else brings your food to the table and they just forget about checking on your after that.  Even the night manager came over to make sure that everything was to our expectation.  Del Frisco's had great service. 

Since my trip to Del Frisco's in Denver, I was discussing my meal there with a dealer of mine in St. Louis.  He said, "Oh, man!  You went to Del Frisco's?  That's the best steak I've ever had!" 

He said he has gotten the bone-in tenderloin filet (obviously not a special, but a regular item that Del Frisco calls a special) on each of his visits to the Del Frisco's in Dallas, Charlotte and Denver.   He said, "It's, by far, the best steak I've ever had.  The meat literally pulls apart, it's so tender." 

Someone asked me recently what's the best steak I've ever had.  A lot of people will say something along the lines of, "Well, the ones I grill at home are the best."  But it's obvious they've never truly had dry or wet aged beef.  You just can't get that from most butcher's.  While I've eaten in some world class steak houses, I will have to say the steak I had at Del Frisco's is one of the best - if not THE best - I've ever had.  While it wasn't cheap, it was certainly a treat to have experienced the steaks at Del Frisco's. 

The Varsity - Atlanta

One of the most famous restaurants in Atlanta - or throughout the South, for that matter - is the hallowed Varsity which has been in business for over 80 years.  The original location near Georgia Tech University (see map) has been called the "World's Largest Drive-In" and has served world leaders, celebrities, and average Joe's the most Americana of Americana foods - hot dogs and cheeseburgers.  I've wanted to go to The Varsity for years and while I was in Atlanta recently I was able to corral a couple of my colleagues for a visit.

The history of The Varsity began in 1928 when Frank Gordy opened the restaurant with his savings of nearly $2000 dollars that he'd accrued from profits from his Yellow Jacket restaurant that was situated at the corner of Luckie and Hemphill near what is now the world headquarters for Coca-Cola and Georgia Tech.  Gordy bought a plot of land just to the east of Georgia Tech and built The Varsity, complete with a white picket fence out front.  Almost from Day One, The Varsity offered curbside service to people who drove up in cars. 

At one point, The Varsity was open to men only.  If you brought your wife or girlfriend to The Varsity for something to eat, the women would have to stand outside while the men went in and ordered.  The men would bring the food out to the women and they'd eat outside.   I've found during trips to Atlanta and Savannah over the past couple of years that sexual segregation in restaurants was a common practice for years in the South.   

Gordy updated the restaurant in the 1940's and added more drive-in services to the place.  His car hops were part waiters, part performers.  His most famous car hop, John Raiford - a.k.a. "Flossie Mae" - sang the menu to customers for 50 years.  Actor/comedian Nipsey Russell was the 46th car hop employed by Gordy.  

Over the years, The Varsity has grown with six different expansions.  It was the first drive-in with a covered roof and the first with a parking garage.  Today, it's situated on two acres and has two levels of parking and dining.  Gordy died in 1983, but his daughter, Nancy Simms, and her son, Gordon Muir, run The Varsity today. 

The original Varsity has spawned other restaurants around Atlanta and Georgia.  The second Varsity opened in 1932 in Athens, GA, near the University of Georgia.  Today, there are six Varsity locations, but the original location remains near and dear to the hearts of thousands who have enjoyed hot dogs and hamburgers over the years.   

Now, it helps to know that The Varsity has their own ordering language to help the process of getting hundreds of people in and out at any point of the day.  (The Varsity claims that on home football dates for Georgia Tech they serve up to 30,000 people.)  So an order of a "heavy weight all the way, a glorified steak sideways, ring one and strings with a squirt one and a joe-ree" will garner you a hot dog with extra chili and onions, a cheeseburger with tomatoes, lettuce and mayo with onions on the side, an order of onion rings, an order of fries with a Varsity orange drink and a cup of coffee with cream.  But you can easily order either a hot dog with onions and a cheeseburger with tomatoes, lettuce and mayo and they'll understand you just fine. 

It was a rainy afternoon when we pulled into The Varsity.  My colleague Chris had been talking about going to The Varsity since our visit to Atlanta for CEDIA last year.  Most of the guys in our company turn up their nose when it comes to experiencing such culinary elegance such as hot dogs, but we were able to convince our other colleague Jon to come with us.  We had hoped to have car hop service, but I actually wanted to go inside to have a look around.  We parked in the upper lot on the north side of the restaurant and went in.

 
It was later in the afternoon - after 4 p.m. - when we were there, so the lines were not very bad.  The stainless steal counter was very long - about 125 feet by my estimation.  The menu at The Varsity is located on the wall above the counter.  When a counter clerk is ready to take your order they'll yell out an old traditional greeting, "What'll ya have, what'll ya have, what'll ya have?!!"  It's best to know what you want before you get up to the front of the line.  They really want to keep the line moving. 

I knew we were going out for a large dinner later in the evening, but I wanted to try at least a couple hot dogs.  They didn't appear to be big, so I didn't think I'd have any problem downing a couple without spoiling my appetite later on.  I ordered a chili dog and a plain dog.  Chris also ordered a couple of hot dogs while Jon broke ranks and got a "glorified steak and a ring one".  He didn't order it that way, but he did get the cheeseburger with the veggies and a side of onion rings. 

 

We didn't wait long before our order was brought out to us on a tray and we found a place in one of the dining rooms that are part of The Varsity.  Quite honestly, the hot dogs were pretty basic.  I didn't find the chili on the chili dog to be all that remarkable and the hot dogs, themselves, were sort of dull and lacked the plumpness and "snap" I've come to love from Chicago-style Vienna Beef hot dogs.  But we were at The Varsity and that's really all that mattered.

Jon said that his cheeseburger was "good, surprisingly good".  He said it was one of the better cheeseburgers he'd had in quite sometime.  He did offer both Chris and I an onion ring and they, too, were just OK.  I couldn't really tell if they were homemade - I'm guessing they were.  But like the hot dogs, the onion rings were pretty average.

It's obvious it's not the hot dogs that keeps bringing people back to The Varsity.  It's the history, heritage and traditions that gives The Varsity the charm and staying power.  While I probably wouldn't go out of my way to try The Varsity again - except, maybe, to try a burger.  But I'm really glad I went.  But with CEDIA moving to Indianapolis for the next couple of years, I doubt if I'll be back anytime soon.  The Varsity is one of the most famous restaurants in the South and is one of those places you should at least try when you go to Atlanta. 

 

Tucker's Place - St. Louis

I recently met a former colleague who is now a small business owner in the audio/video - custom installation field for lunch at Tucker's Place in West St. Louis County in the greater St. Louis metro area.  It had been years since I'd eaten at Tucker's Place and was somewhat pleasantly surprised to have him suggest meeting there.  

My first trip to Tucker's Place was for a dinner with a former boss and sales manager who were riding my butt about something around 16 years ago.  I don't quite remember why they were ganging up on me, but they must have figured that by treating me to a steak dinner it would light a fire under me.  I remember the steak was good, but nothing special.  I found out later on that Tucker's Place is a very economical and high value restaurant in the St. Louis area.  My boss at that time was notoriously cheap and it made perfect sense to me much later on that he would take me to Tucker's Place.  By the way, the steak dinner didn't work - I ended up leaving that company about six months later to take a better job with a competing rep firm based out of St. Peters, MO. 

There are three Tucker's Place restaurants in the greater St. Louis area.  The original one opened in Soulard in 1982 (see map) and there is another one in South County (see map).  Tucker's Place has won numerous local awards for best steak/steakhouse and best value restaurant over the past number of years.   

It was about 12:30 when I met up with my guest at Tucker's Place just off of Wood's Mills Road on Manchester (see map).  We both had appointments out in West County and he thought it would be a good place to meet for lunch.  We were met by a hostess who told us she had one table open for lunch, a small two-seater that was up against the wall in the dining room just off the bar area.  The place was packed with both business-types and older people who were looking for a good lunch at a low price. 

The lunch menu was pretty basic with a couple three steaks to choose from.  In addition to steaks, Tucker's Place is also known for their pork chops and grilled chicken breasts, as well as a handful of seafood entrees to choose from.  Each day, Tucker's Place features a special "sandwich of the day", but they have their mouth-watering burger available each day through the week.  The special that day was the Philly cheese steak sandwich.  That was tempting, but I ended up getting the cheeseburger for lunch - the Tucker Burger.  The Tucker Burger starts out with a 9 oz. ground beef patty, flame broiled to order and topped with your choice of cheese.   I ordered Pepper Jack cheese on my medium burger. 

My guest ordered up the Philly cheese steak sandwich.  We contemplated getting an order of (from what I remember) their mouthwatering beer-battered onion rings, but my guest thought that a sandwich and a salad would be good enough for him.  After gaining about 10 pounds back from the nearly 50 that I lost, I decided that it was probably best for me to go the salad route, as well.  We both ordered side salads with Tucker's Place's homemade lemon pepper dressing. 

I had noticed Tucker's Place also had pizza on their menu and as we were enjoying our salads, I noticed that a table near us had a pizza brought out to them.  It didn't look like the paper thin crust like you find at most St. Louis area pizza places, but it wasn't a thicker, spongy crust either.  Actually, it looked quite good.  I may have to go back to Tucker's Place to try the pizza at some point. 

After finishing our salads, of which the lemon pepper dressing over the fresh greens proved to be very tasty, our sandwiches came out.  My burger was served open faced with the top of a large sesame seeded kaiser roll off to the side.  There was a generous amount of pepper jack cheese on top of the burger patty.   A slice of tomato, some bib lettuce, pickles and a raw onion slice was served along with the burger.

 From the first bite, I was very impressed with the burger.  It was lean, yet still juicy.  The center was pink, but not too raw.  I would have called it more medium-rare than medium, but I wasn't going to complain.  The bun - which is a big determination as to the overall taste of any burger - was very good.  It was light, but chewy.  The only problem is that it didn't hold together very well and the burger got a little messy as each bite made it smaller.  I had to ask for more napkins from our waitress.  It was easily a three napkin burger. 

My guest's Philly cheese steak sandwich was declared to be "good".  He said that he's had better cheese steak sandwiches, but for the price ($8.45 for the sandwich, side salad and a glass of iced tea) he thought it was a great value.  I, too, thought my burger (same price, only I just had water for my lunch) was a very good value.  I've had burgers that were much higher priced that didn't come close to the taste and quality of the burger I had at Tucker's Place.

Tucker's Place has been a favorite of St. Louis area residents for a number of years.  The service is good, but not like you'd find at an upper scale restaurant, which is totally understandable.  My guest, who is about as big a "foodie" as I am, reiterated that the Tucker's Place restaurants are a great value with above average food.  Based on the steak that I had a number of years ago and the burger that I had on my last visit, I would have to agree.  It's not a 5 star restaurant, but I'd certainly give Tucker's Place 3 1/2 stars.

Miller Union - Atlanta

Always on the lookout for new places to try when we all meet up for trade shows, the guys in our company went out to Miller Union one evening after a long day at the annual CEDIA Expo in Atlanta this past September.  One of my colleagues had read about Miller Union and their commitment to prepare and serve food raised by local farmers and fishermen.  We decided that it would be a good place to try.

Miller Union (see map) is situated in Atlanta's west side area which, at one point, was a hard-scrabble warehouse/stockyards area that has since been gentrified with upscale urban housing, an arts district, shops and restaurants.  Miller Union occupies what was the old Miller Union Stockyards, one of the central areas of Atlanta where people went to buy horses and mules for transportation and farm work before and just after the turn of the 20th century.  It would be akin to modern day automobile "mega marts" where up to 8 different dealerships are placed within a large shopping complex.  While the area is going more upscale, there are still a number of warehouses in the area as evident by the number of semi trucks that were moving through the area as we enjoyed our dinner.   

The owners of Miller Union, Neal McCarthy and Steven Satterfield, are Atlanta restaurant industry veterans.  McCarthy was the longtime general manager and sommilier at Sotto Sotto, while Satterfield (right) was the executive sous chef at Watershed, a contemporary Southern restaurant in suburban Decatur that's co-owned by Emily Saliers of the Atlanta based duo Indigo Girls.  When McCarthy and Satterfield opened Miller Union in 2009, they joined a growing number of American contemporary "farm-to-table" restaurants that are popping up in the Atlanta area. 

After parking with the valet out front (the area is full of dance clubs that get packed after 9 p.m., so the valet parking was a must) we walked into Miller Union with a large group of 12 just after 7 p.m.  Our table wasn't ready yet so we whiled away the time at the bar.  I was able to enjoy a couple of the Terrapin Rye Pale Ale's that I had first had when we had dinner at Panahar a couple nights previously.

The decor of Miller Union could be described as contemporary industrial rustic - all three elements were prevalent in the interior of the place.  The place featured a couple three intimate dining areas and a small bar area (pictured below) that got pretty tight when a lot of people were waiting for a table. 

After about a half-hour wait, we were seated outdoors at a table that was not designed for 12 people.  Actually 8 people - 3 on each side and one at each end - was the practical number to seat at that table.  It became very evident after a few moments that this would not do for such a large group.  My colleague, Todd, spoke with the hostess and she told him that this was the only table they had to offer.  Todd asked to speak to the manager and he had a short chat with Neal McCarthy.  When Todd came back he said, "They're going to accommodate us." 

A table for four opened up right behind us and four from our group went and sat at that table.  When I asked Todd how he was able to get an extra table so quickly, he said, "I told the manager that we were probably going to drink a shit-load of expensive wine tonight and we wanted to be comfortable in doing so."  That obviously got his attention.

The dinner menu at Miller Union that evening featured regular items such as a pan-seared duck breast, sauteed quail, lamb sausage and a griddle fried chicken breast.  The special that evening was a broasted pork loin served on Southern vegetables.  It all sounded very good. 

And the pork loin is what I ordered, along with a soup of the day that was, I believe, a sweet potato soup, if I remember correctly.  Everyone ordered something a little different, but a couple of my colleagues ordered the duck breast.  Multiple bottles of a Cote Rotie red wine from the Rhone Valley wine region in France were placed on the table for us to enjoy. 

 
After the soup, our main entries were brought out to us.  The presentation was just wonderful and the food looked delectible.  And it was.  My pork loin (above left) was resting on a combination of sweet corn, asparagus, fresh okra and tomatoes - a very Southern touch for my meal.  And the pork was tender and flavorful, and the loin size was just enough for a full meal, but not enough to make me feel too full at the end of the meal.  But full enough that I passed on dessert when it was offered. 

My colleague John got the lamb sausage served over a bed of mixed vegetable succotash (above right).  He said it was very good.  But the highlight at the table was the pan-seared duck breast served over a Southern succotash of sweet corn and shelled beans (right).  My colleague Simon got that along with one of the other guys at our table.  Simon is a big fan of duck (I'm not as much) and he was raving about how great the duck breast tasted and how it was prepared.  One of the guys at the smaller table also got the duck and all three who got it raved about the taste after the meal was over.

One of the guys at our table got the pan-cooked New York strip along with a side of polenta and brussels sprouts.  He was lamenting his choice because of how the guys who got the duck were going nuts over their meals.  He said, "My steak is OK, but I should have gotten the duck."

After the meal, a handful of guys ordered dessert.  As I said, I passed, but I did have a bite of the dark chocolate fudge brownie topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.  It was decadently rich and flavorful, but I'm certainly glad I didn't get one for myself.  A couple of the others tried the apple-pecan cake topped with scoop of a caramel-honey ice cream.  I did try the ice cream - which was out of this world - but I'm not big on either apples or pecans.

 

All in all, I'd have to say my meal at Miller Union was very good.  Compared to other places we ate at during our stay in Atlanta, Miller Union was the most unique in terms of decor and menu.  The service was top-notch and after we were able to get a second table for our group the experience was very comfortable.  About the only complaint I would have for Miller Union were the number of semi's that continued to roll past the restaurant throughout our meal.   With a stop sign just by the outdoor seating area, there was a lot of starting and stopping of semi's that caused us to have to stop in mid-sentence during conversation as it was too loud.   But with the wood floors and the contemporary industrial decor in the main dining areas, it would have been constantly loud inside.  The sound of the semi's rolling past while dining outside on a beautiful Georgia evening versus having to scream across the table inside was a nice trade-off.   

Buck's Bar - Mitchellville, IA

For the last eight years, the Iowa Pork Producers have been handing out the award for the Best Pork Tenderloin in Iowa to restaurants and bars around the state.  So far, I've written about visiting Augusta in Oxford, IA and trying their 2008 award winning pork tenderloin (click here to see that entry); and recently I posted an entry on Goldie's Ice Cream Shoppe in Prairie City, IA (click here to see that entry) and trying the 2009 winning tenderloin.  The 2010 winner was recently announced and the Iowa Pork Producers awarded the best tenderloin of this year to Buck's Bar in Mitchellville, IA - about 20 miles east of Des Moines (see map).  I was coming back from a couple three days up in Minneapolis with a side trip to Ames for a meeting when I decided to stop into Buck's Bar for a tenderloin on my way home.

It just so happens that one of my sisters lives in Mitchellville, about three blocks from Buck's Bar.  I called her up before I left Ames and asked her if she was home.  She said she was and wondered why I asked.  I said, "Well, I want to try a tenderloin from Buck's Bar and I wondered if you wanted to join me for a beer."

She said, "Oh!  I just had a leftover tenderloin from Buck's for lunch!  Sure, I'll meet you there."

It was about 45 minutes later when I pulled up in front of Buck's Bar in Mitchellville (see map).  My sister was sitting on a bench in front of the place waiting for me to show up.  It was about 3:30 p.m. when I got there, saving up my appetite for a Buck's tenderloin through the course of the day.

 

Buck's Bar is a relatively new place.  My sister explained that the original owner had built the place about three years ago, but went through a nasty divorce from his wife at the time.  The bar had opened, closed, then reopened about nine months ago under the ownership of Buck Bos.  It was sort of nice on the inside - open and well-lit with some tables and booths interspersed throughout the place.  There was a pool table and some other games that you'd find in any small town bar.  The bar area featured a three-sided bar with comfortable high-back seats. 

My sister discribed Buck Bos as a nice guy who is sort of a player with the ladies.  "He has a big smile and very white teeth.  He's always wearing Hawaiian or tropical shirts.  When I go to the State Fair, it seems I always run into him partying with a bunch of ladies at the beer tents." 

Sounds like my kind of guy.  I wanted to meet him after that, but he wasn't in his place that afternoon.  My sister and I sat at the bar and we were greeted by a tall, slender blond-haired bartender.  She asked us if we needed menus.  I said, "I understand that you guys have the award winning tenderloin for this year."

She said, "Well, yes, we do!  Would you like to try one?" 

Absolutely!  My sister was still full from her lunch a couple hours before and she just had a beer while we caught up on what's been going on with our lives. 

About 10 minutes after I ordered the tenderloin, the bartender brought it out.  It was a thin, breaded tenderloin cut in half with raw onion rings and pickles off to the side.  A side of fries came with the sandwich, but I wasn't interested.

It turns out that Buck Bos gets his pork from the same place Brad Magg at Goldie's gets his tenderloins - from the Fareway store in Altoona.  (Mitchellville and Prairie City are only about seven miles apart as the crow flies, and about a 15 minute drive between the two communities.)  The only difference, as it was explained to me by the bartender, is that Fareway does all the processing of the tenderloins for Goldie's - cutting, tenderizing, etc. - while Buck buys the pork tenderloin, does his own cutting and hand tenderizes them with a cook's hammer.  "Buck was using this thing that looked like a mallet at first," the bartender said to me.  "But then he got this big cook's hammer and he can really flatten them out."

While the tenderloin was large and hanging over the bun, it wasn't so flat and huge that the taste had been literally hammered out of it.   I've said many times that too often I've run across pork tenderloin sandwiches at restaurants where they're literally two sizes too large for the bun.  When they hammer 'em out to be that large in area, they also hammer the juiciness out of them, too.  Buck's tenderloin was big, but not big enough to make them dry in taste.

Now, I'm not usually big on breaded tenderloins - I like a good unbreaded, grilled tenderloin for a sandwich from time to time.  Buck's breaded tenderloin was good, better in my opinion than the one at Goldie's.  But as I confessed to the bartender after she asked how my tenderloin was, neither Buck's nor Goldie's could hold a candle to the Augusta in Oxford.  The breading at Augusta was better - it's more of a batter breading, I believe.  The bartender said, "We had a couple in from Creston the other day trying the sandwich and they said they liked the battered tenderloins better than the breaded ones." 

The pork tenderloin at Augusta in Oxford is still the best restaurant pork tenderloin sandwich I've ever had.

It's not that the tenderloin at Buck's was bad - far from it.  But I've had similar tenderloins at any number of places across the state over the years.  I honestly don't know how the Iowa Pork Producers can judge how one tenderloin is better than another.  The breading on Buck's tenderloin was better than the one at Goldie's, but quite honestly they're all pretty much the same.  But Buck Bos gets to wear the crown of having the Best Tenderloin in Iowa for a year and they've already seen a spike in business since they were named the 2010 award winners in early October.   And, quite honestly, other than getting the tenderloin, Buck's seems like a cool place to just hang out and have a beer.  I may have to stop more often to have a cold one with my sister as I pass by Mitchellville on my way to wherever.

(Update - My sister told me in August of 2011 that Buck's had closed its doors.  Rumors I've heard had something to do about a divorce, but I didn't think Buck was married.  In any event, the reigning Best Pork Tenderloin in Iowa is no longer available.)     

Courtesy Diner - St. Louis

Courtesy Diner in St. Louis can be categorized as nothing but an institution to late night partiers who are looking to ward off the impending next day hangover with some greasy food served at 3:00 a.m.  It's an endearing slice of culinary life to thousands of people who have eaten "Slingers", cheeseburgers and other greasy specialties over the years.  I've always wanted to try the Courtesy Diner at some point and I actually had a breakfast meeting recently at the one on Hampton, not far from Forest Park.  

There are two Courtesy Diner locations in St. Louis - the one on Hampton (see map); and the original location on Kingshighway (see map) which has been opened for, geez, from what I can tell, well over 50 years.  In doing some research for the Courtesy Diner, I found that it was once part of a chain of little places known as either Courtesy Sandwich Shop or Courtesy Chili.  There appeared to be around 30 Courtesy Sandwich Shops in New York, Maryland and a few other eastern states at one time or another.  There used to be a Courtesy Diner on S. Broadway in St. Louis until the late 90's.  The last one in the chain was the Kingshighway location, owned by Larry Rugg of Restaurants Unlimited, Inc. 

Rugg - who also owns the Country Fixin's Restaurant in Wentzville, MO,  a handful of Hen House Restaurants in Illinois, and the former O.T. Hodge Chili Shoppe in St. Louis' Union Station - opened the Hampton location in February of 1999 on the site of an old gas station.  He wanted to keep the concept constant with the location on Kingshighway - open 24/7 with breakfast served anytime, a great juke box, and good comfort food at reasonable prices.  It was an immediate hit with the late night dining crowd who came over from the bars in the Central West End to satisfy their alcohol fueled appetites.  

Courtesy Diner's signature dish is the Slinger - two eggs, hash browns and chili on a hamburger patty.   Some people like to order cheddar cheese and onions on top.  Or for the people who are really hungry, the Super Slinger comes with the above along with either beef burrito or a tamale on top of everything.  Actually, it sounds a lot like the Magic Mountain/Volcano from Ross' Restaurant in Bettendorf, IA which has become a late night staple for many of us here in the Quad Cities. 

Courtesy Diner's main menu consists of burgers, sandwiches, chicken fried steak, and about 10 different variations of chili served plain, with macaroni, with a burrito, with a tamale, or with hash browns.  Their breakfast anytime has - of course - the Slinger, as well as eggs, omelets, pancakes, french toast, and biscuits and gravy.  The menu is pretty straight forward and doesn't vary all that much.

I had a 9:00 a.m. meeting with a gentleman who was looking to get into the audio business with a concept of a home entertainment system.  We'd talked a couple times before and while he seemed enthusiastic about the concept, I didn't really know if it would work or not even with the drawn out business plan that he had forwarded to me before the meeting.  I told him that I was staying at the Hampton Inn in Forest Park and he suggested meeting up at the Courtesy Diner.  I was completely up for that. 

As I walked into the Courtesy Diner, it was pure Americana in the place.  John Mellencamp was playing on the juke box, a row of booths lined the windows while a row of stools sat in front of the counter.  It was clean and spiffy inside, and the place was lively with some families, two couples who had driven there on motorcycles, a handful of single people sitting at the counter and other various mid-morning visitors.  I took a booth in the far back of the restaurant.  The waitress, who had a sore foot, hobbled over to me to drop off menus and asked if I wanted coffee from the pot she was holding.   I told her, "No coffee, but I'm waiting on someone else."  She hobbled back to grab another menu and sort of tossed it on the table across from me.  She didn't have an attitude, I didn't think.  I'm sure she was not happy having to work on a sore foot.  You gotta take that in stride in places like Courtesy Diner. 

With Pink Floyd now playing on the juke box, my meeting guest showed up not long after that and we exchanged pleasantries as the waitress came over with the pot of coffee.  My guest heartily turned over his cup and said to me, "They actually have very good coffee here." 

My first breakfast at Courtesy Diner consisted of a couple eggs over easy with a side of bacon and whole wheat toast.  My guest got a bowl of their oatmeal - "I'm trying to watch my weight and Courtesy Diner has good oatmeal." 

While the eggs and bacon were nothing special, it was a good value at $3.75.  I had a large glass of milk that was $1.25, so my total breakfast was just over $5.00 with tax.  Along with my guest's oatmeal, coffee and a tip for the waitress hobbling around on a sore foot, the total bill came to just under $11 bucks.  Pretty reasonable for a breakfast meeting, I have to say.  One thing to note - take cash.  Courtesy Diner doesn't take credit cards. 

A couple days later, I decided to go back to Courtesy Diner by myself and try one of their omelets.  I ordered up a sausage and cheese omelet on this visit with a side of bacon and a glass of milk.  And while the omelet was good, it was far from the best I've ever had.  But it was served quickly and efficiently, allowing me to get on my way a lot quicker than I'd would had I gotten breakfast at a larger national chain. 

But it's the ambiance and history of the Courtesy Diner that makes the place unique.  If you know going in that the place is a greasy spoon restaurant, that helps add to the charm of the place.  While the Courtesy Diner isn't going to win many culinary awards, it's still a favorite with thousands of St. Louis area residents who want breakfast at either 2:30 in the afternoon or 2:30 in the morning.   I don't come across a lot of places like the Courtesy Diner in my travels, but I wouldn't mind if I did.  It's not fancy, the food is serviceable.  To use an over-used modern cliché - the Courtesy Diner is what it is. 

Salvatore's - Muscatine, IA

Our good friend, Greg Hipskind, who is the drummer for both Wicked Liz and the Bellyswirls and for Superfly Samurai, also moonlights from time to time with the Midwest touring group for Caroline's Spine.  It turned out that "the Spine" was playing in Muscatine one evening earlier this fall and we made a point to go see him play.  As we were looking for the spot where the show was supposed to be, we passed Salvatore's restaurant in Muscatine.   Cindy said, "Hey, that's the pizza place that Toni from Antonella's (in downtown Davenport) was telling us about!" 

I said, "You want to stop and get a pizza before we see the show?"

Cindy said, "Sure!  Why not?"

Remo Vitale moved his family to Muscatine in the early 80's from their native Sicily and opened Salvatore Vitale's in 1985.  The Vitale's had previously lived in the States until the late 70's where Remo ran an Italian restaurant in Carlinville in downstate Illinois.   But his kids - sons Salvatore, Claudio, and daughter Antonia convinced their father to move back to the U.S. and the family settled in the Quad Cities area.  

Salvatore (known to the locals as Sam) and Claudio Vitale, along with their wives, Francesca and Domenica, run the day to day operations with much of the menu filled with Vitale family recipes.  Everything is homemade at Vitale's including the sauces and the mouthwatering desserts made daily by Francesca and Domenica.  And it turns out that Toni at Antonella's in Davenport is actually Antonia Vitale-Sgro, the sister of the Vitale brothers who co-owns the restaurant with her husband, Giovanni (John).  

The Vitale's also co-own and operate Piazza Bella in Muscatine, a private banquet hall that the locals use for wedding receptions, parties and meetings.  I understand they now open Piazza Bella from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. for lunch on Sundays.  I don't know if it's a buffet or an "order from the menu" place, but it would be interesting to try.

After initially passing Salvatore's, we went around the block and parked in front of the place (see map).  It was a little before 9:00 p.m. when we walked into Salvatore's.  The knotty pine walls are covered with pictures of the Vitale family and Italian scenery.  There's a fire place along the north wall of the restaurant and booths are along the south wall.  We found a table near the fire place along the wall and Cindy had a good view back into the small bar/kitchen area while I looked out toward the front door.  A young waitress came over and gave us a couple of menus and took our drink order.  I had a beer while Cindy got a glass of their house red wine. 

In addition to pizza on the menu, Salvatore's also has a number of classic Italian dishes to choose from including homemade ziti, fettuccine alfredo and lasagna.  I almost jumped on the lasagna from the description - homemade meat sauce with four different types of Italian cheese blended together.  Another thing that caught my eye was the portobella mushroom-stuffed ravioli from the stuffed pasta portion of the menu.  They take portabella mushrooms and enclosed them in homemade ravioli's and then serve them topped with their homemade white cream sauce. 

But Cindy wanted pizza so we got  a 12" Italian sausage and pepperoni.  Cindy also wanted a salad with the garlic dressing.  She was thinking that it had to be the same recipe as the garlic dressing at Antonella's.  The garlic dressing at Antonella's in Davenport is addictive, but very strong.  I always have to get a bite of Cindy's or I can't stand being in the same room with her because whoever eats the stuff just reeks of garlic for the next 8 hours. 

They brought out Cindy's salad and it was a nice presentation with a square concave plate topped with fresh greens and chopped tomatoes, drizzled with the garlic dressing.  Cindy said it was just like Antonella's garlic dressing and I had to have a bite to make sure.  Yes, it certainly was close, if not the same recipe. 

 

After a bit, the pizza came out and it smelled very good.  From the first glance, it looked exactly like the pizza at Antonella's - and not that there is anything wrong with that.  The pizza at Antonella's can be very good at times and it's clearly our second most favorite pizza in the Quad Cities behind Van's (which is getting to be consistently good with their pizzas, by the way).   The pizza at Salvatore's featured big chunks of sausage, a lot of pepperoni with a caramelized cheese and a crispy edge to the pizza.

The first bite also told me that it was similar but not the same as Antonella's.  While the crust isn't super thin as I like, it was still soft and chewy.  The Italian sausage and pepperoni were both fresh and flavorful.  It was a very good pizza to say the least.  

After dinner, Cindy decided she was still hungry.  She looked over the dessert menu to see if anything would appeal to her.   She saw the cannoli's on the menu and said, "I think I want one of those."  Well, I was certainly stuffed from the pizza (I had a little more than Cindy did) and I wasn't certain I could eat any of the cannoli. 

But when the waitress brought out the cannoli, it was too hard to resist taking at least a couple bites.  The homemade cannoli was filled to the bursting point with ricotta cheese and drizzled with copious amounts of chocolate sauce.  It rivaled cannoli's I've had at upscale Italian restaurants in much larger cities. 

Our little side trip to Salvatore's was definitely worth it.  We'd heard of a good pizza place in Muscatine for quite sometime and it was good to know that there's a connection between Antonella's and Salvatore's.  While both are very similar, there's enough of a difference to justify a return trip to Muscatine to try some of the Vitale family's homemade Italian specialties.  The pizza was great, the service was very good and the cannoli was the pièce de résistance.  It was a wonderful experience in every respect.   

The Pros and Cons of 3D at Home

I recently became a 29-year veteran of the audio/video industry.  Hard to believe that one can actually make a living selling what are basically high-priced toys.  Over the past few months I've been getting some questions from friends and acquaintances regarding the validity of 3D televisions for the home.  With the fall and holiday selling season rapidly coming on, a number of national, regional and local retailers are banking upon selling 3D video to main stream home video buyers.  There's been a lot of pressure from manufacturers and industry groups on these retailers to adopt and embrace 3D for home, but is it really worth it?   Let me see if I can help clear up some issues. 

A few years ago, my company used to distribute a 3D processor from a Canadian company, Sensio, that featured the first somewhat affordable 3D capable processor in the industry.  Priced at $3000, the Sensio stereoscopic processor was definitely ahead of its time.  But it performed at or better at a price about 1/8th of what previous 3D processors where available at that time.  Being that 3D was a relatively new process at that time, I had to learn a lot about how 3D works, the different formats and where the industry was going before I could go out and sell Sensio. 

About seven years ago, I was interviewed for an article by the Sioux City Journal regarding the Sensio 3D processor.  At that time, HD television was just beginning to become a reality, but the Sensio processor was far from being an HD source.  I incorrectly stated at the time, "(3D will) never be a high definition format just because of the anomalies at go into (the process).   But the wow factor is at the point where people don't care if it's high definition or not.  It's something that's completely magical."  Given the limitations of the processor at the time, I truly believed that 3D would not be available in HD. 

Well, I have been proven completely wrong in my statement.  Technology marched on and a number of companies were able to provide 3D in an HD format.  3D programming is now on DirecTV with channels such as ESPN-3D, DirecTV Cinema 3D and N3D.  Blu-Ray movies in 3D are beginning to become available, as well.  And earlier this year, Sony announced that their Playstation 3 game box will have the capabilities of being able to play both movies and games in 3D via a firmware upgrade that is scheduled to be released at any time. 

As I said, manufacturers have jumped on the 3D bandwagon with both feet and have pushed their product onto the floors of retailers across the nation.  Samsung claimed at the end of August that they've sold 1 million 3D flat panel units in the first six months the televisions were on the market.  They have a goal of selling 2 million units by the end of this year.  The question is, how many of those are making it to the homes of consumers?

Nearly any audio/video store worth its salt has a 3D display on their floor.  Most of these are 55-inch flat panels, although Mitsubishi has models up to an 82-inch rear-projection  that feature 3D capability.  While a number of people have seen 3D in action on the floors of many A/V stores, according to the salespeople I've talked to - especially at American TV and Ultimate Electronics - they aren't exactly flying out the doors. 

Oh, Now, before I go on, I cannot claim that I am an expert at 3D by any means.  But I had to learn much about 3D, the history, how it works, how movies are produced and what type of content is available when I was working with Sensio that I'm dangerous enough to be able to form strong opinions on the subject.  So let's take a look at all the angles of 3D to help you make your decision as to whether or not this is what you really want to get for your home.

Products -

Nearly every major television manufacturer is jumping on the 3D bandwagon.  Panasonic, Samsung, LG Philips, Sharp, Mitsubishi and Sony all have a number of models to choose from that incorporate 3D technology.  Projection companies Runco and Digital Projection debuted new 3D projector units at the recent CEDIA Expo held in Atlanta.  JVC and Sony both showed new 3D projectors, as well, that will come in with price tags from between $5,000 to $11,000 each.  The Digital Projection unit was shown on a 180" diagonal 2:35 to 1 screen.  I didn't get a chance to see it, but I heard it was just stunning. 

While Digital Projection's system is an active stereoscopic system, Runco's system (left) is a passive polarized dual projection system, similar to what you'd find at an IMAX theater.  But the glasses Runco uses are different from the polarized glasses used at an IMAX 3D theater.  The lenses on Runco's glasses are a circular lenticular style rather than the linear style for IMAX.  Supposedly, you can easily move your head around and still see the 3D images, whereas at an IMAX theater you have to keep your head nearly still at all times to see the 3D image. 

 

Italian projector manufacturer Sim2 also showed a dual projection system at CEDIA.  However, they'll use the same polarized glasses as what IMAX uses. 

Both dual projection systems were not cheap - $50,000 bucks for the Runco and $80,000 for the Sim2.  But they certainly weren't as expensive as this thing - the Panasonic 152-inch plasma with 3D capabilities.  This little number, which was first shown at the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas earlier this year, comes in with a hefty $150,000 price tag.  It was on display at CEDIA in Atlanta and I had to stop and take a picture of it (see below).   

With 3D bigger is definitely better with picture size which makes me wonder about Toshiba's new models that they recently announced will be introduced in December.   Toshiba will be coming out with 3D televisions where the user won't have to wear glasses, but the televisions will only be available in 12" and 20" screens.  How 3D is accomplished with the Toshiba models is with a perpendicular lenticular sheet that will be placed in front of the screen.  However, Toshiba is promoting these models as "personal" 3D televisions as the viewer has to be very close to the screen to see the 3D effects.   And it won't be cheap - reports are that the 12" television will be approximately $1400 while no price has been established for the 20" models. 

Picture Size - 

My first exposure to Stereoscopic/Active Shutter 3D (the format that most manufacturers use today) was on a 110-inch diagonal screen with the image projected from a projector mounted on a ceiling.  Even with the flickering image on the screen, the effects were just stunning.  

The IMAX passive polarized system is great for those who are bothered by the flicker on an active 3D system.  However, the 3D effect is not as prominent.   

What both a large projection unit and the IMAX theaters have in common is picture size.  It's quite simple - the larger the picture, the better the 3D effect on the screen.  

Earlier this year, I took a look at a 55" Panasonic 3D panel at Ovation in Indianapolis.  I wanted a demonstration from one of their guys and he sat me down about four feet from the television, I put the glasses on and a computer generated program came up on the screen.  Yes, there was less flicker than the original Sensio processor.  And there was some good depth to the picture.  But I then asked the salesperson, "How far back do your customers normally sit at home with a 55-inch flat panel like this one?"  

He said, "Oh, I'd say anywhere from 10 to 15 feet."  

I got up, measured off about 13 feet from the front of the flat panel and placed my chair there.  I said, "OK, play it again."

The 3D image was nowhere near as defined as it was when I was closer to the set.  Even the salesperson agreed with me that the 3D had lost its impact when we sat further away.  "There's a much smaller visual 'sweet spot' when you're further back," he remarked.     

Ambient Light - 

The other thing most projection units and the IMAX theaters have in common is the lack of ambient light that filters into the room during the playing of the 3D movie.  As I also noted during my 3D demo/experience at Ovation, there was a lot of ambient light in the room - not only from incandescent lighting, but from the late evening sunshine coming through the windows. 

Even with a direct view flat panel television, the more ambient light in the room, the less effective the 3D image is.  If you have the money to spend on your own home theater room with controlled lighting and shades, then 3D is probably worth the investment.  But most people don't have the disposable cash to put down for a large home theater system - and a lot of people don't have the space, either. 

Cost - 

The suggested retail price of most of the flat panel, 3D-ready televisions on the market place runs around $3000 dollars.  Well, that's great if you have $3000 bucks to blow on a television when you could get a great non-3D set for half that price.  The 82-inch Mitsubishi model - the WD82838 has a suggested retail of $4499.  Still not all that outlandish, but still a chunk of change.

However, some careful shopping with find you some bargains - probably from dealers who are already worried about their 3D televisions in the stock room turning into expensive boat anchors because no one is buying them at the rate the manufacturers are churning them out.  The Mitsubishi 82-inch unit is already being sold at around $3300 on sites like Amazon.com. 

But you can also find bargains on the Samsung UN55C7000 55-inch flat panel - down to as low as $2597 at some places. Best Buy was recently running a promotion on a Samsung PN50C490B3D 50" model that came in just under $1000 bucks! 

The cost of the televisions include two to four pair of glasses and a 3-D movie.  But if you need more glasses, it's gonna cost you...

Glasses - 

Yep, you gotta wear glasses to make the 3D image work.  Some manufacturers are including up to four pairs of glasses in packages with the sale of 3D televisions.  But if you decide you need a couple more because you have a family of six, glasses will range in price from about $100 to $150 a pair, depending upon the manufacturer.  

If you wear regular glasses just to see a program on television, you'd have to put the 3D glasses over your regular glasses just to see the effects.  That's not very comfortable and it makes for a horrible fashion statement.  Some companies, such as Runco, are reportedly working on prescription glasses that will allow people to watch polarized 3D content both at home (on the Runco system) and at IMAX theaters without having to put 3D glasses over regular glasses. 

Oh, and glasses from different manufacturers are not compatible.  If you have a Panasonic 3D television and your neighbor has a Mitsubishi 3D set, you cannot invite one another over to your house to watch a 3D program with the different make of glasses.  This is another shot in the foot the industry has given to the consumer when it comes to compatibility issues between companies.  

However, at the recent CEDIA Expo in Atlanta, a company called XpanD debuted some universal 3D glasses that will reportedly work with any active stereoscopic 3D system.  Prices range from $109 to $129, depending upon the retailer.   

Content - 

One of the things that initially doomed Sensio was the lack of viable 3D content that could be shown.  Toward the end of their life of selling the Sensio 3D processor, only about 12 to 15 titles were available in 3D.  And, believe it or not, a couple of the titles were porn movies.  

A lot of the DVD's they had were computer generated features that had little or no storyline or actual meaningful content.  The first mainstream 3D movie for Sensio - Spy Kids 3D- featured both computer generated graphics and live action 3D.  But by the time the movie came out, it was too late to save Sensio as a manufacturer/distributor of these processors.

(Note - Sensio continues to do business designing 3D broadcast and processing systems for other manufacturers, most notably JVC.  The guys - Nick and Richard - were truly ahead of their time.  Today, they design and develop chip sets for Stereoscopic/active lens 3D systems.  They found that being in the engineering and development end of 3D was much more lucrative than being a manufacturer of 3D processor units.)  

The biggest problem with content had to do with the production problems that 3D posed to movie studios.  There were a number of 3D movies that came out in the 50's and 60's that used dual 35mm cameras set up side by side with the center of the lenses approximately the same distance apart as the width between the eyes on a normal human face.  The cameras were heavy and cumbersome, and it was very difficult to film action shots.  And they were generally travelogue films or low budget sci-fi movies such as Cat-Women of the Moon or It Came From Outer Space.  Sensio had access to nearly every 3D movie that was made from the 50's on, but getting a studio to produce the movies to work in a stereoscopic/active lens format was a major obstacle.  Add to this, none of these movies were in high definition.  The transfer to DVD was costly and the quality would be poor.    

Sensio had meetings with notable film directors such as James Cameron, Tim Burton and Robert Rodriguez - all of whom saw the value of 3D production and the opening of a whole new frontier with modern 3D.  Cameron went so far to help develop a special 3D camera that was digital and lightweight.  It could be easily mounted or even carried by hand.  Cameron made an IMAX documentary - Ghosts of the Abyss - where two robotic 3D cameras were used to go through the Titanic as it rests on the North Atlantic ocean floor.  And, of course, Cameron scored big with his movie, Avatar, which featured both live action and computer generated 3D images.  

Even with that said, there is still a dearth of Blu-Ray 3D titles available for home viewing.  Warner Brothers studios recently announced the release of six titles this fall - effectively doubling the number of 3D titles available in Blu-Ray.  Three of the Warner Brothers releases will be IMAX titles that were initially going to be packaged with televisions when they were sold. 

The long-awaited and highly anticipated Avatar 3D Blu-Ray release has consisted mainly of rumors floated by various camps.  James Cameron said earlier this spring Avatar will be released in November, but other on-line sources are saying that it may be only available when you buy a Panasonic 3D television beginning December 1.   We'll have to see if that comes to fruition.

 

Broadcast 3D -

Up until earlier this year, programs broadcast in stereoscopic 3D were only available via closed circuit, shown primarily in large halls or movie theaters.  The last three BCS Football Championship games were shown in 3D via closed circuit - but not without some pitfalls and hiccups along the way.  The biggest problem was that in order to get a good 3D effect, most of the camera shots were at field level - not from a high vantage point that allowed the viewer to see plays unfold.  

Earlier this year, The Masters was made available on-line and through Comcast cable systems in 3D.  I understand the images were just stunning.  This worked well because many of the camera shots in a golf tournament are from the ground.   

In June, just in time for the World Cup, ESPN 3D debuted.  Each of the World Cup games were shot in 3D.  However, once again, much of the 3D was lost when they went to a camera shot from a high vantage point.  Only when they went to a field level camera point of view was the 3D image prevalent.  And it's difficult to follow the action at the field level.  

As I pointed out earlier, DirecTV - in addition to ESPN 3D - has two other channels devoted to 3D content.  And HBO recently announced that they will have on-demand 3D programming starting in 2011.   

Gaming -

3D is what the gaming industry has been clamoring for for a number of years.  3D video games will allow users to fully immerse themselves into the experience.  However, industry pundits differ on the impact 3D will initially have on the gaming community.  Some are taking the stance of "too much, too soon", primarily because of the poor quality - both visually and strategically - of some of the initial 3D games that are in beta testing.  Others, however, say, "Who cares?!  It's 3D!" 

But there is an ominous cloud on the horizon that both 3D television and 3D gaming manufacturers are significantly downplaying, or in some cases, not even addressing - the issue of health problems caused by watching 3D programming for long periods of time. 

Health Issues -

At the Consumer Electronics Show in 2004, the guys from Sensio met with developers and designers from Sony Playstation, Microsoft XBox, Nintendo Wii and other gaming companies about the possibility of using the Sensio 3D processor in conjunction with gaming platforms.  Each manufacturer said that doctors had advised them to not to go deep into 3D gaming because of the effects stereoscopic 3D can have on a person. 

Prolonged exposure to 3D images on a screen can cause headaches, nausea, disorientation, and in some cases even epileptic fits and strokes.  Children and teens under 18 are especially susceptible to discomfort and problems with long exposure to 3D.  Of course, these are usually the ones playing video games.  And they play them for hours on end.    

Another warning doctors had for prolonged 3D exposure was no alcoholic beverages should be ingested before or during the 3D experience.  Disorientation is heightened and blood pressure can rise dramatically.  I also understand that pregnant women should not be exposed to 3D for long periods of time.  I think it has something to do with their blood pressure, as well. 

What is specified as prolonged exposure?  The guys at Sensio told me nearly 7 years ago that doctors who advised the gaming companies said that anything over 45 to 60 minutes of 3D exposure is excessive. 

3D movies and now broadcast content can get away with this because most of the 3D content is shown in segments of less than 60 minutes before going back to 2D for commercials or 2D segments in movies.  It's nothing for a kid to be seated in front of a television playing a video game for two to four hours at a time.  And think of all the college-aged kids who come home from the bars at 1 a.m. and stay up and play video games until 5 or 6 a.m.?   

3D, basically, tricks your brain into thinking a three dimensional image is appearing before them on the screen.  This process, called Stereopsis, is what makes you see optical illusions transform in front of you either in a drawing or in a picture.  Because each eye works independently, the image in your brain is focused from the two retinas in your eyes.  That's why when you hold a pencil at arms length, then close and open each eye one at a time, a different view of the pencil pops into your brain.  If your brain is exposed to 3D content for long periods of time, once you go back to normal viewing your brain is still trying to figure out the Stereopsis process.  This is what causes disorientation in many people. 

The Stereopsis effect is stronger with some people, they can process the 3D images more easily.  But with most Stereoscopic/active lens 3D content, there is a high rate "flicker" that occurs.  Some people see that flicker more so than others, makingthe 3D image not as effective in their brain.  But the flicker is also what can cause epileptic seizures in some people.  This is called a photosensitive seizure. 

In April of this year, Samsung Australia came out with a warning regarding the prolounged exposure to 3D content.   (Read the warning here.)   It addressed conditions such as altered vision, dizziness, loss of awareness, convulsions and motion sickness that can be caused by watching 3D. 

Initially, North American branches of the major 3D television manufacturers downplayed or refuted the claims by Samsung Australia.  But Samsung's corporate office in Korea later backed those warnings, but said that it would only affect a small percentage of the population.  In other words, Samsung basically put out the warning to cover their ass in case someone comes home drunk, fires up a 3D movie on a Samsung television and falls down the steps from disorientation.  "We told you not to do that," they can claim when a lawsuit will be inevitably brought against them for such a scenario. 

While the above information is probably more than you asked for in trying to make your decision whether or not to buy a 3D television this fall, I believe I've given you enough ammunition to make such a decision.  I can guarantee there will be a lot of pressure on retailers to sell 3D televisions, and that's based upon the number of trainings the television manufacturers are doing with some of the salespeople of national and regional audio/video chain stores. 

But because both the Consumer Electronics Association and manufacturers are both pushing 3D hard, retailers may end up losing money on the sales of 3D televisions.  Profit margins are slim already, and if they have to begin to give deep discounts just to move televisions out the door during the holiday selling season the only one who wins are the manufacturers and you, the consumer.  The store that you may buy your 3D television from this year may not be around in six to twelve months.   And it will be the fault of the television manufacturers pushing a new technology on people who probably don't want it and don't need it.  Not for awhile - at least until more content becomes available.   

In consumer research conducted by the Consumer Electronics Association, 50% of the people surveyed said they had experienced a 3-D demonstration either at a retail electronics store or at someone's home.  79% of those surveyed said that their experience with a 3-D demo was good to excellent (46% of those said their experience was excellent).  64% of those who saw a 3-D demo said they would probably browse for a 3-D television on their next visit to an electronics store.  However, only 30% of those surveyed said they would probably buy a 3-D television within the next 12 months.  And only 18% of those who were questioned by the CEA said they'd buy a 3-D television in 18 to 24 months.

A recent trip to St. Louis allowed me to talk to a lot of salespeople at the Ultimate Electronics and American TV stores in the area.  Nearly every store said they were selling "some" 3-D televisions, but they were doing more demonstrating than selling.  One of the sales guys at an Ultimate Electronics store told me, "We're selling a few (3-D flat panels), but if people are coming in looking at a similar priced 2-D set, they'll end up taking the regular non-3-D unit 80% of the time."

3D television has its backers and its detractors.  But it appears that it isn't going away anytime soon.  The biggest question will be if it gains traction with consumers who will use the 3D feature on a regular basis or if they'll look at it a couple times, say, "Neato!" then go back to watching 2D content.  Making 3D content available both on Blu-Ray discs and via broadcast medium will be the big key.  It may just be better to hold out for a little while longer as prices go down and watchable programming goes up.