Road Tips

The Windmill Restaurant - Holland, MI

We stayed at the Doubletree in Holland, MI, a nice hotel that turned out to be centrally located for the trips we made during our visit to Western Michigan.  Because I'm a longtime Hilton Diamond member, we got a free breakfast each day we stayed at the hotel.  But because we're more adventurous, we decided to pass up the free breakfasts at the hotel and seek out where the locals eat breakfast.  One of those places was the Windmill Restaurant in downtown Holland.

The downtown Holland area is very nice - Holland, itself, is a very nice city.  There are a number of shops and eateries that you won't find in malls.  Being that it's less than 30 miles from Grand Rapids, we were told a number of people come from that area to shop in Holland because of the unique nature of their shopping and restaurants.  The Windmill is located in the heart of the downtown area on W. 8th Street (see map). And because of the Dutch influence on the area, there's a lot of Dutch heritage touches to the city.  The Windmill is named, of course, after the large Dutch windmills found all over the home country of The Netherlands.  Owner Terry McMurry runs the little family restaurant that opens at 5 a.m. daily (7 a.m. on Sunday) and serves breakfast and lunch throughout the day until they close at 4 p.m. (2 p.m. on Sunday). 

We got to the restaurant just after 9 a.m. and although the place isn't small, it was packed with a number of people getting breakfast.  We had to wait in an area up front for about 15 minutes to get a table, but while we were there the line stretched out the door and onto the sidewalk.  That's a good sign for any family-type restaurant like The Windmill.

The interior of the place is not fancy, but comfortable.  The restaurant features a number of booths along the long wall, tables in the back and a couple tables with chairs and bench seats along the wall up front.  There's an old style lunch counter that was lined full of people while we waited.  The Windmill gives you a choice of a booth or table, or sitting at the counter.  We talked about sitting at the counter, but I wanted a table or booth.  

A table up front with a bench seat opened up and we were escorted there.  There was another table of younger girls seated next to us that was just finishing up their breakfast fully cognisant that the more they dawdled, the more piercing stares they'd get from people who were standing in line waiting for their table to open up.  

As we looked through the menu, we found a number of breakfast items that sounded pretty damn good.  They also had comfort food staples such as meatloaf, hot beef sandwiches and burgers.  But I was looking for things like French toast with blueberries on top, or blueberry pancakes, or anything with blueberries since we were in the heart of blueberry country in Western Michigan.  We had heard some lady who was standing in line in front of us rave about the hash brown omelet, as well.  

We saw something interesting on the menu that Cindy had to ask the waitress about when she brought her some coffee - thin pancakes, rolled up and filled and/or topped with your choice of brown sugar, powdered sugar or cinnamon sugar.  The waitress said, "Oh, yeah, they're very popular and really good."  She explained that you could also get the rolled up pancakes with either a strawberry or blueberry filling.  Cindy asked if the blueberries were fresh or if they were more like pie filling.  The girl admitted that it was more like a pie filling.  "It's not blueberry season around here yet.  We won't start to get fresh blueberries until July or August."  OK, that pretty much ruled out anything with blueberries for me.  

I kept looking over the menu and decided to get the corned beef hash and Swiss cheese omelet.  We'd noticed on the table next to us when another waitress was cleaning it off that there were these thick pieces of toast.  Cindy asked if they made their own bread.  The waitress said, "We sure do!  You get your choice of either regular bread or the homemade bread for toast."  

By this time, our waitress came back and we were ready to order.  I did order the corned beef hash and Swiss cheese omelet along with a couple slices of the homemade whole wheat bread.  Cindy ordered something called the Bird's Nest  - one or two eggs over easy (Cindy got one egg) laid over hashbrowns mixed with real bacon bits, then topped with cheddar cheese.  She got some of the homemade white bread toast.  And she was intrigued enough to try one of the rolled pancakes with cinnamon sugar filling and topped with powdered sugar.  

Since it was pretty busy at the restaurant, we knew it would take some time to get our food.  We were seated right next to the front window and we marveled at how many people were standing in line to get in.  At one point, Cindy counted 22 people standing in line.  She said, "I think we came at the right time."

A family of four - man, wife, boy, girl - took the table next to us after the girls gave it up a few moments before.  Now, I know this is close quarters and it's tough not to listen in on the conversations of others even when you don't want to, but this turned out to be another hazard of eating out.  As we were waiting for our food, the family began to give their order.  The boy - probably 11 or 12 - ordered his breakfast which included one of the roll up pancakes.  The girl - a little older, we guessed - then ordered her breakfast which also included a roll up pancake, as well.  

Then the father stepped in.  He said, "OK, this is what we're going to do..."  He immediately told the waitress to cancel the kids orders and he ordered FOR THE TABLE!  "This is what he's gonna get," he told the waitress as she basically ripped the ticket out of her book and started over.  Then he ordered for his daughter, then himself, then his wife.  Cindy and I were just completely incredulous after we witnessed this.  It was like he was saying, "No, no.  You're not gonna get that.  You're gonna get THIS!"  He did order the rolled up pancakes for everyone, though.  But still, why didn't he just begin to order for everyone before the waitress took the kids orders?

I didn't notice it at the time, but Cindy pointed out to me afterward that she felt the wife was a little creepy.  "Did you see that she was just staring at us while we were eating," she asked me after we left.  I did notice out of the corner of my eye the lady looking our way, but I thought she was looking out the window.  Cindy said, "Oh no.  She was just staring at us while we were eating, looking over our food.  I almost asked her to please stop."   

Our breakfast did show up about 20 minutes after we ordered and I was hungry.  The thin omelet was good sized and chock full of a creamy mixture of Swiss cheese and what appeared to be homemade corned beef hash.   It was excellent.  It was more than enough for me along with the large pieces of homemade toasted whole wheat bread.  

Cindy's Bird's Nest breakfast was not very big, sitting on a small plate that was dwarfed by the homemade white toast on her plate.  She said it was very good and raved about the bread.  "Oh, my God," she exclaimed.  "This bread!"  The bread was good.  It was thick, fluffy, chewy and very flavorful.  I don't know if there was an upcharge for the homemade bread over the regular bread, but I wondered why anyone would want to get a meal with regular bread rather than the homemade bread.  

But the highlight of the meal was the pancake roll up.  Cindy had asked for maple syrup to go along with the pancake, but a couple bites into it she decided she didn't need it.  The cinnamon sugar inside the rolled up pancake was plentiful and the combination with the powdered sugar on top was a great taste sensation.  We joked that we'd probably have a major sugar buzz afterward, but it was excellent in taste.  

These little family restaurants like The Windmill are fun to find when we're out searching around for places like this to eat.  Other than the family next to us with the obnoxious man and the lady staring at us while we were eating (we felt sorry for the kids - they seemed rather pleasant), we were very happy with our breakfast at The Windmill.  We contemplated going back at some point during our visit to Holland, but decided to seek out other breakfast places in the area.  But I wouldn't have minded going back in the least.  

Lake Okoboji

We just got back from a very relaxing vacation with the bulk of it spent up in the Lake Okoboji area in Northwest Iowa.  Cindy had mentioned that she wanted to go up to Okoboji to get together with old friends of our - Craig and Kathy Evert - who moved from Davenport to the Iowa Great Lakes region in 2005.  Craig is an assistant professor of wind energy turbine and technology at Iowa Lakes Community College in Estherville and Kathy is the President and C.E.O. for the Iowa Lakes Corridor Development Corporation which helps spur economic growth in four counties in the immediate area.  We had dinner with Craig and Kathy at their house one night and she was telling us how she was with the Governor of Iowa earlier in the day as he toured the Polaris ATV/snowmobile and Victory motorcycle plant in Spirit Lake.  We went out for dinner with Craig and Kathy one night, as well.  It was great to spend some time with them.

I had never vacationed at Okoboji, but Cindy had a number of years ago.  But she couldn't remember a lot about that vacation, so it was a relatively new experience for both of us over the days we spent in Okoboji.  And we went at the best time to be in the area - just after school goes back into session for both public schools and colleges around the area.  (Schools seem to be starting earlier and earlier each year.)  We had no problem getting into restaurants or bars in the Lake Okoboji area.  Most of the people that were there were primarily locals with a smattering of late summer vacationers like ourselves.  (Picture courtesy Iowa Rivals.com)

We stayed at a place called Pioneer Beach Resort which consisted of 9 cabins located on the shores of East Lake Okoboji (see map).  Although the place was quaint and rustic, it's a stretch to call the place a resort.  But the couple who ran the place, Rick and Lisa VanderWoude, were very nice people and they gave us a deal on Cabin 4 - the only one with a small deck that looked out over the lake.  We were the only people in the place for a couple three days before more people came to rent other cabins later in the week. It was actually very relaxing at Pioneer Beach. 

Cindy had hoped to do some kayaking, but the wind was gusty throughout our visit making it nearly impossible to send her out on the lake.  We did a lot of exploring of the area around the lakes, did a lot of reading and had a good time just taking it easy.  We turned on the television in the cabin once - just to see if it actually worked - and it was on for less than 10 seconds.  

One of the things we did was take in the Iowa Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at historic Arnolds Park - I'll write about that experience at some point.  We also had to take in the somewhat infamous Barefoot Bar on East Okoboji.  I have to say they had the best mai tai's we've tasted since our trip to Hawaii two and a half years ago.  And even though we had cooking capabilities at our cabin - including our own Weber grill (each cabin had their own Weber grill) - we ate out for all our meals taking in a lot of what the area had to offer.  Hey, we were on vacation and I didn't feel like cooking.  There will be an extensive report of many of the places we ate at in the coming weeks.  Unfortunately many of the restaurants in the area are seasonal and close in the winter months.  But we hope that you'll be able to use our recommendations if you make it to the Okoboji region next summer.

We were in Okoboji for a few days and then ended up driving up to Minneapolis for a couple three days to finish out our vacation.  After spending time in the very rustic Cabin 4 at Pioneer Beach, I figured Cindy needed a little pampering.  I booked a room at the Marquette, an upscale hotel in the heart of downtown Minneapolis.  I got a great deal for being a Hilton Diamond Honors member which included an upgraded room to the executive floor of the hotel.  It was tough to go back home last Sunday.     

So, look for a number of entries from both the Lake Okoboji region and a couple three places that Cindy and I tried in the Twin Cities during our vacation in the coming weeks.  We're already planning on going back to Okoboji again next summer.    

 

Powers Hamburgers - Fort Wayne, IN

An icon of Fort Wayne eateries sits in a little art deco building built previous to World War II just across from the U.S. Northern Indiana District Federal Courthouse - Powers Hamburgers (see map).  This little hamburger shop was once part of a small regional empire of hamburger joints that rivaled White Castle in their style, size and taste.  I was told by a sales person at Sweetwater Sound that I had to try Powers Hamburgers at least once.  On a recent visit earlier this summer to Fort Wayne, I stopped in for a burger (or two) for lunch. 

Back in the years before World War II, White Castle out of Kansas led the charge of small hamburger shops that popped up over the nation's landscape featuring small burgers cooked - or steamed - on flat grills.  This phenomenon also gave rise to the White Manna (or Mana) burger shops on the East coast.  In Dearborn, MI, four brothers who grew up in Northeastern Indiana - Leo, Clell, Harold (aka Jim) and Dale Powers - built a hamburger shop from the ground up on their own.  Their little stand - Powers Hamburgers - was a hit for the workers and their families at nearby auto plants.  In 1938 - three years after the opening of the first Powers Hamburgers stand - Dale Powers had moved to Port Huron to open a second location.  Soon thereafter, Dale opened locations in Grand Rapids.  

Leo Powers had decided to move back to Northeast Indiana and he opened the Powers Hamburger location near the downtown area of Fort Wayne in 1940.  A second location was opened in an industrial area in 1947.  At the height of their popularity, between 15 to 20 Powers Hamburgers stands were in business in Michigan, Indiana and Ohio.  

In 1980, Leo Powers passed the business along to his son, Rolin.  Rolin opened a third Fort Wayne location in 1983, but it didn't prove to be as successful as the other two and it closed in 1989.  Along about that time, Rolin Powers was diagnosed with cancer and he died about a year later.  His sister, Marilyn Penick, took of the two remaining Powers Hamburgers in Fort Wayne and ran them until she sold them to 28-year-old Michael Hall in 1999.  Hall had been the accountant for Penick and Powers Hamburgers and wanted to learn the business from the inside out.  Penick liked him so much that she encouraged him to buy the business from her - the only non-Powers family member to own a Powers location.  

After Hall took over, he closed the second location in Fort Wayne in 2004, but continues to keep the tradition alive in the original Fort Wayne location.  Other than some structural improvements and new signage for the building, some tweaks to the menu (pictured right), and the hours (they used to be open every day, 24 hours - now they're open through the week at 5 a.m., 6 a.m. on Saturdays; and close at 10 p.m. Monday thru Wednesday, and at midnight Thursday thru Saturday), Hall has kept everything pretty much the same.  

Powers Hamburgers weathered a small storm about four years ago when plans to build a complex of mixed-use buildings comprised of a new baseball stadium, condos and hotels, as well as a convention center threatened the building.  Initial plans had the block on which Powers sits to be an open lot to be used for future development.  But a campaign by local Fort Wayne residents made city planners back off on their idea saving the last and only Powers Hamburgers stand in existence.  

There's a parking lot next to Powers Hamburgers that is probably too large for the number of seats they have in the place.  The small counter wraps around and seats about a dozen people.  There's a small booth in the back next to a back kitchen/prep area.  The grill is located on the north side of the building that looks out onto the corner of W. Brackenridge and S. Harrison streets.

Knowing that it is usually busy during the lunch rush hour, I waited until the middle of the afternoon before I stopped into Powers Hamburgers to try a burger.  I took a seat at the south end of the counter, getting a good glimpse of what goes on behind the counter.  The menu is located on the wall above and behind the counter.  In addition to their "slider" burgers, Powers also serves breakfast until 10:30 including eggs, omelette's, egg sandwiches and something called the "garbage plate" that has eggs, hash browns, meat and cheese added to it.  They also have coney dogs, chili, and grilled ham and cheese sandwiches on the menu.  But most of the people are going for the burgers.

I ordered two with grilled onions.  The burgers are hand-pattied and made to order - at least mine was. It could be when they get into a rush they just make a bunch of them up as a lot of people buy them by the sackful - just as they do at White Castle. (And, good God, don't ever mention White Castle in Powers Hamburgers!)  In fact, while I was there a couple people came in and bought eight or ten at a time to go.  

The burgers are smashed into the grill with a spatula and they cook very fast.  They serve the burgers on Aunt Millie's buns - actually they're more like dinner rolls.  Aunt Millie's main bakery and corporate offices are not far from Powers Hamburgers.  And they do make damn fine rolls and buns.  

The burgers were topped with copious amounts of grilled onions which kind of had a chargrilled-burnt taste to them.  I wasn't certain that I liked them with the grilled onions as even with a little bit of mustard on the top of them I couldn't really taste the burger meat.  I mean, it tasted all right - the burger was a little small and thin, but it wasn't misshapen or skimpy like the ones I encountered at the Cozy Inn in Salina, KS. (Click here to see my entry on that place.)  Yeah, I could see how a person could eat 6 to 8 at a time.  

I made short work of my burger and I asked the counter guy/grill cook to make me one more without the onions. I wanted to see if I could get a better taste of the meat.  On hindsight, I should have gotten a double because this one was also pretty thin and with not a lot of meat.  The great tasting Aunt Millie's bun overpowered the overall taste of the burger meat.  Next time - double burgers.  

I can't say that Powers Hamburgers were outstanding, but they were far from being "just average".  I'm sure it's one of those tastes that the locals grew up with and crave when a Powers hamburger calls their name.  But for the history of the place, the way that you literally go back in time when you enter that building, and the tradition of making the burgers the same way they have for over 70 years, Powers Hamburgers is a must stop if you're ever in Fort Wayne.   

The Kirby House - Grand Haven, MI

One place Cindy wanted to go during our trip to Western Michigan earlier this year was Grand Haven.  Nestled along the shore of Lake Michigan, Grand Haven features one of the larger and most popular beaches in the state.  It turned out that they were having the 24th annual Great Lakes Kite Festival that weekend.  There was no place to park near the beach, so we ended up parking in downtown Grand Haven.  After visiting a few shops, we decided to walk the 1.5 mile long Grand Haven Boardwalk out to the beach so Cindy could get some pictures.  

It was a warm day and tons of people were on the beach or walking the boardwalk.  The kite festival is obviously a big thing as a line of cars more than 3 miles long snaked their way through the streets of Grand Haven out toward the beach with the hope of being able to take a quick look at the dozens of colorful and unusual kites that were in the air that day.  A very nice breeze coming off the lake made for a picture perfect day in Grand Haven.  It was a long walk out to the beach and pier, but it was absolutely gorgeous.  

 

 

After getting a few pictures and enjoying the day on the pier, we started back toward the downtown area.  The walk back was a little less enjoyable than going out.  The refreshing breeze that was in our face on the way out was to our backs coming back in.  It was hot and we were getting tired.  We'd had a hearty breakfast earlier in the morning, but it was around 3 p.m. and Cindy decided that she was getting hungry.  There were a couple of small snack shacks along the boardwalk, but we decided to wait to eat when we got back downtown.  We'd parked in a lot across from a place that we saw earlier in the day - The Kirby House - and decided to eat there.  (See map)  We were hot, tired, thirsty and hungry when we were seated around 3:30 p.m.    

The Kirby House sits on the spot where the first permanent resident of Grand Haven - William Montague Ferry - built his house in the mid-1830's.  Ferry, a Presbyterian minister, started the first church in the village, started the first bank and opened the first school - the Ferry Elementary School - which is still in existence today.  In 1866, fire destroyed Ferry's house and the Kirby House hotel was built on the spot in 1873.  In 1900, the hotel was bought by Henry Gildner and renamed the Gildner Hotel.  The hotel was sold to Winston and A.J. Schuler just after World War II and the name was changed to the Schuler Hotel.  

Eventually, Winston Schuler removed the original third floor off the building, then closed the hotel down in the mid-60's and turned the main floor into a restaurant.  From the mid-60's until the late-80's, the restaurant went through a series of name changes before it was bought by restaurateur Greg Gilmore and became part of his company - Gilmore Collection - that oversees the operation of two dozen restaurants and entertainment facilities in Western Michigan.  Tim Riley is the G.M. of the Kirby House and Andrew Sprite is its executive chef.  

There is also a secondary restaurant at the Kirby House - The Grill Room - that features a classic grill menu beginning at 5 p.m. each evening.  The Kirby House opens for lunch daily at 11:30 a.m.

We were seated at a booth in the back of the spacious dining area and given menus.  The dining room is sort of a mix between contemporary and old world architecture featuring a high ceiling with exposed ductwork with art deco lights hanging from the ceiling.  They had brick walls that were covered with years and years of crayon graffiti.  A large contemporary bar was at the front of restaurant.  A small stage at the front of the bar/dining area stood in front of the large windows that looked out onto Washington Street.  They also had a dining patio out back of the dining room.  We inquired about sitting out there, but we were informed that it was full - even at 3:30 p.m. the dining area inside was well over half-full.  We decided that we were hot enough from the walk back from the pier and sitting in air conditioning would help us feel better.  

Since it was so late in the afternoon and we were going out for dinner that evening, we decided to eat light - salads were going to be the orders for us both.  But then I saw a couple things on the menu that made me pause.  They had a seared big eye tuna appetizer that was served with sesame seaweed and pickled ginger.  Then I saw they had blackened mahi mahi fish tacos served with rice, cilantro, fresh avocado slices, a sweet corn and black bean salsa, feta cheese and lime cilantro aoili sauce.  Uh oh...  I'm a sucker for grilled fish tacos.  

When our server, Britny, came back she asked if we had any questions.  I wanted to know how many tacos came with the mahi mahi fish tacos.  She said, "Three!"  Cindy thought that was perfect - she could get a small dinner salad and eat one of the fish tacos and I could have the other two.  Cindy asked Britny if they had any oil and vinegar dressing.  Britny said, "We have an aged vinegar that we combine with olive oil."  Cindy took that.

For drinks - Cindy got a tall UV Blue and lemonade, and I asked Britny if they had any of the Bell's Pale Ale available.  She said, "No, I'm sorry.  The only Bell's beer that we have is the Oberon Ale."  I was finding that at many places in the area they only had the Bell's Oberon Ale available.  And that was weird to me as the Bell's Brewery is located in nearby Kalamazoo.  However, she said she did have the Founders Centennial IPA on tap.  That was fine with me, but I do like the Bell's pale ale beers better.  

It wasn't long before Britny brought out the fish tacos along with the small dinner salad for Cindy.  She also brought a small plate for Cindy's taco.  There was a load of fresh cilantro on the plate and I knew that I wouldn't be using it all, so I offered some to Cindy for her salad.  She had me make up a taco with a chunk of the blackened mahi mahi, a chunk of avocado, the black bean and sweet corn salsa, some cilantro, feta cheese and then drizzled the lime cilantro aoili sauce on top.  I made one up exactly as I did for Cindy and the taste was very good.  The blackened spices on the mahi mahi had a nice little kick, but wasn't overpowering.  The combination of the toppings went along well with the fish. It was fresh and light - perfect for a late lunch on a warm summer day.  It was more than enough to tide us over before dinner that evening.  

After lunch, Cindy remarked that she was happy we waited to eat lunch at the Kirby House rather than grab a quick snack or sandwich at one of the small little snack shacks along the way back from the Grand Haven pier.  It appeared to be a very popular place and with the full menu they had to offer, I'm sure the Kirby House is a destination for many vacationers and inhabitants around the Grand Haven area.  Britny took good care of us and we were very happy with the food.  Grand Haven became one of our favorite Midwest places to visit on this trip and we hope to make it back sometime in the future.

Sandy's Tavern - Richfield, MN

I can't quite remember how I found out about Sandy's Tavern, an old time neighborhood tavern in the south Twin Cities suburb of Richfield.  But I've had it on my list of "Restaurants to Visit" that I have bookmarked on my computer for quite sometime.  I had to go to the Twin Cities for a trade show and some dealer visits.  It turned out that Sandy's was about a five minute drive from the hotel I was staying at in nearby Bloomington.  I decided to head there as soon as I pulled into the Twin Cities that particular evening.

Sandy's has been around since 1933.  There was a guy by the name of Sandy who did run it (I couldn't find Sandy's last name), and he opened the business in a self-built farm house outside of Minneapolis.  Actually, during Prohibition, Sandy had planned to open a speakeasy disguised as an old farm house.  But Prohibition was repealed not long after he opened and he turned the former illegal watering hole into a legitimate business.  As the Twin Cities grew, more of the rural land surrounding Sandy's was gobbled up and it is now located just south of the intersection of W. 66th St. and Penn Ave in Richfield (see map).  

In 1980, Eric and Deb Ericson bought Sandy's, installed a flat grill and a fryer and began to make burgers, appetizers and other sandwiches.  Sandy's signature burger is their Olive Burger - a burger topped with green olives and sour cream.  They also have the "Sizzler" with jalapeno slices, chipotle mayo and pepper jack cheese.  But their regular burger is what they're known for.  Sandy's has won numerous "Best of" awards over the years for their basic burger.  

I pulled into the parking lot on the south side of Sandy's just after 8 p.m.  It's a small building that does look like it probably was an old farm house that had been added on to at some point.  They had a large Grain Belt Premium sign over the back door to the restaurant.  I immediately liked the place.  

I went in and first sat in one of the booths along the south wall of the place which looked like it hadn't been renovated since the 60's.  Then I discovered that they had a flat screen television on a wall near the bar that had a ball game on.  As Kevin, the long-time bartender at Sandy's, came over to check on me, I got up and asked if I could move over to the bar.  "Sure," he exclaimed.  "It will save me from walking all the way over here to take care of you."  Kevin turned out to be quite a character.

After I got situated at the bar, Kevin asked me what I wanted to drink.  I asked if he had any Summit or Surly products available.  "Nope," he said curtly.  "Nothin' like that."  Sandy's is truly a tavern - Blue Moon and Killian's are about as exotic as they get when it comes to beer selection.  But since both are owned and brewed by Coors, they aren't all that exotic.   I looked over at the tapper and saw that they did, indeed, have Grain Belt Premium available.  I had one of those.  I used to drink a lot of Grain Belt Premium years and years ago.  It's not bad beer, but there are many others that I've grown to like more over the years.  

I took a look through the menu after I sat at the bar.  In addition to their Olive Burger and the Sizzler, Sandy's Tavern also has an Egg and Bacon burger, but they scramble the egg rather than fry it (I guess I could have asked if they could fry the egg instead of scramble it).  They also have a Mushroom Swiss burger.  For those with a hearty appetite, you can order any burger as a double.  

I decided on getting the Mushroom Swiss cheese burger and asked Kevin if I could get bacon with that.  He asked if I wanted any fries with the burger - Sandy's is evidently known for their French fries - but I passed and said that the burger alone would do me fine.  He put the order in with Cassie who was cooking that evening.  Cassie could be described as being nerd/chic with a tall body and thick-rimmed glasses.  Since it wasn't busy in there that evening, it was about 15 minutes between the time I ordered and when Cassie brought out the burger in a basket.

Sandy's Tavern gets their ground beef from Swanson Meats, the largest beef family-owned beef processor in Minnesota.  They use a good mixture of beef and fat to give their burgers a signature juicy taste.  They used canned mushrooms instead of fresh ones - a minor quibble in my book, but certainly not a deal breaker.  Two pieces of bacon were criss-crossed on top of the burger which had a thick slice of melted Swiss cheese covering it.  A couple three hamburger dill pickle slices were beside the burger in the basket when it was presented to me.  

The burger did have a good taste to it.  I'm not certain it was award winning in my book, but very good, nonetheless.  The bun was very good on its own and helped with the overall taste of the burger.  Sandy's has no food utensils - you use your fingers for everything - so napkins are readily available within an arms reach anywhere in the bar.  Between the gooey cheese, the mushrooms falling off the burger, and the juicy nature of the burger, it was easily a five napkin burger for me.  

I soon found out that Sandy's doesn't take credit cards, but that was fine with me.  The beers were cheap and the burger with the bacon added came to $6.50.  I handed Kevin a $20 and asked for a receipt.  He sort of laughed and said, "I can give you a receipt on a napkin!"  I told him not to worry.  He was a good guy.  

Sandy's Tavern is one of those old time places that isn't pretentious, they're pretty straight-forward for what they are, and have good bar food at a good price.  The burger was good, not great, but good.  Definitely above average, that's for sure.  But the atmosphere of Sandy's is a nod to a simpler time when people gathered for beer and burgers, things that people continue to do today.  Sandy's is close to where I like to stay in the Twin Cities and I know I'll be back at some point to get another burger and to relax with a glass or two (or three!) of Grain Belt Premium. 

Boatwerks Waterfront Restaurant - Holland, MI

We took an extended weekend trip up to Western Michigan earlier this summer and stayed in Holland, MI.  We had hoped to stay in South Haven, a small town about 30 miles south of Holland - and a place we'd stayed at before about 10 years ago - but the hotel we wanted to stay at was full.  Instead, we got a room at the Doubletree in Holland.  Holland has a number of great little shops in their downtown business district and we were in one on a Friday evening.  We were talking to the store manager about places to eat that would have views of Lake Michigan.  She said, "Well, there really isn't one around here, other than the Boatwerks.  But it's not really on Lake Michigan.  It's on Lake Macatawa just west of downtown."  We decided to give it a shot and drove to the place.  

Boatwerks Waterfront Restaurant is an upscale restaurant owned by Joe Walsh (not the rock star) and run by managing partner Chris Hart.  It is situated in a large building that features inside and outside seating, a lounge, a private room that can accommodate up to 100 people and an outdoor lawn/patio area that can handle a large tent for special dinners, weddings and other events.  It's located just next to Kollen Park on Holland's west side (see map).

The inside of the place is heavy on mahogany, the type of wood used on old boats that were built in the 40's, 50's and 60's (many of which are still running strong on upper Midwest lakes to this day) with a spacious indoor dining area.  Exposed wooden beams line the ceiling and being that the place has a nautical theme to it, they have boat flags, models of boats and other neat little boating decorations around the room.  The lounge area (above right) has a waterfront view of Lake Macatawa and has room for about 75 people.  

It was around 8:30 when we got into Boatwerks.  We were greeted at the hostess stand by a young lady who told us that it would be a 30 minute wait - minimum - if we wanted to be seated inside, but they had immediate seating outside.  Cindy thought sitting outside would be a nice touch as it was a beautiful evening.  She instructed us to go through the dining room and out the door to the outside hostess stand.  As we were walking through dining room, we noticed a number of empty tables which caused Cindy to remark, "All those people must have gotten up to go to the restroom."  We were a little perplexed at first, then realized that they may not have had the waitstaff on hand to take care of any more than what they did have in the dining room.  

When we got to the hostess stand outside, the girl there informed us that it would be a 15 to 20 minute wait.  I said, "Wait a minute.  They just told us inside that it was immediate seating."  

In a rather cold manner, she replied, "Well, they were wrong."  She asked for our name and handed us a beeper/buzzer.  She said, "You can go to the bar inside or you can get drinks out here and go down to the tables along the water's edge."  I sort of shrugged and we went to the outside bar.

Actually, the outside area was rather nice.  They had a number of tables with umbrellas that overlooked the lake.  The tables and chairs were a heavy duty composite that was impervious to the elements.  The bar area was pretty small and for some unknown reason they only had two of the tappers working that evening.  Cindy had asked for a mai tai and the bartender told her, "Well, let me look to see if we have the stuff to make one for you."  She hunted around for a bit and then came back and said, "No, we're missing creme de almond and the sweet and sour mix.  I can go in and see if they have that at the inside bar."  Cindy decided to cut her losses and ordered up a UV Blue and lemonade.  The only beer they had outside was Bud Light and Blue Moon on tap.  I got a Bud Light, which was overly flat.  Instead of going down to the tables along the water, we found a nice high top ledge near the bar to look at the setting sun.  

Our little square buzzer began to vibrate about 15 minutes after we got there and we were shepherded to a table along the far perimeter of the outside seating area.  It was a beautiful evening, as I said, and the sun was just beginning to set behind the trees across the lake.  Actually, we had hoped to watch the sun set into Lake Michigan, but Holland is a little bit inland at the widest part of the huge lake.  Where we were at that evening was fine with us.  

Our server for the evening, Leslie, came over to greet us as we looked through our menus.  She was being tailed by another young girl who was obviously learning the ropes at Boatwerks.  I asked if they had any Bell's Brewery products available and she told me they just had Oberon Ale, a wheat beer that I don't care for much at all.  I asked if they had the Bell's Pale Ale and she said, "No, we don't.  But we have the Founders Centennial." (That beer is a robust India Pale Ale that had just become available in Iowa a couple three months prior.)  I got one of those and Cindy got a glass of white wine.  

The menu at Boatwerks is an extensive mix of seafood, pastas, steaks and chops, as well as sandwiches.  They also feature a number of gourmet pizzas with toppings that include lobster, smoked beef brisket, and a chicken and broccoli pizza that uses an alfredo sauce instead of the red pizza sauce.  Cindy knew she wanted some sort of fish entree, but I was torn between a number of things on the menu.

A few of the things that caught my eye were the Tournedos Alaskan - small beef tenderloin filets topped with a mixture of shrimp, sea scallops and lobster meat and finished with a bearnaise sauce.  The macaroni and cheese option was interesting as you could add things such as smoked kielbasa sausage, beef brisket, lobster, bacon and a couple other things.  They had three different sizes of prime rib on the menu including a 16 ounce slab for $24.95.  They had a seared ahi tuna filet that they rolled in sesame seeds and grilled it rare.  I'm not big on sesame seeds with tuna, but I'm sure they could have held back the seeds had I asked.  

One thing that caught Cindy's eye was the Boatwerks version of a Spanish paella with saffron rice mixed with chorizo sausage, chicken, mussels, sea scallops and shrimp.  But she ended up ordering the Boatwerks' signature Lake Superior whitefish that is topped with an almond crust, then baked and served with a fresh dill cream sauce and veggies.  I was torn between two things - tri-colored parmesan cheese-filled tortellini tossed with shrimp, sea scallops, lobster meat, and mussels in a cream sauce; and the crabmeat-stuffed flounder topped with a hollandaise sauce.  I ended up going with the seafood tortellini.  I also got a glass of white wine to go with my meal.    Cindy also wanted to get Boatwerk's baby wedge salad and wondered if I'd help her eat it.  Sure!  

The wedge salad was rather interesting.  Instead of half wedge of lettuce, they serve a half-sized small lettuce head along with the bacon bits, tomato chunks and bleu cheese dressing.  Then they also chop up carrots and green onions to put on the top.  The salad was very good and it was a perfect size for two.  Also, I can't forget about the fresh bread rolls they brought out with the salad.  They were warm and chewy.  They were very good.

The sun had just set when Leslie and her helper brought our food to the table.  Cindy's whitefish had a thin crust of chopped almonds on it - I don't care for almonds, but Cindy certainly does.  A pool of the fresh dill cream sauce laid beside the fish with the fresh veggies on the other side.  She gave me a bite and even the taste of the almonds weren't all that overpowering to me.  She said it was very good.

My seafood tortellini was top notch.  About the only quibble I had with it is that the mussels were a little fishy in taste (one of them didn't open) and the shrimp they used were the ultra small-sized ones that are pretty insignificant in taste.  But the cream sauce was wonderful and the tortellini pasta was cooked perfectly.  The parmesan cheese inside gave each tortellini a nice chewy taste.  But the scallops and the lobster meat were very good in the mix.  It had been awhile since I had gotten a seafood pasta dish and I wasn't disappointed in the least.

The other thing that I wanted to point out was that they serve wine in what are more like tumblers rather than in stemmed glasses.  You can see the wine glass in the picture with Cindy's fish.  They were actually sturdy, but not heavy, and very easy to drink out of.  They felt good in the hand.  I am now on a quest to find glasses like that for our home.     

For not really knowing what to expect from Boatwerks Waterfront Restaurant, I'd say that we were pleased with our meals on our first visit.  Cindy loved her whitefish and other than a couple minor problems with my pasta, I thought it was very good, as well.  Leslie tried to tempt us with some dessert, but we were way too full and it was getting too late for a sugar buzz.  She did a fine job taking care of us.   Just being able to enjoy a nice meal on the deck overlooking Lake Macatawa was worth the trip to Holland.  But we had other adventures that long weekend that made it even better.  

El Patio - West Liberty, IA

My step-daughter turned us on to a little Mexican restaurant in West Liberty, IA - El Patio.  She has her degree in Spanish, has spent time in both Spain and Mexico, and married a Mexican national about three years ago.  When they're looking for authentic Mexican food, they make the drive from Iowa City to West Liberty to go to El Patio.  

I've been to El Patio a couple three times in the past.  The last time I went I took a number of pictures with my new camera phone, but I didn't know how to download the pictures from the hard drive on the phone onto my computer.  I accidentally lost all the pictures, but I knew that I'd be back.  One recent Sunday, we drove over to West Liberty to meet up with Cindy's daughter and her daughter's little boy, along with Cindy's mother and one of Cindy's sisters from Cedar Rapids. 

There's a large Hispanic community in the West Liberty area, largely due to the West Liberty Foods meat processing plant in the area.  There are a handful of Mexican-centric businesses in the immediate area and El Patio serves as both a restaurant and as a grocery store for the community.  The owner, Cupertino Sosa, had worked in a textile plant in New York City by day and drove a cab at night.  Wanting a quieter and safer life for his family, he moved them out to Iowa and settled in nearby Columbus Junction.  Looking around at different communities in the area, the Sosa family decided to plant their roots in West Liberty and moved there in 1995.  The Sosa's then opened Santa Ana, a Mexican grocery store.  

With West Liberty's Hispanic population growing, there was only one Mexican restaurant in the area that served primarily northern Mexican-style food.  Sosa, who grew up in the southern part of Mexico near Puebla, saw a need for a new restaurant in West Liberty, only with a different style of Mexican food.  He had a number of recipes from his home region that he wanted to share and it turned out that his store had virtually everything to start a Mexican restaurant. In 2002, the Sosa's moved to a new and bigger location just south of the intersection of U.S. Highway 6 and Iowa Highway 70 in West Liberty (see map) that could accommodate both a grocery store and a restaurant.  El Patio sits on one side of the building and Santa Ana on the other.  

Santa Ana grocery store has a number of Mexican spices, fruits and vegetables, and other items so you can make a number of authentic Mexican dishes at home.  They also have festive items such as pinatas and other party goods, as well as your normal household goods.  They also have Mexican Coca-Cola which many people feel has a better taste than American Coke.  I don't drink pop any longer, but looking at the Mexican Coca-Cola sitting in the cooler was certainly tempting.      

The restaurant (above right) is on your right as you enter the main door to the building.  You got through a set of Western-style swinging doors and you enter a small dining area that can seat 35 to 40 people.  It's bright and clean with the main kitchen in the back.  El Patio is open 7 days a week - opening at 11 a.m. daily, closing at 8 p.m. Sunday thru Thursday, and staying open until 9 p.m. on the weekends.  We pushed a couple tables together near the front of the dining area near the big window that looks out into a brick-walled entry way to the building.  As we sat down, a waitress came over with a couple baskets of chips and a couple small bowls of El Patio's wonderful homemade salsa.  It's just absolutely fabulous.     

El Patio is a full service restaurant with a full menu - including beer and margaritas - so I happily ordered a Sol beer while we looked over the menu.  They're especially known for their tacos which are made from scratch with fresh ingredients.  My step-son-in-law is particularly fond of the tacos which he says are about as close to the ones he would get back home in Mexico. While I've tried other items on the menu at El Patio, I always seem to come back to getting the tacos when we go there.  And this particular visit was no exception.  

They have a handful of different meats to choose from to put on their tacos - carne asada (steak), ground beef, spicy beef, chicken, and pork.  You can get them American style with cheddar jack cheese and lettuce on top, or get them Mexican style with cilantro, chopped onions and a chunk of avocado on top.  I always order mine Mexican style.   

This visit to El Patio, I ordered three tacos - spicy beef, carne asada and pork al pastor.  In fact, everyone in our party ordered tacos that day. They aren't very big, so most people can easily eat three tacos.  You can order them with flour shells if you like, but I always go with the homemade corn shell tacos.     

Since everything is made to order and they use fresh ingredients at El Patio, it takes a little longer to get your food than what you'd find at larger Mexican restaurants.  But the wait is definitely worth it.  

When the food was brought out, this is what my order of tacos looked like.  The carne asada is on the left, the spicy beef in the middle, and the pork on the right.  In addition to the avocado, cilantro and chopped onions, a fresh lime wedge is provided to squeeze on top of the tacos.  It gives them a nice little citrus taste.  

My step-daughter asked the waitress in Spanish for a couple of their hot sauces - a spicy green chili verde sauce, and a somewhat spicy red sauce.  She brought out a green and red squeeze bottle and my step-daughter poured some of the chili verde sauce on one of her tacos.   I immediately reached for the green sauce once she was through with it.  It offered a subtle kick at first, then had an excellent forward kick in taste after it settled on your tongue.  I joked that I wanted to steal one of the bottles of chile verde to take home with me.

The carne asada was flavorful and tender, as was the pork al pastor.  The spicy beef - on its own with no salsa verde - had a wonderful kick in taste.  And I certainly love the homemade and fresh soft corn taco shells they use at El Patio.   

I made short work of the three tacos I had and the waitress came over to see how we were doing.  I ordered up another carne asada taco.  The waitress left and came back a couple moments later and she said, "We're out of carne asada for the time being.  They're cutting up some beef right now and it should be 15 minutes or so if you'd like to wait."  As I said, the food is so fresh at El Patio that they make it to order.  I asked if they had any of the pork left and she said that they did.  I got another pork al pastor taco.  And that was enough.  I was full, so full that we didn't even have dinner that evening.  

El Patio is one of those little out of the way places that doesn't do a lot of advertising and probably doesn't have to.  The quality of the food speaks volumes of how good the place really is.  We're blessed to have some pretty good Mexican restaurants in the immediate Quad Cities area, but sometimes its worth the 45 minute drive over to West Liberty to get some of the best Mexican food we've ever had - and that includes food that we've had in Mexico. El Patio has never disappointed us in the past and we're hoping it continues to have great food in the future.

Christy Creme - Council Bluffs, IA

Midwest Living magazine listed their favorite burger places across the region earlier this year (click here to see the article).  One of the places was in Council Bluffs, IA, just across the river from Omaha - a little ice cream parlor called Christy Creme.  After a morning meeting with one of my dealers in Omaha, I was heading back east and decided to find Christy Creme to try one of their burgers. 

Christy Creme is an institution in the Council Bluffs area - it's been in business since 1954.  Generations of families have come here for years for ice cream, burgers and other snacks.  And do not mistake Christy Creme as the same as the Krispy Kreme donut shops - they don't serve donuts.  

The "Christy" behind the name belongs to founder Art Christiansen and his wife, Jeanne.  They decided to build a little ice cream place in the front yard of their home on N. Broadway, what was then the Lincoln Highway, one of the main routes in and out of Council Bluffs at the time.  The original Christy Creme was nothing more than a small building with walk-up service.  The Christiansen's would open sometime in February each year and would stay open until sometime in mid-November, closing only for the Independence Day holiday.   

The original Christy Creme location (right).  The picture looks like it was taken in the 60's.

The Christiansen's were helped out by their four children in the summertime.  The shop was so small that they had to store the supplies for the business in their house.   

In 1972, Art and Jeanne Christiansen decided to retire and they sold the business.  The business went through a handful of owners over the next four years with no one being able to duplicate the magic the Christiansen's started with the business 20 years before.  The Christiansen's son, Dave, and his wife, Sue, moved back to Council Bluffs from Texas to buy the business and make it a family-owned business again.  Today, Dave Christiansen's son-in-law and daughter manage the day-to-day operation.  And now Dave Christiansen's grandkids now work in the business.  Since his grandmother helped out his parents in the 50's, there are now five generations of the Christiansen family who have worked at Christy Creme since it opened nearly 60 years ago.  

In 1995, the Christiansen's tore down the original roadside stand and replaced it with a new modern facility that allowed for sit down dining inside.  Due to flood restrictions, they had to build it up higher and back from a road a little bit. 

The Christiansen's are also promoters withing the community.  For two days during August, they have a "Dog Days" promotion that allows customers with their dogs to get a free ice cream cone for their pooches when they buy an ice cream cone for themselves.  Also, Christy Creme sponsors an annual bike ride - One Lap of the Bluffs - that takes participants on a 20 mile-plus ride on the bike paths around the Council Bluffs area in early October.  Money that is raised for the event is earmarked for the American Cancer Society in memory of Sue Christiansen, who tragically died of cancer a few years ago. 

I punched in the address for Christy Creme on my GPS and it took me along Broadway until it veered north.  I found it on the right side of the road with a nice parking lot just off of Broadway (see map).  It was before the noon hour so there was only one other customer in the building when I went in.  However, before I left there was a tour bus that pulled up in the parking lot that was full of people.  I'm glad I got in there when I did. 

The inside of the Christy Creme is bright and well lit with a handful of booths along the wall.  Green and white tiled floors keep the color scheme the same as the outside of the building.  Articles on Christy Creme are framed along the wall above the booths.  Along the upper part of the wall in the kitchen/serving area are a number of knick-knacks including a number of coffee cups with advertising on them.  I never really figured out what the coffee cups were all about.  

The menu board is located on a wall in the front part of the kitchen area.  It's angled above three soft-serve ice cream machines - triple the number of machines the Christiansen's used in the original Christy Creme building.  In addition to ice cream and burgers, Christy Creme also a pork tenderloin sandwich, a chicken sandwich, a chicken club sandwich, and they have a patty melt on the menu, as well.  Christy Creme's quarter pound burgers are all processed and ground by Omaha Steaks, the famous mail order meat processor.  I ended up getting a cheeseburger (double cheeseburgers are available).  

They make the burgers as ordered, so it was about a 10 minute wait as they flat grilled the burger and made it up for me.  With everything on it, the bill came to $3.75 plus tax.  

I took the burger out to my car since I had a bottle of water out there.  It was wrapped in green and white checked wax paper.  It was piping hot directly off the grill.

The first bite yielded not much of a taste buzz for me.  The burger was a little dry and overcooked.  I could tell that it was just a processed burger patty - one that you could get from a number of food distributors across the Midwest.  It did have that good flat grill flavor to it and it did have ample amounts of condiments on the burger.  I especially liked the chopped onions - they were extremely fresh and flavorful.  The bun was not much to talk about.  It, too, was a little dry and lifeless.  Quite frankly, the cheeseburger at Christy Creme reminded me of the burgers you can get at most Dairy Queen's.  And don't get me wrong, Dairy Queen makes a surprisingly good cheeseburger.  I'd put Christy Creme's burger on par with Dairy Queen's burger.  But if I had my choice, I'd support Dave Christiansen over going to Dairy Queen anyday.  

Yeah, it was a good burger.  Not a great burger and probably not what I would call a Top 25 burger in the Midwest.  I could name 25 burgers off the top of my head from around the Midwest that would beat out a Christy Creme burger.   But Christy Creme is quaint part of Midwestern Americana and I'm certain the editors at Midwest Living took that into consideration when they came up with their list.  Christy Creme would be worth the stop for just the unique nature of the business.  But I can tell you of three other places I'd rather get a burger in the Omaha/Council Bluffs area.

Shoreline Brewery and Restaurant - Michigan City, IN

We took off for a long weekend up to Southwest Michigan earlier this year and one of the places Cindy wanted to stop at was the Lighthouse Place outlet mall in Michigan City, IN.  It was around 1 p.m. when we got there and she decided that she needed some lunch before she went to shop.  Just up the street from Lighthouse Place, it turns out there's a local brewpub - Shoreline Brewery.  We did a U-turn in the parking lot of Lighthouse Place and went to Shoreline Brewery for some food and a beer.  (See map)

The Shoreline Brewery opened in 2005 and the co-owners are Sam Strupeck - a veteran of the restaurant industry and the brewmaster of Shoreline Brewery; and his father, Dave Strupeck - whose main vocation is an accountant as well as an accounting professor at Indiana University Northwest in Michigan City.  Sam Strupeck had been working in the restaurant industry since a teenager and the Strupeck's were involved with the Aberdeen Brewing Company in nearby Valparaiso from 2000 until it closed in 2004.  

The Strupeck's found a building near the Lake Michigan shoreline that was built in 1857.  It started out being a lumberyard, but later on in its life it was a golf ball factory, a camera factory and a training facility.  The Strupeck's took over the building and completely gutted and revamped the inside of the 16,000 square foot facility.  From the outside, the building looks old and somewhat distressed.  But it also adds to the charm of the place.

Like their beers, most of the food served at Shoreline Brewery is made from scratch.  Chef Barry Davis, who learned classic French cuisine as a young culinary arts student, provides many entrees that you wouldn't find at many other brewpubs, as well as making sauces, dressings, soups and appetizers in house.  Before we went there, we didn't really know much about the place other than it was a brewpub that sold food.  We just didn't know the extent of what they had to offer at Shoreline Brewery. 

We sat in the main dining area of Shoreline Brewery.  One thing that we didn't expect was the smoking in the room.  I guess we're so spoiled from having smoke-free restaurants in Iowa and Illinois that when you do encounter a place that still allows smoking - like Indiana does in many locales - it's a minor shock to the senses.  It wasn't a deal buster because they had the doors open and a nice breeze was coming through the place.  But the smell of cigarette smoke would occasionally come across our table.  

The dining room featured a large bar that was backed by glass that looked into the brewing area at Shoreline.  Light colored knotty pine paneling helped give the large room an open and bright look.  For having wood paneling, hard floors and a high ceiling the place wasn't overly loud.  Cindy remarked that if it were more full it probably would have been louder.  But even at 2 p.m. on a Friday afternoon, the place had a good sized crowd in it.    

Our server for the day, Amanda, dropped off a couple menus for us to try.  She pointed out the beer menu on the table and I have to say that it was rather extensive.  They had 10 beers on tap and at first I wasn't certain if all the beers on tap were from Shoreline or if they were beers from other breweries.  But Amanda assured me they were all Shoreline brews.  I was surprised because you normally don't find a brewpub that will have this many beers to choose from.

And choosing was the hard part.  Cindy likes pale ales and they had five different styles of pale ale to choose from.  Amanda told us that we could sample some of the brews if we liked and Cindy immediately signed up for a sample of the Benny's American Pale Ale - a Western U.S. style of pale ale made with American grains and hops; and the Sum Nug India Pale Ale - a hoppy American style I.P.A. with a forward taste.  They also had something called Leaper American Pale ale that was described almost word for word like the same thing as the Benny's pale ale, and the Nitro Queen Mum India Pale Ale that had a higher alcohol content and uses English hops and grains.  I signed up for the Nitro Queen Mum without even wanting to sample it beforehand.  

Looking through the menu, the food served at Shoreline Brewery is definitely a step above what you'd find at most brewpubs.  They have some interesting appetizers including homemade sour dough pretzels served with  their homemade "Don't Panic" stone ground mustard, a Scotch Egg that is a sausage covered hard-boiled egg breaded and deep fried, and something called Thistle Sticks - spicy cream cheese wrapped in wonton skins served with roasted red peppers and Greek tzaziki sauce.  Those sounded overly interesting and I almost got that for us to try.  

The main entrees include a number of luncheon specials including fish and chips, pastas, sandwiches, salads and burgers.  But they also featured steak entrees, as well as a stuffed chicken breast, seared scallops, baby back ribs and probably their signature entree, an Oatmeal Stout Braised Lamb Shank - a slow-cooked lamb shank topped with an herb and Oatmeal Stout demi-glaze, served with carrots, onions and celery.  I don't care for lamb all that much, but Cindy almost pulled the trigger on that.  

Amanda brought Cindy's beer sampler glasses over for her to try.  She didn't bring my Nitro Queen Mum saying the foam needed to settle in the glass before she brought it over.  "It's the nature of the beer.  It takes about 10 minutes from the beginning of the pour to the serving," she explained.  I wish she would have explained that before I ordered.  

Cindy tried the Benny's American pale ale and then the Sum Nug I.P.A.  She immediately said that she liked the Sum Nug better and asked for a pint of that.  I tried both beers and while the Benny's was smooth with a little hoppiness to its finish, the Sum Nug was much more forward.  When Amanda came back, she had both Cindy's Sum Nug and my Nitro Queen Mum.  The Queen Mum was very hoppy and had a somewhat bitter aftertaste.  Cindy's Sum Nug didn't have that bitterness.  I liked mine and she liked hers.   

During this time we pretty much figured out that we were probably just going to get burgers for lunch.  They did have a reuben on the menu that was tempting to me, but I decided to go with their Shoreline Pub Burger - a prime beef ground chuck burger that's served on a pretzel bun with beer caramelized onions and their homemade Don't Panic mustard.  For an extra buck I got some pepperjack cheese on top.  Cindy got the same thing, only with bleu cheese on hers.  For sides, I got the French fries and Cindy inquired about cole slaw.  "Is it homemade," she asked Amanda.

Amanda sort of stammered for a moment and said, "Well, yeah, I guess it is.  I mean, they make a lot of stuff in house, so I'm guessing it's homemade."  Even with that less than stellar endorsement, Cindy still got the cole slaw.  We figured that Amanda had to be somewhat new.  She kept referring to the kitchen staff and management as "they" and not "we", sort of like she was from another restaurant helping out that particular afternoon.  

Amanda brought the burgers out and the presentation was nice.  The pretzel buns were big and spongy with a somewhat hard crust on top.  Cindy doesn't understand the allure of a good pretzel bun, but I certainly think it's a great touch when a burger is served on one.  

The burger was cooked a perfect medium with a little bit of pink in the center.  The homemade "Don't Panic" mustard offered a good flavor with the burger.  I usually like my burgers with yellow mustard, but the homemade stone ground mustard was a great compliment with the chewy pretzel buns.

Cindy said that her bleu cheese burger was "good", but once again said that she didn't really care for the pretzel bun.  "I guess I don't like the bun to be so thick and chewy," she said.  Still she pretty much finished the burger, leaving only a small bite or two on her plate.

By the way, the fries were all right - nothing special.  They were deep fried to a golden brown color, but were a little limp.  They were edible, but they weren't on par with the burger.  And Cindy declared the cole slaw as somewhat bland and nothing special.  But I was certainly happy with my burger and the beer I had at Shoreline Brewery. 

I will say that Shoreline Brewery was a pleasant surprise - both for the beer and the food.  Not many brewpubs that I've been to can boast of having a chef, let alone one that was trained in French cuisine.  Although I thought having five different styles of pale ale was a little confusing, I thoroughly enjoyed my Nitro Queen Mum I.P.A.  Shoreline Brewery is definitely above average as far as brewpubs are concerned.  

Highway 61 Roadhouse and Kitchen - Webster Groves, MO

When I get together with the guys from one of my dealers in St. Louis, we usually go to Llewelyn's for some appetizers and beer along with some business discussion.  Before a recent trip to St. Louis, I contacted one of the guys at the store and let him know I would be coming down.  He said, "Oh, man!  We have to take you to a new place.  It's a Cajun-slash-barbecue place not far from our store."  The place he was talking about is called Highway 61 Roadhouse and Kitchen.  

Actually, it's not a new place - it's been in business since 2006.  Bill Kunz and Dave Freese (not the St. Louis Cardinals third baseman) started the restaurant in what had originally been an old Streetside Records shop in the Old Orchard entertainment area of Webster Groves.  Previous to Highway 61 Roadhouse's opening, it housed a couple three restaurants in the building.  So while it isn't new to the general public, the guys from my dealer in St. Louis didn't know about the place until earlier this year.

After doing a couple demos for the guys, then listening to a couple audio systems they had set up in the store, we made our way to Highway 61 Roadhouse just south of Big Bend Boulevard on Old Orchard Ave. (see map) We made our way inside and found a table near the bar.  The table was not very large, even though there was only three of us, and it was very wobbly.  One of the guys reached under the table to put a folded wad of napkins under one of the legs.  The chairs weren't very comfortable, either.  One of the guys said, "The only thing bad about this place are the tables and chairs.  The tables are too small and they're not very stable." If that's the only thing bad about Highway 61 Roadhouse, then that was fine with me.  

The interior of the Roadhouse was sort of kitschy, but in a good way.  They have live music at Highway 61 Roadhouse - primarily blues with some jazz on Thursday nights.  I understand they'll have a zydeco band come to play in the place from time to time.  The main dining area had a stage on one end with a number of tables on the floor and booths along the wall.  There was an upstairs dining area that can be used for private functions and overflow dining.  The Roadhouse also has a expansive outside dining area on the south side of the building that wraps around to the front side.  The patio is open when the weather turns nice.  Since we had a pretty mild spring in the Midwest, the patio opened in March of this year.    

The bar area had a number of lighted old beer signs, as well as some kitschy items that were actually pretty interesting to see.  A couple flat screen televisions had a baseball game on the screen.  The back bar featured a lot of ornate wood and a chalk board that listed their draft beers.

Prior to going to the Roadhouse, I was told that they had Magic Hat 9 beer on tap.  Since I was first exposed to the beer at The Standard in Elmhurst, IL, I've found a number of places that offer the beer in the Midwest.  It's not available in Iowa as of yet, but I'm guessing that it will be soon.  All three of us signed up for a Magic Hat 9.  

Another waitress brought us over some menus and I took a look through the one I had.  The Roadhouse not only featured Cajun and barbecue specialties, but they also had soups and salads, a number of delectable appetizers, specialty pizzas, and a couple three pasta dishes including barbecued spaghetti.  They take a plate of pasta and top it with chunks of pulled pork and their homemade barbecue sauce.  I've seen barbecued spaghetti on menus before, but have never had it.  

The first thing one of the guys ordered was a couple baskets of Highway 61's smoked chicken wings.  They smoke the wings and then toss them in a container of the house "Voodoo" sauce.  And he also ordered some of their Louisiana barbecued shrimp - they take peeled shrimp and bake them in a pot that has a Worcestershire/butter sauce infused with herbs and spices.  

I was a little leery of the smoked wings, but when they were brought to the table I could smell the smoke on the meat and the wonderful sweet and spicy voodoo sauce that glazed the outside of the wings.  The sweetness of the sauce helped keep the spicy taste in check.  I'm not big on smoked chicken, but I have to say that the smoked chicken wings at Highway 61 Roadhouse and Kitchen were delicious.  The smoked chicken wing platters are pictured below left.  I couldn't get a picture taken quick enough before one of the guys already had gnawed on a couple of wings.   

But the highlight was the barbecue shrimp (above right).  It was served in a small crock and had an ample amount of shrimp swimming in the Worcestershire/butter herb sauce.  French bread was served with the barbecue shrimp and dipping the bread in the sauce was just as good as eating the shrimp out of the crock.  It was heavenly in many ways.  

I wanted to try a cup of the gumbo before we ordered any more food.  The menu described the gumbo at the Roadhouse as a chicken and andouille sausage in dark spicy broth served with rice.  When she brought out the "cup" of gumbo, I immediately said, "Wait a minute.  I wanted a cup, not a bowl."

She said, "This is a cup."  I told her that if that was a cup, I'd hate to see how big their bowls were.  

One of the guys said, "The portions are huge here.  We generally can't eat everything on the plate."

The gumbo was also outstanding.  I think I make pretty damned good gumbo at home and I have to say that Highway 61's gumbo was one of the best I've had at a Cajun restaurant - or any restaurant, for that matter.  The gumbo featured large chunks of flavorful andouille sausage and tender chicken chunks.  I especially liked the roux-based broth.  It was thick and had a little spicy kick to the taste.  I jacked it up even more with ample amounts of Tabasco.  

We decided to order up a couple things for each of us to try "family style."  I was told the voodoo shrimp sandwich was absolutely one of the things to order.  They take peeled shrimp, roll them in flour with Cajun spices added to it, deep fried to a golden brown color, then shaken in a container with their voodoo sauce.  I sort of try to stay away from deep fried shrimp, but I was assured these things were to die for.  They then take the voodoo shrimp and put it on a hoagie bun, then top it with mozzarella cheese and applewood smoked bacon.  "The bacon is unbelievable," one of the guys told me.  "I don't know how they make their bacon, but the taste is unbelievable."  

For the other entree, we decided upon the smothered catfish - a farm-raised, lightly breaded and pan-fried catfish filet served on a bed of rice and then topped with ample amounts of Highway 61's shrimp and crawfish etoufee.  You also got to choose one side from a list that included red rice and beans, green beans, fried okra, sweet potato pie (Yep! As a side!), and even the barbecue spaghetti.  We ended up choosing the mac and cheese.  

Once the food hit the table, we weren't too certain we were hungry.  But the wonderful smells of the voodoo shrimp and the catfish smothered in the etoufee were overwhelming.  It's amazing how something that smells so good can make your full stomach suddenly find room for more food.  The voodoo shrimp was everything I was told it would be.  We picked the off some of the shrimp that hadn't been covered with the cheese and bacon.  Oh, my God, were they great!  I love that sweet and spicy voodoo sauce at Highway 61 Roadhouse!  But the killer taste sensation was the mozzarella cheese coated applewood smoked bacon slices.  I pulled one off the top of the shrimp and took a bite.  It was so sinfully great that I almost cried.  I did pull some of the cheese off the bacon and had a bite of the bacon on its own.  Just like it was described to me, the bacon was so flavorful and delectable.  One of the guys said, "They have a Sunday brunch here that I want to come to at some point.  I know they have the bacon on the menu for their brunch.  I could just gorge myself on the bacon."

The smothered catfish was also declared excellent by the guys.  I especially liked the crawfish and shrimp etoufee sauce.  It was a nice dark sauce - darker than most etoufee I've seen in the past.  It had a little kick to it.  I'm not big on catfish, so I focused on bites of the etoufee and rice.  On it's own, the etoufee and rice were worth getting the smothered catfish.

And surprisingly, the mac and cheese side was also very good.  It featured a lot of cheese with ample amounts of bread crumbs mixed in.  One of the guys basically took the mac and cheese and finished it off when myself and the other guy decided we were full.  We still had food on the table - about half of the smothered catfish was eaten, but most of the etoufee was gone.  And all the voodoo shrimp and bacon were gone off the sandwich, but only the tomatoes, lettuce and hoagie bun were left. 

I have to say that everything that I had at Highway 61 Roadhouse and Kitchen was very good to excellent.  The service was good, as well.  I liked the ambiance and the decor was fun and interesting.  But the food was the winner at the Roadhouse.  The voodoo shrimp, the applewood smoked bacon, the smoked chicken wings, the barbecued shrimp - all top notch.  I get worried when restaurants have such an extensive menu, generally because I quickly find out that they don't do varied types of cuisine well.  But Highway 61 Roadhouse did everything all right in my book.

Jaipur Brew House - Omaha

I worked an event at The Sound Environment in Omaha one evening earlier this year.  I was standing and talking to one of their longtime employees, Jim, just catching up on things when a woman walked in looking for her husband and his friend.  She said, "They're either in here or they're over at the Indian restaurant."

I turned to Jim and said, "There's an Indian restaurant nearby?"

He said, "Yeah, Jaipur!  It's just right over here."

We walked to the front door and he pointed to a building down the way in the Rockbrook Village Shopping Center in which both businesses are located (see map).  It was literally a 50 yard walk to the front door of the restaurant.  Now, I figured that I had been coming to The Sound Environment at this location for over 20 years. Jaipur opened in 1992 and I have driven by the place countless times over the years and never noticed it before.  But, then again, that shouldn't be surprising as my wife has told me countless times over the years that I am not good at noticing things.  

I asked Jim if the food was good and he said, "Oh, it's very good.  And they're also a brewpub."

"A brewpub," I asked him, somewhat incredulous.  "An Indian brew pub?"

He said, "Oh, yeah.  They have a brewing operation in the back.  They make the most outrageous jalapeno beer."  

The event at The Sound Environment was over at 9 p.m. and Jim said that Jaipur served food up to 9:30.  I said, "We ought to try the place out!"  

Jim said, "Oh, anytime I have the chance to eat at Jaipur, I go!"  

Jaipur, named for a city in northern India, was co-founded by Steve Gordon who also co-owned The Oven in Lincoln, also a highly acclaimed Indian restaurant; and L'Orient, a former upscale restaurant in Rockbrook Village.  I have an industry colleague, Bruce Jacobs from Stillpoints, who happened to be at The Sound Environment's event that evening who calls the Oven one of his all-time favorite restaurants.  Bruce told me, "When I drive out to Denver for the Rocky Mountain Audio Festival, I always time it so that I can have a meal at the Oven in Lincoln."  

Bruce told me that evening in Omaha that when he found out that the Oven and Jaipur had been joined at the hip at one point, he tried the food at Jaipur the previous evening.  Is it similar to the Oven, I asked him.  He said, "Oh, yeah.  It's excellent."  

Gordon sold his shares in both the Oven and Jaipur around 2004.  He sold the Oven to Ngawang Rinchen, a Bhutanese native who was once the chef for the Royal Family of Bhutan (you gotta click on the link - the King of Bhutan has four wives - all sisters!); and the Jaipur Brew House was sold to Nepalese native Gyanendra Bhandari who had been the chef at the restaurant for three years prior.  Bhandari continues to be the executive chef of Jaipur, but Sanjay Pandit and Bhojraj Paudel run the day-to-day operations in the kitchen.  Steve Gordon still works with Bhandari as the Jaipur's wine consultant and helps with the wine list that totals over 180 bottles.  

It was just after 9 p.m. when we got into the Jaipur Brew House and sat at a table toward the east wall of the restaurant.  The lighting was somewhat subdued, almost too dim to adequately read the menu. But the decor was elegant and classy.  Once we were seated, we were given menus by our waitress that evening, Smrita.  She was a pleasant young lady who reminded us that they closed the kitchen at 9:30.  

Jim had been raving about the jalapeno ale at the Jaipur Brew House and he ordered a 10 oz. glass of the brew right off the bat.  I asked if I could get a sample of the jalapeno beer and Smrita took off to get the beers.  She came back moments later and said, "I'm sorry, we're out of the jalapeno ale this evening."

Jim reacted as though someone had run over his puppy.  "Oh man," he exclaimed.  "You're out of the jalapeno beer?  I've been craving one for the past couple of hours!"  Smrita said she was sorry, but the jalapeno ale is, by far, their most requested beer at Jaipur.  We decided upon each of us getting a glass of their India Pale Ale.  Actually, it was a tad flat and didn't have a forward taste like I've found in other IPA's.  But it was certainly drinkable.  

In addition to traditional northern Indian foods, the Jaipur Brew House also features an "Indian Fusion" menu that offered an Indian twist on Midwestern/American foods.  Some of the entrees they had to offer on the fusion menu included a beef tenderloin that was cooked in their high temperature tandoor oven, a grilled tenderloin with Indian spices; a Tandoori marinated grilled salmon; a Colorado lamb kabob marinated in garlic and ginger then cooked in the tandoor oven; and a Jaipur chicken cutlet marinated with yogurt and Indian spices, then pan-fried.  

Jim told me that all their lamb dishes were wonderful.  I'm not big on lamb - I don't like the greasy taste of lamb, nor do I like the texture all that much.  But he was pretty adamant that the lamb at the Jaipur Brew House was excellent.  I decided to further broaden my horizons and I wanted something sort of spicy that evening.  The lamb vindaloo filled that bill.  I ordered that and, along with Jim's wholehearted recommendation, I went with a bowl of the Mulligatawny soup - a traditional Indian soup featuring pureed lentils with spices, then topped with rice and fresh coriander.  

Jim was torn between a number of items.  "This happens to me every time I come here," he explained to me.  "Everything is so good."  Knowing he was under pressure because the kitchen would be closing shortly, he decided upon the chicken pad Jaipur entree - large marinated chicken chunks with stir-fried rice noodles along with egg, fresh veggies and Indian spices.  A cashew sauce then topped the concoction.  The special soup that evening was a pureed bean soup and Jim signed up for that, as well.  Then Jim said, "Should we get an appetizer?"  I suggested the garlic naan, but he said the Kheema naan - a lightly buttered naan bread stuffed with ground lamb.  I've had Kheema naan before and I thought it was pretty damn good.  

Smrita brought out our soups.  I had taken a picture of both our soups, but the one of my Mulligatawny soup didn't turn out.  Below right is Jim's pureed bean soup.  Jim said his soup was overly flavorful and he offered me to take a spoonful.  My Mulligatawny was very good, but I liked the rich spice and herb flavor of his pureed bean soup.    

The Kheema naan came out next (above right).  It was big and fluffy, chocked full of ground lamb.  It looked like a small stuffed pizza sitting on the plate.  And it was rich and very flavorful.  I knew there was no way we'd be able to finish all the food.  

After about another 10 minutes, our main entrees came out.  Jim's chicken pad Jaipur looked overly thick and rich.  I'm not big on cashew or peanut sauces, but the large chunks of cashews on top of the pad Jaipur looked very good.  Jim offered a portion to me and he put a sample on my bread plate.  The taste sensations were overwhelming.  I don't know exactly what was in it that made it taste so good, but it certainly appealed to me.  

From the first bite of my lamb vindaloo, it got my attention.   First of all, the lamb chunks weren't greasy in the least.  The lamb had a great taste quality to it and wasn't chewy like I've found other lamb dishes to be for me in the past.  The second thing was the forward taste of the Indian spices incorporated in the sauce.  It was just wonderful.  But the big thing - it was HOT!  I mean spicy hot!  I wanted something spicy and, man, I got it!  I was telling Jim how hot it was and I offered to reciprocate on a sample of my lamb vindaloo.  He offered his bread plate and I put some on there.  He took a bite and said, "Holy shit!  That IS hot!  But it's so damn good, too!"  He was absolutely right.

The best part was dipping some of the Kheema naan in the vindaloo sauce.  Oh, God!  It was just excellent.  It was so forward with the spices and had an explosive aftertaste.  It was just fabulous.  

Jim and Bruce couldn't have been more spot on about the food at the Jaipur Brew House.  Although the beer was a little flat and they were out of their popular jalapeno ale, the food was outstanding.  In fact, the vindaloo was possibly a little more hot in spiciness than I like, but it was still excellent.  And I have to say the lamb was nothing like the lamb I'd had before.  Smrita was an excellent waitress for us and even though it was well past closing time when we finished up, we didn't feel hurried at all.  Now that I know about the Jaipur Brew House, I look forward to going back at some point and having something other than the vindaloo and trying the jalapeno beer.  Oh!  And it looks like on my next trip over to Lincoln, I'll have to seek out the Oven, as well. 

Peggy Kinnane's - Arlington Heights, IL

To mix things up a bit, I've been staying at a new Hampton Inn in Mount Prospect on my recent trips into Chicago.  Although it's not quite as convenient as the Hampton Inn in Addison in terms of getting there from anyplace around the Chicagoland area, it is close to my largest dealer, Abt Electronics.  Plus, it's in the middle of the Randhurst Village Shopping Center and there's a number of newer and established places to eat in the immediate area.  Arlington Heights is just down the road and they have a handful of interesting places to eat.  I decided to try an Irish pub by the name of Peggy Kinnane's one evening.     

Peggy Kinnane's opened in 2001 and is owned by Irish ex-patriot Derek Hanley.  Hanley comes from a long line of pub owners. His grandfather, John Joe Kinnane, had been a noted goalie for an Irish football (soccer) team before he opened Setright's Pub in Cratloe, County Clare.  John Joe's son - and Derek's father - Jack Hanley, was a band leader who played in many pubs across Ireland before he opened his own place in Templemore, County Tipperary.  Jack Hanley married an Irish lass by the name of Peggy Kinnane, hence the name of Derek Hanley's establishment in Arlington Heights.  

Derek Hanley (pictured right) came to the United States in 1985, settling first in New York City, then he moved up to Boston after a couple of years where he met his wife.  Hanley and his wife moved to Los Angeles, then to Denver, then back to his home in Tipperary, before finally moving to Arlington Heights around the turn of the 21st century.

While Peggy Kinnane's is located in a revitalized area of downtown Arlington Heights (see map) the inside of the building is rather unique.  The stone walls are all imported stone from County Clare in Ireland.  The woodwork and the long curving bar were all constructed in Ireland and shipped to the United States.  And all of the knick-knacks - known as bric-a-back in Ireland - on display on the walls and shelves of Peggy Kinnane's are all authentic items from Ireland, many items that were passed down through the family that were once on display in both his grandfather's and father's pubs.  The only thing Americanized about Peggy Kinnane's is the modern brick facade on the side of the building that houses apartment/condos above the restaurant.

It was around 8 p.m. when I got into Peggy Kinnane's.  A young hostess greeted me and asked me where I wanted to sit.  She suggested the bar area, but it was a little busy in there and there wasn't much room at the bar.  I looked around the corner at a table with a bench seat against the wall, but realized that I'd be the only one seated alone in the area.  I wandered around with her before settling on a spot near the elongated end of the bar that had curved around into the dining area.  She dropped off a menu and my bartender server for the evening - who went by the name of "Smith" - came over to greet me.  I ordered up a Smithwick's and took a look through the menu.  

I had been on the road for a couple days up to that point and I wasn't overly certain what I wanted to eat that evening.  The menu at Peggy Kinnane's features a slew of appetizers, soups and salads, burgers and sandwiches, as well as Irish staples such as Shepherd's Pie, Irish Lamb Stew, fish and chips, and boxty - a thick potato pancake-like concoction that can be served with vegetables, grilled chicken, and/or seafood.  I've had boxty once a number of years ago at a place in Minneapolis and I remember it as being good.  

The menu is so extensive at Peggy Kinnane's I was having a tough time trying to figure out what to get.  I was hungry, but I really didn't know what I was hungry for.  I was thinking about getting one of their burgers - the "Ulster" featured Swiss cheese, bacon and sauteed mushrooms with their "Emerald Isle" sauce (basically 1000 Island dressing.  But I didn't know if I wanted to try a burger that evening.  The reuben looked inviting, as did their cold-served corned beef sandwich.  But, once again, I wasn't overly certain I just wanted a sandwich.  The Shepherd's Pie and the boxty with a sauteed chicken breast, mushrooms, tomatoes, and scallions in a white wine cream sauce both sounded good, but it also sounded too rich for my stomach that evening.  I was in a quandary and decided to hold off and have a couple beers before I ordered up my meal. 

After about a half hour of trying to figure out what I wanted, I  got Smith's attention and ordered up the Peggy Kinnane's meat loaf - a piece of meat loaf slathered in a Jameson whisky glaze sauce, grilled lightly and then topped with a mushroom gravy.  It also came with a side of mashed potatoes and fresh vegetables.  When he brought it to me, I knew there would be no way I'd be able to finish off the whole meal.  The meat loaf was a large slab over a half-inch thick topped with the mushroom gravy.  The vegetable medley featured an abundant amount of sliced carrots, broccoli and cauliflower.  The mashed potatoes were just a scoop off to the side.  

The meat loaf was all right - it had an OK flavor to it and I would have liked to have had more of the mushroom gravy on the top, but it was fine.  The potatoes were rather pedestrian as I only had a couple small bites of those.  However, the vegetable medley was very fresh and cooked perfectly.  They weren't mushy, nor had the taste been cooked out of them.  Whoever cooked the vegetables at Peggy Kinnane's knew exactly what they were doing.  

I left about a quarter of the meat loaf, nearly all of the potatoes and a smattering of sliced carrots on my plate.  Smith asked me if I wanted to have it wrapped up, but, no, there was no way I'd eat this as a leftover even if I were taking it home with me.  

After I finished up paying my bill, I took a walk around Peggy Kinnane's just to see the place.  There's a nice little backroom near the restrooms that featured a fireplace and a nice place to hang.  The dining area was rather spacious and they also had an outdoor seating area.  It had a great feeling to the place.  It definitely wasn't the type of place where someone put up a couple Irish flags and called the bar an authentic Irish pub.  

As I said earlier, the bar snaked around the north and west sides of Peggy Kinnane's.  The woodwork and stonework throughout the place were elegant and impressive.  I got the two pictures above off of Peggy Kinnane's web site because the pictures I tried to take inside the low-lit restaurant didn't turn out very well from my phone camera.  

I thought my food was pretty good at Peggy Kinnane's, but like corned beef and cabbage it's tough to add pizazz to meat loaf.  I did think the food was rather high in price - $15.95 for a meat loaf platter. (Burgers were a minimum of 10 bucks and other menu items seemed to be rather high priced, as well.)  But Smith provided good service for me and I really had little to no complaints about the place.  Peggy Kinnane's is a unique experience and one that I'm glad I found in Arlington Heights. 

La Pizza House - Des Moines

I arrived in Des Moines one evening and on the way there I had realized that I forgot to pack a cable that was imperative for a demonstration I was going to do the next morning.  I punched in a Best Buy location in my GPS that took me toward the south side of Des Moines.  As I was traveling down S.E. 14th St., I passed a place that I later figured I hadn't been to in nearly 25 years - La Pizza House.  I was sort of hungry and was actually planning on having dinner near my hotel that night.  But I doubled back and pulled into the parking lot at La Pizza House at the corner of S.E. 14th and Railroad Ave. (see map)

La Pizza House is a somewhat famous restaurant in the Des Moines area as they were one of the first places to serve pizza in town.  Partners Russ Reel and Abbie Polito opened La Pizza House in 1953 using recipes from the Polito family.  Peel and Polito were north side residents and friends who went to North High School together.  Their restaurant - also known as "Russ and Abbie's" to their local following - was an immediate hit.  They expanded their original location three times within the first seven years of business to handle the growing clientele. Both men ran the place until Abbie Polito retired in 1993.  Russ Reel continued to run the place until he reached his 86th birthday in 2010.  Not finding anyone wishing to buy the place at his price, he decided to shut it down.  Reel soon found himself with a mortgage that came due.  Owing over $160,000 on the building, it was foreclosed upon and Wells Fargo Bank came in to buy the building.

This is the part of the story where things get a little murky for me.   

Reel soon found that sitting around wasn't for him, so he decided to reopen La Pizza House less than a year later.  The only problem is that he didn't have the money to pay the bank to get the building back.  Local restaurateur Bob Etzel, Jr. came in and opened La Pizza House.  He put Reel in a management position while keeping the same menu and was able to get much of the same staff to come back to work.  

All the time Etzel was negotiating with the bank to buy the building at a price that was to his liking.  After months of fruitless negotiations, he decided to close it again in late 2011.  Just before Etzel was getting ready to close the business, two partners -  Joe Negrete and Louis Alafro - came in and bought the business.  They ran the restaurant for two weeks - yep, two weeks - before a familiar name came on the scene.  Enter Tom Polito, the son of co-founder Abbie Polito.

The younger Polito opened his own pizza place - Polito's Pizza - in nearby Bondurant in 2001.  Using a lot of the same recipes that were handed down from his father, Tom Polito built a thriving business in the small town northeast of Des Moines.  Negrete and Alafro, both of whom had experience in the restaurant business, mainly on the fast food side, bought the place from Etzel on Dec. 16 and sold it to Tom Polito on Dec. 29 of last year. Polito closed the restaurant for a few days for inspection and licensing, and reopened in early January of this year.  

Basically, everything is about the same in La Pizza House as it was 50 years ago.  I'm not certain the place changed much from the first time I was in the place in the mid-70's.  The outside had a very weathered look to the place. Inside, I found the same wood paneling, the same booths and tables, and the same sort of cozy feeling I got on my first visit 35 years ago.  La Pizza House is certainly a throwback to the 50's and 60's.    

The same kitchen facing S.E. 14th is fully functional at La Pizza House.  That was always one of the big things years ago at La Pizza House.  People waiting for tables and curious young kids would stand outside the big window and watch the cooks make the pizza.  Waiting for tables was a normal thing back in the hey-day of La Pizza House.  Other than one other couple in the place and some other people coming to pick up to-go orders, I was the only person in the place that evening.

I'm not certain the bar area was the same as I remember it, but I ended up sitting there.  A lady bartender, I'm guessing in her late 50's or early 60's - the kind that calls you "hon" or "honey" - gave me a menu and asked me what I wanted to drink.  I got a beer as I looked through the menu.

I do remember that La Pizza House had great onion rings.  I saw that they had half orders and I asked the bartender if I could get an order to munch on.  "Sure thing, hon", she said.  "I'll have it right up."  

When she brought out the plate of onion rings, I was sort of astonished at the size of a half-order.  It was huge, a lot more than what I would be able to eat if I was also getting a pizza.  But the onion rings were just as good as what I remembered.  They had a light, flaky coating over the sweet onions.  By the time I had my first onion ring finished, I had ordered up a small sausage, pepperoni and mushroom pizza.  

The pizza at La Pizza House is a thin crispy crust loaded with toppings, a somewhat sweet sauce and ample amounts of cheese on top.  I forgot that the pizza was oval in shape and cut into rectangular squares, similar to Quad City style pizza.  Also like Quad City style pizza, the sausage on a La Pizza House pizza is ground, but not as finely ground as you get in the Quad Cities.  And definitely not as bland as Quad City style sausage. 

The pizza was exactly as I remembered.  The thin crust was chewy, yet crispy.  The overall taste of the sausage, pepperoni and mushroom was very good.  I faintly remembered the overall taste of the pizza from a number of years ago.   As far as Des Moines pizza is concerned, I'm still a little partial to the pizza at Noah's Ark and Chuck's.  But I will have to say La Pizza House gives both of them a run for their money. Between the onion rings and the pizza, it was more than enough for two people.  But since I was traveling and I was sure that I wouldn't have a refrigerator in my room, I left a lot at the bar.    

I got to talking to a guy behind the bar, someone who I thought was Tom Polito as he kept talking about his dad and his family running the place.  It turned out that we had a friend in common whose father used to bartend at  La Pizza House back in the 60's before he moved his family to Newton to run a gas station along the interstate.  "He thwarted an armed robbery one night," the man behind the bar was telling me.  "He just told the robbers, 'No! I'm not giving you the money!' And they ran off!  He was one tough cuss!"

Even though it was nearly 25 years since I was last in La Pizza House, not much - if anything - has changed over the years.  The pizza is still well above average, the onion rings are delicious, and there's still that same homey, neighborhood feeling to the place.  There may be other pizza places in the area that are better, but not by much.  Don't let the tired decor and the hardened facade scare you away.  La Pizza House is one of the great old school pizza restaurants in the Midwest.

Dinker's Bar - Omaha

Midwest Living magazine came out with a list of their top 25 (and then some) burger joints around the Midwest earlier this year. Many of the places listed can be found on Road Tips, but I became interested by a number of other ones that I wasn't familiar with. Quite probably the one that intrigued me most was a place in Omaha called Dinker's Bar. On a recent trip out to Omaha, I decided to find Dinker's for a burger.

I've been coming to Omaha for business since 1986 (and about 10 years prior to that when my sister and brother-in-law used to live in Omaha) and while I was familiar with places like Stella's and Louie M's Burger Lust, I had never heard of Dinker's Bar before. But the locals certainly love it. It has been voted as Omaha's best burger many times over the years. In fact, they're so confident of the burgers at Dinker's Bar they have a permanent sign on the front of their building that says, "Omaha's Best Burger." While I certainly love the burgers at Louie M's and I've given Stella's high marks over the years, I was somewhat taken aback that I hadn't known about Dinker's burgers until I read about them in Midwest Living magazine.

Dinker's Bar has been in existance since the mid-60's when Frank "Dinker" Synowiecki opened the doors to the neighborhood bar south of Omaha's downtown area known as Sheely Town. Sheely Town was named after Joseph Sheely who owned and ran a packing plant on Omaha's south side in the 1800's and who built tenement housing, initially, for mostly Irish workers. But later on, a number of Polish and Czech immigrants came to Omaha to work in the stockyards and slaughter houses of South Omaha. Many of the Polish immigrants settled in Sheely Town while many of the Czech's settled further to the south. Today, the Sheely Town neighborhood is a mix of small bungalow houses and larger two story homes that were built before World War II.

Initially, Dinker's Bar was just a "beer and a shot" type of place. However, Synowiecki put in a grill and began to serve burgers and sandwiches. Today, Synowiecki's son, Bob, runs the place. It's located in a long narrow building at the corner of S. 29th St. and Castelar St., just south of Martha Street and right next to I-480 (see map). Midwest Living compared to decor to a 1970's bowling alley. I guess I didn't get that when I walked into the place. I found it to be open and airy, but comfortable enough for people to carry on conversations. There are a number of tables throughout the long dining room with the bar in the front and the kitchen in the back.

I got in just after 1 p.m. and found the "Order Here" sign toward the dining room. A small line was in front of me as I took a look at the menu on the wall to see what I wanted to get on my first visit to Dinker's.

Dinker's Bar not only features their idea of the best burgers in Omaha, but they also have a number of sandwiches, salads and appetizers including homemade buttermilk-battered onion rings. Dinker's also features a lunch steak entree with a 6 oz. Omaha Steaks sirloin served with fries, a salad and their garlic cheese bread. They also feature luncheon specials each day - that day the hot beef sandwich was the feature. Quite honestly, it looked good when one of the waitresses walked by with a heaping plate as I was standing in line to get a burger.

The burgers at Dinker's Bar are hand-pattied, then cooked on a flat grill and pressed. Their beef is fresh, delivered three times a week to the bar, and I believe they grind their own burger meat. Their signature burger is the Haystack - a quarter pound patty topped with American cheese, honey smoked ham and then finished with a range free fried egg. That sounded really good. They also have a jalapeno burger that is topped with pepper jack cheese and fried jalapenos. But they also had a mushroom/Swiss cheese burger that I ended up getting.

The lady at the counter asked if I wanted any fries or onion rings with my burger. I wasn't certain I wanted anything other than the burger. She said chips came with the burger and that the rings or fries were extra. I ended up ordering some fries with the burger. You pay for the food at the counter as you order (WARNING - Dinker's is a cash only establishment), they give you a number to place on your table and they'll bring the food out to you.

There's really no wait staff at Dinker's Bar, so after you order your food and if you want a drink you have to go to the bar. I ended up sitting at the bar placing my number beside me. The bar area, itself, was a throwback to a 70's style bar with brickwork on the wall, along with mirrors hung over the brick. A series of bar glasses, a number of liquor bottles and even a Jagermeister machine cluttered up the back bar area. It was your typical neighborhood bar.

After about 15 minutes, a man brought me my burger and set it in front of me. When I ordered at the counter, the lady had asked if I wanted lettuce, tomato and onions (grilled or sliced) on my sandwich and I was rather impressed with the freshness of both the lettuce and tomato slices. The onions were pungent and fresh, as well. A large mound of French fries accompanied the burger in the basket.

The burger was thick and juicy, covered with copious amounts of fresh mushrooms. In fact, the mushrooms were so plentiful, they were sliding off of the burger with nearly each bite. Four napkins were dropped off with the burger and I needed them all. The burger, itself, was cooked perfectly with a little bit of pink in the middle. With all the veggies on the burger, it was difficult to get a full taste of the beef. But I pulled off a corner of the burger patty and tasted it on its own. It was very, very good.

Last, but certainly not least, the kaiser bun that Dinker's uses for their burgers was light and fluffy, adding a wonderful taste to the burger. It was lightly toasted and helped with the overall taste of the burger. It held together very well with the moist and juicy burger. I was overly impressed with Dinker's burger.

I'm sort of kicking myself for not knowing about Dinker's Bar before this. I love little neighborhood places like Dinker's. The burger I had was very, very good and I may have to make a couple more visits to Dinker's before I can decide if it truly is the best burger in Omaha. Stella's and Louis M's Burger Lust are certainly high on my list and I would have to say that Dinker's Bar has a burger that would be as equally worthy - if not more - as the burgers at those places.

The 60th Anniversary of the Weber Grill

This is the 60th year that people worldwide have been using a Weber Grill to cook meats, vegetables, fish and anything else that can be cooked.  We're a Weber Grill family with two 22" grills and a Weber smoker on our back deck landing.  I never really knew the full story behind the Weber grill or the man who designed, developed and sold the first grill 60 years ago this summer.  Over the past few days, I've been doing some digging on the Internet and found some interesting facts about the man who invented the Weber Grill - George A. Stephen - and how the product and the company came to be.  

It was the summer of 1951 and George Stephen was using a little brazier grill to cook steaks and burgers outside because he didn't like the huge brick barbecue in his backyard that was so popular with many suburbanites after World War II.  Stephen quickly became annoyed with having steaks get overcooked because he couldn't control the heat on his little outdoor grill.  Plus, with windy conditions and sudden rainstorms, the brazier didn't have a lid to keep the ashes from swirling about and the elements out.  He knew he needed a contraption that had a lid and a large grilling surface so he could cook more than two steaks and/or four burgers at the same time for his growing family.  (George and his wife, Margaret, eventually ended up with six boys and six daughters.)  

Stephen worked as the sales manager for the Weber Brothers Metal Works, a company his father owned for a number of years located on West Madison in Chicago, IL.  One of their primary metal fabrications was to make buoys for area rivers and lakes.  George Stephen took a look at the construction of a buoy - the top, then the middle barrel, then the bottom - and figured that if he took the middle out of the buoy, he could fashion a barbecue cooker out of the materials. He did just that, putting the bottom of the buoy on a three-legged stand and putting a handle on the lid.   

Stephen took the new grill to the backyard of his Mount Prospect, IL home and started up the charcoal for steaks.  When he put the lid on the top to regulate the heat, the fire suffocated.  A neighbor peered over the fence at George's contraption and wondered what it was.  George told him it was a barbecue kettle design he was working on and began talking to his neighbor about the dilemma he was having regarding the fire going out.  The neighbor casually said, "Why don't you poke some holes in it to allow the air flow through it."  

Taking the unit back to the shop, Stephen found that poking holes in the kettle did allow for the fire to get air, but there was no way to control the amount of air flow in the kettle to maintain an even heat.  That's when he came up with  the idea of the little discs that turned to open or close the air holes.  

George's Bar-B-Que Kettle was born and his backyard suddenly became the most popular place in the neighborhood that summer of 1951.  The steaks and burgers that he cooked on his kettle were the best that many of his neighbors had ever had.  He decided to make some more of the kettles during the winter of 1951/52 and see if anyone else would want to buy any.  It was a huge gamble.  Construction costs of the kettle made it expensive - the retail price of the kettle was around $50 bucks, which would be about $450 in today's cash value.  Most of the small brazier models people were using cost around $7 bucks.  

Undeterred, Stephen packed one of his barbecue kettles in his station wagon that next Spring of 1952 and took off around the Midwest showing it to hardware stores.  He had some early success with selling his grill, so much so that in 1955 his father allowed the younger Stephen to establish the barbecue division of the company with a fabrication plant located in suburban Wood Dale.  That was the beginning of the Weber-Stephen Company.  (It officially became Weber-Stephen Products in 1960 when George Stephen bought out his father).  Knowing that the Weber name had a bigger cache than either his George's Bar-B-Que Kettle or the Stephen family name, George Stephen called his first production grills "Weber Grills".  The rest is history.  

The design of Weber Grills over the years hasn't changed too much from the original BK-710 model made back in the 50's.  The same porcelain layer over the forged sheet metal gives the Weber Grills a measure of longevity.  Wheels were placed on the two back legs for mobility and an ash tray located below the kettle helps keep glowing embers from burning decks and lawns.  It's unique design gave the Weber Grill a nickname at the start of the Space Race in 1957 - "Sputnik" - named after the Russian satellite that was the first to go into orbit around the Earth.  

The Weber-Stephen company grew over the years and in 1966 they moved to a larger facility in northwest suburban Arlington Heights.  In 1980, the company moved to their present location in Palatine in the Sellstrom Industrial Park (see map).  Over 500 people work at Weber-Stephen making nearly 50 different models of charcoal and gas grills.  

The success of the Weber Grill has stoked the public's interest in outdoor cooking.  Nearly 90 million households across the United States have some sort of outdoor grilling apparatus.  Weber continues to hold the top market share of many of the grills used across the country and in dozens of countries around the world.  But that's not to say that all of their designs were winners.

In the 70's when rich pastel colors become the norm with patio and poolside furniture, Weber-Stephen came out with a God-awful looking line of lime green and bright yellow grills to follow the trend.   In 1965, the company came out with "The Ranger", a grill that looked similar to a wheelbarrow with a single wheel on the front and handles on the rear.  I can imagine that those were dumped more than once with steaks sizzling over a roaring fire.  "The Wishing Well" had a wooden barrel shaped outer shell with a crank under a little roof to raise and lower the top of the kettle.  The "Barrel" had a semi-circular shaped wooden table for dining around a Weber grill that was in a barrel with a door to clean out the ashes.  They even had an electric Weber grill in the 70's.  Plus, there were peripheral items such as the Weber electric fire blower that was designed to help stoke the charcoal (but many of them burnt up), a nautical grill that was fixed on a pivoting gimball support that was designed to make sure the grill was level even on sloped-keel sailboats, a Weber electric insect killer, exhaust hoods for those who wanted to grill inside (they couldn't see any health hazards with that, I'm sure), and even Weber bird feeders.  Now, I'd LOVE to have a Weber bird feeder.  But not if it's $40 or more.  

One of the biggest failures was the kettle-shaped gas grill that Weber first introduced in 1971.  The general public never caught on to the shape of the Weber gas grill.  In the mid-80's, the company chucked the design and came out with the Genesis series of gas grills - ones that looked more like the conventional gas grills on the market.  That was when Weber became a player in the gas barbecue grill business.   

Weber has had major success with their accessories including cooking utensils, aprons and mitts, chimney starters, books with grilling tips and recipes, and a number of little add-on applications such as grill lights (for those of us who cook in the dark), wireless digital thermometers (when they work, that is), and cookware that will allow you to cook anything from ribs to Chinese food to pizza.  

In the late 70's, Weber-Stephen got into the catering business with their "Weber on Wheels" trailer that featured 6 of their large Ranch kettles each of which featured over 1100 square inches of cooking surface.  Things went so well with their catering that they decided to open their first restaurant on Northwest Highway near their factory in Palatine.  People would order food at the counter and then the entrees were brought to the table on trays.  All the food was cooked on specially made 42" Weber Grills. Not quite haute cuisine, but the concept was suddenly in play.   In December of 1988, the first full service Weber Grill restaurant opened along "restaurant row" in Wheeling, IL   There are now four Weber Grill restaurants with three in the greater Chicagoland area and one in Indianapolis. (Click here to see my entry on the Lombard Weber Grill restaurant and here to see the Indianapolis Weber Grill entry.)

Through all of this, the man who started a revolution as to how Americans entertain kept a pretty low profile as the head of the company up until his untimely death in 1993. George Stephen never had a huge ego as he shied away from interviews with national news organizations, magazines and newspapers.  Stephen despised being the "face" of Weber Grills and took his picture out of catalog and print ads in the 70's. He preferred his kettles to be the focus on his business.  When Stephen passed away from cancer, obituaries that I found on line from the Chicago Tribune, New York Times and Los Angeles Times were brief without much of a story about Stephen other than the story of how he forged an industry out of a buoy.  

After Stephen's death, the family continued to run the business with son Jim Stephen as the CEO.  But in 2010, the Stephen family sold a 51% stake in the company to BDT Capital Partners, a Chicago-based equity firm that caters toward family-run businesses.  The Stephen family continues to have sole control of the four Weber Grill restaurants.  

George Stephen single-handedly created a business where he not only sold millions of barbecue grills worldwide, but it opened up a whole new industry that allowed dozens of companies and brand names like Minden, Napoleon, Char-Broil, Big Green Egg, Beefeater, and Naked Whiz to come into existence with a plethora of charcoal and gas grill products.  Fully functioning outdoor kitchens have become the norm with upscale houses in suburban areas across America.  With many of those homes, the focal point of backyard landscaping is centered around the outdoor kitchen area.  Gas grills now make up the majority of outdoor barbecue grills on the market - about 41% - but charcoal grills have been making a small comeback capturing about 2.1 percent of the market over the past three years to inch them to less than 3 percentage points to gas grill sales.  Smokers account for about 5 percent of all outdoor grills.      

As stated earlier, we are a three Weber grill family.  We had an 18" grill up until a couple years ago when I finally had to throw it out because it was over 15 years old and it had begun to rust out.  While we use the 22" with the table deck most of the time, for larger meals we'll use the other 22" for cooking vegetables, burgers or brats, or any overflow from the other grill.  We cook out year round, including in the snow from time to time.  Although friends have tried to get me to either go to gas (for quickness and convenience), or to look at getting a Big Green Egg (ceramic cookers seem to be the rage these days), I'm used to my Weber grills.  I know how to cook on them and cook on them correctly.  I just don't see me changing at any point.  And I have George Stephen to thank for that. 

(By the way - to the somewhat condescending guy who calls himself "Husker Red" on the Weber Kettle Club forum site, the reason I had to throw out the 18" Weber grill was because the holes where the legs go in became rusted and began to crack making the grill unstable.  My current grills are 9 and 14 years old and my smoker is about six years old, so I don't quite have a need for the "latest and greatest".  Finally, no, I didn't know those old "God awful" pastel grills were big to collectors.  Actually, I didn't know there was such a thing as Weber collectors.  Some people accuse me of being a Weber collector, but I use mine rather than just look at them.  But thanks for looking in!)    

PM Barbecue - Chesterfield, MO

During a trip to St. Louis earlier this summer, I spent the night in west suburban Chesterfield.  With a plethora of dining options in the immediate area, I didn't really know what I wanted to get that evening.  Using Urbanspoon, I took a look at all the available cuisines in the immediate area.  Barbecue sounded good that evening and I decided to head over to a place called PM Barbecue to see what it was like.

Like many barbecue places, PM BBQ got its start when two friends, Paul Lamers and Mark Ruck, began to enter local barbecue competitions a few years ago.  They consistently won a number of competitions and began to sell their barbecue at the Wildwood Farmers Market in nearby Wildwood, MO.  As their following grew, they decided to open their own restaurant.  They did so in March of 2010 in the Chesterfield Towne Center in the Chesterfield valley.  (see map)

In fact, PM BBQ is located right next to El Maguey (see my entry on El Maguey here).  I remember the barbecue place from before as it was past 8 p.m. when I got to El Maguey on my last visit there and PM Barbecue was closed for the evening.  And because the popular upscale Wild Horse Grill is next door on the other side of PM BBQ, the parking area in front of the three restaurants was pretty packed when I pulled in around 6:30 p.m.

PM BBQ isn't all that big, but is sort of quaint and homey with antique signs and knick-knacks on the wall.  They have metal bucket light fixtures hanging from the ceiling.  Older style wooden chairs and tables were throughout the dining area.

The menu for the restaurant is pretty basic.  They have a handful of sandwiches that include brisket, pulled pork, pulled chicken and smoked turkey.  They feature smoked baby back ribs and smoked chicken as an entree.  Curiously, they don't offer either pulled pork or brisket as part of a dinner (although both can be bought in 1 pound packs when available).  And because of that, there is no sampler that would allow one to try two or three of the smoked meats PM BBQ offers.  

PM Barbecue cooks their meats in the Memphis style of barbecue - a homemade dry spice and herb rub is put on the meat and it's smoked low and slow for tenderness and taste.  They offer four different styles of barbecue sauce on the table - more on that in a little bit.

The menu board for the restaurant is located on the wall behind the front counter.  You place your order and pay for your food there, give them your name and they'll call it out if they're busy.  If they're not, like the night I was in there, they'll bring the food out to you.  Since they didn't offer any type of a sampler plate, I had to make up my mind between the brisket or pulled pork sandwich, or the baby back ribs.  I decided upon the brisket and I had my choice of two sides.  They offered baked beans, green beans, cole slaw, potato salad, fries, and homemade applesauce.  I got the baked beans and fries.  I almost got the green beans, but decided to get the fries to dip in the different sauces they have to offer.  

It was about 10 minutes after I ordered when the young man who took my order brought out my sandwich platter.  The brisket was piled on a wonderful soft bun and had a nice little pink smoke ring on the outside.  The French fries were pretty basic - thin and average.  But the baked beans were actually very good. They were thick and had nice chunks of brisket ends added in.  I usually have to add some sauce to most baked beans I have at some barbecue restaurants, but the beans at PM BBQ were very good on their own.  I did experiment by adding sauces to it and they were even better.

Ah, yes!  The sauces!  As I said, PM BBQ offers four different types of sauces - a sweet sauce that was rich and flavorful; a spicy sauce that had a great kick to the taste; a mustard sauce that was, well, 'eh!' (but I'm not big on mustard sauces); and a vinegar, red pepper and black pepper Carolina style sauce that was just fabulous.  It had a great peppery taste with a little spicy kick.  The combination of the vinegar and the peppers was a great taste sensation.  

I ate the brisket slices, adding the different barbecue sauces with each bite.  The brisket was tender, juicy and very flavorful even without the sauce.  The faint taste of the rub was prevalent in each bite.  The brisket was very, very good.  I used the bun to sop up additional barbecue sauce, primarily the Carolina vinegar/pepper sauce.  

Now, here's a little side story that helps illustrate why I hate to eat alone at times.  On the front door of PM Barbecue, they have a large cowbell that clangs when people go in and out.  It's just another rustic item that helps with the overall ambience of the place.  I was seated near the front door and a portly middle-aged lady came in the door, cowbell clanging.  She was sort of startled by it and she walked right up to me sitting there eating my dinner.  She loudly said to me, "Wow!  They have a cowbell on the door!"  (Like I really cared.)  Then she said, "Well, I hope they didn't take that off the cow they killed for the beef they serve here!"  Ugh!  Just leave me alone!  But I soon found out that she was one of those type of people who bothered everyone around her.  Thank God, she got her order to go and I was finished before she had a chance to bother me again on the way out.

PM BBQ was a pleasant surprise for me. The brisket was very, very good, but the sweet, spicy and Carolina sauces were the highlight of the meal.  The only thing I was disappointed with was the lack of a sampler platter.  I would have loved to have tried a quarter rack of ribs and some pulled pork in addition to the brisket.  Although the fries were average, the baked beans were some of the best I've had at a barbecue joint.  Overall, PM BBQ was a pretty good value with very good barbecue.