Road Tips

Chances 'R' - York, NE

Late last year, I found myself driving from Omaha, NE to Salina, KS to see an account I'd been chasing for quite sometime.  The route took me along Interstate 80 west to then head south on U.S. Highway 281 at York, NE.  It was around 1 p.m. and I was uncertain when I'd be able to have dinner in Kansas City that night (yes, it was a lot of driving that particular day), so I decided to wander into York and have lunch at one of my all time favorite steakhouses/supper clubs, Chances 'R'.  

I had written about Chances 'R' about seven years ago and I really wanted to do a better write up on the place.  I had first found out about the restaurant a number of years ago from a guy who worked for one of my former dealers in Iowa City.  He asked me if I ever traveled past York on trips out to Central Nebraska (I did, many times, back in the 90's).  He told me, "There's this excellent steakhouse out there that you need to check out."  I stopped in York and found Chances 'R' for a great dinner.  I made it a regular stop on my trips out to Grand Island after that until I got my new job in 2002.  The last time I was there was in 2006 when I found myself out in Lincoln one evening and decided to make the 45 minute trip to York for a good steak.  So I was really looking forward to hitting Chances 'R' again.  

There's a long and storied past to Chances 'R' that begins back in the early 30's.  A guy with the colorful name of Hiney Neufeld started a restaurant called the Cozy Lunch in 1932, advertising his little restaurant as a "modern hamburger shop."  Adding the sale of alcohol after the end of Prohibition, Hiney Neufeld ran the place until he sold it to the father and son team of Robert and Roy Schultz in 1937.  Roy Schultz, and his wife, Thelma (aka "Mimi") ran the small Cozy Lunch (seating capacity - 50) for the family for the next 20 years before their daughter and son-in-law, Shirley and Raymond Reetz, bought the business.  

The Reetz's operated the business as the Cozy Lunch until 1964.  They decided to expand the size of the original building by three-fold, buying up other buildings around the property.  They completely remodeled the restaurant and other buildings and increased seating to 180.  Raymond Reetz knew that his aggressive expansion plan was very risky and he confided in his wife, "Chances are that we'll go broke, but I want to give it a try."  That's how the restaurant became the Chances 'R'.  

Over the years, the Reetz's found success with both the restaurant and a booming on-site and off-site catering business.  In 1978, their daughter, Suzanne, and her husband, Tom Vanous, became partners with the Reetz's, and five years later the group expanded the restaurant with a lounge and an inside beer garden that increased seating to 550.  The lounge (pictured below left), west-side dinner room (pictured below right) and one of the banquet rooms were outfitted with a dark mahogany wood, stained glass and brass railing giving Chances 'R' a very classy feel to the place.

Raymond and Shirley Reetz retired from the business in 2008 after 51 years of owning the restaurant.  Tom and Suzanne Vanous, and her younger brother, Jason, and his wife, Holly - who joined the restaurant as partners in 1999 - continue to run Chances 'R' today.

As I said, it was after 1 p.m. when I pulled into one of the spacious parking lots across the street from Chances 'R' in downtown York (see map).  The lot was nearly full, as was parking on the street.  I thought, "Oh, boy.  I may have a little bit of a wait."  From the outside, Chances 'R' doesn't look all that big.  But with three large dining areas and at least two banquet rooms, they can handle a lot of people.  

After a quick trip to one of Chances 'R's "world class" restrooms (they're pretty proud of their restrooms, which are nice, but I wouldn't call them the best I've been in), I went to the hostess stand just inside the front door and waited to be seated.  The hostess finally caught up with me and took me into the more casual oak wood-trimmed east-side dining room.  I had never eaten in the east dining room in my previous visits as I actually preferred to sit in the Hob-Nob lounge at the bar.  However, during lunch, the bar in the lounge is transformed into a spacious salad bar (pictured right).  And the more ornate and less casual west dining room was full of diners.   

I was seated at a booth along the wall and given a menu to look over.  A waitress made her way over to take my drink order and asked if I was ready to order.  The menu at Chances 'R' - even at lunch - is pretty broad.  I needed a few minutes.  She was rather indifferent in her attitude, I thought.  Nonetheless, I carried on looking through the menu.  

The east dining room at Chances 'R' 

I'd had the New York strip, the rib eye, and the prime rib on previous visits.  However, I'd never had a filet.  I decided to get that.  

When the waitress came back with my drink, she said, "Oh, I guess I'd better tell you about the lunch specials."  Her demeanor was rather neutral - not upbeat, nor was she surly.  She seemed almost robotic in her actions.  I told her that I wasn't interested in the specials and that I had pretty much made my mind up.  "Oh!  OK!  Sure!"  I gave her my order of a filet - rare with a side of hash browns.  "All right," she coolly said as she clicked her pen.  "I'll get that right out for you."  She didn't even offer me a chance to go through the salad bar.  Even for an upcharge, I would have probably done that.

 

However, Chances 'R', like many supper club/steakhouses across the Midwest, offers a house salad served with a carousel of three different types of dressing.   I had my choice of sweet French, a creamy blue cheese, and a 1000 island that was similar to the Nebraska-made Dorothy Lynch salad dressing.  I tried the sweet French on part of my salad at first and it had a nice sweet and tangy taste to it.  I then tried the 1000 dressing and while it was good, the taste wasn't as pleasing as the sweet French.  But then I tried a bit of the cream blue cheese - whoa!  The blue cheese chunks were fresh and had a wonderful taste.  I tried the sweet French again, but decided that the blue cheese was probably the best of the three.  

Now, I remember that they had a creamy garlic dressing at Chances 'R' in the past, but it wasn't part of the triumvirate of dressings that were brought to me that day.  It was probably for the best as I remembered it to be a very forward garlic dressing that lingered on the tongue for hours after I ate it.  Since I had a pretty important meeting in Salina later that afternoon, heavy garlic on the breath may not have gone over well.

My steak showed up - a small filet that, really, for what it was turned out to be pretty expensive.  A slab of hash browns laid passively next to the steak.  I cut into the steak and found it to be a little more medium-rare than rare, but that was all right.  The steak was tender, had a nice seasoning on it, and was very flavorful.  It certainly wasn't the best steak I've had, but it was still very good.

The hash browns, although they looked rather bland sitting on the plate, were also not that bad.  Some cheese and some grilled onions would have livened them up a bit, but the lingering taste of the hash browns had kind of that grilled butter taste to them.  

My very impassive waitress came over to check on me and asked how everything was going.  I told her that it was good.  And it was.  Not great, but certainly not bad.  It was definitely an above average beef tenderloin filet, but far from a great cut of meat.  

I splurged on lunch to the tune of about $40 bucks with an average tip for the unemotional waitress.   I don't know if she didn't like her job or if she was just the type of person that had no personality at all.  She wasn't unfriendly by any means, but she was about as emotionally constrained as I've ever encountered in a server.  My meal, like previous visits to Chances 'R' was fine, probably a little more expensive for lunch than I'd like to spend, but it was still good.  Being that it's one of the top destinations to eat in the state of Nebraska, chances are that Chance 'R' will be around for another 50 years, at least. 

 

The Cafe - Ames, IA

A tip of the hat to a gentleman who calls himself "Prexcoble" who left a comment on the entry I had for Oddfellows Burger Kitchen in Ames, IA (see that entry here).  He suggested that before I do my Best Burger List for 2012 (see that entry here), I needed to try the burger at The Cafe in Ames, IA.  I didn't get there in time to do that, but I was in Ames recently working on a problem that a customer was having with one of the products we sell.  After I finished up with that, I decided to go have lunch at The Cafe.

The Cafe is located in the north part of Ames on Northridge Parkway along with a number of other businesses and restaurants in the Somer Street neighborhood. (see map)  In fact, a dealer that I called on for awhile was located just down the street from The Cafe.  But until this visit, I had never been in the place before.  

Actually, The Cafe will celebrate their 10th anniversary next month.  The original owners, Bob Cummings, Kevin Rettig and Pat Breen opened their doors in February of 2003.  In doing a little digging on the three, I found that Breen is the owner of the popular Aunt Maude's restaurant in downtown Ames, and that Cummings was the owner of O'Malley's and McGee's, a Mexican restaurant that closed down a few years ago.  I believe Cummings is the managing partner of The Cafe.  

I parked on the street in front of The Cafe (there's also parking in the rear) and went inside just before 2 p.m.  I was standing there for quite some time at the hostess stand before a young lady finally came up to me after a couple minutes and asked if I needed any help.  "I'd like to get some lunch," I replied.

She looked at her watch and said, "Well, we quit serving lunch at 2. (It was still before 2 on my clock on my phone.) Let me check."  She went away for a moment and I saw her talking to another lady and pointing in my direction.  The other lady looked at a clock in the kitchen area and she came up to me.  She cheerfully said, "Sure, we can get you in.  It's officially 1:58 on the clock."  The place was packed with diners and I thought it was rather strange to have the cut off so early, but there are restaurants that do changeovers from lunch to dinner after the noon rush.  As the young lady ushered me back to a booth, I heard the first girl who greeted me say in a not-very-nice tone to the cook staff, "We have ONE MORE for lunch!"  I half expected to hear groans and words of derision from the staff they way she said it.  But they didn't.

I was seated in a booth in one of the two dining areas at The Cafe.  There's a second dining area in the bar area in the back of the place (pictured right). There is also a small coffee shop/bakery off to the side of the front entrance.  I took a number of pictures of the place, but none of them turned out.  The lighting in the place was a mix of reduced direct lighting and natural light coming in from the large windows in the front of the restaurant.  The lighting played havoc with any type of good picture that I wanted to get.  

The hostess left off a menu with me, and even though I knew that I was just going to get a burger I wanted to see what else The Cafe had to offer.  The menu isn't that extensive so it was sort of perplexing to me why they needed a changeover between lunch and dinner.  In fact, the only thing that was different from the lunch part of the menu were five entrees that included wood-grilled salmon, a chicken entree, duck breast and couple others.  But I only eat at restaurants and don't run one, so I don't fully understand how they work behind the scenes.    

The menu items at The Cafe are locally sourced and some items are made in house.  They encase their own fennel sausage for their pizza at The Cafe and they use locally grown beef for their burger and New York strip steak.  Nearly all of the meats that are made for entrees, sandwiches or salads are cooked over an oak wood-fire grill.  The wonderful smell of smoldering oak wood was prevalent throughout the restaurant.  

Because it was still busy, it took some time for a server to come over.  Finally, after sitting for about five minutes, a tall, personable young lady by the name of Paula came by to greet me.  She said, "I'm sorry I haven't been over sooner.  Can I get you something to drink?"

I told her, "Sure, and I pretty much know what I'm going to have for lunch, too."

Surprised, Paula said, "Oh!  OK!  Do you want to hear the specials we have?"  I told her I did not.  "Go ahead," she exclaimed.  I ordered the Cafe Burger - a half-pound wood grilled burger topped with white cheddar cheese and Russian dressing, with lettuce, tomato and pickled onions served on a kaiser/rosemary bun that, I'm guessing, is made in their bakery.  For a buck more, I asked Paula to put some bacon on the burger.  Homemade potato chips came with the burger.

It took about 15 minutes for the burger to come out to me after I ordered.   The lettuce, tomato slice and pickled onions were set off to the side.  I tried one of the pickled onions before I put them on the burger and they tasted excellent.  Two thick pieces of bacon laid on top of the thick burger patty. 

The bun had enough rosemary on it that you could smell the herb from two feet away.  I was worried that it may overpower the overall taste of the burger, but from my first bite into the burger, my fears went away.  

The burger was cooked with a little hint of pink in the middle - a tad more overdone than I like, but it was still good.  I wasn't certain that I cared for the Russian dressing on the burger, but I do like Russian dressing on salads.  I should have gotten the dressing on the side. But, the wood-grilled taste of the burger was wonderful, and the burger patty, itself, was moist, but not really juicy.  

The highlight was the kaiser/rosemary bun.  It had a somewhat crunchy crown, but it yielded a moist and chewy inner core.  It was spongy and it could easily be mashed to be able to take a full bite of the burger.  The great thing about it - the rosemary didn't fall off when I mashed it down.  The rosemary was a great additional taste to what was already a pretty fine burger.  

And the burger was a belt buster, too.  I was able to finish the burger, but I was satiably full afterward.  Not to the point that I felt that I overate, but more to the point that I knew that I wouldn't need a big dinner that evening.

Where would I put the Cafe Burger from The Cafe on my best burger list?  It's probably more of a gourmet burger than one you'd find in a greasy old burger joint.  I would probably put it on my honorable mention list, but I think the burger over at Oddfellows was more pleasing to me.  That's not to say the burger at The Cafe wasn't good - far from it.  It is a very good burger and one that I wouldn't have any problem having again.  I'll just have to make sure that I'm REALLY hungry and that it's well before 2 p.m. if I get back there for lunch.  

SPIN! Neapolitan Pizza - Overland Park, KS

Almost a couple of years ago now, the Kansas City Star sponsored a contest called the Casual Food Chowdown where they pitted 16 restaurants against each in four categories - barbecue, burgers, pizza, and tacos - and put them each in a bracket-style tournament where people voted on-line for their favorite places.  Once the Final Four were picked, they finished up voting for their favorite overall casual restaurant in the Kansas City area.  The winner - and not to my surprise - was Oklahoma Joe's Barbecue (see my entry on Oklahoma Joe's here and here), but the other Final Four participants were Westport Flea Market for burgers (click here to see my entry on Westport Flea Market - the third best burger on my Best Burgers - 2012 list), Ponak's Mexican Kitchen for tacos (click here to see my entry on Ponak's), and a place that I wasn't familiar with called SPIN! Neapolitan Pizza.  Since I'd eaten at three of the four category winners in the past, I decided to try SPIN! for a pizza on a recent visit to Kansas City. 

Pizza isn't usually on my radar when I go to Kansas City.  With so many world class barbecue and steak places in the town, I really haven't sought out any pizza places for a number of years.  I remember eating at a Minsky's a few years back, but it wasn't all that great.  With a strong Italian heritage in the city, I figured there had to be some place that had good pizza and I was hoping SPIN! would be just that place.  

SPIN! Neapolitan Pizza has been around the Kansas City area since 2005.  Gail and Dr. Richard Lozoff had started a chain of bagel places in the Kansas City area called Bagel Bagel.  The local chain had grown to nine locations before the Lozoff's - and partners/in-laws Mitchell and Debra Swaden - sold off the chain in 1994 to Boston Market who then developed Bagel Bagel into the Einstein Bros. Bagels chain.  Gail Lozoff, whose grandfather and father were bakers in the Kansas City area, worked on the executive staff for Einstein Bros. in Denver before returning to Kansas City to work for Houlihan Restaurants as their chief concept officer.  

The Lozoff's would go out to eat quite a bit and they found that most casual places were either expensive or repetitive in their choices of food.  Gail Lozoff left Houlihan Restaurants and worked on a casual pizza place concept with her husband and a business partner, Edwin Brownell.  The group opened their first SPIN! pizza place in Overland Park in 2005.  Today, there are five SPIN! Neapolitan Pizza locations in the greater Kansas City area (they are looking at opening a sixth location very soon), and they recently began to sell franchises of the concept.  Their first franchisee, Craig Hofman, the owner of the Lucille's Barbecue chain in Southern California, plans to build about 35 SPIN! locations in SoCal.   

It was the original Overland Park location that I visited one evening during a trip to the Kansas City area a few weeks ago.  It's located in the Leawood Plaza strip mall on the south side of 119th Street behind the Cheesecake Factory.  (see map)  It was around 8 p.m. when I got into the place.  When you walk in, you are greeted by a guy who is standing underneath the menu for SPIN! on a board.  You place your order for pizza and drinks right then and there.  It was similar to the concept I encountered at Punch Neapolitan Pizza in Minneapolis a couple years ago.  I hoped that the pizza at SPIN! would be better than the one I had at Punch.  

In addition to pizza at SPIN!, they have a number of salads, grilled panini sandwiches, flatbreads and spreads, and other sandwiches on the menu.  The menu at SPIN! was developed with local Kansas City chef Michael Smith, a James Beard award winner who is the owner of - naturally - Michael Smith, an upscale restaurant in downtown Kansas City.  

I was going to get a pizza and they have a number of specialty pizzas including their margherita pizza that was named one of the top dishes of the year a couple years ago by Restaurant Business magazine.  SPIN! regularly wins local awards for best pizza in the Kansas City area.  Their pizzas are one size only and I ended up getting a pepperoni pizza and asked if they could put some sausage on it.  I also ordered a couple Boulevard Pale Ale's to go along with the pizza.  He gave me a table card with a number on it and I went to find a place to sit. 

The pizza at SPIN! is baked in a large wood-fired oven in true Neapolitan fashion.  They use locally sourced and fresh ingredients for their pizzas.  They get their Italian sausage from Scimeca's Sausage,  a longtime local meat market that caters to Italian restaurants in the greater Kansas City area.  

I found a table with a bench seat along the wall in the dining room. There were two large groups - a group of 20-somethings at one large table, and a smaller group of middle-aged ladies across the industrial/contemporary dining room.  SPIN! has won a handful of awards for its decor.   Not long after I sat down, a young lady brought over my two beers with a glass.

Since wood-fired Neapolitan pizza doesn't take long to bake, I got my pizza about 10 minutes after I ordered at the front counter.  It featured large slices of pepperoni with chunks of sausage across the top of the pizza.  Fresh mozzarella was used for the cheese with a light tomato sauce mixed in.  The crust was thin in the middle, but more thick on the outer edges.  The misshapen pizza was probably around 11" inches in diameter.

The overall taste of the pizza was very good.  The crust had a nice chewy texture, but it wasn't doughy in the least.  The pepperoni had a nice spicy and salty taste, and the Italian sausage was sweet and spicy.  But it wasn't greasy, at all.  It easily passed the "Does it taste good with a beer?" test that I always use as a determining factor whether a pizza is good or not.  It was an excellent pizza.    

I did my best in trying to finish the whole pizza, but I ended up a couple pieces short.  I got a box from one of the servers to take the remaining two slices back to the hotel for breakfast in the morning.  

So, I've now tried all four category winners in the KC Star's Casual Food Chowdown.  I have to concur with the readers who voted Oklahoma Joe's as the best, but it was certainly tough to chose between the other three.  For pizza, SPIN! acquitted themselves very well and it is no wonder they win many "Best Pizza" awards in the Kansas City area.  Now that they're on my culinary radar for restaurants in K.C., I'm sure I'll be back again at some point.   

Osaka Seafood Steakhouse - Bloomington, MN

Not far from the hotel I like to stay at in suburban Bloomington, MN is a restaurant called Osaka Seafood Steakhouse.  Sort of burned out on all different types of food, I thought maybe some sushi would be a good meal one particular evening.  I had seen Osaka from the freeway a number of times and decided to make the short run from the hotel to see what they had to offer.

Osaka Seafood Steakhouse is a hibachi/sushi restaurant with six locations in and around the Twin Cities, a location in Rochester, MN, and a location up in Fargo, ND.  Actually, most of the locations have "Osaka Sushi & Hibachi" on the outside of their buildings, but I guess their official name now includes the Seafood and Steakhouse, something they added after they opened locations in Bloomington, Fargo and Rochester. 

The Osaka location in Bloomington is located off American Blvd. on Southtown Boulevard, next to I-494 and just west of the Southtown Center shopping complex.  (see map)   It's located in the north end of a parking lot they share with Rainbow Foods, a local Twin Cities-area chain of grocery stores.  

It was around 8 p.m. when I walked in and was greeted by a hostess at the stand inside the front door.  She asked me if I wanted to sit at a table or booth in the dining area (below left), or at the hibachi grill.  I asked if I could just sit at the sushi bar and it sort of startled her.  "Oh, sure!  Of course!  You want sushi!"

The sushi bar at Osaka isn't all that large.  It seats, maybe, a dozen people and there were two couples already seated there when I got in.  It's opposite a regular bar where no one was seated.  The hostess had a menu in her hands, but when I told her that I was just going to get sushi, she took that away.   

Another young girl came over and took my drink order.  I ordered a tall bottle of Asahi and looked at the sushi check list while I waited.  I'm pretty predictable when it come to sushi - spicy tuna roll, smoked salmon, regular salmon, tuna and usually some yellowtail or fluke.  I ordered a couple pieces of the yellowtail as well as some spicy tuna sushi that evening in addition to the other stuff when she came back with my beer.  

Not long after I ordered my sushi, one of the sushi chefs handed me a platter over the top of the refrigerated case.  The spicy tuna rolls featured a generous 8 pieces.  The other sushi had nice big chunks of fish on the hand-rolled rice.  The spicy tuna sushi had a crunch topping to it.  It was a lot of sushi.

The spicy tuna rolls were all right, nothing real special.  The smoked salmon had a nice smoked flavor to it, and the tuna was very fresh in taste.  The spicy tuna, well, I didn't think it was all that spicy.  The rest of the sushi was basically average, at best.  It wasn't bad, but far from the best sushi I've had.  

Halfway through my meal, I was out of beer.  I asked for another bottle of Asahi and the girl brought me back a large bottle of Kirin.  She said, "We are out of Asahi, sir.  Would you like Kirin instead?"  It was already opened, but I asked if they had Sapporo.  She said they didn't.  I took the bottle of Kirin and the first drink reminded me why I didn't order Kirin.  Its bitter taste was a complete contrast to the smooth taste of the Asahi that I had.  Wait a minute - a sushi place that is out of Asahi and doesn't carry Sapporo?  It was the middle of the week, but that's no excuse.  I don't care for Kirin and I only drank about half before I gave up.  To her credit, she did comp me on the bottle of Kirin because I told her I didn't like it.  

All in all, the sushi at Osaka was good, but not the best, as I said.  For being close to the hotel, it was fine.  But I'm sure I probably could have found better sushi with a little bit of a drive.  Still, for what it was, the sushi at Osaka was acceptable.  Compared to other sushi places, it was a good value.  Osaka has nine locations so they must be pretty popular with the locals.  To me, it was all right for what it was.  

Woody's Smoke Shack - Des Moines

For a while now, I've said that Des Moines has a number of very good barbecue places and one that has been on my radar for quite some time is a small restaurant near Drake University called Woody's Smoke Shack.  I was in Des Moines recently one evening and sought out the little barbecue joint on Cottage Grove. (see map)

Woody's Smoke Shack opened in the latter part of 2008 in what was the former location of Sammie Jack's Barbecue which had gone out of business.  However, I remember the building from back in the 70's when it was the locally famous Blind Munchies, a funky little sandwich shop run by an old hippie.  There was a weekly underground newspaper around Des Moines in which the Blind Munchies used to advertise.  Their 4" by 4" ad simply said, "2511 Cottage Cheese" - a take off on their address which was 2511 Cottage Grove.  An in-lay that says "2511 Cottage Cheese" is still on the floor of Woody's Smoke Shack.  

In 1981, the owner of the Blind Munchies suffered a stroke and became incapacitated.  His house, directly across the street from the small restaurant, had a big picture window up front.  He had his bed next to the window so he could look across the street to make sure the business was still going.  Unfortunately, he died in 1982 and the building stood vacant for about 15 years.  

That's when Sammie Jack's Barbecue came in to take over the location.  A former competitor on the barbecue contest circuit, the owner of the place had another job that didn't allow him to work the barbecue place full time.  Most of the time he was open only from 11 a.m to 2 p.m. and slightly longer hours on the weekend.  Some days, if he didn't have the help or didn't have the time, he just wouldn't open.  As time went on and people grew tired of the sporadic hours, he ended up closing the business around 2005.

Steve "Woody" Wasson had gotten his start in the barbecue business on the barbecue competition circuit, much like the former owner of Sammie Jack's and many others who have opened barbecue joints.  He was in the building trade as his day job, but loved to barbecue in his back yard over the weekend.  After getting into barbecue competitions - and winning many awards - he and his wife, Cheryl, began a catering business in 2002, Woody's BBQ.   

When the construction business went to hell with the recession in late 2008, the Wasson's decided to open their own barbecue place - Woody's Smoke Shack - in the old Sammie Jack's location.  They spruced up the small building and put in a couple smokers out back.  It was an immediate hit with barbecue aficionados in the area.  I understand the lines at lunch can stretch out the door in the warmer months. 

Woody's is only open until 8 p.m. on the weekdays and it was around 7:30 when I pulled up in front of the place.  A few people were inside the small dining area, a couple waiting on to-go orders and a couple more finishing up dinners.  The interior of the place is sort of cozy with busy walls featuring a number a number of signs and knick-knacks.  The tables and chairs are high, but not very big.  You *may* be able to fit 30 people in the place.  In the summertime, Woody's features outdoor dining on a patio.  In the wintertime, they close it up, heat it and use it for overflow seating.

The menu is on a chalk board on the wall behind the front counter.  Like most barbecue places that I'm trying for the first time, I wanted to get a little bit of everything.  Woody's Special allows you to pick three different types of meat from ribs, chicken, brisket, pulled pork or ham and get a couple sides to go along with it.  I ended up ordering a Woody's Special with ribs, brisket and pulled pork.  For my sides I ordered baked beans, but I was sort of lost as to what to order for the second side.  I asked the young guy who was taking my order what other side I should get and he immediately said, "Oh, get the cheesy potatoes.  They're awesome."  

Woody's is also a "B.Y.O.B" place.  I was sort of disheartened that I couldn't get a beer with my barbecue, but that was fine for that first trip.  So, if you want a couple frosty beers with your barbecue at Woody's, they encourage you to bring in your own.  I ended up just getting some water with my meal that evening.   

The meal came out to me in less than 10 minutes.  Interestingly, the meats were all served on aluminum foil on a platter.  The sides were in small styrofoam cups.  From the temperature of the meats - which was lukewarm, at best - I'm guessing that they just heat up the meat in a microwave when ordered.  It was a little disappointing to have it be not all that warm, but it wasn't a deal breaker.  

The ribs were the first thing I tried.  They had a nice light sauce glaze over the top of the meat on the bones and the pork meat easily pulled apart when I took a couple ribs apart.  The rub/glaze has a nice flavor and there was a good smoky flavor with the meat.  The ribs were the highlight of the meal.

I got into the pulled pork next.  It was moist and tender and also had a nice smoky taste.  I added some of Woody's sweet and tangy barbecue sauce and it was a very good combination.  I made short work of the pulled pork.  It was almost as good as the ribs, but I liked the taste of the ribs better.

The brisket, unfortunately, was the weak link that evening.  It was dried out and tepid in temperature.  It still had a nice beef taste to it, but it was far from the best brisket I'd had.  Still, I was able to eat it all, even though I was getting full from the generous portions Woody's provided.

The baked beans, on their own, were good.  With some barbecue sauce added, they were even better.  And the cheesy potatoes were as good as advertised.  I couldn't finish either the beans or the potatoes as I was getting stuffed.  

All the while I was eating, I got to talking to Woody Wasson who was seated at a table near me, taking a load off his feet as he was finishing up another day.  He told me that in the summertime he usually has both smokers going out back.  "When the weather cools down, so does business.  So I just run one smoker during the winter months.  Sometimes we run out of some meat, but it beats having a bunch leftover."

I asked Woody how he got started in the business and he said that he used to smoke ribs and pork butt in his backyard for fun over 15 years ago.  He said he always made too much food and would give some away to friends and neighbors.  Someone told him that he ought to get into a barbecue contest somewhere.  "I found one coming up in Waterloo, IA," he told me. "So, my son and I went up there for our first contest."

Woody related to me that the contest was for ribs only.  They had 12 rib racks that they had to cook in six hours and the Brinkmann smoker they brought along could only hold 4 racks of ribs at a time.  "It normally takes me six hours to cook my ribs," Woody told me.  "We were able to pull it off, but we realized, 'Hey!  We need a bigger smoker!' " 

He told me he found one for sale up in Perry, IA.  But when he went to see it, it turned out to be too small.  Woody said the guy told him, "Heck, I can build you one.  Any size you want."  

Woody said it took the guy two weeks to build his first big smoker.  "We took possession of it and took it home to burn off all the oil inside the smoker", he told me.  "Then we took it to Kansas City for a contest.  Our first big contest."

That contest didn't turn out well for the Wasson's.  "We overcooked everything," Woody said as he shook his head.  "We didn't know how to regulate the heat or keep it at a constant temperature.  We were in a little over our heads."  

He said that he had to bring the smoker back home and learn how to smoke on it.  After getting used to the smoker, Woody entered other competitions, but still wasn't doing well.  He was wondering what he was doing wrong and wondered if he really was biting off more than he could chew.  

That was until a fellow competitor came to Woody one time after that at another competition and said, "Hey, if you watch my fire overnight, I'll show you the tricks of the trade."  So, while the guy "drank and drank and drank some more" with other people at the competition ("Boy, that guy could drink," Woody told me with a laugh), Woody watched his fire on his smoker.  The guy went back to the hotel, telling Woody he'd be back at 5 a.m.  5 a.m. came and went, and the guy was nowhere in sight.  6 a.m. came and Woody got to be concerned.  He told me, "I called my wife and I said, 'I don't know where he is.  He could still be dead drunk somewhere.' "

Woody said that he finally called the guy at the hotel sometime before 7 a.m. and asked him if he remembered he had a competition that day.  "He told me, 'Yeah, yeah!  I'm on my way," Woody related.  True to his word, the guy showed Woody some of the ins and outs of competitive barbecue and that got him going.  Woody said, "And today, that guy is my best friend in the business."   

Woody said he doesn't do much competing any longer.   "We do a lot of catering, especially in the summer months when a lot of those competitions are going on," Woody said.  "Besides, there's a lot of other good barbecue places in Des Moines, so I'm competing every day."

Before I left, I had to use the restroom and I have to say that Woody's restroom is one of the nicest and cleanest I've ever been in at a restaurant.  It looked like it was a half-bath in someones country home.  

With all that said, I found Woody's Barbecue to be good, but not great.  I loved the ribs and the pulled pork - even though they were served somewhat lukewarm - and was disappointed in the brisket.  I like good brisket and I'm guessing the combination of a cool temperature and possibly sitting in the fridge for more than a couple days may have had something to do with that.  I enjoyed talking with Woody and learning about his business.  He was a personable and likable kind of guy.  I'm going to give Woody's another try at some point and hopefully I'll get meat that is a little more warm the next time.  If not, I'm sure that I can ask them to nuke it a little longer to make it better.  

Scotty's Lakehouse - Fishers, IN

With business picking up in Indianapolis, I've found myself heading east along I-74 more often over the past few months.  After a day that included a couple stops to visit dealers along the way, I pulled into my hotel in Fishers around 8:30 p.m., tired and hungry. I was looking for something new to try in the area and with the help of both Yelp and Urbanspoon, I found a place called Scotty's Lakehouse about a 10 minute drive away from the hotel.

Scotty's Lakehouse is sort of a misnomer because it's located in a strip mall at the corner of Fall Creek Road and Brooks School Road in Fishers. (see map)  It is, however near the Geist Reservoir, a large lake that supplies the city of Indianapolis and surrounding communities their drinking water.  Scotty's Lakehouse is part of the Scotty's Brewhouse empire, a small local chain of brewpubs and burger joints scattered throughout Indiana.

The guy behind Scotty's is Scott Wise (pictured right), a Muncie native who didn't really want to follow in his father's footsteps of running the family's construction and development business.  Wise left Muncie to go to DePauw University for a year, then returned to Muncie to finish his schooling at Ball State.  During his time in college, Wise worked at restaurants as a waiter and found that he really liked the food service industry.  After graduating from Ball State in 1995, Wise struck out for Houston working as a copywriter for a large sporting goods chain.  But he soon found himself back home in Muncie working for his father's business. 

In 1996, Wise saw that a run-down campus-area bar was for sale and he went to his father with a business plan to help him finance the purchase.  He was able to buy the bar for $65,000 and with hard work on his end he transformed the old place into the first Scotty's Brewhouse.  He wanted to have a brewing operation on the premises, but didn't have th finances to do so at the time.  Instead, he focused on serving eclectic beers brewed elsewhere.   

Focusing on locations in college towns, Wise opened the second Scotty's Brewhouse in Bloomington, home of Indiana University, in 2001.  Three years later, he opened his third Scotty's in West Lafayette near Purdue University.  In 2006, he ventured into the Indianapolis market and opened his fourth Scotty's Brewhouse on East 96th Street in the north part of town.  He opened a downtown Indy location in 2009, and just last year opened his sixth Scotty's location on the south side of the city on Southport Road.  Wise also owns Scotty's Burger Joint in Columbus, IN, a restaurant that focuses on locally sourced and organic foods; and finally was able to open his own brewpub, Thr3e Wise Men, in Indianapolis' Broad Ripple neighborhood in 2011.  Sometimes, you'll even see Wise getting back to his roots at one of his restaurants helping out behind the bar or delivering food to your table.  

One of my problems traveling to Indianapolis from the west is that I lose an hour going into the Eastern Time Zone.  So, my body clock is telling me that it's 7:30, but the clocks everywhere else are telling me that it's 8:30.  It's difficult to find a restaurant that will serve past 9 p.m. through the week and I always worry about pissing off the staff if I walk into a place 10 minutes before closing because they're wanting to get out of there sooner than later.  Scotty's Lakehouse stays open until 11 p.m. through the week (1 p.m. on the weekends and 10 p.m. on Sunday) so I wasn't worried about having to hurry up and eat. 

Scotty's Lakehouse is more like a sports bar with a couple dining areas and a number of televisions hung throughout the place.  I took a seat at the bar of Scotty's Lakehouse and a young bartender handed me a menu and took my drink order.  The beer menu wasn't as large as I thought it would be and they only had a handful of craft brews available.  I ended up ordering one of the Thr3e Wise Men Centennial Martyr Double IPA.  I like forward and hoppy tasting beers, but even for me it was a little too much.  It was definitely a sipping beer.  

Like it's cousin restaurant, Scotty's Burger Joint, Scotty's Lakehouse sources the items found on their menu from local growers with a focus on organic ingredients.  The ground beef, ground turkey, sausage and bacon items on the menu come from Moody's Meats at Lone Pine Farms, a Ladoga, IN-based butcher who specializes in free-range and organically raised poultry, beef, lamb and pork.   

Scotty's Lakehouse features a number of gourmet burgers on the menu.  In addition to burgers, they also have a number of "Not Burgers" sandwiches, salads, appetizers and three different types of gourmet "mac and cheese" items including one with rotini pasta, chicken, peas, applewood smoked bacon, fresh mozzarella, parmesan, fresh garlic and basil.  Quite actually, that was pretty tempting to me to try as a main entree that evening.

But I decided that a burger would be fine with me.  Of the nearly dozen and a half burgers, I only found a couple three that were appealing to me.  They had a bison burger with chunky blue cheese dressing, as well as a burger with Vermont white cheddar cheese and garlic mayo.  I stayed away from the burger with peanut butter, jalapenos, mild cheddar and applewood smoked bacon (although I did contemplate ordering it without the peanut butter) and ended up ordering the #3 burger - a burger topped with a fried egg, smoked gouda cheese, applewood bacon and finished with a dollop of homemade chipotle ketchup.  

I had my choice of sides and at Scotty's Lakehouse they feature three different variations of French fries.  The house fries are seasoned with sea salt, black pepper, parmesan cheese, garlic and parsley.  They also have the Thr3e Wise Men fries with a secret seasoning and vanilla sweet potato fries that are served with ketchup, a marshmellow creme sauce and a caramel sauce.  Caramel sauce?  On sweet potato fries?  Uh, no.  I'll pass on that.  I just ended up ordering the house fries.  

The bartender gave me my silverware wrapped up in what appeared to be a ratty old hand towel.  That was my napkin for the evening.  It was sort of tattered on the edges and looked to be much older than the two plus years Scotty's Lakehouse has been open.  I didn't know if it was intentionally tacky or if they just needed to get a slew of new towels.  It was about the only thing out of character for Scotty's Lakehouse that I found.

Good gourmet burgers take a bit to cook, so about 20 minutes after I ordered another person brought my burger out to me.  I had finished the Double IPA and the bartender asked me if I wanted another one.  I took a look through the beer menu again and was having trouble finding one to my liking.  I ended up just ordering an IPA from Flat 12 Bierwerks, a local microbrew in the Indy area.  It was not quite as hoppy as the Thr3e Wise Men Double IPA and more smooth to drink.  Still, I wasn't overly enamored with the taste.  

The burger was thick and juicy, covered with the smoked gouda and topped with a hard fried egg (I ordered it that way to keep the messiness at bay) and criss-crossed with the applewood smoked bacon.  The taste of the burger was good, well above average for your typical burger, but down the scale on what I would call a good to great gourmet burge.  I couldn't discern much chipotle spiciness in the ketchup, but it wasn't overpowering in the least.  The bun had a hard, but thin crunchy outer shell and was chewy and flavorful, as well.  It was a good complement to the burger.

The fries were served in a small container with wax paper that was designed to look like newsprint.  The thick cut fries were a little too salty to my taste and the parmesan cheese made them even more rich. Three different dipping sauces came with the fries - the chipotle ketchup that, once again, wasn't all that spicy, a garlic mayo sauce, and a spicy brown mustard sauce made with Wee Mac Scottish Ale from the Sun King microbrewery in Indianapolis.  None of the dipping sauces were spectacular, but the garlic mayo had a hint of the spicy brown mustard in it along with an essence of lime and lemon juices.  

While I can't say the burger I had at Scotty's Lakehouse was spectacular, it was still a pretty good burger. I couldn't put it on par with some other gourmet burgers that I've had in the past and I would possibly give it an honorable mention if I stacked it up against other burgers that I've had in the past.  Still, the burger at Scotty's was good enough, but probably nothing that I'd seek out again if I was in the area.  I'm definitely going to try out a Scotty's Brewhouse at some point as I was disappointed in the beer selection at Scotty's Lakehouse.  But all in all, it was a good burger and one that I'd recommend trying at least once.  (Picture courtesy Yelp.com)

(Update - It wasn't long after I visited Scotty's Lakehouse that they announced that they would be closing at the end of 2012 due to a leasing dispute with the landlord.  The other Scotty's Brewhouse locations remain open.)

Fireside Pizza - Richfield, MN

A place that I had driven by on a few occasions on my trips to the Twin Cities was a restaurant on Penn Ave. in suburban Richfield by the name of Fireside Pizza. (see map) I did a little checking up on the place and decided to put it on my "Restaurants to Visit" list that I keep on my computer.  On a recent trip to Minneapolis, I decided to give Fireside Pizza a try.

Fireside Pizza has been a staple with the locals in and around Richfield since 1960.  Original owner Dave Miller started a tradition of hosting jazz music a number of years ago.  A number of Twin Cities area jazz musicians have played at Fireside Pizza over the years.  When Rich Thompson bought the business in 1996, he continued the jazz music tradition with performances on Monday and Wednesday nights.

(The official name of the restaurant is Storm's Fireside Pizza.  I couldn't figure out or find out the reference to Storm as nothing came up in looking around that a guy by he name of Storm ever owned the business.) 

It happened to be a Wednesday night when I was there recently.  Performing that evening were former school teacher Denny Malmberg on accordion and local jazz vocalist Charmin Michelle.  About a dozen people were in the place which looked like it hadn't been updated since Dave Miller opened the doors over 52 years ago.  But the dining area was kept up very nicely. The interior had a kind of cozy retro look to the place.  I took a seat a booth and a waitress came over with a menu.  In addition to pizza at Fireside Pizza, they have a number of pasta entrees, sandwiches and salads.  On the weekends, Fireside pizza serves a full breakfast menu from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

It was a pretty easy decision for me - I was going to get a small Fireside's thin crust pizza with my regular sausage, pepperoni and mushroom.   After I placed my order it took about 20 minutes - and a couple cold beers - for the pizza to show up at my table.  

The pizza was served on a round cardboard base - rather strange, I thought.  Usually, you'd get a pizza on a plate or a metal platter.  But this was the type of cardboard base that you'd find with a frozen pizza.  The cardboard absorbed the grease which was fine, I suppose, but I like my pizza served on a plate or platter.  

The crust on the Fireside pizza was thin and crisp, but not cracker thin.  It had a nice snap to the bite and was easy to chew.

The toppings were very fresh.  The mushrooms were large and cut thick.  The Italian sausage had a great flavor, although I thought they could have put a little more on the pizza.  And the pepperoni was spicy and salty.  I liked the tangy somewhat sweet pizza sauce on the Fireside pizza, and the combined romano and mozzarella cheese made for a great cheesy taste.  As I've said before, if a pizza tastes great with a beer, it's a good pizza.  The Fireside pizza tasted great with a beer.  

I'm starting to find a few more pizza places in the Twin Cities, but the pizza I had at Fireside Pizza was very good.  Their pizza has won many awards over the years and remains a favorite of the locals. The jazz music was a nice touch during dining that evening.  Fireside Pizza is not far from the hotel I stay at when I go to the Twin Cities and it will be a place that I'll go back to when I want just a good ol' thin crust pizza from a little neighborhood joint when I'm in town.  

Buzzard Billy's - La Crosse, WI

La Crosse, WI continues to be one of my favorite small market cities to visit (Fargo, ND, Manhattan, KS, and Springfield, MO are also right up there) and I've been chasing a dealer in the area for the past few years to come on board with our company.  I'm closer than I have been and that makes me happy because that means more trips to La Crosse in the future.  One of the reasons why I like La Crosse are the number of interesting restaurants in the area.  One of those is a place I've eaten at three or four times in the past, Buzzard Billy's.

Buzzard Billy's is part of a group of restaurants under the MSD Innovations, a Waco, TX-based restaurant partnership between brothers Andy and Dan Massoth, Chris Mayo and Tracy Maughan.  The group opened the first Buzzard Billy's Armadillo Bar and Grill-o in 1993 as part of downtown Waco's revitalization.  The restaurant was named after fictitcious cowboy named Billy and his untimely encounter with a buzzard.  

Three years later, the MSD group was looking for another restaurant to open in a community that was working to restore their downtown area and that brought them to La Crosse.  They found a building in downtown La Crosse that had been built back in the 1860's as a hotel, but was slated to be demolished in 1996.  The group bought the building and refurbished it into a restaurant on the main floor with a bar on the second floor.  Buzzard Billy's Flying Carp Cafe with the Starlite Lounge, a 50's-style lounge, opened in September of 1997.  Two years later, a Buzzard Billy's location in Des Moines' rejuvenated Court Avenue district opened in the basement of a building that was also slated to be demolished.  A year later, a fourth Buzzard Billy's opened in downtown Lincoln, NE in an area that was also going through an urban renewel.  

The group became enamored with Des Moines and the number of possibilities that the city had to offer for restaurants and bars.  Along with three workers at the Des Moines Buzzard Billy's location, they formed a new company - Full Court Press - to develop and run restaurants and bars in the downtown Des Moines area.  Some of the restaurants they're famous for are the Highlife Lounge (click here to see my entry on the Highlife Lounge), Hessen Haus, El Bait Shop, Fong's Pizza, and the Royal Mile, just to name a few.  

I had eaten at the Buzzard Billy's in La Crosse about two or three times previously, and I had eaten at the Des Moines location a couple times before.  (The Des Moines location just moved to a new building just south of the Wells Fargo Arena after the original location was flooded in 2008 and the group did not reopen right away.)  Actually, I had stopped into Buzzard Billy's in La Crosse one summer evening about three years ago to have dinner.  However, I walked into the wide open front door of the restaurant and all the lights were out and the place was empty.  It was rather strange.  I saw someone walking around by the bar area and I called out, "Hello?"

The young lady behind the bar came out and said, "Yes?  Can I help you?"

I asked, "Are you open?"

She said, "Well, no.  Our power went out about two hours ago.  In fact, power is out all over downtown and the power company doesn't know when it will be back on."  That put the kibosh on eating at Buzzard Billy's - or any other place in downtown La Crosse that evening, for that matter.  I ended up eating at a Buffalo Wild Wings that night near my hotel in suburban Onalaska.  It wasn't bad, but it wasn't the best.  However, on this trip to La Crosse, Buzzard Billy's was open.  I found a parking spot just down the street from the place on Pearl Street (see map) and went in.  

The hostess that evening put me in a booth on the west wall of the restaurant and left a menu with me at the table.  Buzzard Billy's is actually split into two areas - the bar area (above right) as you walk in on the left, and the main dining area (above left) that connects to the bar near the back.  The decor is sort of "antique chic" with a number of signs and objects hanging from the walls and ceilings.  The table top on my booth featured a number of old time baseball cards under a lamination.  I actually recognized a couple that I had from my youth.

My server for the evening came over to greet me and I wondered what kind of beer they had.  She pointed out a beer menu on the table that I looked over.  I saw that they had a Leinenkugel seasonal, and since it was fall, I figured they must have the Oktoberfest on tap.  "No, sorry," she explained.  "We ran out of that over the weekend."  I did find that they had Alaskan Amber on tap, one of my favorite beers.  

The menu at Buzzard Billy's is immense.  They have a number of appetizers (including the intriguing "Buzzard Eggs - chicken fingers stuffed with sliced jalapenos and Pepper Jack cheese and wrapped in bacon), soups, salads, burgers, Po' Boy sandwiches and Cajun-style pasta dishes.  They have a number of blackened fish and chicken items on the menu, as well as a blackened prime-rib that I've wanted to try in the past.  Buzzard Billy's has a handful of fried dinners including fried catfish, fried walleye and even fried alligator (it tastes like chicken - seriously!).  They also have a number of traditional Cajun/Creole dishes as well as in-house Louisiana specialties as Chicken Tchoupitoulas, Chicken Atchafalaya, and Alligator Grand Chenier - strips of farm-raised alligator meat sauteed with green onions and mushrooms in a mild Cajun sauce.

I was more interested in the Cajun basics that night - a bowl of seafood gumbo followed by a helping of Buzzard Billy's jambalaya.  The seafood gumbo came out and while it had a nice spicy bite to it (helped by a little more Tabasco sauce), but I found the shrimp and crawfish were overcooked and mushy.  I've done crawfish and shrimp in my own gumbo and I cook them separately and never put it in until just before serving the gumbo.  I'm guessing the shell fish were simmering in there for some time.  But that wasn't that big of a problem.  The gumbo was still pretty good.

Not long after I finished the hearty bowl of gumbo, the jambalaya showed up.  The heaping bowl of jambalaya featured large chunks of ham, chicken and andouille sausage mixed with tomatoes, green onions, celery, green peppers and rice.  And it tasted fine.  I zipped it up with a little more Tabasco giving the already snappy taste a boost.  On a cool night this was the perfect meal.  After the large bowl of gumbo, I knew I wouldn't be able to finish the whole dish, so about halfway through I concentrated on finding the chunks of sausage (which was very good), chicken and ham.  It reminded me much of the homemade jambalaya that I hadn't made in quite awhile.  (Click here for my homemade jambalaya recipe.)  

I almost forgot to mention the French bread that came with the jambalaya.  It tasted like it was homemade as it was warm, soft and chewy.  It helped to use as a scoop to put some of the tasty morsels of chicken, sausage and ham onto the fork.  It was very good.  

The meal I had at the La Crosse Buzzard Billy's was a pretty fair deal.  A bowl of gumbo, the jambalaya (which was very good and very filling), and a couple pints of beer came to just over $21 bucks.  With a $4 buck tip to the waitress, who was very attentive, the bill came to around $25 bucks.  It was a lot of food for the money.  I don't think I've ever had a bad meal at either the La Crosse or Des Moines Buzzard Billy's.  And I do need to go back and check out the new Des Moines location at some point.  For Cajun food, I can't say that it's the best I've had.  But Buzzard Billy's is certainly above average.     

Kamehachi - Northbrook, IL

I had been on the road for a few days and ended up in the northern suburbs of Chicago one evening.  I was tired of burgers, didn't want a pizza, thought about going to find a steak, but I soon lost interest in that.  I realized that I hadn't had seafood for a while, but didn't feel like finding a seafood restaurant.  However, sushi came into my mind and while I was tempted to go back to one of my all-time favorite sushi places - Blu Fish - I decided to seek out another place for sushi.  (Click here to see my entry on Blu Fish.) Looking through Urbanspoon, I found a sushi place in Northbrook - Kamehachi.  I got the address and put it into the GPS.  In less than 10 minutes from my hotel, I pulled up in front of Kamehachi.

The original Kamehachi has a long history in the city of Chicago.  It is recognized as being the first place to get sushi in the Chicagoland area.  In the mid-60's, Marion Konishi, a young Japanese-American mother of two from San Diego who grew up in a Japanese internment camp during World War II, moved to Chicago with the help of relatives who ran restaurants in New York.  She opened Kamehachi in 1967 - the name roughly means "8 turtles" in Japanese.  Turtles and the number 8 are considered a sign of luck and longevity in Japanese culture.  Trying to make a go of a cuisine that was completely foriegn to the meat and potatoes crowd in Chicago in the 60's, Konishi worked as a server, greeter, sushi chef and cook at the restaurant.  Working with Japanese men whose upbringing viewed women as subserviant, Konishi's firm and forward manner in her restaurant garnered her the moniker of "The Dragon Lady".  

Kamehachi's first location was on N. Wells St. in an area that was sort of a hippie/Bohemian enclave in Chicago's Old Town neighborhood.  Kamehachi's unique cuisine caught on with the laid back neighborhood and was a favorite of many of the young and rising stars who graced the stage at the famed Second City theater just across the street.  Notable actors such as John Belushi, Gilda Radner, Bill Murray and Harold Ramis all dined at Kamehachi in Old Town before they became famous.   

Marion Konishi passed away in 1990 and her daughter, Sharon Perazzoli, took over Kamehachi.  Four years later, she moved the original restaurant from the small building they had been in for nearly 25 years to a larger location two blocks south to the corner of Wells and Schiller. (see map)  In 1999, the Northbrook location opened and three years later, Kamehachi opened a location in the Streeterville neighborhood in Chicago.  Perazzoli and her daughter, Giulia Sindler, (pictured right) oversee five Kamehachi locations across the greater Chicagoland area.

The Northbrook location is in a shopping/restaurant area along Shermer Road across from Village Green park in what would be downtown Northbrook. (see map)  I had never been in that part of Northbrook before and was surprised to see a number of other restaurants in the immediate area. I made notes of what I saw while I was driving around so I could go back and try some of the places at a later time.  I was able to find a parking spot right in front of Kamehachi on Shermer Road. 

I went in the front door and soon found out that it even though it faced the road, the front door of Kamehachi is actually on the opposite end of the restaurant facing the parking lot behind the building.  However, a young server saw me come in and asked where I'd like to sit.  There was a sushi bar and a small bar opposite the sushi chefs.  I took a seat at the sushi bar and she dropped off a menu for me.  

The restaurant, itself, featured a contemporary decor with recessed can lighting in the ceiling.  A series of Japanese-inspired prints hung on the wall on the east side of the restaurant.  The dining room was large and comfortable.

The sushi bar was pretty big and they had five sushi chefs working that evening.  A waterwall bubbled behind the sushi chefs.  It was sort of a nice and soothing touch as you sit at the sushi bar.  

A young man came by to ask me what I wanted to drink.  I asked for an Asahi beer, but they only had Sapporo.  That's fine with me.  Asahi is usually No. 1 with me for Japanese beers while Sapporo is No. 1A.  

Other than sushi, Kamehachi has a number of cooked entrees including chicken or steak teriyaki, Chilean sea bass, and sukiyaki - slices of tender beef simmered with cabbage, tofu, onions and mushrooms and served with Japanese noodles.  Speaking noodle dishes, Kamehachi features a number of entrees with all types of noodles - thick noodles, thin noodles, tea noodles and some others - many of which can have beef, chicken or seafood added.

But I was there for the sushi and I was hungry.  I had only had a breakfast bar during the course of the day and I started out by ordering two of the Spicy Tuna Roll Deluxe - a regular spicy tuna roll with cucumber and avacado added.  It's like a California roll, only with tuna and the spicy mayo added.  I was surprised when it came out so soon - less than five minutes after I ordered and the restaurant was pretty busy.  The Spicy Tuna Rolls were, well, sort of bland.  They didn't have quite the zip in taste that I've had in other tuna rolls at other places.  I will say, however, that the wasabi was pungent and very forward when mixed with the soy sauce, and the ginger was some of the freshest and best tasting that I've ever had.

I then ordered up some of the Chu Toro (medium fatty tuna), smoked salmon, regular tuna and yellow tail.  The order of sushi also came up rather fast.  I tried the Chu Toro first and found it to be nice and chewy, but it had a hint of a fishy taste, sort of like it was getting toward the end of its shelf life in the sushi bar case.  The smoked salmon didn't have much of a smoked taste to it, which was very disappointing.  I love a good smoked salmon and Kamehachi's was not that great.  The yellow tail and regular tuna were all right.  They weren't anything special in taste.  I thought the whole meal was sort of average, at best.

The sushi I had at Kamehachi was all right - it wasn't the best I've ever had, nor was it the worst.  I also thought it was a little expensive for what I got.  I didn't think the sushi had the great taste sensation that I look for in sushi, but the wasabi did help and the ginger was probably the most fresh ginger I'd ever had at a sushi restaurant.  Still, I was good and full after the meal and I wasn't sorry that I found Kamehachi.  If anything, finding Kamehachi opened up other possibilites of eating establishments in the immediate area.  (Photo courtesy Michelle Reitman)

House of Coates - Coates, MN

Traveling along Highway 52 between Rochester, MN and the Twin Cities, I've seen a small roadside place near the small town of Coates by the name of House of Coates.  A large sign near the establishment along a four-lane stretch of the road touts their burgers.  On a trip to the Twin Cities recently, I decided to stop in and try one of their burgers.  (Picture courtesy Bill Roehl.)

House of Coates is a little roadside bar/restaurant on a frontage road outside of Coates, which is an small town just south and east of Rosemount.  (see map)  There are a couple ways to get to the place when you're heading north on Highway 52.  You can get off on the highway at the Minnesota Highway 46 exit and take the east side frontage road to the place.  Or if you pass it, there's an entrance to the frontage road that you can take about a quarter mile north of the place that allows you to double back.  (If you're heading south on Highway 52, take the Highway 46 exit, take a left to go across the bridge to a left turn on the east frontage road and there you are.)

The House of Coates started in 1962 when Ed Bohn bought a little roadside gas station and opened a bar/restaurant next door.  His kids, Mike, Kathy and Patty, all helped out running the place.  When Ed decided to slow down about 25 years ago, he ended up selling the place to Mike and his wife, Kim.  Kathy and Patty, along with their husbands, as well as a slew of other Bohn relatives and descendants work in the place.  

Pictured right - Mike and Kim Bohn.  (Picture courtesy apple valley-rosemount patch.com) 

House of Coates has been on my radar since first reading about the place in Minnesota Monthly magazine about four years ago when they were named one of the top burger places in the state.  Their Swanee Burger - a half-pound hand-pattied burger topped with grilled onions, American cheese and bacon with an option of blue cheese dressing - is House of Coates signature burger.  But they also offer noon-time specials, grilled chicken and pork tenderloin sandwiches and a series of appetizers including their homemade onion rings.  

From the outside, House of Coates doesn't look like much.  The weathered boards on the top of the place give it a rustic, yet somewhat rundown look to the exterior.  However, walking in the door reveals a clean and cozy, pine-wood paneled dining room with subdued lighting. The dining area features two levels with booths on top and a series of larger tables on the lower part.    

The bar is to the left as you walk in.  I decided to take a seat at the bar and I was greeted by Kim Bohn who gave me a menu and told me of the lunch special that day.  Suddenly, someone called out from the kitchen area behind the bar to let her know that the lunch special was gone for that day, which I believe was a pork loin dinner.  Kim was sort of surprised when she heard that, then shrugged her shoulders and said, "OK, well, disregard what I just said.  The special went pretty quickly today!"

That's alright, I was there for the burger.  I almost went for their mushroom-Swiss cheese burger, but I decided to try the signature Swanee burger.  When Kim came back to take my order, that's exactly what I told her I wanted.  She asked me if I wanted blue cheese dressing on the burger and I asked if I could get it on the side.  No problem with that.  She tried to tempt me into a half-order of their French fries, but I declined.  The burger would be enough.  

The burger took about 15 to 20 minutes to come out to me.  It came on a small plate with a dill pickle spear.  The bun was thick, but it was very light and airy, almost spongy to the touch.  The burger had an ample amount of grilled onions on it underneath a couple slices of American cheese and three small pieces of crispy bacon.    

It was slightly overcooked from the medium I had ordered. I think of medium as having some pink in the middle, but there was just a small bit of pink in the beef.  But it was still juicy and flavorful.  The bun was a nice compliment to the burger, once again furthering my belief that a good bun is the key to a good burger.  

I tried a little bit of the blue cheese dressing on a couple bites of the burger.  The chunks of blue cheese in the creamy dressing were large and zesty in taste.  While I wouldn't have wanted blue cheese in every bite of the Swanee burger, it was a nice compliment to the taste.  

Kim Bohn came back and asked me how the burger was and I gave her a thumbs up.  Overall, the burger was good, but not one of the best I've ever had.  It would have probably gotten an honorable mention in my recent Best Burger List, but probably wouldn't have gotten a higher ranking.  Maybe I would have liked the Swiss/mushroom burger better.  

The Swanee Burger was certainly a good value, though.  It was $6.99 for the burger and it was filling.  I'm glad I didn't get the fries, but the onion rings that a guy a couple seats over had ordered looked pretty good.  I usually don't go to the Twin Cities along Highway 52 all that often, as in - maybe - three or four times in the past 10 years.  But I would like to stop back into House of Coates and try the Swiss/mushroom burger at some point.  I may have to take that way home from the Twin Cities sometime in the future.  It was a pretty cool place to visit.  

Oley's Pizza - Fort Wayne, IN

On a couple previous visits to Fort Wayne and taking the drive out to the wonderful Joseph Ducuis restaurant in nearby Roanoke, IN (click here to see my entry), we've passed a pizza place along U.S. Highway 24 south and west of Fort Wayne by the name of Oley's Pizza.  Last summer during a dinner party at Joseph Decuis with some people from Sweetwater, one of the largest mail-order/Internet pro music dealers in the nation, I asked a guy and his wife about Oley's.  They both gushed about the place.  "Oh, yeah.  Oley's is the real deal," the guy told me.  His wife said she wouldn't eat any other pizza in Fort Wayne.  "And that's a problem," he explained to me.  "We live about 25 minutes away from Oley's on the north side of town."  While in Fort Wayne recently to meet with a consumer electronics dealer I've been working with, I decided to try out Oley's which was only a couple miles down the road from my hotel.

The original Oley's Pizza was opened in 1980 by Stephen "Oley" and Carol Olinger in the small town of Ossian, IN, directly south of Fort Wayne.  The Olinger's had visited Chicago on a number of occasions and wanted to bring the taste of Chicago-style pizza to the Fort Wayne area.  After opening their first restaurant, they developed a "double-crust" deep pan style pizza using a homemade sauce made from three different types of tomatoes with low citric acid, a blend of four cheeses, sausage that was sourced from local meat purveyors and cooked daily with Oley's special blend of Italian spices, and a special homemade pizza dough made with four different types of flour, malt powder, natural honey, fresh yeast, and extra virgin olive oil.  

Over the years, Oley's grew to multiple locations and some franchises were sold in Indiana and Western Ohio. Today, there are two Oley's in the Fort Wayne area - the "original" family-owned Oley's on Highway 24, and an Oley's Pizza Shoppe on North Coliseum Blvd. owned by Jim Parnin.  Steve "Oley" Olinger died in 2006 and his son, Kevin, took over the family operation.  

When the couple from Fort Wayne was telling me about the original Oley's, the woman said, "There's an Oley's that about 20 minutes from our house on the east side, but it's not the same as the one on Highway 24."  They both said the original Oley's is better than the franchise Oley's in Fort Wayne.   

I was staying at the Hilton Garden Inn in Fort Wayne for the evening and it had been a long day.  I thought for a moment about heading downtown to find a place to eat before I decided to drive the short distance down the highway to Oley's Pizza.  It was a two minute drive from the hotel to Oley's, situated at the corner of Homestead Rd. and U.S. Highway 24. (see map) 

There's ample parking in front of the building which is in a sort of mini strip mall with a couple empty spaces.  I saw the "Open" sign in the window and found a door to walk in.  To my surprise, I walked into the kitchen at Oley's.  Actually, it's also the area where people come to pick up "to-go" orders.  There are two swinging doors behind the counter and that takes you into the dining room.  

Walking through the dining room at Oley's, I found the main entrance down a hallway between the dining room and the bar area.  The bar area featured a small bar and a handful of booths and tables.  A boisterous bunch of middle aged women were at a six-seater table in the bar and they were pretty loud.  I decided to go back to a booth in the dining room to try and escape their cackling laughter.  

The dining area had sort of a cozy and warm atmosphere.  High back booths were along the north and west walls with a handful of sturdy wooden tables and chairs in the middle.  Can lighting gave off a subtle glow in the room.  I took one of the booths and it wasn't long until my server for the evening, Karmen, showed up with a menu for me.  She asked if I wanted anything to drink and I ordered a Bud Light in a bottle.  She came back moments later with an 18 oz. bottle of Bud Light and a frosty mug.  That was a nice surprise and a nice touch.  I poured the beer into the glass and took a drink.  There was some sort of weird taste in the glass.  It tasted sort of like a detergent that hadn't been fully cleaned out of the glass.  I figured my taster was probably off, but the second glass that I got when my pizza was served had the same taste.  Oh well - at least the glass was clean and cold.

In addition to pizza at Oley's Pizza, they also feature a number of appetizers, oven baked submarine sandwiches, Italian food entrees such as lasagna, fettuccine alfredo, and spaghetti dishes, and even barbecued ribs.  Well, they aren't really barbecued, according to the menu, but baked in a homemade barbecue sauce.   

I pretty much knew that I was going to get a pizza, but the only question was what size.  They have four sizes at Oley's ranging from small to extra large.  The only problem is that they didn't list the size of the pizzas in inches.  They had about a dozen specialty pizzas on the menu, but none of them really tripped my trigger.  A couple of them, I think I said, "No way!", out loud.  One of them was the Bulldog Steak and Cheese pizza.  It's basically Oley's Philly steak sandwich on a pizza, with the dough basted with a homemade creamy mayo sauce, topped a blend of their cheeses, Philly-style steak, green peppers, onions and red peppers.  Then they put A1 steak sauce on top of all that!  Ugh!  

Then there was the chicken club pizza - the sauce is a blend of ranch dressing and Oley's homemade house dressing.  Then they add their cheese blend, mushrooms, onions, tomatoes and finally chicken and bacon.  Nooo!!!!  That goes on a sandwich!  Not a pizza!  

Karmen came back around and I asked her how big a small pizza was.  She said, "10 inches.  A medium is 12 inches."  I thought a small would do me fine, so I ordered my usual sausage, mushroom and pepperoni.  A thin crust, not the double crust they're famous for.  She asked, "What kind of sausage?"  

Oh!  I get my pick between the Italian sausage and the American sausage.  Karmen said the Italian sausage was a little more spicy than the American sausage.  "It's basically the same sausage," she explained.  "Only we add some spices to the Italian sausage to make it a little more zesty.  It's not all that spicy, though."  Of course, I took the Italian sausage.  

When Karmen brought my pizza out, I was ready to eat.  It was late - around 8:45 in the evening and I was hungry.  I noticed before the pizza came out that there wasn't any parmesan cheese on the table - only shakers of red peppers and dried oregano.  However, the parmesan cheese was delivered with the pizza sitting in the middle in a small container.

At first look, the crust looked thick, but it was just the rolled up edges that made it look that way.  The base of the crust under the toppings was thin.  The Italian sausage was in small chunks, but not ground up like Quad City-style pizza.   

Pulling the first piece off the pan and putting it on my plate showed a pool of grease under the pizza on the pizza pan.  And my first bite yielded a wonderful flavor of the combination of the cheese, tangy sauce, mild Italian sausage, and the spicy pepperoni.   The mushrooms - although called "fresh" in the menu - looked like they may have come from a can.  Not a deal breaker, for sure, but I didn't think they were fresh.  The bottom line question that I ask myself about any pizza I have - "Does it taste good with a beer?" - and the answer was "Absolutely!"  It was a very good pizza.    

Because the topping were so heavy on the pizza, I was able to finish four slices and asked Karmen for a box to take the remaining two pieces back to my hotel for breakfast in the morning.  When she came back, I asked her how many Oley's were still around.  She said, "Well, the one on Coliseum and this one are the only ones that I know of.  I went to the Oley's on Coliseum a while back to give that one a try and it's not the same as our pizza. I like our pizza better."  I told her that I'd heard that from some other people in Fort Wayne.  

I will have to say that Oley's was a great value.  The bill with tax came to $16.50 - that was for the pizza with three toppings and two 18 oz. beers.  The beers were $2.75 each.  Thank you very much!  I signed the tab at an even $20 bucks with the tip.  I tried to get a couple pictures of the bar area and the kitchen before I left, but it turned out that I had a grease smudge on the lens of the camera on my phone and the pictures came out blurry when I downloaded them on my computer.  Oh well.  One of the hazards of having an excellent pizza from Oley's, I guess.  I can certainly see why the locals think Oley's Pizza is the best Fort Wayne has to offer.  (Picture courtesy The Pizza Fan.com)

Gopher Bar - St. Paul, MN

WARNING!!! - If foul language and political incorrectness upsets or disgusts you, do not read this entry! 

With that said, welcome to the Gopher Bar (click here for the link to their web site - WARNING - it is not politically correct, nor suitable for sensitive eyes) in downtown St. Paul where their logo sign tells you to "Sit Down, Shut Up and Wait Your F***ing Turn!"  It's the quintessential dive bar that just happens to sell some of the best coney dogs this side of Detroit.  I had heard about the place from someone who I call on in the Twin Cities and on a recent visit up to Minnesota, I made an effort to have lunch at the Gopher Bar.  

Before I went to the Gopher Bar, I read a number of user reviews on Yelp and Urbanspoon about the place.  Some of the comments were, "I'll never go back!", or "The owner was so rude!".  But reading between the lines with other comments led me to believe that the majority of people who gave the place a bad rap didn't see the "forest for the trees", so to speak, in regard to the Gopher Bar.  I had to check this place out.

The man behind most of the controversial slogans and signs is 65-year-old George Kappas, the son of the original owner of the Gopher Bar, Andrew Kappas.  George is sort of known to speak his mind on issues that upset him.  To say that George is on the right of the political spectrum may be an understatement.  When St. Paul instituted a smoking ban in restaurants and public areas in 2008, George put a series of signs in his windows decrying the effect the ban was having on his business.  Many of the signs used four-lettered works and were deemed "inappropriate" by city leaders.  George eventually took them down, he evidently says what's on his mind.  

George's father, Andrew, opened the original Gopher Cafe in downtown St. Paul in 1931 after immigrating from Greece.  After living in New York, then Chicago, he came to St. Paul to open his little restaurant near where the Xcel Energy Center now stands.  After Prohibition ended in 1933, Andrew began to sell liquor on the premises and changed the name to Gopher Bar.

In the mid-40's, Andrew fell in love with one of his waitress, Phyllis, whom he eventually took as his wife and business partner.  That led to the birth of three children with George being the oldest.  

In 1955, the Gopher Bar had to move to make way for the old St. Paul Civic Center which was being built very near where the bar stood.  The Pappas' moved to the present day location of 7th St. and Wacauta Streets, about 7 blocks east of the original bar. (see map)   George took over running the bar from his father in 1968 and his mom helped out until she retired in 1990.  George and his wife, Cherie, who was a waitress at the Gopher Bar in the early 1980's, were married in 2005 and run the bar together.  

After finding the Gopher Bar, I was able to park on Wacauta Street on the side of the building.  Not quite knowing what to expect what I walked inside, I found a place that looked like a delightful dive bar.  Some people are immediately offended by the Confederate Flag, Sarah Palin bumper stickers, and signs that read, "No F***ing Credit Cards!" and "No! We Don't Have Any F***ing Coleslaw".  The Gopher Bar also has T-shirts for sale that has - what I've been told as - George's favorite saying, "Shut The F*** Up" on the front of them.  Being a pretty apolitical person and bringing out the inner crassness in my nature, I immediately loved the place.  

It was around 1:30 when I got into the Gopher Bar and a handful of people were having lunch in the place.  People of all sorts were in the place.  A table of people dressed in business attire were at a table having beers and in a deep discussion.  Three or four people were spaced down the bar - one of them was a lady who was reading a book.  I decided to pull up a stool at the bar and see what all they had on the menu.

Well, other than coney dogs, I found that they don't have much.  You can get the coney dogs with cheese or without.  They also have a number of appetizers, a soup of the day, a house salad and, interestingly enough, fish and chips.  When the bartender came over to take my order I said, "You know, I want to order one of your coney dogs."

She asked, "Do you want cheese on it?"  I declined.  "Any fries," she asked again.  Nope, just the coney dog. And since it was a great dive bar in Minnesota, I got a glass of Grain Belt Premium that they had on tap.  

It wasn't moments later that the coney dog showed up in front of me.  It wasn't big and sort of expensive for $3.50.  But it was piled high with Gopher Bar's homemade meat sauce (they don't call it a chili dog and you can't really call it chili what they put on top) and a generous portion of chopped white onions.  The toppings hid the grilled hot dog that was laying on a bun that had been shot with mustard before the hot dog went on.  The bartender dropped about 8 napkins off for me.  Even though there was a fork, I decided that I needed to eat this with my hands.

The bun was sort of surprisingly crunchy on the outside, sort of like a crust.  But the bun, itself, had a soft inside.  I couldn't tell much about the hot dog, itself, but the meat sauce was very interest.  It was ground beef in sort of a Greek spice/tomato-base concoction.  While it seemed to be similar to Cincinnati-style chili with the all-spice added, it had more of a subdued taste.  It was like a Sloppy Joe on a hot dog.  At first I wasn't certain that I liked it, but after a few more bites I decided that it was a different taste that was pretty damn good.   

I only had one since I'd had a large breakfast earlier in the day.  But I could have easily had two.  Finishing my coney dog and my beer, the bartender came over and said, "Anything else?"  When I said no, she said, "Wow! Talk about the ultimate dine and dash!"  I had been in there for less than 10 minutes.  My tab came to $4.75.  I gave her six bucks and told her to keep the change.  

The Gopher Bar may not be everyone's place to go, but I found it to be a delightful dive bar with good chili dogs.  I didn't get an attitude from anybody working there, nor was I offended by the signage and other items they had on the wall.  Maybe I'm one of those who gets what the Gopher Bar is all about.  It's far from fine dining and not the place to take the kids for chili dogs.  I'd go back to the Gopher Bar in a heartbeat.

Cajun Connection - Utica, IL

This is gonna be a fun one...

Outside of the small north central Illinois town of Utica, IL is a little restaurant in an old converted farmhouse that was once a gas station and then a bar - the Cajun Connection.  It's just off Interstate 80 at the Utica (Exit 81) exit.  You go south to the first crossroad off the Interstate - Highway 6 - and go east for about a mile.  You'll see Cajun Connection on the north side of the road. (see map)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ron said, "Well, we make it that way.  A lot of real Cajun restaurants down in Looz-ee-anna don't make their food all that spicy.  I'm all about the taste of the ingredients, the smoked sausage and the cooked in flavor."

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

I said, "Oh, I sure have."  

He said, "No, you haven't.  Have you ever had key lime pie before?"

I said, "Oh, yeah."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ron gave me a pair of cooks gloves and he handed me the alligator tail.  After positioning the tail just right - "You gotta hold it right so I can take your picture," he explained - he told me to act like I was taking a bite out of the tail.  He took two or three pictures of me with the alligator.  

He asked, "Did you try the alligator?"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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