Road Tips

Via Classico - Glenview, IL

A few weeks ago, I was having an evening meeting with the buyer at Abt Electronics in suburban Chicago.  As the meeting was winding down, I asked him if he wanted to go out for a bite to eat.  He surprisingly said, "Yeah, I'd like that and I want to treat YOU to dinner!"  I don't have many buyers who are looking to take me out of dinner, so I couldn't protest too much.  We ended up walking across the Abt parking lot to their design center stores and a restaurant called Via Classico. (see map)

For the past few years, the space that Via Classico is in was the old Viking Cooking School, run by the Viking appliance company.  They decided to shut the doors in the Spring of 2012 due to lack of enrollment.  One of their students, Renato Presta, was disheartened to see the place shut down.  Presta's family had been involved in the food industry in various positions over the years.  Along with his brother, Dominic, and his cousin, Micheal Mazzone, the trio leased the space from the Abt family to open their new restaurant/cooking school.  They hired five instructors from the old Viking Cooking School, including Kathy O'Sullivan who they named head chef/instructor of the new Classico Cooking School.  

The small restaurant, that isn't much larger than 1000 square feet, is sort of a casual/fast food type of Italian restaurant.  Renato Presta has been encouraging families on the go to come in and get some of their Italian entrees to take home.  But they have sit down space in the restaurant for people looking for a quick meal during the day or evening.  

We walked into Via Classico just after 7 p.m.  You order your food at the counter and they bring it out to you after it's made.  The menu is not extensive at Via Classico, but it consists of a handful of appetizers, salads, soups, panini sandwiches, pasta entrees and dishes such as chicken parmesan and blackened tilapia.  It's an alcohol free restaurant and I'm not certain if you can bring your own in, if you like.  But it's more of a fast casual place than a sit-down, fine dining experience.  

Standing at the counter, I was looking at one of their pasta entrees. Via Classico had an oven-baked rigatoni made with three Italian cheeses and a homemade marinara sauce that sounded interesting. The meat lasagna was made with five different types of Italian cheeses and then topped with a ground Italian sausage sauce. There was also a tri-color cheese-filled tortellini dish that I thought about for a moment, but decided against it since they were cheese-filled (I like meat filled tortellini).  

I looked for a quick moment at the panini sandwiches and thought about getting "The Italian" - Genoa salami, mortadella with hot capicola and topped with mild provole cheese and served on a tomato ciabatta with roma tomatoes, red onions and a homemade aioli.  That actually sounded pretty good.

The buyer told me, "I've gotten the shrimp linguine before and it was good.  But tonight I think I'm going to try the lasagna."  For an extra $1.99 he added a salad with a balsamic vinegar dressing.  

Under the gun, I took his suggestion and went with the shrimp linguine - linguine noodles tossed with grilled shrimp in a white wine sauce with olive oil and crushed red peppers.  I, too, got a side salad with the red wine vinaigrette dressing.  

We made our way to a room in the back part of Via Classico.  As we passed a large window that looked into the cooking school, we saw a group of women going through a class.  One of the young people standing near the window when we were looking in said it was "Soup night".  "They're learning how to make different soups," a young guy told us.  "Hopefully, we'll get to sample some of what they're making."    

 
The larger room in the back was an area that they used for cooking demonstrations.  There was a large kitchen area full of Viking appliances. (When the Viking Cooking School closed up, they left all the Viking appliances.)  Over a stove/grill area were two or three cameras that were pointed down to show the cooking process to people who were there for the demonstrations.  Flat screen televisions were placed throughout the room to show the demonstrations.  That night, however, they had sports on the televisions.

Our salads came out and it was a nice presentation of multi-colors of green, red, purple and orange.  The greens were cold, fresh and crispy.  The housemade red wine vinaigrette dressing had a nice tangy taste to it.  It was a very good start to the meal.    

 
We weren't finished with our salads and our entrees were brought to the table.  The lasagna was piled high with the meat sauce that smelled great.  It was all I could do from taking my fork and sneaking a bite when he wasn't looking.  And even without the meat sauce, the lasagna underneath was a massive conglomeration of noodles and cheese.  My buddy said that the lasagna was "very good", but he knew he wouldn't be able to eat the whole thing.  

The shrimp linguine featured nearly a dozen plump sauteed shrimp tossed with linguine pasta, white wine, olive oil and fresh parsley.  The pasta was cooked perfectly and very tasty.  The lightness of the wine/olive oil went very well with the shrimp.  I've had similar shrimp linguine dishes for double the price and served with less shrimp.  Plus, it probably didn't taste as good as this did.  For $8.95, it was a superb value.  

My buddy, predictably, couldn't finish his meal and he asked for a to-go box.  "This will be a good snack later tonight," he said.  He had finished - maybe - a bit more than half the lasagna.  I made a mental note to come back for the lasagna at some point.  

After we finished up at Via Classico, we walked back across the parking lot to Abt.  I ran into another buddy at Abt who is a somewhat pretentious food snob at times.  He turns up his nose at a lot of restaurants that I think are pretty damned good in the Chicago area.  He saw that I had a Via Classico menu in my hands and he took it from me and playfully threw it into the garbage can.  I told him, "I just had the shrimp linguine and it was very good."  

He snobbishly said back, "Everything they serve is frozen, then thawed out."  

I said, "I don't think they froze the linguine and the shrimp may have been frozen at one time, but they were very fresh in taste."  He sort of waved me away when I said that.  I then told him, "All I know is that it tasted pretty good and it was a helluva lot of food for $8.95."  

I will have to say that I was pretty darned impressed with Via Classico.  Although it's not fine dining, the portions vs. the price were very big.  Two people could easily nosh on the lasagna, and what I had was a great value.  Via Classico is one of those places that could get very popular with families who are on the go and need a good meal quick - either served in-house or to-go.  

(Update - Via Classico sadly went out of business when the cooking school closed toward the end of 2013.  I've not found if they've relocated to a new spot.)

Rick's Bar - Fargo

On my trip to Fargo earlier this summer, I stopped in to the Fargo (Happy Harry's) Rib Festival.  (Click here to see my entry on the Fargo Rib Fest.)  Since the lines were so long, there was no way that I was going to be able to get any barbecue.  As I was leaving the festival, I called up my dealer, Rod, at Arctic Audio to give the city of Fargo my compliments on what I thought was an impressive rib festival.  

He asked, "So, you didn't get anything to eat out there?"  After I told him that I hadn't, he said, "Well, if you have the time, come on over to the shop.  There's a great bar with good lunch specials just down the street from me.  I think you'd like the place."  As I drove over to his place on Main Ave., I passed the place he was talking about - Rick's Bar.  Picking him up at the shop, we headed back down the street to Rick's. (see map)

The "Rick" behind Rick's Bar is North Dakota native Rick Carik.  Carik got a degree in business administration from the University of North Dakota in the early 70's, then went on to study hotel and restaurant management from the University of Minnesota - Crookston. Rick Carik ended up working for the Radisson hotel chain based out of the Twin Cities before getting into banking, then back into hotel management.  Carik eventually got into owning his own bars and a small chain of liquor stores.  In addition to Rick's Bar, Carik is the owner of Speck's Bar, and Woody's Bar and Grill in Fargo.  He also owns Crown Liquor and Royal Liquor locations around Fargo.

It was just before 1 p.m. when we pulled into the Rick's Bar parking lot.  As we pulled in, Rod exclaimed, "Great!  Oh man!  They have chicken fried steak today!"  A cryptic message on the marquee along Main Ave. - "Ctry Fry Stk Din" - told him so.  Rod said, "Oh, boy.  I hope they haven't run out.  Sometimes they run out of their lunch specials.  They only make so many of them."  Rick's Bar runs a changing series of daily lunch specials each week day.

Coming into Rick's, there was a brightly lit area with pool tables and dart boards.  Toward the back of Rick's Bar is an off-sale liquor store.  I believe there were also some gambling machines in Rick's, but I wasn't sure about that.   

 
There's a dining area that also doubles as a room where live music is played.  (Rick's Bar charges no cover for live music.)  It had sort of an old-style saloon feeling to it.  I mean, it would be classified as a dive bar by many, but it was clean and comfortable.  I felt at home - it was my type of place.

We took a seat at the bar and Rod introduced me to the bartender Mike, who happened to be Rick Carik's son.  Rod asked him if they still had the chicken fried steak special.  "No," Mike replied.  "We ran out about 20 minutes ago."  Rod's anguished cries told me that the chicken fried steak must be pretty damn good.  Mike told us that when they start serving around 11 a.m. that's when a lot of workers come in for lunch.  "And they're usually hungry."  

 
From there, it was a quick look at the menu board over the kitchen window.  The flat grill was prominent in the window and it looked well used.  It was the kind of flat grill that probably had enough seasoning on it to make a good burger.   It was typical bar food.  Other than the daily specials they had burgers, fried or grilled chicken sandwiches, and a series of appetizers.  

Rod was going to get the Rick's Special - for $6.75 you get a cheeseburger, fries and a choice of a domestic bottle of beer, a short draft or a bottle of pop.  I thought that sounded good for me, too.  I asked Mike if they had Grain Belt.  He said, "We have the Premium on tap."  I told him that I'd take one of those.  He came back and said, "For a buck more you can get a tall draft."  For a buck more, it was a no-brainer for me.

Rod, who had ordered an iced tea, said, "You know, Mike, on second thought, I'll take a tall Grain Belt, too."  Grain Belt Premium and burgers in Fargo, ND.  I was in my element.   

Because the lunch rush had settled down, it wasn't long before one of the other ladies serving that day brought out our burgers to us.  They were served in a basket with copious amounts of French fries and wrapped in wax paper.  The burger was pretty basic - the thin patty told me that I could have probably gotten a double cheeseburger and held the fries.  I knew I wasn't going to make much of a dent into the pile of fries sitting in front of me.  

The taste of the cheeseburger at Rick's Bar was, well, it was fine.  It wasn't the most exquisite burger I've had, nor was it bad at all.  It was a nice, good tasting flat grilled burger.  I liked it much more than the burger I had gotten over at the Hi-Ho South a couple days before.  (Click here to see my entry on Hi-Ho South.)  While the burger at Rick's Bar was good, it was still not a stellar burger. 

Rod said, "Yeah, the burger is good, but the chicken fried steak would have been so much better.  Too bad they ran out.  You would have liked it."  Rod knows his food and I'm sure that he was probably spot on about the chicken fried steak at Rick's Bar. 

Rick's Bar is nothing fancy.  But it isn't a trashy bar, either.  At least not during the day.  Rick Carik is a motorcycle enthusiast and they can get a number of bikers in the place.  Rod told me that the place just to the east is much more of a biker bar and that Rick's gets some spillover to their place from time to time.  Rick's also doesn't take credit cards - I paid cash for our lunch because everyone else was, too.  And I didn't see any credit card signs around the place.  

I like going to Fargo and I've experience great places of fine dining and now I'm exploring the dive bar element of the area.  Rick's Bar would be the kind of place that I'd hang out for lunch and a few beers. 

Guaca Maya - Omaha, NE

During an extended weekend trip to Omaha a few weeks ago, we were able to get together with a good friend of mine, Denny, and his lady friend, Ruth, for dinner.  Cindy's daughter had alerted me of a Mexican restaurant near the stockyard area of Omaha - Guaca Maya - after she had visited Omaha a week or so before we were out there.  I was telling Denny about it and he hadn't heard of the place, either.  After meeting Denny and Ruth at their house for a drink, we drove over to Guaca Maya on S. 33rd on the south side of Omaha. (see map) 

Claudio Cano-Robles and her husband, Juan, own the combination restaurant and night club.  The large, window-less building looks like it could have been a union hall or a veterans club at some point in time.  It features a large parking lot on the north side of the building and there is an auxiliary parking lot even further up the street for overflow.  

We didn't know what to expect when we walked into the building around 7:00 p.m. on a Friday night.  But we were pleasantly surprised to see a spacious and well-lit dining area with festive ornaments, banners and flags hanging from the ceiling.   

 
The main dining room turns into a night club after 9 p.m. on the weekends.  There was a party in one of the rooms toward the back where the Tejano group that was scheduled to play that evening at Guaca Maya were celebrating a CD release.  

We were greeted by a hostess and she grabbed some menus and led us toward the back part of the restaurant.  While we were headed toward the back, we passed an open kitchen area with a lady manning a flat grill.  She was making homemade tortillas.  I thought, "All right, I like this place already."  

After being seated in a booth, we were greeted by our waiter for the evening, Ruben.  He had handsome Hispanic good looks with a big smile and Cindy and Ruth were smitten.   We immediately ordered a pitcher of Jose Cuervo margaritas.  

The menu at Guaca Maya features a lot of Yucatan-style foods - seafood, chicken, pork and beef dishes are all featured.  We were surprised to see fresh oysters on the half-shell on the menu.  They were listed in a section of the menu called "La Viagra del Mar" (Viagra from the Sea) that featured shrimp, oysters and ceviche dishes.  Oysters are something you don't see on a regular basis at a Mexican restaurant.  In addition to the chips and homemade salsa (that had a nice peppery bite to it) that was brought to our table, we ordered up a dozen oysters and some homemade fresh guacamole.  

The oysters came out and they were big and meaty.  With a little bit of fresh lime juice and a bit of Cholula sauce, we dug in.  The oysters were tasty, didn't have any grit in them and were very fresh.  They were so fresh that Denny and I joked that they must have gotten them out of the nearby Missouri River.  I've had oysters at seafood restaurants much closer to an ocean that weren't as good as the ones we had at Guaca Maya.   

 
And the guacamole was just outstanding.  Served in a medium-sized stone bowl, the guacamole featured avacado mixed with garlic, lemon juice, cilantro, chopped onions and tomatoes.  I literally wanted to lick the bowl clean when it got down to the end of it.  I almost ordered another round, but at $9.75 per serving, it was already pretty expensive.

Getting down to order dinner, there were many things that jumped out at me on Guaca Maya's menu.  They had a grilled tilapia that was cooked with garlic that I was looking at.  Grilled shrimp in a tequila sauce also looked interesting.  And there were a number of beef, pork and chicken combinations on the menu including beef and chicken in an adobo marinade, and skewers of beef, chicken, shrimp and scallops.  I honestly didn't know what I wanted to get until Cindy pointed out the pork chile verde - roasted pork served in a green chile sauce.  

When Ruben came back to take our order, Ruth was still having problems as to what she wanted.  She made all of us go ahead of her.  While I did take the pork chile verde, Cindy and Denny both took the mixed fajitas grill - skirt steak, chicken and shrimp with sliced tomatoes, peppers and onions.  Finally, it was Ruth's turn and she said, "Oh my gosh, it all looks so good.  I really don't know what to get."  She ended up getting the steak and shrimp plate.  We ordered up another pitcher of margaritas and I got a bottle of Sol beer just because I like the taste of Sol with Mexican food. 

Ruben and another server brought out food out to the table about 15 minutes after we ordered it up.  My pork was chopped and smothered in a peppery green sauce.  There was some bark on the outer side of roasted pork - sort of like what you get with barbecued pork butt - and it was a little tough to chew.  While it was good, it didn't knock it out of the park for me.  

 
Ruth's meal featured a healthy cut of ribeye steak and a number of grilled shrimp.  It was a lot of food for her, she said.  But she really enjoyed what she could eat.  The shrimp looked great and I was sort of jealous that I didn't go for a shrimp entree rather than the pork.  

Cindy and Denny's fajitas were identical.  Cindy got homemade corn tortillas with her fajitas while Denny got the homemade flour tortillas.  I took one of Cindy's corn tortillas and made a makeshift taco out of my pork chile verde and added some of the refried beans and rice that I had with my dinner.  The corn taco was excellent.  There's nothing better than fresh corn tacos hot off the grill.  

There used to be a great Mexican place in Omaha by the name of Señor Matias.  They had, hands down, the best fajitas of any place I'd been to in the Midwest.  When Denny moved to Omaha over 20 years ago, I told him that he needed to try Señor Matias.  He, too, thought they were excellent fajitas.  Sadly, Señor Matias closed down about 10 years ago and Denny said that he hasn't been able to find any place in the area that came close to the fajitas from there.  But he said, "These are about as close to the fajitas that Señor Matias used to have."  Cindy also thought they were great.

After we finished and settling up with Ruben (it was about $60 bucks per couple with tip), the girls decided they needed to go to the powder room.  We walked through the colorful bar area on the way to the restrooms.  It was still before 9 p.m. and the bar area was pretty dead.  The staff was beginning to move tables out of the dance area near where the band was going to play later that evening.  For as large as the place was - and the fact that they had a large parking lot WITH an auxiliary lot up the street - we figured the place must get pretty packed on the weekends after 9.  

 
The gaming area near the restrooms toward the front of the place featured pool tables and some video machines.  It also had a mural along the wall of a scene from a Mexican cantina.  Denny and I got a major kick out of one of the people depicted in the mural - it was of an old lady sitting at a table smoking a cigar.  The only problem was that it looked like an old guy in drag.  Denny said, "Hey, maybe this is a gay bar for older Mexican men!"  

Cindy's daughter knows her Mexican food - as a Spanish major at the University of Iowa, she worked in a couple of pretty darned good Mexican restaurants in Iowa City.  She said the food at Guaca Maya was some of the most authentic Mexican food she's had in the Midwest.  While Ruth's steak and shrimp wasn't necessarily authentic, and fajitas are sort of a staple item at most Mexican restaurants these days, I'll have to say that while my pork chile verde was good, it wasn't great.  And that's not to say that I wouldn't go back to Guaca Maya.  I'd just get something other than pork chile verde.  And with the abundance of items on the menu, I'm sure I'll be able to find something.  

61 Chophouse - Mediapolis, IA

The Iowa Beef Industry Council had their 4th annual "Best Burger in Iowa" contest this year and the winner was a steak house/supper club about an hour drive from Davenport, 61 Chophouse in the small town of Mediapolis.  I'd been wanting to get down there to try one of their burgers and I asked my wife if she wanted to take a day trip and head down there with me.  She was up for it and we took off down Highway 61 toward Mediapolis.   

Terry Reis and his wife, Lori Denney, are the owners of 61 Chophouse.  They purchased the old Turn 2 sports bar location in Mediapolis in the summer of 2009 and took about three months to transform it into a steak house/supper club.  Reis, a native of Minnesota, is a certified executive chef through the American Culinary Federation.  Previously, he was a culinary arts instructor at a school in the Twin Cities, as well as a chef in various restaurants over the years.  Before getting into the 61 Chophouse, he was the manager of the Drake Restaurant along the riverfront in downtown Burlington, IA.  

Terry Reis and Lori Denney pictured at right.

Lori Denney has years of experience in the hospitality industry working as a sales and catering manager for a number of upscale hotel chains.  A native of Southeast Iowa, wanted to move back to her home area after working as the director of sales and catering at a Radisson Hotel in the Twin Cities area.  After a stint as a hotel and restaurant manager in Burlington, she joined her husband in their 61 Chophouse endeavor and is in charge of catering events at the restaurants banquet room.  The two also own the Yarmouth Cafe in nearby Yarmouth, IA

Terry Reis is also a renown master ice carver.  He is certified as a Professional Master Ice Carver and a competition ice carver.  His ice carvings have been used in movies and featured in national magazines.  To see a variety of ice sculptures Reis has made over the years, click here.    

It was around 12:30 when we pulled into the parking lot of 61 Chophouse located along Highway 61 in Medapolis. (see map)  Actually, I didn't really know what to expect.  It had been about three months since 61 Chophouse had been given the "Best Burger" award and I had wanted to wait to let the hoopla subside before I tried one.  I didn't know if the place would be packed or not.  Turns out that it wasn't.  There was a small little crowd in there for the lunchtime, but it was only about a quarter full.  

 
We were greeted by a young lady at the hostess stand who asked us if we wanted a table or a booth.  I sort of looked up at the step up lounge area at 61 Chophouse - called the Liquid Lounge - and it looked pretty nice.  She noticed that I was looking up at the lounge area and she asked if we wanted to eat in the lounge.  I said, "No, no, no.  That's OK.  I was just checking out the bar area."  It was a very nice bar, to say the least.

She directed us to a booth along the north wall of the restaurant and dropped off a couple menus for us to look over.  A few moments later, our server, another young girl by the name of Taylor, came over to greet us and get our drink orders.  I ordered a Bud Light and Cindy ordered an iced tea.  Taylor brought the bottle of beer back and it was ice cold.  

In 2011, the local Cattlemen's Association let Reis know that there was a "Best Burger" contest for the state of Iowa.  He entered his "Barn Burger" - an 8 oz. black angus beef patty topped with Swiss and American cheeses, then topped with 61 Chophouse's "secret" Barn sauce, then topped with a pile of home-made onion straws, all served on an egg bun.  It got Reis a top 10 finisher for the 2011 Best Burger contest.  

The next year, Reis entered his "Triple B" burger that featured blue cheese, bacon and a "bella" portabella mushroom.  When the burger didn't finish in the top 10 in 2012, Reis worked with some of the members of the local Cattlemen's Association to come up with a burger for the 2013 contest.  Applewood smoked bacon was one of the suggestions from the cattlemen, and Reis came up with a beer cheese sauce made from the new Budweiser Black Crown beer that came out earlier this year.  To add a little pop to the taste, Reis added some pepperjack cheese.  He put it on an egg bun and called it the Angus Black Crown Burger.  It made the finals once again and was named the best burger in Iowa in May of this year.  

(Pictured left - the Angus Black Crown Burger as shown on 61 Chophouse's website.  Be sure to check back with this picture later on.)

Actually, the Barn Burger sounded pretty good.  I proposed that we get one of each - the Angus Black Crown Burger and the Barn Burger - then we could try both of them.  When Taylor came back, we did just that.  We got fries with one and cole slaw with the other.  She said, "We cook them medium, is that all right?"  We told her that it would be perfect.

Good burgers take time, so it was close to 20 minutes from the time we ordered the burgers before Taylor brought them back to us.  Below is the Black Angus Burger that was served to me.  I could just tell from the look of the outside of the patty that the burger was overcooked.  Medium, to me, is cooked with a hint of pink in the middle.  After cutting the burger in half to share with my wife, I saw there was no pink in the middle and the outside shell of the patty was hard.  It was definitely cooked medium-well to well.

The other thing that sort of popped out at me was the lack - if any - of the beer cheese sauce on the Angus Black Crown burger.  It appeared that there was some sort of cheese on the burger - I couldn't tell if it was just the beer cheese sauce or the pepperjack cheese (I'm guessing the latter) on the burger.  But it wasn't swimming in cheese as the picture above from 61 Chophouse's website.  

The first taste of the Angus Black Crown Burger confirmed our fears - it was overcooked.  There was no juicyness to the taste, the outer shell of the burger patty tasted slightly burned and there was a definite lack of cheese in the overall taste.  The bun, however, was very good.  Spongy and flavorful, it was the only thing that saved the burger from being a complete disappointment.  

The Barn Burger didn't fare much better.  First of all, they claim they put a "haystack" of onion straws on the burger.  It looked like the haystack had been blown away somewhere between the kitchen and our table.  The burger patty, too, was overcooked and somewhat lifeless.  I could get a cheesy taste with the bites of burgers that I had - much more so than the Angus Black Crown Burger.  The bun was once again the star of the burger, the only saving grace from calling the burger as completely overrated was the bun.  

Now, I think of myself as somewhat of a burger expert.  God knows that I've eaten enough of them over the years that I've been doing Road Tips.  But if the Angus Black Crown Burger was deemed the best burger in Iowa, I have to severely question the credentials of the judges.  Cindy even thought they weren't that good.  "Not worth the trip," was her comment to me.  To me, if wasn't any better than an average sports bar burger.  

Cindy and I figured out that it probably wasn't Terry Reis back in the kitchen cooking for the noon time crowd.  But my point here is - if they have the best burger in Iowa, shouldn't it CONSISTENTLY be the best burger in Iowa?  I know places that are wholly dependent upon the head cook or chef or the food suffers.  I have to put 61 Chophouse in that category, as well.  

Since our visit, we met a person from Mediapolis and we told her that we'd recently been to Chophouse 61 for the burger.  She hesitated and asked, "Sooo... What did you think?"  When we told her we thought it was overrated, she concurred.  "Terry's a nice guy and all," she said.  "But there were a lot of people around town who were surprised he won the best burger contest.  Don't get me wrong, it's great for the community.  But we're trying to figure out how he was able to pull off having the best burger."   

When the judges for the best burger contest came to 61 Chophouse for the Angus Black Crown Burger, it's my guess that the person who made our burger was not the same person who made it for the judges.  As I said, if you're going to have the best burger in Iowa and people are going to come from all over - even further away than an hour's drive for the burger - it had better be the same as the winning burger each and every time it comes out of the kitchen.  I don't see myself just making a drive back down to Mediapolis some evening just to have Terry Reis cook me a burger.  But if you want to give it a try, do it after 5 p.m. when there's a better chance for Reis to make one for you.  

(Update - Terry Reis accepted a position as a corporate chef for Palace Entertainment in Los Angeles.  He and his wife, Lori Denney, closed 61 Chophouse on March 29, 2014.)

Bryant-Lake Bowl - Minneapolis

I had a breakfast meeting planned with Ken, the general manager of The Needle Doctor in Minneapolis earlier this summer.  Knowing that I like to check out different places to eat, he suggested we meet at a place I'd never been to before - Bryant-Lake Bowl in the Uptown neighborhood of Minneapolis.  He said, "It's kind of a retro/funky/urban type of spot.  I think you'll dig it."

Bryant-Lake Bowl is a combination restaurant, bowling alley and small theater all in one.  The current owner, Kim Bartmann, purchased the eight-lane bowling alley in 1993 from Bill Drouches.  Drouches was a well-known bowler in the Twin Cities and Bryant-Lake Bowl was one of three bowling alleys that he managed or owned over the years.  Up until 1993, Bryant-Lake Bowl was one of the more popular spots for league bowlers in the Twin Cities.  

Kim Bartmann had moved from Appleton, WI to the Twin Cities in 1983 to go to school at the University of Minnesota.  She got a job as a cook in a vegetarian restaurant (telling the owner that she was a vegetarian, but she wasn't) and the business got in her blood.  With her mother's credit card, help from a partner and $10,000 in cash, she opened her first restaurant/coffee shop, Cafe Wyrd, in 1991.  It was one of the first coffee bistros of its type in the Uptown neighborhood.  

By 1993, Bartmann and her partner at Cafe Wyrd had an acrimonious parting of the ways and she was getting bored running the little coffee shop.  Bryant-Lake Bowl had become a run-down, almost seedy entity a few blocks down from Cafe Wyrd on W. Lake Ave. in Minneapolis.  But Bartmann saw something in the place that she felt had potential.  Along with a college friend, Liz Dailey, they ended up buying the business and gussied up the bowling alley.  They tore out the old pro shop and put a bar and cafeteria-style restaurant in its place.  A game room off to the side of the bowling alley became a small 85-seat theater.  Bartmann and Daniels bought the seats out of the old Stillwater (MN) Junior High School and installed them in the theater.  They opened the new Bryant-Lake Bowl on Halloween night of 1993.

Pictured right - Kim Bartmann 

Yuppies and urban hipsters drinking wine and eating cheese plates replaced the cigar-smoking, Pabst Blue Ribbon-drinking league bowlers at Bryant-Lake Bowl.  The original cafeteria-style restaurant didn't go over well and Bartmann and Daniels turned it into a sit down full-service restaurant with interesting food items.  The theater hosted a number of avant-garde, issue-based and cabaret-style performances, as well as being a starting point for fledgling comics in the area.  

In 1995, Bartmann had personal set back when her car was involved in an accident and she suffered massive head injuries.  She had problems with memory and cognitive functions for awhile before getting back to full strength.  

In 2001, Bartmann and Dailey turned Cafe Wyrd into Cafe Barbette (known today as simply "Barbette"), a French bistro that featured food items from locally sourced farms.  It was also one of the first eco-friendly restaurants in the Twin Cities composting leftover food and practicing recycling.  (Cafe Barbette is located just across the street from Amore Victoria, an Italian restaurant Cindy and I ate at last summer.  Click here to see that entry.  Looking across the street to Barbette, Cindy said, "I want to eat there sometime."  We have it on our list of restaurants to visit.)  

Bartmann had her eye upon expanding her Uptown empire, but Dailey decided she didn't want to grow any larger than Bryant-Lake Bowl and Barbette.  Bartmann bought Dailey out, but the two stayed friendly.  From there, Bartmann opened The Red Stag in northeast Minneapolis with the help of her sister, Kari, that pays homage to Upper Midwest supper clubs that the Bartmann girls went to with their parents while growing up.  

The Red Stag was followed by the 2010 acquisition of Casey's Tavern at the corner of Nicollet and 35th St. near the Eat Street area south of downtown Minneapolis.  The Bartmann's turned it into Pat's Tap in the Uptown area, a gastropub tavern named after their mother that features skee-ball machines.  About the same time they were completing the purchase of Casey's Tavern to turn it into Pat's Tap, the Bartmann's bought Gigi's Cafe in Uptown.  They also run Bread & Pickle, up upscale concession stand next to the Lake Harriett bandshell just south and west of the Uptown neighborhood.   And as I write this entry, Bartmann is working on a new venture in south Minneapolis - Tiny Diner - that will feature a large urban garden growing many of the herbs and vegetables the restaurant will use in season.  

Bartmann's ecological blueprint is to make her restaurants eco-friendly by composting, recycling and using solar panels.  Red Stag was the first restaurant in Minnesota to be a certified Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) eatery.  Bartmann also serves as Vice-President on the board of the Land Stewardship Project, a non-profit organization that supports  and promotes small, sustainable farms in Minnesota.

It was just before 9 a.m. when I pulled up in front of Bryant-Lake Bowl near the corner of Bryant and W. Lake in Minneapolis. (see map)  Ken hadn't shown up yet, so I had a little time to look around the place before getting a seat in the small dining area.  The bowling alley was, understandably, quiet.  Even with some modern features such as overhead scoreboards, it looked like you were walking back into the 50's.  It was retro and funky, to say the least.

 
The bar area featured an interesting bowling mural on the wall.  It, too, had a retro, art deco vibe.  I envisioned myself bellying up to the bar to order a Grain Belt Premium at some point.    

I got a table near the wall toward the back of the dining area and was greeted by Kristine who would be serving us this morning.  Inked up with spiky red hair, Kristine epitomized the vibrant urban feel of Bryant-Lake Bowl.  Not long after she dropped off a couple menus, Kenny showed up.  I complimented him on his choice of Bryant-Lake Bowl for its "trippy nature."  He said, "Yeah, it's got this edgy, funky urban vibe going on.  I like the place a lot and figured that if you liked Psycho Suzi's (click here to see my entry on Psycho Suzi's) then you'd like this place, too."

We talked a little business before we looked over the breakfast menu that is served from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily at Bryant-Lake Bowl.  (Click here to see their sandwich and burger menu, click here to see their salad and entree menu, and click here to see their gluten free menu.)  They also had a small menu of breakfast specials they were featuring that particular day.  

I was looking at the egg sandwich - organic range free eggs cooked to your specification, topped with cheddar cheese and coupled with either ham, sausage links or a sausage patty, bacon or vegetarian sausage and served on either an English muffin or a biscuit.   They also had French toast made out of a baguette and topped with seasonal fruit compote.  I asked Kristine what the seasonal fruit compote was and she told me it was strawberry.  Naw, can't do strawberries.

Almost simultaneously, Ken and I looked on the special menu for the day and saw something called "Ann's breakfast burrito".  Normally $8.50, they had it on special for $6.95 that morning.  The breakfast burrito consisted of two range-free scrambled eggs, seasoned ground beef, guacamole, black beans and your choice of either pepperjack or cheddar cheese.  It's then topped with salsa and served with a side of Bryant-Lake Bowl's jalapeno fried potatoes.  Kenny ordered on with cheddar cheese and I got one with the pepperjack.  We both got large orange juices to go along with the breakfast burritos.  Yes, I know, not very daring for both of us to get practically the same thing, but to me it sounded pretty good. 

And when Kristine brought out the food, I found from the first bite that it was very good.  It was chock full of scrambled eggs, seasoned ground beef, guacamole, beans and pepperjack cheese.  The ground beef had a bit of a bite to it, but it wasn't overly spicy.  

The spiciness was saved for the jalapeno potatoes.  They were basically American fries with chopped jalapenos mixed in.  While the jalapenos were spicy, they weren't the ultra hot jalapenos.  They were spicy enough to get your attention.  In combination with the potatoes, they were very good.  

It was certainly a lot of food for $6.95.  Actually, it would have been a lot of food for the regular price of $8.50.  It was so much food that I was having trouble finishing it up.  I began to pick out the innards of the burrito from the tortilla shell toward the end.  I finally gave up with potatoes and part of a burrito on my plate.  Kenny, however, was able to finish his breakfast.  "Man, that was very good," he said as he finished up his large orange juice.

Ann's Breakfast Burrito was very good and very filling.  Kristine's service was exemplary and I loved the hip and edgy nature of Bryant-Lake Bowl.  I understand the place can get pretty crowded at night, but I would come early to grab a sandwich or a burger with a cold beer.  Bryant-Lake Bowl is one of those urban restaurant experiences that pokes fun at itself and is hardly pretentious, if at all.  In a neighborhood that has a number of good places to eat, Bryant-Lake Bowl stands out with its unique nature and charm.   (Photo courtesy Bryant-Lake Bowl Facebook page.)

Squealers Barbecue - Indianapolis

In Indianapolis recently, I was staying at a hotel on the north side of town.  I was looking at a couple different places to try - one was an Italian place that sounded interesting, the other a barbecue place.  I was literally in between the two restaurants and both of them sounded good to me.  So what did I do?  I flipped a coin - heads Italian; tails barbecue.  The coin came up tails and I took off toward Squealers Barbecue on the northwest side of Indianapolis.

Like most barbecue places that have popped up over the past 10 years or so, Squealers got their start on the competition trail.  In the late 80's and early 90's, Ron Yater used to make ribs and sauce for neighbors and friends in the backyard of his Fort Wayne, IN home.  He was talked into entering some competitions and he got help from his son, Jeff, who was home for the summer while studying criminal justice at Indiana University.   When the World Pork Expo was in Indianapolis in 1994, the Yaters garnered a ninth place finish out of 60 entrants in a rib competition.  They decided to head out and do a series of state and regional competitions.  

After graduating from college, Jeff Yater knew that his love for barbecue was stronger than looking for entry level jobs in the criminal justice field.  He decided to start up his own competition team, and after securing a $25,000 loan the Squealers Q Competition team was formed.  Dubbed "a professional barbecue team", Yater and his team traveled around the region with a 30-foot customized trailer that had refrigeration, ovens, prep areas and a large smoker that could handle up to 500 lbs. of meat.  They went to nearly 25 different competitions one year, garnering first place awards for both their ribs and sauce.  

After two years on the road, Yater decided that he needed to be home more since his wife had just given birth to their first daughter.  He had worked in restaurants off and on since he was 17 and all through the time he was going to school at Indiana, so he thought owning his own barbecue joint was the ticket for him.  He found a steakhouse in the suburb of Mooresville, located about 20 miles southwest of downtown Indianapolis, that the owner was willing to sell.  He was able to procure a $100,000 loan in order to buy out the owner of the steakhouse and to purchase a $12,500 smoker for the place.  Squealers Barbecue in Mooresville opened in 2001.  

Yater worked over 100 hours a week in the business, working well past closing time to do the books, ordering food and prepping for the next day.  He'd get home, get about six hours of sleep and get up to go back into work at 7:30 a.m. six days a week.  Yater got some help when he hired brothers Matt and Kevin Hein, who eventually took over the day-to-day operations at the Mooresville location.  Most of the profit that Yater made the first couple of years went directly back into upgrading his restaurant with new signage and interior build-outs.  He eventually bought all the land surrounding his restaurant in Mooresville with plans to develop the land into retail store space.   

After a couple three years in business Yater was looking to expand, but he knew he'd have to get some more help in doing so.  He enlisted a life-long friend - Jim Coldren - and they set their sights on a building on W. 86th St. in Indianapolis.  After buying the building and a three month renovation, they opened the second Squealers in mid-2004.  

Yater and Coldren have looked at franchising the Squealers concept.  They've gotten inquiries from people in Alabama and Tennessee, but Yater is looking for a more local base for his first franchises.  They've hired a consulting firm to help them with the logistics of franchising and are waiting for their first franchisee to come forward.   

Barbecue competitions were still in Jeff Yater's bones, and a couple years ago he bought a stretch RV with a matching trailer and began to travel around the Midwest entering rib contests.  He won a couple competitions and was eventually invited to the Super Bowl of rib competitions - the American Royal barbecue competition in Kansas City.  In his first American Royal, Squealers scored in the top 10 percent of the open competition.  They've since been invited back to the American Royal and also to the Jack Daniels World Championship Invitational in Lynchburg, TN.  

I found the Squealers Barbecue location just east of the intersection of Zionsville Road and W. 86th St., just down the street from the Trader's Point shopping center.  (see map)   As I walked in, I was greeted by a large display of trophys, ribbons and other awards that Squealers had garnered from their competitions in the past.  They were certainly proud of their awards and I hoped their barbecue would back them up.  

I got to the hostess stand and there was no one in sight.  I took a look into the bar area to the right - there were some people eating in the booths, but the bartender was nowhere in sight.  The lights to a room off the side of the bar - probably a party room - were off.  I went back to the hostess area and looked around the dining room.  There were some people eating in the booths, but no servers were around.  I thought, "Uh oh.  This is not a good sign."   

A few moments later, a couple young ladies came out of the kitchen and down the hall toward the hostess stand.  One of them asked if they could help me and I asked, "Are you guys still open for dinner?"  

She said, "Yes sir, until 9 p.m.  Would you like a table or a booth?"  She took me over to a booth along the far wall and left off a menu for me to go through.  Not long after that, a very outgoing server by the name of Jessica came by to greet me.  She welcomed me to Squealers and asked me if I wanted anything to drink.  I ordered an Upland Brewery (a microbrewery out of Bloomington, IN) pale ale.  

I took a look through the menu and I immediately looked for the sampler platters.  They had baby back ribs or St. Louis style ribs on the menu.  They also had rib tips, Texas-style brisket, pulled pork and smoked half chickens.  They also had a number of barbecued meat sandwiches on the menu, as well as a number of specialty sandwiches including burgers, pork tenderloins, and a ground pork burger.  

By the time Jessica brought back my beer, I figured out that I wanted to do the three meat sampler - brisket, pulled pork and baby back ribs. (It was a $2.95 upcharge above the regular $18.95 sampler plate for the ribs.)  She asked me what kind of sauce I wanted with the barbecue, "Mild, hot or a mixture?"  I told her a mixture would be fine.  Then she asked what kind of sides that I wanted with the barbecue.  They had over a dozen different sides to choose from including mac and cheese, Amish-style potato salad, steak fries, a sweet potato, and home style green beans.  I saw the barbecued beans and took those, but was sort of stumped as to what I wanted for my other side.  I asked Jessica what she recommended and she said, "I really like the cole slaw.  It's a creamy Amish-style cole slaw."  I signed up for that.  

By the time I finished my first beer, Jessica brought my barbecue platter out to me.   There was a lot of food on the plate.  The baby back ribs had to be almost or right at half a rack.  There was a lot of pulled pork and sliced brisket, as well as good sized sides of the barbecue baked beans and cole slaw.  A couple biscuits were on the plate as well.  (More on the biscuits later.)  

The meat was slathered with a mixture of Squealers sweet and smoky sauce and their hot barbecue sauce.  It had a little bit of spiciness to the taste, but it wasn't over the top.  I also found a hint of honey and what I thought were apples in the taste of the sauce.  I found out later on that they use concentrated apple juice in their sweet and smoky sauce.  I'm usually not big on the taste of apple, but it was still all right.  I almost asked for a couple sides of just the hot sauce, but decided to trudge on with what I had.   

The meat on the baby back ribs pulled away easily from the bone.  The taste of the meat was very good with a lot of moisture and tenderness in each bite.  The bark on the outer part of the rib meat had a great flavor to it, as well.  

The brisket flaked apart when I went to cut it with my fork.  It, too, was very tender and juicy with a lot of great flavor to it.  It was one of the better smoked briskets I've had at a barbecue joint.  It also reminded me that I needed to smoke a brisket at home sometime in the near future.  

And the pulled pork was wonderful, as well.  Chunky and stringy, the pulled pork was very tender and tasted great.  It was probably number three on my list of what I Iiked of the meats I ordered, but it would have been very difficult to rate them 1, 2 or 3.  It was more like 1A, 1B and 1C.  

The sides were not as good as the meat, but that's usually the case at most barbecue places I've been to.  The barbecue baked beans were all right, but the did taste a little better when I added some of the sweat and smoky, and hot barbecue sauce to them.  But Jessica steered me wrong on the cole slaw - it was pretty bland in taste.  I only had a couple bites and said, "Eh!"  

But the most surprising aspect of the meal were the biscuits, actually they were more like rolls.  I don't care for bisquits all that much, but something caught my attention with these.  First of all, there was a small container of some sort of a sauce sitting between the two biscuits.   I dabbed my fork into the sauce to taste it and found that it was an apple sauce that tasted like it had some brown sugar in it.  (I found out later it was Squealers homemade apple butter.)  Something made me pull apart one of the biscuits and I dipped it in the sauce.  Oh, man!  Was it good!  There was something on the outer skin of the roll that was sweet, like they had brushed it with a sugar/butter concoction before they were baked.  Only they weren't baked - they were deep fried.  It gave the outer shell a crunchy texture with a light and fluffy inside.  The biscuits were just outstanding.  

As I was finishing up, Jessica was talking with a couple guys sitting at a table waiting for a couple more people to show up.  She was asking them if they wanted to start out with any appetizers such as their fried ribs.  I couldn't help myself.  I turned to her talking to the guys and said, "Excuse me.  Did you say fried ribs?"

One of the guys said, "Yeah, I want to hear about these, too!"

She explained that they take their ribs, batter them up and then deep fry them for a minute.  She said, "They're really good!"  Well, she also told me that the cole slaw was really good, so I had to take that with a grain of salt, as well.  So did the guys.  They passed on the fried ribs.  

I was stuffed when I finished my meal at Squealers Barbecue.  The food was excellent for a barbecue joint.  I wasn't overly enamored with the sauces and I should have ordered the hot sauce on everything.   Jessica had a wonderful personality and made me feel welcome and comfortable during my visit.  She was on top of every request I had and she got a nice tip in return.  Squealers were more than worthy of the awards they've garnered for their barbecue. And this barbecue aficionado gives two enthusiastic "thumbs up" for the barbecue at Squealers.   

Mangiamo Trattoria & Caffe - Terrebonne, QC

During a trip to Montreal earlier this year, we stayed at the Imperia Hotel and Suites in Terrebonne.  There's a restaurant in the hotel that we've eaten at a couple times.  While it's OK for hotel food, we were looking for something other than eating in the hotel that particular evening.  My colleague, Ian, and I had gone out for a beer run after getting to the hotel and we noticed an Italian restaurant not too terribly far from the hotel - Mangiamo Trattoria and Cafe.  When everyone got in to the hotel that evening, we suggested heading down the road a bit to Mangiamo and they all thought that was a good idea. 

Mangiamo (which roughly translates into "Let's Eat" in English) is a four location small chain that you'll find more in the north/eastern suburbs of Montreal, areas that are heavily populated with French Canadians.  It is a family friendly restaurant that does not serve alcohol (more on that later) and features an extensive menu that has a little bit of everything for everyone in the family.  But their focus is on Italian food with pasta dishes, veal and chicken entrees, pizza and calzones.  I couldn't find out the owners or the history of Mangiamo, but there appears to be some connection with the owners of Mangiamo with the Giorgio Ristorante Italian restaurants and Le Steak Frites St-Paul steakhouses in the greater Montreal area. 

The Mangiamo in Terrebonne is located on Chemin Gascon (Gascon Road), a main north-south street heading into the older part of Terrebonne and just off the 25 Freeway.  (see map)  Since there were nine of us that evening, we had called ahead for reservations.  But they said that if we came in at 7:30 we probably wouldn't have trouble getting a table.  We figured either the place was big, or it wasn't a popular place.  Well, it was big - it probably seated 200 people - and it was popular.  

As our group waited, I scoped out the bar situation.  Well, as I said, there is no alcohol sold at Mangiamo.  But when Ian asked if we could bring in our own wine, the host said it was no problem - they didn't even charge a corkage fee.  He even pointed out an SAQ - short for "Société des Alcools du Québec" (basically, "The Alcohol Society of Quebec"), the provincial liquor store in Quebec - that was just across Chemin Gascon from the restaurant.   Ian and I hopped in the van and we went over and found some bottles of Liberty School cabernet.  It was a little more expensive in Quebec than what I can find it in Iowa, but we ended up buying four or five bottles to take back.    

We were kind of taken aback by the number of families in the place.  It was pretty loud in the place, but almost as soon as we had ordered our food we noticed that people were filing out pretty quickly.  By 8 p.m., we pretty much had the restaurant to ourselves.  The dining area featured a number of two seater tables that could easily be manuevered around to accommodate groups of four, six, eight or more.  We were seated at a series of two seater tables along a wall with banquette seats.  The atmosphere and decor were both pleasant enough.

The menu was interesting to go through.  Although it was in French, I had little trouble figuring out what some items were.  And what I couldn't figure out, we had a French speaking person at our table to help with translation.  They had veal or chicken parmesan or marsala on the menu.  Of course, they had a number of pasta dishes, all of which could be paired with one of five different types of sauce they offered at Mangiamo.  One of the things that caught my eye was the Lasagna Erico - lasagna baked with a bolognese sauce, mushrooms, Italian sausage, pepperoni, green peppers and red onions.  (They also had a Pizza Erico on the menu, too.)   I ended up ordering the Lasagna Erico. 

One of the first things they brought out was a bread board with fresh Italian bread and roasted garlic cut in half with vinegar and oil.  Now, I didn't think I was that hungry, but the roasted garlic on the bread with the vinegar was outstanding.  I couldn't stop.  None of us could.  It was very tasty.  

 
We had ordered a few appetizers including the fried calamari that was very good.  The calamari had a great consistency in taste with the light batter they used and the sauce that came with it had sort of a spicy mayo flavor.   I was afraid I'd eat too much of the bread with the roasted garlic and the calamari that I wouldn't be able to eat my entree.

Our food came to the table remarkably quickly - probably because it was past 8 p.m. and we were literally the only ones left in the house.  My Lasagna Erico (below left) was about as interesting in presentation as it was on the menu.  It was mozzarella cheese baked on a plate - not in a dish - over slices of Italian sausage links with chopped green peppers and mushrooms interspersed through the dish.  Pepperoni slices with rings of red onions and chunks of real bacon were on top of the mozzarella cheese.  Actually, I'm not even certain that there was any pasta noodles in the dish.  If there were, there weren't many.  I'll have to say that it wasn't bad at all.

 
Ian got the veal parmesan (above right).  It featured two small veal cutlets that were fried, then baked with mozzarella and parmesan cheese.  A small side of spaghetti with a bolognese sauce came with it.  Ian proclaimed the veal parmesan as, "Good.  Not great.  Bet certainly edible."  

My colleague, Matt, went the simple route and got the penne pasta with chicken (below left).  It didn't appear to have much chicken in it, but it was tossed with olive oil and herbs.  Matt said it was fine.  "I'm glad I got this," he said.  "I loaded up on the bread and calamari."  

 
One of the other guys got something that looked excellent - the veal marsala (above right).   And according to him, it was very good.  It featured two veal cutlets topped with sauteed mushrooms - large slices of sauteed mushrooms - and a marsala wine sauce reduction.  Instead of pasta, he went with the mixed vegetables.  He told me, "Oh, yes.  This is very good.  I'm actually surprised at how good it is."  

We all decided that the food at Mangiamo was pretty good - above average for an Italian restaurant.  And it was also pretty reasonable - we figured it was less than $25 bucks a head for the food, including the appetizers.  I couldn't finish my portion of the Lasagna Erico, but I did make a significant dent in it.  Other than not knowing that it was a B.Y.O.B. place, our experience at Mangiamo was pleasant enough.  Good service, good food, good atmosphere - all at a good price.  Mangiamo is not fine dining, but it's serviceable when you're eating with a group.

Mayslack's Bar - Minneapolis

On a tip from my dealer in Fargo (who used to live in the Twin Cities for a number of years), I was told that I had to seek out Mayslack's Bar in Minneapolis.  His description of the sandwiches they have at Mayslack's almost had him in a frenzy.  "Oh man," he exclaimed.  "They do their own beef at Mayslack's.  It's goooood!"  With a recommendation like that, I had to look for Mayslack's on my next trip to the Twin Cities.

The history of Mayslack's starts with former pro wrestler, Stan Myslajek.  The handsome Stan was a crowd favorite in pro wrestling circles around the upper Midwest in the 1930's and 40's.  Along the way, he American-ized the spelling of his Polish surname so it was easily pronounceable for wrestling fans.  When Stan's ring career ended in the late 40's, he became a wrestling and boxing promoter.

Pictured right - Stan Mayslack   

In 1955, Stan bought an old tavern in Minneapolis' Nordeast neighborhood that had been built in the 1890's.  He renamed the tavern "Mayslack's" and began to make huge garlic-roast beef sandwiches.  Stan served the sandwiches on paper plates and he would implore people to use "two hands!" when eating the sandwich.  

With Stan making sandwiches in the kitchen, Stan's wife ran the till using a cigar box as their cash register.  A juke box played nothing but polka music.  Mayslack's was the epitome of a neighborhood bar.  

Stan Mayslack died in 1994 (or 1995, I've seen both years listed doing research on Mayslack's wrestling career) and in 2006 bar veteran Dean Jacklitch bought Mayslack's.  Determined to continue the Mayslack's experience that Stan began 50 years prior, Jacklitch dedicated himself to making sure the food was of the highest quality.  On weekends, Mayslack's brings in local bands to play in the place.  But there's still a number of polka songs on the jukebox.

I had an appointment with a dealer on the north side of downtown Minneapolis one morning and when I finished, I remembered about Mayslack's.  I put the address in my GPS and it guided me to a brick building at the corner of NE 4th St. and NE 15th Ave. (see map)   Mayslack's is on the southwest corner of the intersection and there's a large parking lot on the south side of the building.  Four guys were having lunch on the patio connected to the south side of Mayslack's building.  

For those expecting an elegant setting, well, Mayslack's ain't the place.  While the place is clean, it is somewhat aged.  But that helps with the charm of the place.  It is simply a dive bar.  And I immediately loved the place.

The main room when you walk in is where the bar is. There's another large room off to the side behind the bar.  I bellied up to the bar and was greeted by a young lady who asked me what I'd like to drink.  I took a quick look at the beer spigots and decided upon a Summit Summer Ale.  She got me my beer and pulled out a menu for me to look at.  

Mayslack's signature sandwich - the Original - consists of sliced beef that is slow roasted (at least 8 hours) in a concoction of garlic and natural juices.  The beef is piled onto a dark rye bun and topped with sliced onions and banana peppers, and served with a side of au jus and cole slaw.  

In addition to the "Original", Mayslack's also has variations of other roast beef sandwiches including a Chicago-style Italian beef that is topped with giardiniera, a "special" club sandwich that is consists of roast beef, ham, bacon, Swiss and American cheeses, with lettuce, tomato and mayo, and Mayslack's Dip sandwich that features roast beef, sauteed mushrooms, onions and provolone cheese.  

If you're not looking for roast beef sandwiches, Mayslack's also features over a dozen different types of sandwiches including a Cuban sandwich, a roasted pulled pork sandwich, and "The Chicken Royale" - a grilled chicken breast served on a egg bun and topped with pepperjack cheese and a bourbon barbecue sauce.  

Along with the sandwiches, Mayslack's has a number of burgers on their menu, as well as pizza.  Of course, there are appetizers, soups and salads.  And Mayslack's also serves breakfast with pancakes, biscuits and gravy, French toast and build-your-own omelets.  

On your first visit to Mayslack's, you've got to try the Original sandwich.  And once the young lady came back to take my order, that's exactly what I asked for.  It wasn't long when she brought me a plate - with two hands - that bore the Original Mayslack sandwich.

She set it in front of me and I took one look and said, "Holy shit!"

She said, "Yeah, it's somethin', isn't it?"  It was somethin' and more, that's for sure.  

Piles of thinly sliced beef spilled from the sandwich onto the blue plate.  There was no way that even two hands would be able to handle the sandwich.  

My first bite produced a somewhat bitter surprise.  A rather tough piece of meat was my first experience of a Mayslack's Original sandwich.  So tough that I had to pull it out of my mouth.  I don't know if it was an end piece, a piece of gristle or what.  But it wasn't a pleasant start to my sandwich.  

I took a fork and began to eat some of the beef slices that were on the plate.  My first real bite of Mayslack's beef yielded a tender piece of beef, almost silky and easy to bite into.  However, it also made me realize that it was permeated with garlic.  

Now, I love garlic - I use garlic in many of my dishes that I make at home.  My wife and I are both garlic fiends and we say that with us, you can never use too much garlic.  Well, with the Mayslack's Original sandwich, yes, you can use too much garlic.  The sandwich was - by far - the most garlic that I had ever tasted on a food item.  It was overpowering, so much to the point that I almost couldn't taste the beef because of the garlic.  

I dismissed my first bad bite as an anomaly until about halfway through the sandwich I hit another chunk of tough beef that I had to pull out of my mouth.  That kind of got me skittish and I started to use my fork to eat the sandwich out of that.  I didn't want any more surprises getting hung up in my mouth.  

But other than those two bites, the rest of the beef that I had was tender, but it had WAY too much garlic.  Thankfully, I wasn't going to be calling on any more dealers that day.  And when I finally made it home later that night, my wife kissed me and said, "Oh, my God!  Did you eat garlic today?"  And that was after having about a dozen Altoids on the way home.  Even brushing my teeth didn't mask the garlic smell I had.  It was literally coming out of my pores.  There was no way vampires would be harming me that evening.    

But overall, I really liked Mayslack's.  It was a great dive bar and I wouldn't have any problem going back at some point to try a burger or even one of their pizzas.  The service was fine, but I found that while they do take credit cards, it has to be at least a $20 charge.  My sandwich and beer with tax came to about $17.50 and I just laid a $20 bill on the bar when I left.  You've been warned - there's a ton of garlic cooked into the beef on a Mayslack Original sandwich.  I would probably get another Original at some point (or maybe even the Chicago-style beef), and this time the amount of garlic they use wouldn't gob-smack me in the face.  And it could be that I would enjoy it more.      

Linn Street Cafe - Iowa City, IA

Linn Street Cafe in Iowa City has been on my wife's short list of places where she wanted to dine.  I had eaten there one time a number of years ago and I remember it as being very good.  We had a special occasion going on and I decided to head over to Iowa City one evening with my wife to have dinner at Linn Street Cafe.   

The little restaurant has been open since 1989 and current chef/owner Frank Bowman and his wife, Abby, have owned the place since 1996.  The Bowman's rely upon locally grown meats and produce for the bulk of the foods they serve at Linn Street Cafe.  Wine Spectator magazine has recognized Linn Street's wine selection as one of the best, not only in Iowa, but in the rest of the U.S.  

Linn Street Cafe is located just north and east of the University of Iowa campus on, of course, Linn Street.  (see map) They are located on the street level of a building that houses the Iowa City Press-Citizen on the second floor.  Devotay, an upscale tapas/wine bar and cocktail lounge, shares the same building and is located just to the south of Linn Street Cafe.   

It was a pleasant, but cloudy evening when we walked up to Linn Street Cafe.  They had three or four tables on the sidewalk under a canopy that were empty.  For a moment, I thought it would be nice to sit outdoors.  But then I remembered that my wife will begin to shiver because she thinks 72 degrees is too chilly.  

We were greeted by a young hostess who asked if we had reservations.  We did not.  There was a party of 12 in the dining area in the back, but there were a number of two and four seat tables that were open in both the front dining area and back dining area.  She shepherded us back to a four-seater just inside the back dining area.  She left off the menu for the evening and the wine list.  

Pictured right - the front dining area at Linn Street Cafe.

Not long after we were seated and got settled in, our waiter for the evening, Aleksandar - or Alex, for short - came over to greet us.  He said that he had a couple things he needed to drop off and he'd be back with us in a moment.  In the meantime, we took a look at the drink menu and I perused the wine menu.  The wine list - although not long - was pretty impressive containing a number of wines that I was not familiar with.  Linn Street Cafe's wine cellar holds over 1500 bottles of wine including a number of reserve wines.  

When Alex came back to take our drink order, I told him that we were going to get some wine, but I didn't quite know what right off the bat.  In the meantime, I ordered a bottle of the Bell's Two Hearted pale ale.  Cindy was looking at their martini list and Alex suggested a raspberry martini for her.  She wasn't too sold on it, but finally said, "Yeah, I'll try that."     

At the top of the menu was an Iowa beef tenderloin that came with garlic mashed potatoes, grilled seasonal veggies and then topped with a cabernet demi glace.  I about quit looking at the rest of the menu after that.  They also had a New York strip steak with grilled asparagus.  But I wasn't certain I wanted steak that particular evening.  

Seafood sounded good and at the bottom of the menu was a Japanese-inspired seared diver scallop dish with stir fried noodles, snow peas, carrots, red onions, pickled cabbage and topped with a Japanese broth.   That sounded really good.  They also had a grilled pork loin that was stuffed with a blend of three cheeses, fennel, dried cherries and herbs, and served with sundried tomato and white cornmeal polenta.  The grilled pork loin was topped with a house-made hoisin barbecue sauce.  

Cindy was seriously looking at the scallops, but she also was interested in the grilled rack of lamb.  But she started to talk herself into a steak.  To me, it was down to the scallops or the grilled pork loin.  I was definitely having trouble.  

Alex came back and asked if we wanted to start off with any appetizers.  He was pushing the duck confit egg rolls, which actually sounded pretty good.  But I was having more of a problem trying to figure out what I wanted for dinner.  Cindy was asking about the scallops.  "I'd really like the scallops," she said.  "But a steak sounds really good." 

He said, "Well, we can do this.  We can do kind of a 'surf and turf' thing for you.  You can get a steak and then we can get you three scallops for nine dollars more."  Cindy was sold with that.  She ended up getting the New York strip after hemming and hawing about ordering that or the tenderloin.

Since I was down to the pork loin or the scallops, I asked Alex if I could get the same thing - the pork loin with the scallops.  No problem.  For starters, we both got the roasted beet salad.  And I stepped up to the plate and ordered a bottle of the Duckhorn cabernet.  It was probably more than I wanted to spend on a bottle of wine, but it was going to be a very nice meal and we hadn't had one out for quite sometime.  

Our salads came out and they featured sliced roasted beets with mixed greens and topped with Maytag blue cheese with a vinaigrette dressing.  The roasted beets were wonderful.  The lettuce was a little wilted, but the Maytag blue cheese and the vinaigrette dressing was a great combination.  Cindy said, "Isn't it funny how much you hated Maytag blue cheese when you were a little kid?"  

(For the back story on my initial hatred of Maytag blue cheese, click here.)  

I said, "Yeah, I've only liked the stuff for about 25 years now.  Better late than never."

After finishing up our salads, our main entrees came out.  The pork loin (below left) was cut into slices with the hoison sauce and another white sauce that tasted like it had some anise infused into it.  Two large scallops rested on the plate.  Alex explained, "The chef said we charge by the ounce, so it was two for nine dollars, not three.  If you want another one, I can get it for you."  I felt a little monetary stab on that, but I just let it go and declined another scallop for $4.50.   

 
Cindy's New York Strip was cooked to a medium and was served with what looked like a peppercorn sauce on the side.  She cut into her steak and came across a large chunk of gristle and fat.  She immediately said, "I knew I should have gotten the filet."   I told her to be patient and her steak turned out to be pretty good.  

And the first bite of the end of the pork loin was rather tough, dry and over-cooked.  However, as I got into the center of the loin, more flavor and juiciness came out.  The stuffing was pleasant enough, but I wasn't certain I liked the drizzled sauce on the top of the loin.  It was far from a deal breaker and after a few more bites, I got used to it and decided that the sauce was fine.  

I'm glad that I just got a couple of the scallops.  The flavor was wonderful, but the scallops were a little gritty.  Naw, not just a little gritty, but plenty gritty.  Cindy felt her scallops were a little too gritty for her taste, as well.  But other than that, they were great.  

Cindy gave me a chunk of her steak and I thought it tasted fine.  She said, "Yeah, I guess after that initial cut it did get better.  You were right.  I just needed to be patient."  

About the only thing that I didn't care for was the polenta.  I found the taste to be drab and dry.  But I'm not big on polenta, anyway.  

Alex was a good waiter.  He had just finished with the party of 12 seated next to us when he was serving us our entrees, but he had another group of 10 coming in not long after we finished our meals.  Cindy said, "He must be the top waiter here.  He does a good job."  

After we finished up, Alex came by with the dessert menu.  The menu also featured a number of scotch whiskys and liqueurs.  I contemplated getting a scotch, but we had an hour drive ahead of us.  After a bottle of wine, Cindy said, "You can get a night cap at home."  

We did decided to get a creme brulee to share.  It came in a small bowl with powder sugar sprinkled on top and on the plate with a side of whipped cream and a chocolate-sauce drizzle.  And I thought I needed a double espresso to help keep me alert for the drive back to the Quad Cities.  It's only a 55 minute drive, but it had been a long day.  

The creme brulee was good.  It was a nice closure to a fine meal.  Our final bill was a little stiff - the bottle of Duckhorn didn't help matters any - and Alex got a nice tip for his efforts.  

We had few criticisms of our meal at Linn Street Cafe.  My pork loin was good, Cindy liked her steak, the salads were fine, as was the creme brulee.  Alex was an excellent server and the atmosphere at Linn Street Cafe was very relaxing and elegant.  Like most people, Linn Street Cafe may be out of our budget for regular dining.  But we can't see any reason why we wouldn't go back to Linn Street Cafe for another meal at some other time in the future.  

Fargo (Happy Harry's) Rib Fest - Fargo, ND

The annual River Roots Live music and rib festival is coming up next Friday and Saturday at LeClaire Park in Davenport.  I've worked as the stage manager/announcer for bands at the rib fest every year with the exception of its first year in 1998.  And when River Roots Live began eight years ago, I've worked every event with the exception of the second year.  When the two combined six years ago, it was marriage of two popular and successful summertime events in the Quad Cities.  And this year - with The Wallflowers and Shooter Jennings headlining the event (with a special appearance by The BoDeans) - promises to be another great festival.

With that said, I was interested to hear that the Fargo Rib Fest - also known as Happy Harry's Rib Fest (named after chief sponsor Happy Harry's Bottle Shops with two locations in Fargo and one in Grand Forks) - would be going on when I was up in Fargo earlier this summer.  After driving from western North Dakota thru Fargo on my way to Minneapolis, I decided to stop back in Fargo to check out their rib fest.  

The first Fargo Rib Fest was held in 1996, two years before the first rib festival was held in Davenport.  Just like the one in Davenport, it features a number of national and regional traveling rib vendors and live music that includes slowly dying rock bands, and up and coming country acts.  Whereas River Roots Live is probably a music festival first and a rib festival second, it fully appears that the emphasis is on the food at Fargo and the music is a nighttime afterthought.  We start the music at 5 p.m. on Friday evening and at noon at Saturday.  In Fargo, they have an opening act and then the headliner comes on sometime after 9 p.m.  This year's headliners including Sugar Ray, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Blue Oyster Cult (a band that has played at River Roots Live in the past) and some country band that I wasn't familiar with, Gloriana.  But, then again, I don't keep up with country music all that much.   

The rib festival in Fargo is four days - Wednesday thru Saturday - compared to only two days for the River Roots Live rib fest in Davenport.  (Back when the Davenport Rib Fest was a stand-alone event, we did four days on a couple of occasions, but it was mainly three days.)  Happy Harry's has been the title sponsor in Fargo for three years now.  But the Fargo Rib Fest has over 20 national, regional and local sponsors for the event including big names like Miller Lite, Ford, and Bud Light.  As my Fargo audio dealer told me when he was describing the rib festival to me, "The community really gets behind the rib fest up here."   

On Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. the Fargo Rib Fest waives their admission fee (I believe it's normally 5 bucks to get in) and they work with the rib vendors to provide lunch time specials.  I pulled into Fargo just after noon and made my way up toward the Fargodome where the event is held in the northeast side parking lot of the enclosed stadium.  (see map)  When I pulled onto University Dr. N. from 19th Ave. N., I encountered a minor traffic jam of dozens of cars trying to get into the parking lot.  Now, when we do lunch on the Friday of River Roots Live, we get a pretty good crowd of downtown workers.  But with the expansive parking lots on the east and south sides of the Fargodome, they get HUGE crowds for lunch.  (My dealer told me later on, that on the day I attended the rib fest it was the first nice day they'd had in the Fargo area in weeks.  "People here have cabin fever," he explained.  "They've just been waiting for a nice day to come and it's obvious they came out in droves.")  

After parking the car toward the south side of the Fargodome, I made my way onto the grounds of the rib fest. Given the amount of cars in the lot, I knew that the lines would be long.  But I didn't anticipate them being THIS long!  There were seven rib vendors there including perennial Davenport rib fest vendor Desperado's BBQ, and a couple other rib vendors who have participated in the Davenport fest in the past - Aussom Aussie and Rasta Joe's BBQ.  I had hoped to look for Donna Rice, the owner of Desperado's (her husband, Lee, died of complications of a stroke last year), but they were so busy that I wasn't going to interrupt their lunch time rush.  

Fully knowing that I wasn't going to be able to get any ribs for lunch (they did have other non-rib vendors on the grounds), I sauntered over to the Summit Brewery tent that was manned - well, that's not the right term because it was being run by members of the Minnesota State University-Moorhead women's basketball team.  I saw that they had a Summit Summer Ale on tap and I ordered up a 16-ounce glass for $6.00 bucks (ouch!).  After grabbing my beer, I took off for a look around the grounds to see what they did differently from our festival in Davenport.   

As I said, the rib vendors all had long lines of people waiting to get ribs and two free sides as part of the lunch special that goes on during the week at the rib fest.  After getting my beer, I just happened upon a young guy who had just picked up a some ribs at Just North of Memphis, a rib vendor from north central Minnesota.  I asked him how long he waited to get ribs and he said, "About 30 minutes.  That's not as bad as last year.  I waited over 45 minutes in line to get ribs one day last year."  I began to wonder if there's any good rib joints in the Fargo-Moorhead area given the throng of people lined up in front of all seven vendors.  

 
The stage was somewhat similar to what we do for River Roots Live.  Our is a combination of the ornate Le Claire Park bandshell (which is only used as a backdrop) and a constructed covered stage.  Interestingly, they have rib vendors close to the stage area, something that could cause some pretty bad congestion for those trying to get barbecue when a band it playing and there's a load of people in front of the stage.  We keep the rib vendors back toward the east side of LeClaire Park, well away from the people near the stage area for River Roots Live. 

It was also interesting to see how and where people were eating their food.  The rib festival in Fargo used a number of large wooden cable spools as table tops interspersed around the parking lot at the Fargodome.  I thought, "Geez, what a great idea!"  However, procuring the large wooden spools and getting them to the event would be two separate issues.  There's also a handful of metal picnic tables scattered throughout the grounds of the rib festival.  And people were even sitting on some of the small metal bleachers toward the back of the stage area to try and eat their lunch.  

 
And like we have at River Roots Live, there's an dining tent.  Only the one they use in Fargo is about three times the size we use and they really do "sardine" the people in there.  The one thing I noticed is that they use heavy duty metal folding chairs in Fargo compared to the flimsy plastic seat and back folding chairs we have in Davenport.  They aren't too stable, especially when you're sitting on grass instead of asphalt.  

For the families, there were a number of areas for the kids.  Ford Motor Company had a traveling exhibit that showed new cars and offered interactive video games for kids.  There was a huge bounce area for kids as well as a small stage for family-centric entertainment.  Having that large of a parking lot allowed a lot of spreading out of the festival as a whole.  

 
Even though I couldn't get any barbecue - no, wait - I didn't want to WAIT to get any barbecue at the Fargo/Happy Harry's Rib Fest, I still came away impressed with the whole operation.  I guess-timated there were easily over 3,000 people who were either eating, waiting in line, or still coming in when I left just before 1 p.m.  I can easily see why people in Fargo get behind the rib festival.  I learned some things that I took back to Davenport with me to try and make our event even better in the years to come.  

Red Cow - Edina, MN

A new restaurant popped up earlier this year in the 50th and France area of the Minneapolis suburb of Edina, a gourmet burger, eclectic beer and wine bar by the name of Red Cow.  I had read something about it when I was up in the Twin Cities earlier this year and decided to drive over to the area to check the place out for dinner one night.  

Red Cow opened in February of this year in an old video rental location on 50th Street.  (see map)  The owner, Luke Shimp, was a minority owner and the C.F.O. for Blue Plate Restaurant Company that oversees the day-to-day operations of such restaurants as the Edina Grill, Groveland Tap, Longfellow Grill, and the somewhat new restaurant in the Uptown area of Minneapolis, The Lowry.   Shimp's sister, Stephanie, and a former co-worker of hers, David Burley, started out in 1993 with the opening of the Highland Grill and have used the neighborhood bar and grill blueprint for the restaurants under the Blue Plate banner.  

Luke Shimp left the company in 2012 to pursue an opportunity to open his own neighborhood joint.  Wanting his first restaurant to be in an established neighborhood, he found an old Blockbuster video store location about two blocks to the east of France at the corner of 50th and Drew Ave.  (Pictured right - Luke Shimp.  Photo courtesy Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal.)

There is a small parking lot in front of the building that houses Red Cow on 50th Street.  Initial reviews of the place have been positive - so positive that it's usually packed by 5:30 p.m. - and the parking lot is perpetually full.  After driving by the Red Cow, I noticed that there was a couple getting into their car that was parked right in front.  I drove around the block and when I came back, the car was moving out of the parking spot and I whipped right in and took it. 

Like I said, Red Cow has been a major hit in the short time it has been in business and fills up quickly in the early evening hours.  The night I was there was no exception.  The cool and damp early Summer night didn't deter people from venturing out to the Red Cow and there were a number of people waiting for tables in the dining area off to the right or for a table in the bar area.  I spied an open seat at the bar and made my way over there.  I asked a guy next to the open spot if the seat was taken and he said, "Nope!  It's yours now."

The bar area featured a long bar that jutted out on one end.  A number of high-top tables were in the middle of the room with some banquette seats along the wall with tables on the side.  They're certainly serious about their beer at Red Cow and their beer menu boasts three dozen varieties on tap and a nearly like number of beers available by bottle or can.  (Picture at left - courtesy TripAdvisor.com)

Being that it was very busy, the three bartenders were furiously trying to keep up with the orders coming in.  But one of them - Shar - took the time to stop and greet me.  She asked if I wanted a beer and a menu.  I had been scouting out the tappers along the wall and I saw that they had the Bell's Two Hearted pale ale on tap.  I ordered one of those as she handed me a menu.  

Red Cow has well over a dozen eclectic burgers to choose from on their burger menu.  In addition to regular Black Angus burgers, they also had burgers made from bison, elk, turkey, salmon, lamb and one with duck with wild rice.  I noticed that they had a breakfast burger that was an angus burger topped with a fried egg, bacon and cheddar, but it was also topped with peanut butter.   Ugh!  Sorry, I can't handle peanut butter on anything warm.  (My wife will attest to my dislike for the smell of peanut butter on toast.)  I know I could have gotten it without the peanut butter, but there were other burgers catching my eye.  

The Barcelona burger was topped with prosciutto, roasted sweet piquillo peppers and topped with manchego cheese and smoked garlic aioli.  That sounded really interesting.  The Manhattan featured ground Black Angus beef direct from Pat LaFrieda, a butcher house that has been providing prime beef to steakhouses and restaurants around New York City for over 90 years.   But what I ended up ordering was the Mushroom-Swiss cheese burger, medium.  I asked Char if I could get a couple strips of bacon on it and she said it would be no problem.  She asked if I wanted any hand-cut or parmesan-truffle French fries and I ordered up the regular hand cut.

The guy next to me was having the fish tacos that they had on their "Sandwiches and More" part of their menu.  And they looked really good.  Another thing that caught my attention on the sandwich part of the menu was the Grinder - Genoa salami, capicola and pastrami topped with gruyere cheese, giardinara and a pepper aioli sauce on a soft hoagie bun.  That REALLY sounded good.  Those were two things that I figured I could try on subsequent visits if this visit worked out to my liking.  

In addition to the burgers and the sandwiches, Red Cow also features salads and homemade soups, and an appetizer list they call "Shareables" that feature chicken wings, sweet potato fries, beer-steamed mussels, and something called "Ahi Chips" that featured seared ahi tuna, a Japanese ponzu sauce, avocado and a pepper aioli served on crisps.  

Just as I ordered another Two Hearted pale ale from Shar, another server brought out my plate with the mushroom/Swiss cheese burger with a couple small strips of bacon on top.  Nothing else came on the burger - no ketchup (although there was ketchup in a small metal container on the plate, probably for the fries), no mustard, nothing else other than the sauteed mushroom slices hidden under the melted Swiss cheese wit the bacon laying on top of the cheese.  

I had ordered my burger "medium" and I found it to be flavorful and juicy with just a hint of pink in the middle - the way I like my burgers.  The overall taste of the burger was very good.  I liked the bun - it was light and not overpowering and it had a nice grilled bun taste to it.  It held together well as I ate the burger.  

The fries were all right - they were crispy on the outside with a nice potato taste.  But I was more interested in trying to finish the hefty-weighted black angus burger with a lot of taste sensations going on.  The mushrooms were definitely fresh and had a great sauteed taste to them.  All in all, it was a very good burger.  

There's a lot of places to eat around the 50th and France area and Red Cow is a welcome addition to the scenery.  From the taste and quality of my burger alone, it's no wonder the place has been packed since it opened earlier this year.  Parking can be a minor pain in the ass, but it's only a short walk from a public parking garage just to the west of France on 50th.  Red Cow is more than just a burger joint and I'm looking forward to trying either the fish tacos or the grinder sandwich on my next visit.  (Photo at left courtesy of Blogs at City Pages.com)

WheatFields - Omaha, NE

As a Hilton Honors Diamond member, I usually get free breakfasts during my stays at Hilton properties.  When Cindy and I were in Omaha for an extended weekend, we passed up the opportunities for free hotel breakfasts and went out on our own.  On a soggy Sunday morning, we checked out of the Embassy Suites in the Old Market and ventured up the streets to a bakery/restaurant called WheatFields for breakfast.  

The Old Market WheatFields is one of three locations in and around the greater Omaha area.  Ron Popp grew up on a farm near Dow City, IA and wanted to have a restaurant that replicated the hearty breakfasts he had as a youth.  Ruth Popp had been a military brat following her father all over the world as he worked for the United States Air Force.  After ending up in Omaha and getting together with Ron Popp, she brought a wealth of bakery recipes that she picked up from the different places she lived as she was growing up. The Popps were first involved with The Garden Cafe in Omaha, beginning in 1985 when they opened the restaurant until they were ousted by investors during a messy bankruptcy in the mid-90's. The Popps are involved in the FarmHouse Cafe bakery and restaurant in Omaha, opening that place in 1997.  

The Popps opened their first WheatFields in 2000 in the One Pacific Place boutique mall on the west side of Omaha.  They eventually opened WheatFields Express at the corner of 12th and Howard in the Old Market (see map) in June of 2009 in a space that was also a small European-style cafe and bakery.  Later in the year, they converted the space to a full service WheatFields cafe in addition to the bakery.   

We had contemplated walking up the street to Wheatfields as it was only two blocks from the hotel.  But a steady rain had developed and we decided we'd better drive.  Finding that it was a popular place, even on a Sunday morning, we were lucky to find on street parking just across 12th on Howard St.  There was a small line to eat in the dining room as the outdoor sidewalk seating was closed because of the rain.  We were lucky we got there when we did (just after 9:00 a.m.) because the line was out the door by the time we left later on.

 
While waiting for our table, it gave me time to take a look at all the fresh baked breads and pastries WheatFields had to offer.  They had a special on Czech-style kolaches that day - $1.00 each.  About the only other place I've seen kolaches on a regular basis is in Cedar Rapids, IA.  Both Omaha and Cedar Rapids share a deep Czech heritage.  

They also had turnovers, sticky buns and large cinnamon rolls.  They had just taken this large pan of a dozen big cinnamon rolls out of the the oven and into the case when I was standing there.  

It was less than a 10 minute wait in the bakery area of WheatFields when our name was finally called.  We were led to a large booth in the corner of the restaurant.  The hostess left off breakfast menus for us and not long after that our server, Sonja, came over to greet us.  Perky and outgoing, she was immediately likable.

 

The dining area at the WheatFields in the Old Market is not large, but we didn't feel cramped.   The place had a multi-national feeling to it.  In addition to Czech pastries, WheatFields had the French name of bakery - boulangerie - on it's front window.  And there was a German phrase on one of the walls of the dining room that roughly translates into "food and drink keeps the body and soul together."  With the Czech, French and German influences, it was an interesting nod to European-style food.

Looking through the menu, I knew we were going to have problems with what we wanted to eat.  They had waffles, pancakes, biscuits and gravy, souflees, quiches, egg scramble plates, French toast made with ciabatta bread - the list went on and on.  

I was torn between a couple things - the waffle with blackberry butter sounded good.  But I was also looking at Bjorn's Croissant - one of their large croissants that I was drooling over in the bakery case before we were seated, grilled with two scrambled eggs and cheese with bacon.  The Dungeness eggs Benedict featured two crabcakes on top of English muffin halves and topped with green onions, asparagus, tomatoes and the hollandaise sauce.  They had "create your own" omelettes that featured over a dozen different types of vegetables you could add to the omelette, as well as a dozen and a half different types of cheese, and then nearly ten different types of meat or seafood you could add to the omelette.  Everything sounded just great.

Sonja came to check on us and Cindy wasn't ready to order.  So I ordered up a blueberry kolache and an orange caramel sticky bun in the meantime.   Sonja brought them back to me and while the kolache was very good - filled in the middle with a fresh and tasty blueberry filling - the orange caramel sticky bun was to die for.  It wasn't very large and it was done in a couple bites for me.  Now, I'm a sucker for the orange danish rolls that you get in the can, but the orange caramel rolls at WheatFields have officially spoiled me.  It was unbelievable in taste.  When Sonja came back to check on us to see if we were ready to order breakfast, I told her weren't quite ready.  But in the meantime, bring out two more of the orange caramel sticky bun.

I had pretty much narrowed down my choices to a couple - the waffle or an omelette - but Cindy was still having trouble.  After Sonja had dropped of the two sticky buns, she came back once more wondering if we were ready to order.  Cindy apologetically said to her, "I'm sorry I'm having so much trouble.  There is just so much to digest in this menu!"  

Sonja said it wasn't a problem in the least and as she walked away, Cindy said to me, "I'm sorry.  I don't know why I'm having so much trouble.  I just need to figure out what I want and order it."  She was looking at getting the strawberry and banana crepe, the quiche special that they had that day, or the veggie cheese omelette.  

When Sonja came back, she asked, "Ready?"  Cindy was determined that she would be ready.  She ordered the quiche special that day that was filled with peppers, asparagus and tomatoes.  A side of the creme brulee hash brown potatoes came with it as well as a side of baked apples.  She hadn't been eating potatoes as part of a diet she's been on, but she was intrigued by the creme brulee hash browns.  

I asked Sonja if it were possible to get some fresh blueberries on top of the waffle.  She said it would be no problem.  I got a side of bacon with the waffle.   As we waited for our breakfast to show up, we noticed the bakery area filling up with more and more people, fully realizing that we came at a good time to beat the 10 a.m. breakfast rush.  

When our food came out, I was ready to eat.  True to her word, Sonja had the cooks put fresh blueberries on my warm and golden brown waffle and more blueberries came in a side container.  The waffle also came with WheatFields in-house-made black raspberry butter.  

 
Cindy's quiche was a large and fluffy wedge with the veggies mixed in.  The creme brulee hash browns were in a dish next to the quiche and I couldn't wait to get a few bites of that. 

There wasn't much they could do with a basic waffle - and I knew that.  That's why I had them put the blueberries on it. The blueberries were plump and fresh and gave the waffle a nice fruit kick in taste.  The black raspberry butter was also a nice addition to the waffle.  It had a sweet and sour taste to the butter and I made sure I slathered the concoction on top of the waffle.  Overall, it was a pretty good waffle.

Cindy was very happy with her quiche.  It appeared to have good sized chunks of veggies mixed in the baked eggs.  She said not only was it good, it was very rich.

But the thing I was looking for was a bite of the creme brulee hash browns.  While I didn't get the taste sensation of a creme brulee with potatoes, the rich creaminess of the sauce with the potatoes was actually very good.  There was almost like a little crust on top of the hash browns and each bite yielded this wonderful taste of freshly grated potatoes and a cream sauce.  The creme brulee hash browns were the highlight of the meal.  

WheatFields wasn't cheap - our breakfast was a bit over $40 bucks with a nice tip from Sonja who kept making sure we were taken care of.  Cindy suggested I get a to-go pan of the orange caramel sticky buns, but I was afraid they wouldn't make it back home.  Other than it being a little pricey for breakfast, I couldn't really complain much about the meal.  The waffle was a waffle, but the blueberries were fresh and tasty, as was the black raspberry butter.  Cindy liked her quiche and the creme brulee hash browns were top notch.  I can see why WheatFields would be a popular place for breakfast on the weekends in the Old Market.  While it wasn't a great breakfast, I don't have much - if any - to complain about the place. 

Schwartz's Deli - Montreal

I like it when my boss calls us to Montreal for a meeting.  I like it even more when he calls the meeting when the weather is nicer than it is in mid-December, such as the two previous times I went up there.  The night before we were to all meet in Montreal a few weeks ago, my colleague, Ian, e-mailed that he was going to have a smoked beef sandwich at Schwartz's Deli in the heart of Montreal for lunch the next day.  I was familiar with Schwartz's and immediately replied that I was in for it, as well.  After getting through customs, and along with my colleagues Matt and Chris, we met up with Ian at Montreal Trudeau International Airport for a trip to Schwartz's Deli.

Schwartz's was opened in 1928 by Romanian Jewish immigrant Reuben Schwartz.  The original name of the place was "Montreal Hebrew Deli" before becoming simply known as "Schwartz's Deli".  Even though he owned the deli for over 40 years, it is said Rueben Schwartz was a very disagreeable man who was not good at running a business.  He was also said to be a gambler, a womanizer, and a man who liked to drink.  Even his immediate family hated him - so much so that he eventually had to move in with Maurice Zbringer, a classically-trained musician who played violin, and Zbringer's wife.  As a sign of appreciation for taking him in, Schwartz made Zbringer a partner in Schwartz's Deli.  And at the age of 75, Zbringer eventually bought the place from Schwartz in 1971.   

During Zbringer's ownership, Schwartz's Deli became profitable and renown for their smoked meat sandwiches - basically they take beef brisket that is cured in water with salt, peppercorns, coriander and sugar.  The meat is cured for 10 days before it is deep smoked for about six hours, then steamed to moisten the meat.  Schwartz's Deli was not the first place to serve Montreal smoked meat.  Local legend has it that Ben's De Luxe Delicatessen was the first to serve the smoked meat sandwiches.  Ian told us that he used to go to Ben's before it closed down a few years ago after being in business for 98 years.  He thought it was the best of the smoked meat sandwiches in Montreal.  But Schwartz's - now by default - is the oldest and most well-known of deli's that serve Montreal-style smoked meat sandwiches.

(I've had a Montreal-style smoked meat sandwich before - in, of all places, Omaha, Nebraska.  Click here to see my entry on the Montreal-style smoked meat sandwich at Brewburgers in Omaha.)   

It's also said that the Montreal Steak Seasoning - a popular spice and herb seasoning that some people (including myself) use to put on steaks - had its beginning at Schwartz's.  Legend has it that back in the 1940's a broiler cook by the name of Morris "The Shadow" Sherman began to season steaks with the pickling seasoning Schwartz's used to season their briskets.  The basic spices and herbs were garlic, coriander, dill weed, black pepper, cayenne pepper and salt.  Customers liked it so much that other deli and steak places in Montreal began to use it.  The Montreal Steak Seasoning is available in most grocery stores in the spice area, or you can order it directly from Schwartz's web site.  (Click on the Montreal Steak Seasoning link at the top of the paragraph.)     

Maurice Zbringer was in poor health for the later years of his life, but he took a lot of the profits out of the business to fund free music concerts around the Montreal area.  After his wife passed away, he had a professional caretaker - Armande Toupin Chartrande - that looked after him and his affairs.  As a token of his appreciation for her service to him in his later years, Zbringer willed the delicatessen to Chartrande.  She ran it from Zbringer's death in 1981 to 1999.

In 1999, Chartrande sold the business to its accountant, Hy Diamond.  Up to that point, Diamond was the only owner of Schwartz's that had any type of formal business training.  To help alleviate the long lines of people looking to get a quick sandwich to go, Diamond opened a take-out only location next door to the original Schwartz Deli in 2008.    

Diamond owned the business until 2012 when he sold it to a group that included Paul Nakis, owner of the Baton Rouge restaurant chain that started in the Montreal area; Eric and Martin Sara, whose father, Paul Sara, owned the Nickels Deli restaurant chain in Ontario and Quebec; and their aunt and uncle - superstar singer Celine Dion and her husband/manager Rene Angelil.  (Dion and Angelil were also owners in Nickels restaurants from their inception in 1990 until they divested themselves from the company in 1997.)  

Immediately after the nearly $10 million dollar purchase of Schwartz's Deli, rumors abounded that the group was looking to sell franchises.  But Nakis and Angelil have repeatedly said that they are not interested in franchising the Schwartz's Deli concept.  However, earlier this year, the group began to sell pre-cooked vacuum-packed Schwartz's Deli smoked meat in grocery stores in the greater Montreal area.

Schwartz's Deli is located on Boulevard Ste. Laurent in the heart of Montreal. (see map) Boulevard Ste. Laurent is known as the Main Street of Montreal, or simply "The Main" to the locals.  The street features a number of small restaurants, shops and boutiques, and a somewhat Bohemian population.  Because it was a Sunday and there were a lot of people in the area, we were forced to find parking on a side street a couple blocks away from Schwartz's.  (Unfortunately, we unknowingly parked in a No Parking zone.  When we got back we encountered a Montreal parking attendant writing us a ticket. We soon found out that not being able to read the French "No Parking" signs was not a credible excuse to get out of the ticket.)  

We had driven by Schwartz's and noticed the long lines outside the place - something that happens most every day.  Even after 2 p.m., the line was about 25 people deep when we walked up to get in the queue.  It took us about 25 minutes waiting for people to leave and tables to open up.  

(A quick, but important note - Schwartz's is a cash only establishment.  They have an ATM in the back of the restaurant if you don't have any Canadian money on you.) 

Getting up closer to the front door, we saw a pile of cured smoked meat sitting in a refrigerated case in the window.  Chris was wondering what kind of meat it was.  I tried to explain that it started out as beef brisket, but it was neither categorized as corned beef or pastrami.  Chris decided that it was some sort of "mystery" smoked meat.  He was a little leery of trying it, I believe.   

 
We finally got inside and got a table right as you come in the door across from the deli counter.  The small place was packed with people sitting at tables and at the counter.  A waiter weaved his way through the crowd and came to our table with menus.  He took our drink order - no beer at Schwartz's - and the guys got cans of Coca-Cola and I got a water.  

In addition to the smoked meat sandwiches - which seemed like what everyone was ordering in the place - they have turkey, chicken or salami sandwiches available.  Originally, Schwartz's was a steakhouse when Reuben Schwartz opened 85 years ago and they still have steak dinners on the menu.  They have ribeye steaks on the menu and you can also get smoked meat plates if you don't want a sandwich.  I almost got the large smoked meat plate because I'd been hankering for a good corned beef-style sandwich or dinner for quite sometime.   

The traditional order at Schwartz's is a smoked beef sandwich ($6.40 Canadian Dollars), an order of fries, a kosher dill pickle, cole slaw and a Cherry Coke.  That sounded like a lot of food.  When the waiter came back to take our order, I was the first to order.  I ordered a smoked beef sandwich, fries and a pickle.  The waiter asked me how I wanted the sandwich.  I looked at him quizzically and he explained, "You can get it lean, medium, medium-fat or fat."  I figured fat would be brisket with a lot of the fat still on the meat, so I went with medium.  I understand medium-fat is one of the more popular choices among the regulars who go to Schwartz's.   

Everyone else at the table followed my lead and went with the exact same thing.  And it didn't take long for our sandwiches appear at the table.  The meat was piled high on the rye bread with sandwich halves teetering precariously on top.  Yellow mustard comes on the sandwich.  

I took a bite of the meat without the bread and it was moist and tender, but it was missing that corned beef or pastrami "pizazz".  There wasn't much of a smoky taste to the meat, nor did I get much of a salt or peppercorn taste to the meat.  It wasn't that it was dull in taste, it was different that what I expect in a cooked beef brisket.  Maybe the steaming takes some of the taste out of it.  The Montreal-style smoked meat sandwich I had in Omaha was more like a corned beef sandwich.  While the sandwich at Schwartz's was similar in look and texture, it was missing that little bite in taste that I like in a good cured brisket sandwich.  

I will say the French fries were pretty damned good, however.  Whatever they cooked them in gave them an excellent taste.  They were a bit soggy, but were loaded with great flavor.  My sandwich was OK, but the fries were great.  I purposely didn't eat any breakfast that morning so I devoured my sandwich, my fries and the large kosher dill pickle with ease.  

Schwartz's Deli is one of those places you have to experience at least once if you're seeking historic places to eat.  My sandwich was fine, but not the earth-shaking taste sensation that I had hoped it would be.  The reactions of my two colleagues who had never had a Montreal-style smoked meat sandwich before were "Yeah, it was good," to "Aaah, yeah, I guess it was all right."  But we decided it probably wasn't anything that we'd stand in line for again.  Overrated?  Possibly.  But it was still cool to give Schwartz's Deli a try. 

Junior's Cafe and Grill - Eagan, MN

A few weeks ago I had an early morning flight I had to take out of the Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport.  The night before my morning flight I stayed at a hotel near the airport.  I'd been on the road a lot up to that point and I was craving some comfort food.  Not Indian comfort food, but the real kind - hot beef sandwich with mashed potatoes and gravy.  I wanted to go to a Keys Cafe, but there weren't any near where I was staying.  A quick look on the Internet pointed me to a place in nearby Eagan by the name of Junior's Cafe and Grill.  It was less than a 10 minute drive from the hotel so I set out for Junior's Grill (as it's known to the locals). 

Alice Reyes is listed as the owner of Junior's Cafe and Grill.  It has been a long time favorite for breakfasts, burgers and comfort food for people on the southeast side of the Twin Cities.  In addition to the Junior's Cafe and Grill location in Eagan, they also have a bigger location in south suburban Burnsville called Junior's Sports Cafe that opened in 2010.  They have a more extensive menu at that location and I understand that they have live entertainment.

Junior's Grill in Eagan is located off Pilot Knob Road near its exit off of Interstate 35 E.  It's situated in a strip mall on Duckwood Drive in the midst of an area that has a number of retail stores and restaurants with a large Walmart across the street. (see map)  There's ample parking out in front of Junior's.

Parking wasn't a problem when I got to Junior's Cafe and Grill around 7:30 that particular evening.  I went in to the small restaurant and took a seat at a table up front in the corner.  There were a group of three teenaged kids sitting at the counter having burgers and a group of three 20-somethings sitting at a table along the wall.  It wasn't busy in the least.  

Junior's Grill is classic Americana in the sense of decor.   The well-lighted spot has a classic counter that seats 11.  There are a number of tables topped with vinyl checkerboard table coverings.  On the walls throughout the place were pictures and prints of classic American movie stars, stills from movies, sporting events, and screwball pictures such as ironworkers acting like they're playing baseball on exposed steel beams 60 stories in the sky.   

 

Another interesting aspect of the place - at least to me - was the utensil caddy that was on each table. It held napkins, straws and knives, forks and spoons.  A bottle of ketchup was on one side and a bottle of mustard on the other.  It was butted up to a diamond-patterned chrome wainscoting.  It was like stepping back into a grill/cafe in the 50's.  The one thing that struck me about Junior's Grill was how clean and polished it was.   

My server for the evening, Courtney, came over to greet me and dropped off a menu.  She asked if I wanted anything to drink.  The Junior's Grill location in Eagan doesn't serve alcohol and that was fine with me.  I just had her get me a glass of water while I looked through the menu.   

For a moment, I actually thought about getting breakfast for dinner.  But then I saw that Junior's only offers breakfast from 7:00 a.m. (when they open) to 10:45 a.m. through the week.  Oh well, so much for that.  I concentrated my efforts on their blue plate specials.  I was going down through the list and was getting a little worried.  There was a meat loaf dinner, there was country fried steak, fried chicken.  Hmmm...  No hot beef sandwich?  Finally at the bottom below the spaghetti and meatballs was the hot beef sandwich.  Shwew!  I was almost panicking for a moment. 

But even if they didn't have the hot beef sandwich, I could have gotten one of their flat grilled burgers.  I noticed a couple of the young kids at the counter had gotten the burgers and they looked very good.  Junior's Grill is actually known for their burgers and I have already made a note to get back there sometime to try one.  

Courtney came over and I asked if the hot beef sandwich came with mashed potatoes.  It said in the menu description that it was roast beef piled high on a piece of white bread and topped with something called red pepper gravy.  She said, "Oh, sure.  It comes with mashed potatoes, but if you don't want them we can pull them."

"No, no, no," I said.  "I want the mashed potatoes."  She also told me green beans come on the side.  I told her that was fine.  About 10 minutes after I ordered, she brought the hearty American meal to my table.

The thinly sliced roast beef was served open faced and, indeed, piled high on a slice of white bread.  It had a thick brown gravy slathered over the top.  A crater of mashed potatoes with a small lake of the gravy was sitting next to it with the green beans off to the other side.  To complete the comfort food experience, I got a large glass of milk to go along with the meal.

The sliced roast beef was tender and easy to cut.  A serrated knife was provided with the meal, but I found the meat easy to cut with the fork.  The beef was lean and had a nice flavor.  The gravy was good and thick, but was a little too salty for my taste.  Most thick brown gravy that I have encountered in my travels seems to be a little salty.  It wasn't a deal breaker, but it was a little annoying.  

The mashed potatoes were good, nice and smooth with a good taste.  As I was concentrating on trying to finish the hot beef sandwich, I didn't eat much of the potatoes.  Or of the green beans, for that matter.  What I did have of the green beans, I found them to be cooked perfectly - not mushy or undercooked.  It was a pretty good comfort food meal all the way around.  

And there was a lot of it.  I finished all of the roast beef on the plate, but left a large amount of green beans and most of the potatoes.   It was very filling and a "spot-hitter" in every way.  I still think the gravy was a little too salty for my taste.  But I don't salt much of anything in any of my meals, so it may be fine for others.  Overall, I was impressed with Junior's Cafe and Grill and would like to try one of their breakfast items and a burger at some point.  I have a feeling their burgers are pretty good.