Road Tips

JJ's Clubhouse - Golden Valley, MN

I had to break my rule about going north of the Iowa/Minnesota border before April 1st on a recent trip up to the Twin Cities.  One of the reasons for the trip was to meet with a potential new dealer I came in contact with at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas earlier this year.  He suggested we meet for lunch at a sports bar not far from his office - JJ's Clubhouse in suburban Golden Valley.  It turned out I'd been past JJ's Clubhouse many times in the past, but had never been into the place.  

JJ's Clubhouse has been around since 1992 serving up a menu that consists of your typical sports bar food - burgers, appetizers, sandwiches, salads, soups, and pizza.  JJ's also serves breakfast on Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.  

Getting to JJ's Clubhouse is actually pretty tough if you don't know the area.  Even though it has a Wayzata Blvd. address, it's actually on the north frontage road from Interstate 394 that used to be Wayzata Blvd. years ago.  Coming from the east, you get off at Xenia Ave. and circle your way back through some office complexes to get to JJ's that fronts I-394.  Coming from the west on 394, you take the Louisiana Ave. exit, head across 394 and take the first right.  The road curves around to JJ's Clubhouse.  (see map)   I knew the area from calling on a pro sound account just down the road off Louisiana Ave.; and when Ultimate Electronics was in business, their training facility and warehouse was just a block away.

I was a little early for our meeting, so I took a seat at the bar just as you come in the door.  JJ's Clubhouse immediately reminded me of another Twin Cities area sports bar that I've frequented many times over the past couple three years, Bunny's (click here to see my entry on Bunny's).  The bar area was large with a square bar, and tables and booths lined up on either side of bar area.  A number of flat panel televisions were interspersed throughout the dining and bar areas.

My guest for lunch finally showed up and he stood and talked with the hostess for a moment.  It turned out that this was his "hangout".  He knew everyone in the place.  In fact, when the waitress came by to greet us, she gave him a little playful hard time and wanted to know if he wanted "the usual".  You know you've been coming to a place a lot when they pretty much know what you want when you come in the door.  I guess I don't eat at any one place enough for people to know what I want to eat before I sit down.  He told the waitress, "I probably will, but I'm going to let him look through the menu." 

He told me that his office wasn't far from JJ's and that he was in the place, "conservative estimate, probably 75 to 80 times a year."    

We sort of started our business meeting at that time and I didn't get a real good chance to take a close look at the menu.  They had a couple lunch specials that I wasn't interested in and I didn't really want to fill up too much on a burger or something heavy.  They had a French dip, but I thought that might be too messy.  I could just see spilling au jus on my sweater.  A Cuban sandwich always piques my interest until I tell myself that I'm not in Miami.  Tuna melt?  Naw...  Club sandwich?  Maybe...  They had something called the Gumby chicken sandwich that was touted as one of their clienteles favorite - a grilled chicken breast sandwich topped with Canadian bacon and Swiss cheese, finished with a smattering of shredded lettuce and pico de gallo.  

I finally decided upon the Italian grinder - sliced turkey and pepperoni topped with melted Swiss cheese and Italian dressing served on a ciabatta bun.  I got a choice of chips, fries, cole slaw or a cup of their homemade soup of the day.  That day it was chicken tortilla soup.  I signed up for that.

My guest's "usual" was a bowl of chili with a glass of iced tea.  He told me, "The chili here is outstanding.  Some of the best in the Twin Cities."   I almost changed my mind for a cup of the chili instead.

But I was glad I didn't because I thought their chicken tortilla soup was just as outstanding.  It had large chunks of tender chicken in a light tomato broth with crunchy taco strips on the top.  It had a very good flavor and I wished I would have gotten a bowl of it rather than just a cup.  

My sandwich was also pretty good.  It featured a large amount of sliced turkey and spicy pepperoni on the grilled ciabatta bread.  The Italian dressing helped zip up the taste of the sandwich and I honestly couldn't complain about anything concerning my meal.  It as a very good lunch.  

We talked business almost all the way through lunch - my guest was a talker, that's for sure.  I didn't get a chance to take any pictures because - well, it would have been rude to take my phone out, interrupt my lunch guest while he was talking, and take pictures of my sandwich.  Take my word - it was a good sandwich.   

I don't know if I'm going to be doing much - if any - business with this guy.  But one thing I do know is that JJ's Clubhouse has come into the mix of sports bars that I enjoy in the Twin Cities.  It may not be as intense as Joe Senser's, but it had a homey, neighborhood feeling to the place - sort of like Bunny's.  The serving staff was all friendly - at least the ones that came around to give my guest a hard time.  I liked JJ's Clubhouse a lot and can see myself spending more time there in the future.  (Photo courtesy Tripadvisor) 

Five Roses Pub - Rosemont, IL

A few weeks ago, there was a high-end audio show held at a Doubletree Hotel in Rosemont, IL, a suburb of Chicago next to O'Hare Airport.  Rosemont is sort of a convention city with the large Donald E. Stephens Convention Center and a number of large hotels in the area.  They've also built an entertainment district that has a number of night spots, a large movie theater and some restaurants.  After unpacking some of our products for the day, my colleague, John, who had flown in for the show, and I decided to go out and get some dinner.  We ended up at an Irish pub - the Five Roses Pub. (see map)

Former Mayor Donald Stephens built somewhat of a small kingdom during his 50+ year run as Rosemont's first mayor.  Stephens was the president of a homeowners association when they voted to incorporate Rosemont as a city in 1956.  Stephens was elected the first mayor and re-elected an unprecedented 13 times before he passed away in 2007.  (His son, Bradley, succeeded him as mayor.)  The city grew from a population of 85 in 1956 to over 4,000 people with the bulk of Stephens work going into the convention center that bears his name, the Rosemont Theater and the Allstate Arena (formerly the Rosemont Horizon).  City taxes that are paid by guests in hotels and for use of the convention facilities puts tens of millions of dollars in the coffers of Rosemont each year.  

Boston-area entrepreneur and entertainment czar, Patrick Lyons, is the man behind the Five Roses Pub, the first business to open in what is known as the Park at Rosemont.  Working with Bradley Stephens and other village officials, he named his Irish pub Five Roses in deference to Donald Stephens over five decades as the town's mayor.  (Lyons also owns the Kings Bowl bowling and entertainment facility at the Park in Rosemont, as well as a number of restaurants, bars and clubs in the greater Boston area.)  

Actually, John and I tried to get into the new Hofbrauhaus, the newest of the United States franchises of the famed Hofbrauhaus in Munich.  However, the large dining hall was about half full of people and there was a band in there that was pretty loud.  It was late in the day, we were tired from the work at the show and we just wanted a quiet meal and some beer.  We weren't going to get a quiet meal at the Hofbrauhaus.  We had spotted Five Roses across the way and ventured over there instead.  

They had live music in Five Roses that night - a troubadour playing guitar - and we asked to sit somewhere away from the music.  The hostess put us at a table in the corner in the bar area and dropped off some menus.  Later on, when the music started, it turned out that we were seated below a small P.A. speaker that blared the music from the young man singing and playing guitar.  We sort of laughed at our misfortune, but soldiered on with the evening.  Besides, it was nowhere as loud as the music at the Hofbrauhaus.  

 
The interior of Five Roses is very reminiscent of an authentic Irish pub.  In fact, all the woodwork was made in Northern Ireland and shipped over to Rosemont to be installed in the restaurant.  It's quite obvious they spared no expense in making the interior of Five Roses appear to be one of the finest and authentic Irish pubs found anywhere.  (Click here for more pictures of Five Roses interior.)  

Five Roses Pub tries to capture the ambiance of an authentic Irish pub with having traditional Irish entrees on the menu.  They featured items such as Irish stew with soda bread, fish and chips, sausage and mash with beans, and an authentic Irish breakfast - Irish bacon, white & black pudding, breakfast bangers, Batchelors baked beans, grilled tomato, fried eggs, toast & marmalade - that is served all day long.  

After John got a Guinness and I grabbed a Smithwick's from our server, Haley, we ordered up some food.  I didn't want anything heavy since it was well past 9 p.m. by that time and I didn't want it to sit in my stomach while I tried to sleep.  I decided I was just going to get a sandwich and I was torn between the Irish dip sandwich - which is basically Five Roses answer to a French dip sandwich - and the corned beef sandwich.  I decided on the corned beef sandwich.  I got an order of chips (French fries) to go along with the meal.  And I saw underneath the chips on the menu that they had a number of sauces or dips to go along with them.  I ordered a side of brown gravy to go with the fries.  Yes, I know.  I said I didn't want anything heavy to lay in my stomach before I went to bed, but fries with gravy are SOOOOO good. 

John ordered up one of Five Roses signature dishes - the Lansdowne Pie.  It's sort of like a Shepherd's pie, only with made with chicken.   John said, "It was either that or the Shepard's pie, but the Lansdowne pie with chicken sounded interesting.  

Our food came out about 15 minutes after we ordered.  We had finished our beers and got a couple more with our meals.    

 
John's Lansdowne pie featured a large homemade bagel half that sat on top of the concoction in his bowl.  He pulled the bagel off the top of the Lansdowne chicken pie for me to get a picture before he dug in.  (Above right)  It had chunks of chicken, potatoes and other vegetables in a creamy broth.  Two thick half-slices of soda bread sat on the plate.

My corned beef sandwich came with toasted bread and an ample amount of corned beef.  The chips were large steak-style fries that had a crispy outer shell, but a nice potato taste to the middle.  The gravy was a nice little treat to dip the fries into. The corned beef sandwich was good, exactly what I was looking for to eat in a late day meal.  But there's not a lot you can do to distinguish one corned beef sandwich from the next.  

John said that his Lansdowne chicken pie was "fine."  He said, "Honestly, I wasn't expecting much coming in to this place, but my meal is fine."   

It does take a lot for me to have an authentic Irish pub literally knock my socks off when it comes to the quality and taste of food.  I'd call the sandwich I had at Five Roses as average for an Irish-style pub.  Our server, Haley, was pleasant and attentive, and you couldn't overlook the ornate interior of the place.  John actually went back with our colleague, Todd, a couple nights later and he reported that his meal was pretty much the same as the night we were there.  Not spectacular, but far from bad.  (Todd told me the Guinness was flat as they were having trouble with air in their beer lines.)    If you're looking for an Irish pub near O'Hare Airport, Five Roses Pub would be the place.  The experience was OK - not great, but not bad.  

Meatheads - Bloomington, IL

Driving through the Bloomington/Normal area (Blum/Num, as it's affectionately called by some locals I know) on a recent trip home from Indianapolis, I decided to stop into Friar Tuck to do a little beer hunting.  It was close to lunch time and I spotted a somewhat familiar sign across the way from the liquor store - Meatheads Burgers.  I made my way across a little side street to the Meatheads location in a strip mall next to Veteran's Parkway on the east side of Bloomington.  (see map)

I had previously been to a Meatheads in Naperville, IL about four years ago.  (Click here to see that entry.)  But I always wanted to try out the original location in Bloomington.  Back when I first went to Meatheads in Naperville, there were only two locations.  Today, they have 11 locations throughout Illinois and the Chicagoland region with a 12th location slated to open soon in the near northwest Chicago suburb of Lincolnwood.   (One other thing that may have changed from the first time I was in the Naperville location - they seemed to have changed their logo with the name now being "Meatheads" instead of "Meat Heads".) 

A little history about Meatheads that I lifted from my earlier post - the small burger chain began in Bloomington in late 2007 and the managing partner, Tom Jednorowicz, was instrumental in the development and growth of the Potbelly sandwich shop chain. A local Bloomington entrepreneur, Kurt Petterle - who owns a number of Qdoba Mexican food outlets in Iowa and Illinois - hooked up with Tom Jed, as he's known to his friends, to open a burger joint that makes fresh, made-to-order burgers and crisp hand-cut fries. And brought in to help secure property for the new venture was Doug Reichl, president of the Tartan Realty Group in Chicago.  Throughout their growth over the past five plus years, they've resisted franchising their concept, going only with company owned locations for the sake of consistency. 

Just like the one in Naperville, the Bloomington location for Meatheads requires you to order at the front counter, they give you a number after you order and they bring the food to your table.  The menu is located above and behind the front counter and, of course, mainly features burgers.  They do have a grilled chicken sandwich on the menu for the health conscious, but their signature burger is the 1/3 Meathead burger that starts out as 100% pure Angus beef, then smashed flat on a flat-top grille, and topped with ketchup, mayo, mustard, lettuce, tomato, pickles and your choice of raw or grilled onions.  They also have a handful of "Chef inspired" burgers including the NY Reuben burger topped with Swiss cheese, sauerkraut, Thousand Island dressing, grilled onions and served on marble rye bread.  The Cajun Sunrise burger sounded interesting - it featured a burger topped with pepper jack cheese, a fried egg, bacon, blue cheese sauce, lettuce, tomato and jalapenos.  I'm not certain how all those taste sensations would be together, but it would certainly be a five-napkin burger, at least.

I ended up building my own burger with pepper jack cheese, ketchup, mustard, onion, grilled mushrooms and bacon.  I've had the fries at Meatheads before and while they're very good, I didn't get any this time.  I got my number and moved toward the back of the long part of the "L"-shaped floor plan they have at the restaurant.  

The location in Bloomington is somewhat smaller than the one I was at previously in Naperville. The place rapidly filled up after I sat down and I thought to myself that I was glad I got there when I did as the line up front had grown to nearly a dozen deep by the time my burger showed up at the table.  

Just like the first Meatheads burger I got, the burger was wrapped in a wax paper sheath.  It was piled high with bacon, sauteed mushrooms and raw onion rings were sitting underneath the burgers.  Actually, there were two burger patties to make up with is a 1/3 pound burger.  (I'm guessing the 1/2 pound burger has three patties.)  A slice of pepper jack cheese covered both burger patties.  

 
With my first bite, I immediately remembered that I forgot to order pickles on the burger.  Oh well, there was enough stuff on the burger that would probably have hidden the taste of the pickles.  The burger had that charred, flat-grilled taste that I'm coming to like a bit more these days, but it didn't taste like the grill had been seasoned long enough to get that great flat-grilled burger taste.   I'm guessing that Meatheads regularly deep cleans the grill unlike other places that usually just scrape and wipe off the grill at the end of the day preserving the meat-seasoned taste.  

The burger reminded me somewhat of the burger out at the Green Gables, out north of Bloomington/Normal.  (Click here to see my entry.)  Only it wasn't as good - not only in taste, but in value, as well.  The burgers at Meatheads are a little more lean, so you don't get the juiciness you find in the 80/20 mix that Green Gables has for their burgers.  It's not that the Meatheads burger is bad - that's far from the case.  It's just that the flat-grilled burger is a little lifeless in taste.  The condiments and toppings help add some pizazz to the taste, but the burger is just a bit above average in taste.  

As more of these flat-grilled burger places spring up across America and especially the Midwest (Epic Burger, Five Guys, Smashburger, etc.), places like Meatheads need to stay at the forefront of this burger craze with quality beef, fresh produce and toppings, and all served at a good value.  I can't say the value of Meatheads is bad compared to similar places.  But for my money, I'd rather drive out to the Green Gables for a better burger - more thick and juicy, and less money.  Green Gables may not be as clean and family friendly as Meatheads, but it's the best burger I've had in the Blum/Num (locals slang for Bloomington/Normal) area.   

Ziffle's Rib Bar - Fort Wayne, IN

I recently put on a new dealer in Fort Wayne, IN and I was in town to do some training for the staff.  I always like to treat the sales guys to dinner after having to listen to me for a couple hours.  When we finished up, I asked where they wanted to go.  One of the guys brought up J.K. O'Donnell's, the fine Irish pub in downtown Fort Wayne.  (Click here to see my entry on J.K. O'Donnell's.)  But it was about a 20 to 25 minute drive from the dealer's location to J.K. O'Donnell's.  Someone asked if I liked barbecue, because there was a very good barbecue place about a quarter mile away.  I asked back, "Do they have beer at this barbecue place?"  One of the guys explained that they did, but it wasn't as an eclectic mix of beers that are featured at J.K. O'Donnell's. Always up for something new in my travels, I suggested we go to the barbecue place.  About five cars got in a mini caravan and pulled up to Ziffle's Rib Bar in a strip mall at the corner of State Street and Maplecrest Rd. in northeast Fort Wayne.  (see map)

Ziffle's Rib Bar celebrated their 25th year in business in 2012.  I'm guessing Owners Todd and Marcia Dennis have a good sense of humor as they probably named their rib joint after the pig, Arnold Ziffel, on one my favorite television shows growing up (well, and still to this day), Green Acres.  The name on their restaurant juxtaposed the "e" and the "l", but I think I caught what the Dennis' are trying to do.  And because of the pig theme to their restaurant, all the barbecue items on their menu are pork based - no beef or chicken barbecue items (although they do have oven baked chicken with barbecue sauce on the menu).

Ziffle's Rib Bar also has pizza on the menu, along with a number of sandwiches, salads, and appetizers.  But one of their biggest sellers are their Ziffle-style fries.  They season their French fries in a combination of 10 herbs and spices and they're a big hit.  Ziffle's goes through a ton of cut potatoes for their fries in a week.  

It was just passed 8:30 when we walked into the place.  They quit serving at 9, but they have a bar area in the back that stays open later for drinks.  The person who greeted us said we had our choice of sitting in the dining area (below left) or in the bar area (below right)  (Pictures courtesy Yelp.com) 

 
Since we figured we'd have a few beers with our meal, we ended up taking a table in the back corner of the bar.  The tables in the bar and in the dining room were similar - heavy wood and comfortable seating.  After getting a menu and ordering up some beers, I took a gander at what I wanted to order that evening.  

For a barbecue place, Ziffle's is pretty lean on offerings.  They had ribs, rib tips and pulled pork sandwiches.  You could get a whole slab of ribs, a half slab of ribs or a quarter slab of ribs.  I like to have a little variety of barbecue when I try a place and they didn't have any type of a sampler platter because, well, it was just ribs.  I asked the waitress if they had pulled pork without the sandwich and she said, "No, not really."  Then she said that I could get the rib snack - a quarter slab of ribs - to go along with the pulled pork sandwich.  "A lot of people do it that way," she explained.  OK, I'll do that, too.  She asked me what kind of sauce I wanted and I asked if I could get the medium sauce with hot on the side (they also have a mild sauce available).  

With the sandwich I got a side of the Ziffle-style fries, but before we even ordered one of the guys ordered up a basket of the Ziffle's Fire Fries - basically French fries with a hearty dose of cajun seasonings and cayenne pepper.  They came out to the table after we had ordered they definitely had some zing on them, for sure.  They certainly got my attention when I had a few.  

All of us ordered barbecue with the exception of one of the guys who ordered a dozen and a half of the Ziffle's deep fried chicken wings smothered in hot barbecue sauce.  He told me, "My dad thinks these are the best wings in the world.  I don't know if I've found wings at any other place that are as good as these."  

My pulled pork sandwich and my rib basket were placed in front of me.  The pulled pork was served open faced on a hoagie bun with the potato chips underneath.  The pork was slathered in some of their medium sauce.  (No extra sauce was available on the table.)  

 
The ribs consisted of four meaty bones, also bathing in some of the medium sauce.  The medium sauce was a little sweet, but not too hot.  I had a small tub of the hot barbecue sauce on the side and while it did have a hotter, more peppery taste, it wouldn't be classified as a "burn-your-face-off" sauce.  

The pulled pork was very good - I ate it plain without the bread.  The pulled pork was tender and flavorful, but the barbecue sauce really hid the true taste of the pork.  I should have asked for the sauce on the side for both the pulled pork and ribs.  But it was still very good.  

The meat on the ribs was a tad tough to chew, but had a nice smoky flavor.  The meat pulled off the bone rather easily and some parts of the ribs were a little more tender.  Quite honestly, I couldn't find much to complain about with either the ribs or the pulled pork - other than maybe offering a sampler with both.  

One of the guys offered me some of the Ziffle-style French fries.  I can see why they're so popular.  The seasoning on the fries had a nice zesty taste and the fries had that nice crunchy outer shell with a moist potato filling.  I dipped some in the hot barbecue sauce and I lamented that I should have gone that route for a side.  

We finished up our meals and sat around and had a couple more beers talking business until around 10 p.m.  Like I said, I couldn't find much to complain about my meal at Ziffle's Rib Bar.  The service was good (we had the server running back and forth quite a bit between the kitchen and the bar for us - she got a nice tip), the restaurant was clean and welcoming, and the food was very good.  It may not be the best barbecue I've ever had, but for Fort Wayne, IN, I'm sure it's one of the best around.  While J.K. O'Donnell's would have given us a wider variety of food and beers to choose from, I was very happy with my barbecue at Ziffle's Rib Bar.  (Photo at right courtesy Yelp.com) 

 

Matty's Bar and Grille - New Berlin, WI

I was in Milwaukee recently and had some time to kill between appointments on the west side of town. It was getting close to lunch time and I was getting a little hungry.  I had read about a place called Matty's Bar and Grille and how they're supposed to have a killer burger.  The only problem is that Matty's is out in New Berlin (pronounced BER-lin, not ber-LIN like in Germany) and it was a little bit of a drive from where I was.  I put their address into my GPS and about 20 minutes later I pulled up in front of the bar on W. College Ave. (see map)

Matty's has been around since 1997 and is owned by Matt Anderson.  Anderson transformed a sleepy little bar into one of the top destinations to watch sports in the greater Milwaukee area.  While it's not as big as Major Goolsby's in downtown Milwaukee, nor does it come close to the number of televisions that Goolsby's has, it's more like a friendly little neighborhood bar that has better than average sports bar food.  Their signature burger, the Smokehouse burger - part smoked beef brisket and certified black angus - was concocted by Chef Bob Nicholson who has run the kitchen at Matty's for the past seven years.  In addition to their burgers, Matty's also has a number of delectable sandwiches and their own in-house thin-crust pizza.   

 
Matty's is situated in a building with a stone front around the entrance and it looks like the place has been added on to two or three times.  It definitely had been added on to in the back of the place with their four seasons room which, in contrast to the main part of the place, features a high ceiling, large windows and an exit to an outside beer garden off to the side of the building.  The main part of the bar area is more cozy than the open and airy four seasons room in the back.

I was greeted by a young lady who asked me if I wanted a table or to sit at the bar.  I opted for the bar and sat down just as the noon news started on the television in front of me.  On the back bar of Matty's, there was a somewhat sophisticated computer than controlled the multiple satellite receivers they had for receiving sports on their 18 televisions.  Matty's subscribes to DirecTV so they have access to every professional sports television package, as well as all the regional networks that feature college sports in the fall and winter.   

A young lady who was working behind the bar - Gabby - offered me a menu and told me that it was "chili day" at Matty's.  For $9.99 you got a sample of three different types of chili that Chef Bob Nicholson came up with for that particular day.  Chili did sound good on a day that had come on the heels of a cold front that plowed through the area overnight, but I was still in the mood for a burger.  

After getting a Capital Wisconsin Amber that they had on tap, I looked through the menu to see if anything else jumped out at me other than getting one of their burgers.  One of the interesting items was the Mama's Meatloaf sandwich, a secret meatloaf recipe that is topped with a sauce and served on ciabatta bread.  They also had a pastrami sandwich - "Matty's Style" - that featured thin slices of warm pastrami, topped with a brown mustard and served on marble rye bread.  I'm a sucker for a good pastrami sandwich and the description of the one on Matty's menu almost made me forget about a hamburger.

But, no, the Smokehouse burger was the draw for me on this visit.  (I figured that I could come back to Matty's at some point for the pastrami.)  At Matty's, you build your own burger - first choosing from one of over a dozen different cheeses that range from American to smoked cheddar to provolone to crumbled blue cheese to exotic cheeses such as black peppercorn and white cheddar, and dolcina cheese that is part cow and goat milk cheese with a sweet creamy gorgonzola taste.  Being that you're in Wisconsin, you wouldn't expect anything less for a good burger with cheese. 

After choosing your cheese, you have the option of ten different toppings including green peppers, jalapenos, fried egg, sauerkraut and sun-dried tomatoes.  Then you could get your choice of over a dozen spices or sauces such as cajun or Caribbean jerk seasonings, blue cheese butter, black bean corn relish (probably more for the grilled chicken sandwiches) and garlic aioli.  The combinations were endless and I was in a little bit of a fog trying to figure out what I wanted.

When Gabby came back to take my order, I ended up getting the Smokehouse burger topped with pepperjack cheese, bacon that is smoked in house, and mushrooms.  I had my choice of a side with the burger - sides that included homemade potato chips, cottage cheese, fruit, pasta salad and cole slaw.  I decided upon French fries to go with the burger.  

 
With the lunch rush kicking in while I was there, my burger came out less than 20 minutes after I ordered - long enough for me to down a pint of the Wisconsin Amber and time to order another.  The burger came out wrapped in a paper half-wrap that could be used to hold the burger without getting any juice or condiments on your hands.  I quickly tore it off so I could inspect the burger with the bun open.  It featured copious amounts of chopped mushrooms, two thick slices of smoked bacon and a gooey amount of pepperjack cheese.  The fries were nothing special to me, but there was a nice little treat sitting on top of the fries - a homemade chocolate chip cookie.  I'd never had a cookie as part of the overall meal before.  

The first bite of the burger elicited an "Mmmmmmmm..." from yours truly.  The 1/2 lb. Smokehouse burger was lean, but juicy.  The combination of the cheese, bacon and mushrooms only heightened the taste sensation I was having.  The bun was light and chewy, yet firm, holding together wonderfully with everything that was on the burger.  It was cooked to what I would call a perfect medium with a slight hint of pink the very middle of the burger patty.  It was simply one of the best burgers I've ever had.  

So far this year, I've had a handful of burgers that would either make my Top Ten Burger List or would be high honorable mentions.  And the Smokehouse burger at Matty's Bar and Grille was one of the best I've had this year.   While I may think about getting a pastrami sandwich or to try their pizza when I make it back down the road, it's going to be tough to pass up having another Smokehouse burger with some other combination of toppings.  I immediately liked Matty's and was jealous of the people who were regulars of the place.  It was one of those places that I could see going to time and time again to watch sports and grab a bite to eat if I lived nearby. 

Amber Indian Restaurant - Carmel, IN

Indian food is becoming my "go-to" comfort food when I'm on the road.  Many times when I need a "stick-to-my-ribs" meal when I've been traveling for awhile, I'll look for a place that serves a good hot beef sandwich.  But that always lays so heavy in my stomach and I don't sleep very well because of that.  So, I've been turning more and more toward Indian food as a comfort food alternative.  One of my favorite Indian restaurants - Taj of India in Indianapolis (click here to see my entry) - had recently been sold to another Indian restaurant in the area - Amber Indian Restaurant.  I was staying in the north Indianapolis suburb of Carmel recently and I found out that the original Amber Indian Restaurant was literally across Meridian St. from the hotel at which I was staying.  Needing some comfort food that evening, I took the short trip across Meridian to have dinner at Amber Indian Restaurant. (see map)

Aulwinder Singh is the owner of Amber Indian Restaurant.  Singh bought Taj of India last year, but for some reason it doesn't show up on Amber Indian Restaurant's web site.  I felt the chicken curry I had at Taj of India was the best I'd ever had so I was hoping that the curry dishes at Amber Indian Restaurant were just as good, if not better.  

It was around 6:30 when I entered Amber Indian Restaurant located in a nice strip mall.  (Now, I have to tell you that none of the pictures I took inside the place turned out.  The lighting was dark and each picture I had taken was fuzzy.  I usually can't tell how bad a picture is until I download it onto my computer.  Doing that later that evening in my hotel room showed that the dozen or so pictures I took inside the restaurant didn't turn out.)  I was greeted by a young man and shown to a table near the front door.  As I sat down and began to look at the menu, I took a look around the elegant dining room and noticed a number Indian families dining at Amber.  While I was there another number of people of Indian descent came in to pick up orders to go.  I figured that if Indians eat at Amber, it must be pretty good.  

They did have a number of curry dishes at Amber Indian Restaurant and I have gotten over my distaste for lamb dishes.  At the top of the lamb part of the menu was the lamb curry.  And when the waiter came over to take my order, I immediately ordered the lamb curry with some garlic naan.  I got a Kingfisher beer to go along with the meal.  

Not long after my waiter left the table, another young man brought over three sauces and some chips.  Included in the sauces was the green sauce that I fell in love with at Viceroy of India in the Chicago suburbs.  (Click here to see my entry on Viceroy.)  I never knew what it was until recently - it's a coriander mint chutney.  It's flavorful and refreshing and helped to counteract the spiciness of the two other tomato-based sauces I had on the table.  I just love the coriander mint chutney.  

I was still devouring the chips and the chutney when my meal showed up.  The garlic naan was light and fluffy, but it was significantly smaller than other naan breads I've had in the past.  But that was OK, it was also only $2.00 and I usually can't eat all the naan I'm served anyhow.  The portion of the lamb curry they served me was sort of small, but they gave me a heap of rice and I knew I wouldn't eat all of it.  

The lamb curry had a deep red color and had bits of potatoes in with it.  I'd ordered the lamb curry to be "medium-hot" and I could have easily gotten the hot as I didn't think it was all that spicy - at least not to me.  The lamb was tender to the bite and while there was curry in with the lamb, it wasn't as forward as the curry taste I got at Taj of India.  I'll have to say the meal was good, but I guess I was expecting more from Amber Indian Restaurant.

I will say that I've had my troubles with service at other Indian restaurants, but the staff at Amber Indian Restaurant were superb.  They were attentive, but not hovering.  There were three young gentleman who helped out waiting on me that evening and they were all pleasant guys.  Once I finished my first Kingfisher beer, one of the guys magically showed up and asked if I'd like another.  I'd give the service at Amber two curry-stained thumbs up. 

While I may have been expecting more out of the lamb curry at Amber Indian Restaurant - it was far was bad.  In fact, it was very good.  I guess I was just hoping for the same taste explosion I got from the chicken curry at Taj of India.  I've now eaten at enough Indian restaurants to know what I like and I loved the coriander mint chutney at Amber, and the garlic naan was also very good, as well.  The lamb curry was also very good, but I thought for $15.49 it was a little too costly for what I got.  Still, if I were in the area and wanted Indian food I'd go back. I just don't know if I were over in Castleton or Noblesville that I'd drive out of my way to get there, though.   

El Fogon Tacos and Beer - Oak Creek, WI

I found myself in the south Milwaukee suburb of Oak Creek one evening as I had a training session at a nearby dealer scheduled for the next morning.  Thanks to winter hanging on deep into spring, I had been driving in a mixture of rain and sleet before it finally turned to all snow just as I got into the greater Milwaukee area.  Being a little burnt out from the drive, I just wanted to eat at some place close to the hotel, and quick to eat - preferably, a place that sold alcohol.  Driving south down Howell Ave., I passed an interesting looking restaurant with an equally interesting name called El Fogon Tacos and Beer.  "Hmmmm....", I thought to myself.  "I like tacos and I like beer!"  I decided to make a U-turn and head back toward the place.  It turned out that going north on Howell and getting into El Fogon was sort of a challenge.  But a left turn on Puetz Road, then another U-turn later down the street with a double back, I pulled into the parking of the restaurant at the corner of S. Howell and Puetz Rd. (see map) (Getting out of El Fogon to go back north on Howell was a problem, as well.  You're cut off from entering the northbound turn lane onto Howell and you have to go east on Puetz, then do a U-turn to come back to take a right on Howell.)

El Fogon - which translates into "The Chimney" in English - is owned by Filberto (Phil) Lando and his wife, Nelly.  It's been open for about two and a half years and is situated in a small strip mall - curiously, it's right next to a bank.  It's not a large place, it probably seats 40 people,  The decor wasn't fancy in the least in the well-lit dining area.  I was met by a waiter who wanted to know if I wanted to sit at a table or sit at the bar.

 
I ended up sitting at the bar that had a gas fireplace in the middle of back bar.  At least I thought it was a gas fireplace.  Hell, it probably could have been one of those fake ones, considering all the alcohol they had on shelves around the bar.  

The waiter dropped off a menu for me and for a place that touts "tacos and beer", they didn't seem to have a very good selection of beers to choose from.  But they sure did have a lot of tequilas on the shelf and their menu touted a number of specialty margaritas including a cucumber margarita served with cucumber slices and lime juice, and a pineapple/cilantro margarita.   El Fogon has some "secret ingredient" that they add to a number of their margaritas.   I wanted a beer, so I got a Dos Equis Amber.

I also got a complementary basket of chips along with two different types of sauces.  One was a spicy green sauce that was just outstanding.  The other was an even hotter red sauce that was very peppery to the taste.  My server asked me if if I wanted anything more mild like their pico de gallo or their homemade peanut salsa.  I told him the green sauce was fine and dandy with me.  It was killer! 

And don't let the name fool you - they definitely have more than just tacos on their menu.  They had Alambre, something I'd not had since our visit to Isla Mujeres off the Yucatan peninsula about 15 years ago.  Alambre is basically a skewered meat that is roasted and then mixed in with onions, peppers and topped with cheese.  El Fogon gave you the choice of chicken or steak with their Alambre.  They also had fajitas, enchiladas and something called Chicken El Fogon - a grilled chicken breast that is topped with grilled onions and jalapenos, with a side of lettuce and guacamole.  

I'm usually a sucker for fish tacos and they had them on the menu at El Fogon, as well as shrimp tacos.  Of course, they had steak, chicken, ground beef, and al pastor (spicy marinated pork) tacos, as well.  You could make a combination meal out of tacos, enchiladas, tostadas, mini chimichanagas or quesadillas.  But one thing sort of jumped out at me when I was looking through the menu.

They had flautas on the menu - basically thin-rolled tacos stuffed with your choice of meat and deep fried.  They had a choice of either shredded chicken or shredded beef for their flautas.  Those sounded really good for some reason that evening and I ended up ordering the shredded beef flautas.   

The flautas came with sides of refried beans, rice, guacamole and sour cream.  Actually, the guacamole was very interesting.  It was unlike any guacamole that I'd had before.  It had some additives that gave it a very fresh and somewhat fruity taste.  I wasn't certain that I liked it at first, but found myself liking it more with each bite on a chip.

The flautas, themselves, were all right.  It's pretty tough to screw up a flauta other than overcooking the beef.  But the shredded beef was tender, moist and very flavorful.  I poured some of the green sauce on the flautas to pep them up a bit and it helped the overall taste tremendously.  

My meal at El Fogon was above-average for Mexican food, but not on the same par as some other excellent Mexican restaurants in the greater Milwaukee area that I've eaten at in the past.  For the suburbs, it was fine.  The Mexican restaurants around the 5th and National area of Milwaukee definitely had it beat.  But if you're in the south suburbs of Milwaukee and are looking for good Mexican, I can wholeheartedly recommend El Fogon.    

 

Jesse's Embers - Des Moines

In Des Moines on a recent trip to the capital city of Iowa, I was looking at possibly trying either one of a couple three different places down around the Court Avenue entertainment district of the city.  I was talking to a friend earlier in the day and I asked him what he suggested for a place to eat.  He said, "My wife and I think Jesse's Embers is the go-to place for food when we go out in Des Moines."  Jesse's Embers!  I hadn't eaten at Jesse's Embers in years!  What a great idea!  (Photo courtesy Roadfood.com)

Jesse's Embers is one of those old fashioned steak houses that has been around for, now, 50 years in 2013.  The small building on Ingersoll Ave. has served hundreds - no, probably thousands - of local and national politicians and celebrities over the years.  Jesse Roush opened the original location in 1963 and his son, Rick, took over the business later on.  Rick Roush oversaw an expansion of Jesse's Embers with locations in both West Des Moines and Urbandale in the late 90's and into the early 21st century.  But those locations didn't last long as they never captured the 60's feel of the original Jesse's Embers just west of downtown Des Moines. (see map)

In 2007, Rick Roush sold Jesse's Embers to a group headed by Thom Ruan, the son of transportation/banking icon John Ruan; Marty Scarpino, whose restaurant teeth were cut at his parents restaurant - Scarpino's - in suburban Windsor Heights; and Marty Scarpino's wife/partner, Deena Edelstein.  Marty had been the long time bartender at Jesse's Embers before he took over as the managing partner of the place.  (Sadly, Thom Ruan passed away earlier this year from complications from diabetes.) 

One of the first things the new ownership group did to the building on Ingersoll Ave. was to freshen up the interior and exterior, giving a more updated look to the place.  From the outside, Jesse's Embers looked somewhat like a bunker with no windows.  Ruan, Scarpino and Edelstein added a couple windows to allow some natural light to filter in during the daytime.  I read somewhere that Jesse Roush probably would have rolled over in this grave when the windows were put in.  But the same cozy dining area with an open flame grill kitchen area along the wall and the small bar area stayed intact.  

It was after 8 p.m. when I pulled into the parking lot behind Jesse's Embers and went in through the familiar back door.  I emerged into the dining area just next to the big open flame grill that has cooked thousands of top quality steaks over the years.  As the grill chef turned a steak, a large flame flared up from underneath.   

I was greeted by the manager, who introduced himself as Joe.  It turned out he was Marty Scarpino's brother and I asked if I could sit at the bar and get food.  He said, "Absolutely!  No problem at all!"  He asked what my name was and he used it in conversation with me the rest of the evening.  I immediately liked the guy.  He was friendly, but not in a forced fashion.

He dropped off a menu and I ordered a beer to tide me over.  Joe asked me, "I take it you've eaten with us before."  I told him that I had but it had been years - probably over 12 years - since I last ate at this location.  Joe said, "As you can see, we've spruced up the place a bit since my brother took over about six years ago.  But we still offer the same prime aged steaks that you had on your last visit all those years ago."  Gee, what a coincidence!  I was looking to get a steak that evening!

And they have a number of steaks on their menu.  Their signature steak - the Embers Special - is a 12 oz. prime sirloin cut.  They have the Yankee's New York strip steak - a 16 ounce center cut steak that sounded great to me.  In addition to steaks, they have Iowa pork chops, smoked baby back ribs, grilled chicken, and a number of seafood items on the menu.  My buddy was telling me that Jesse's Embers also has a great burger - the Emberburger - that he likes to get during lunch from time to time.

I ended up ordering a filet - rare.  I had my choice of French fries or pasta salad, but for an upcharge I could get cottage fries, onion rings or a baked potato.  For some unknown reason, I ordered the cottage fries.  Later on in the evening, someone sitting down the bar got an order of onion rings as an appetizer.  When I saw them, I suddenly remembered how good they were at Jesse's Embers.

A house salad came with my meal and I had asked for Jesse's Embers homemade garlic dressing to come with it.  Large housemade croutons sat on top of the salad.  The garlic dressing got your attention, but wasn't overpowering in taste.  My wife is a garlic dressing nut and she would have loved the dressing at Jesse's Embers. 

 
My steak came out after I finished my salad and it was a robust piece of beef wrapped in bacon.  Easily 2 1/2 to 3 inches thick, the steak was cooked to what I would call "rare plus", more to the medium rare side than to the rare side of temperature.  But it wasn't a deal breaker by my interpretation of what is and isn't rare.  The knife easily cut through the steak and the flavor was - well, I asked myself after about the third bite why the hell I hadn't been back into the original Jesse's Embers for so long.  The taste was simply excellent.  It had a nice charred outer shell to the meat - the steak was so thick that it required some charring from the searing high temperatures just to get it rare.  The juices were sealed in and the toasted bread underneath the steak soaked up more juices with each cut.  It was a fabulous steak.  

After I finished, Joe Scarpino came over and said, "So, is it going to be another 12 years until you get back in here?"  God, I hope not!  I forgot how underrated and how much of a great value Jesse's Embers really is.  My large filet with the upcharge for the cottage fries and a salad came to $27.95.  I've had steaks that were smaller, more high priced and didn't taste as good as the one I had at Jesse's Embers.  The charming ambiance of the place is still there after 50 years.  If you're ever in Des Moines and looking for a good steak, I cannot recommend any place more highly than Jesse's Embers in terms of quality and value.  

Sprecher's Restaurant and Pub - Madison, WI

On a recent trip to Madison, I took a couple guys from one of my dealers out to dinner.  Madison, of course, is a big beer town with a number of restaurants and brew pubs with good food and great beer.  We had been to Great Dane brew pub a handful of times (click here to see my entry on Great Dane) and I was sort of looking to mix things up.  One of the guys said, "Well, Sprecher's (a small brewery out of Milwaukee) has a brew pub over near Middleton.  They have great food.  We could go there."  Since I was staying in a hotel in the same general area that evening, I enthusiastically agreed that we should go there.  

Sprecher's Restaurant and Pub is located in an area of West Madison that has a number of hotels and restaurants (see map).  The building it's housed in used to be a Houlihan's until franchise owner Randy Lederer decided the didn't want to be tied to a chain any longer - especially a chain that had been slowly fading away. (Today, there are less than 50 Houlihan's restaurants across America.)  Lederer approached Sprecher Brewing Company owner Randy Sprecher with an idea that would exclusively pair Sprecher beers with upscale pub food.  Sprecher was sold on the concept.  The first Sprecher's Restaurant and Pub opened in Madison in early 2010.  Lederer - who along with his wife, Katy, and his in-law's, Felix and Kristin Richgels own the licensing for the Sprecher pubs - turned one of his Houlihan's locations in the Wisconsin Dells area into a Sprecher Restaurant and Pub a year later, then transformed a third location in Lake Geneva into a Sprecher location, as well.  There has been talk of opening a Milwaukee location, but that hasn't happened as of yet.  

Our small group got into the restaurant around 6:30 and we were greeted by a hostess who asked if we wanted to sit in the bar to the right, or in the dining area that was in front of us.  There was a pretty good sized crowd in the bar area and it was pretty loud.  We decided to sit in the spacious and somewhat elegant dining room (below right) to discuss a little business before having a relaxing dinner and multiple beers.   

 
We were seated at a table with banquette seats on one side of the table and chairs on the other side.  Our hostess left off dinner menus for us, and soon after our server for the evening - Lynsey - came over to greet  us and get our beer order.  The restaurant has 14 Sprecher beers on tap and four of their soda selections including their awesome root beer.  I don't drink pop any longer, but the Sprecher root beer is one of the best I've ever had.  But, it's - OH! - so sweet and rich that even when I did drink pop, it was difficult to take more than a few sips of the stuff.  

To me, the Sprecher beers have also been a little too sweet for my taste.  We've had Sprecher beers many times at Summerfest in Milwaukee.  While I can't call them my favorite, they're still better than drinking Miller Lite.  Their Amber beer was probably my favorite, but it was still a little too sweet for me.  On the beer menu at the Sprecher restaurant they had an India pale ale that I decided to try. One of the other guys got the Black Bavarian beer - a dark beer with a full body.  They had the seasonal Winter brew on tap during our visit, described as a "flavorful blend of dark roasted and sweet caramel malts defines this smooth and robust lager."  My other guest got that and I immediately asked Lynsey if I could get a sample of that.  She said, "Do you want a taste or a sample size?"  What's the difference, I asked.  She said, "I can just bring you out a small taste in a glass or a 4 oz. sample."  I took the 4 oz. sample.  I found out later on that the other difference was a $1.95 charge for the sample.  

Looking through the menu, the Sprecher Restaurant and Pub had a long list of appetizers, as well as a number of entrees that are almost too numerous to mention.  I was a little worried about the quality of the food because they had everything from steaks, seafood, sandwiches, salads, a number of burgers, flat bread pizzas, barbecue, German food, Irish pub favorites and American comfort food.  It seems that restaurants who do a little bit of everything don't do them all very well.  

As we were looking through the menus, it was time to get another beer.   My I.P.A. was all right, nothing special, but I did like the taste of the Winter Brew and signed up for one of those for my second beer.  My one guest also got a second Winter Brew, while the other guest decided the Black Bavarian was a little too heavy for him so he switched to the Hefe Weiss.

After conducting a little business at the table, we were ready to order our food.  I was torn between the schnitzel - breaded pork tenderloins served with a lemon caper sauce and topped with a fried egg; or the meat loaf - a special meat blend that comes with veggies and pepper jack cheese, then topped with their onion straws and a brown gravy.  They also had jambalaya on the menu that caught my eye.  But I thought the schnitzel or meat loaf would be better.  When Lynsey came by to take our order, I almost jumped on the meat loaf, but ended up getting the schnitzel.  

One of my guests that evening ordered the tender tips - beef tips tossed with Wit-beer marinated mushrooms served over beer-cheese potatoes and topped with a red wine reduction sauce.  That actually sounded pretty good.  He told me, "Oh man.  My wife and I have eaten here over a dozen times over the past three years.  And that's our favorite thing on the menu."

My other guest got the California burger - a burger with pepper jack cheese and guacamole on top.  (I had a burger for lunch, or I would have been interested in looking into the Mushroom/Swiss cheese burger that is topped with a red-wine reduction sauce; or the Breakfast burger that is topped with cheddar cheese, bacon and a fried egg.  I may have to go back there for lunch at some point.)  

Our food made its way to the table and I was ready to eat.  The Winter Brew was very good - probably the best Sprecher beer I've had.  I didn't think it was sweet as compared to other Sprecher brews I've had in the past.  I was looking forward to pairing it with my schnitzel.  

My schnitzel featured two medium sized pieces of pounded pork filets, covered with a breading and pan-fried.  A small egg was on top and a small container of the lemon caper sauce was off to the side with a medley of veggies.  The schnitzel was a little dried out and even the lemon caper sauce had a hard time making it palatable.  It was all right, but definitely not the best schnitzel I've ever had.  

 
The tender beef tips were served in a bowl with large button mushrooms and onion straws on top.  My guest who had that was in heaven.  "This is the best thing on the menu," he said between bites.  "The burgers are good here, too.  But this is my go-to item on the menu."  

My guest with the California burger was very pleased with his burger, as well.  It came on a bed of lettuce and red onion slices with French fries on the side.  There was a liberal amount of guacamole on the burger.  He said, "Oh, yeah.  This is good.  They do have good burgers here."  I'll have to try either the Breakfast burger or the Mushroom/Swiss cheese burger if I make it back.

After we'd finished, Lynsey came back with our bill.  I was sort of surprised that she didn't ask if we wanted anything else because we all wanted an after dinner beer.  I sort of kiddingly asked, "Do you want us to leave?  We were thinking of getting another beer."  

She sort of jumped and embarrassingly said, "Oh!  I'm so sorry!  Sure, you can stay!  Stay as long as you want!"  I immediately ordered up another Winter brew, while my other guest who had been drinking the Winter brew switched to the Pipers Scotch Ale - a reddish-brown beer with a slightly smoky taste.  My other guest - full from his beef tip entree - decided to go light with the Fire-Light, the lightest beer Sprecher has in their beer arsenal.  I've had it before and it has a distinctive fruit taste that I didn't care for.  I was happy with my Winter Brew.

My schnitzel was pretty underwhelming and, as I suspected, a place that has many diverse things on the menu doesn't do all of them well.  My guests seemed to like their beef tips and burger, respectively.  Overall, the experience at Sprecher's Restaurant and Pub was nice, we had good service from Lynsey and the dining room was a very comfortable setting.  I'm just wondering if they could cut down on a third of their items on the menu and focus more on the food that is left.  I just think there's too many things to choose from on their menu and some items - like the schnitzel - suffer because of it.