Road Tips

Sinful Burger - Bellevue, NE

A shout-out to Road Tips reader "R.A.B." who commented after my entry on Dinker's Bar in Omaha (click here to see my entry) that I really needed to try a newer place in town, Sinful Burger out in the suburb of Bellevue.  I had it on my list to try for awhile and I finally got a chance to go there for lunch on a recent trip out to Omaha.  

Sinful Burger is a family owned and operated business, started by the husband and wife team of Jim and Debbie Nearing.  Much like people who start up barbecue joints, the Nearings would make homemade burgers in their backyard for their neighbors.  It got to the point where the neighbors would pay for the burgers, they were so good.  So good, their neighbors would say, that they were sinful.  At the urging of their son, C.J., the Nearings took seven years experience of backyard burger barbecues and decided to start up their own restaurant.  They opened Sinful Burger in May of 2011 using closely guarded family recipes to make their burgers.  

It was around 12:30 when I got to Sinful Burger.  Actually, it was pretty tough to find.  It's located on Twin Creek Drive (which didn't register on my GPS) just east of S. 42nd St. and north of Nebraska Highway 370, about a mile west of the Kennedy Freeway.  (see map)  It's in the northeast corner of a strip mall in a space that looked like it possibly was a restaurant that had a drive up window.  The place was about half full when I got there, taking a seat in a booth along the large glass windows facing west.  My server, Alex (a 20-something young lady), came over, greeted me and asked me if I'd like something to drink.  They have a handful of local craft beers and the usual domestics on tap and in bottles.  I just ordered a water for the time being.

Actually, Sinful Burger is a sports bar/burger joint.  It sort of looks like a 50's-era diner with heavy padded booth seats, padded chairs and diner-style tables.  A number of flat screen televisions were on the normal sports channels and there were some pictures and other memorabilia from local teams on the walls.  I'm guessing the red color that engulfed the decor at Sinful Burger had to do with the Nearing's love for University of Nebraska football.  

There is a nice three-sided bar at Sinful Burger that I contemplated sitting at when I first came in and, I'll have to say, that the booths were a little tight.  I'm not a small guy, but the booths at Sinful Burger were almost too small between the seats and table.  If four people that had a little bit of girth on them had to sit in the booth, they'd be pretty uncomfortable.  I noticed two large guys sitting at a table near me enjoying their burgers.  They had the right idea.

And like at nearby Stella's (click here to see my entry on Stella's), Sinful Burger pulls in a wide array of people for their noon time crowd.  There were airmen from nearby Offutt Air Force Base sitting in a booth next to me.  The two guys I talked about earlier sitting at the table near me were construction workers.  Two guys in dress shirts and ties were enjoying lunch in booth on the wall across from me, napkins as bibs guarding the front of their white shirts.  And a family of three with a little girl were seated at a table near the door.   

The menu at Sinful Burger has, of course, burgers, but they also have appetizers such as housemade reuben rolls, onion rings, chicken wings, fried pickle spears and mozzarella sticks.  For people not looking for a burger, Sinful Burger also has something called Debbie's Infamous Indian Taco which pays homage to Debbie Nearing's Sioux Indian heritage.  It consists of an Indian flat bread topped with chili, cheddar cheese, lettuce, onion and tomatoes.   They also have a fried or grilled chicken finger sandwich that features a housemade chipotle sauce.  And they also have a garden salad or a black bean veggie burger for the health conscious.

The main burgers at Sinful Burger are all named after the seven deadly sins.  Most of the burgers start out with 1/2 lb. pressed patties and then they go from there.  The "Lust" burger features a burger patty topped with basil pesto, bleu cheese crumbles, and housemade garlic mayo.  The "Wrath" is topped with pepper jack cheese, jalapenos, and chipotle mayonnaise.  The "Greed" is topped by two mozzarella sticks and smothered in Sinful Burgers homemade chili.  

Outside of the seven deadly sin burgers, their signature burger is the Sinful Burger - the burger that got all the Nearing's neighbors hot and bothered.  It's a "Juicy Lucy"-style burger with American cheese folded inside two 1/4 lb. burger patties and grilled to a medium.  And if you want to jack up the heat for any of their burgers on the menu, Sinful Burger features a housemade "evil" sauce that is described as "sweet, tangy, and very warm".

And even though they have a "Gluttony Burger" - two 1/2 lbs burger patties - cooked "Juicy-Lucy" style - and topped with bacon and cheese, with two grilled cheese sandwiches as buns (that's over a pound of food!), Sinful Burger also has a "challenge" burger - the "Goliath" that features 5 lbs. of burger meat and fries.  A local Bellevue lady - Molly Schuyler - actually holds the record for the devouring the Goliath in 17 minutes and 3 seconds.  I've seen pictures of her and she's not a big gal at all.  But she's been slamming back food challenges around the Omaha area including the "Stellanator" at Stellas - six 6.5 oz burger patties, 6 fried eggs, 12 pieces of bacon, 6 pieces of cheese, grilled onions, lettuce, tomatoes, jalapenos, & Peanut Butter all on a bun served with a basket of fries.  She did that one in 15 minutes.  Whoa!

I was far from being THAT hungry when Alex came over to take my order.  I thought about getting the Sinful Burger, but I'm so spoiled from the places in the Twin Cities that I feel make the best "Juicy Lucy" burgers that I knew that I'd be disappointed if I got one.  I ended up getting the "Pride" - a burger patty topped with sauteed mushrooms, bacon and Swiss cheese.  It also said that it was slathered in their housemade hot mustard.  I asked Alex if I could get the mustard on the side.  

About 20 minutes after I ordered, Alex brought my Pride burger out to me.  It was served in a small plastic basket with thin cut fries.  It featured a split-top bun crown and a small wooden "spear" to hold it all in place.  Ring onion slices were on the burger.  

 
The burger was thick and somewhat juicy.  It was almost tough to hold with one hand to get the picture above to the right.  The first bite was somewhat overpowered by the very fresh onions.  But the burger was juicy and flavorful.  The sauteed mushrooms were thick and tasty, and the bacon was crisp.  The menu said that the burger would be covered with Swiss cheese, but it may have been just one little slab of cheese on the burger.  

I dipped part of the burger into the spicy mustard that Alex brought out as a side.  Let's just say I was glad that I didn't get it on the burger.  It would have severely overpowered the overall taste of the burger.  I even dipped a couple fries into the mustard to get the full effect.   The spicy mustard was hot, definitely getting my attention.   But it wouldn't have been good on the burger, in my opinion.  Quite actually, looking back, I wish I would have gotten a side of the "evil" sauce instead of the spicy mustard.  Maybe next time.  

The fries were literally a throw-away for me.  They were all right, but I was going to concentrate on the burger. But there was just something missing with the taste of the burger.  I couldn't quite put my finger on it.  It's not that the burger was bad - far from that.  It's just that is wasn't this "great" burger that I thought it could or should be.   

Maybe my expectations were a little high going into Sinful Burger.  While the burger was good, it didn't particularly jump out at me, slap me in face and get my attention.  I don't know if it was the "secret ingredients" that they use to season the burgers or what.  It was a fine burger, but I thought it could have been much better for what it was.  Still, I may be a tad critical for a burger that would beat 90% of the other burger joints in Omaha, but falls short - in my estimation - to three or four others in the area.

The Winter of 2014

The front page of yesterday's Quad City Times says it all - we're hunkering down in the Quad Cities.  This winter has just been brutal.  Our average mean temperature has been over 10 degrees cooler since December 1.  We've been hit with not one, but two polar vortex outbreaks.  The second one in less than a month began on Sunday night.

Right now as I write, it's -12 F (-26 C) in the Quad Cities.  It's isn't quite as cold as some were forecasting for overnight (-17 F), but the saving grace is that there is no wind this morning.  No wind - no wind chill.  They aren't as lucky up toward Dubuque this morning with wind chill temperatures hovering around -40 F (which, coincidentally is also -40 C).

The last prolonged outbreak of cold weather that I can remember was 18 years ago when I believe the temperature didn't climb above 0 F (-18 C) for about five days.  During that streak of cold temperatures, the Quad Cities realized their lowest all-time temperature of -29 F (-34 C).  That was - by far - the coldest air I've ever lived through.  But as I've always said, - 29 F or - 9 F, it's still damn cold.  

We've had a lot of snow this winter and with temperatures consistently under freezing (and it appears to be that way for the next 10 days) it doesn't look like we'll be getting rid of it anytime soon.  We keep getting these "Alberta Clipper" systems coming out of west central Canada that lay down 1 to 3 inches (2.5 cm to 8 cm) of snow.  It snowed on Friday night, it snowed again on Saturday night and then the frigid front came through on Sunday evening with even more snow and gusts of wind up to 59 mph (95 kph) causing blizzard conditions.  We're not getting a lot of snow with each system, but an inch or two here and there with sub-freezing temperatures makes it pile up quickly.  We're expecting another clipper system to move through on Thursday dropping another 1 to 3 inches on the area with a more significant snowstorm on the horizon early next week.

The one saving grace with all the snow is that it's helping insulate our rose bushes and other annual plants against the biting cold.  I didn't mulch the rose bushes before winter this year - we already had a good layer of mulch on the rose beds before the winter outbreak and most of the rose bushes are mature enough to be able to handle most winters.  But this one has been especially brutal and I'm a little worried we may lose some plants and rose bushes.  

I was lucky with the first Arctic outbreak in early January - I was in Las Vegas for the Consumer Electronics Show.  It was well below 0 F for about three nights in a row.  When I got home on January 11, I brought warm weather with me from the west.  It was the first above freezing temperatures the Quad Cities had seen in over a week.  

With about seven more weeks of winter on the calendar, I'm ready for days like this - warm days, blue skies, green vegetation, rose buds.  Two years ago, the winter was so mild we were experiencing 60 degree temps (15 C) at this same time.  We even had buds on our rose bushes coming out in March.  We were worried that we'd get a hard freeze and ruin some of the roses before they bloomed, but it never came.  We had roses in mid-April, a full six weeks before they normally come in late May.  I remember thinking at the time, "Boy, if this would be as bad as it would get around here, this would be perfect!"

Unfortunately, this winter has literally slapped us back to reality.  

Riviera Maya - Milwaukee

If you're a regular reader of Road Tips, you'll know that there are a number of very good to excellent Mexican restaurants in the greater Milwaukee area.  Most of them are centered in the Walker's Point neighborhood and on the near south side of Milwaukee.  One that I've wanted to try for quite sometime is a place in the Bay View neighborhood called Riviera Maya.  On a recent trip to Milwaukee, I stopped into Riviera Maya for lunch.  

In 2004, a small Mexican restaurant opened on the south side of Milwaukee by the name of Xel-Ha, named after the natural aquarium on the Mexican Riviera.  The restaurant took the place of a former Mexican restaurant and became one of the more popular places for Mexican food on the south side.  Faced with big crowds and long waits for their customers, the owners knew that they had to move to a larger location.  They found a bigger location on S. Kinnickinnic Street (known as "KK" Street to the locals) and reopened as Riviera Maya in November of 2007.  On line reviews of the place tout their tortilla soup, mole and guacamole as some of the best in Milwaukee.  

 
I pulled up in front of Riviera Maya just before noon on a soggy week day. (see map)  Walking in, I immediately saw a lively looking dining area - well, let me rephrase that.  A decidedly interesting - yet, somewhat scary - colorful dining room.  It was just after Halloween and I wondered if some of the decorations were still up because of that.  I couldn't tell if the figures were supposed to be some sort of deceased circus performers or what.  The large skeleton face on the wall behind the bar would have scared the bejeezus out of most little kids.  It startled me for a split second.  

I took a seat along the banquette wall lined with fluffy pillow backs.  A large colorful mural was to my back.  My server, Marcos, came over with a menu and asked me if I'd like anything to drink.  I ordered a Dos Equis Amber for the time being.     

Actually, Marcos left me with two menus.  There was the regular menu and a lunch special menu.  Compared to other Mexican restaurants, the menu at Riviera Maya was pretty small.  You had your basic tacos, tostadas, enchiladas, burritos and fajitas with your choice of fillings such as garlic grilled shrimp, steak, pulled pork and shredded beef.  Their chile relleno was available with your choice of meat or vegetable filling other than just a cheese-filled chile relleno that most other Mexican places have.  They had a number of torta (Mexican sandwiches) to choose from - all of which came with a cup of their tortilla soup.  

The mole part of the menu was the most interesting.  You don't see a lot of mole dishes featured on Mexican restaurant menus, but Riviera Maya had a number of mole sauces that you can order to go over enchiladas with your choice of meat or fillings.  They had five different mole sauces including a pumpkin seed mole sauce with onion, cilantro and green peppers.  There was a choice of either an almond or sesame seed mole made with broiled tomato sauce, peppers and onions.  Another mole featured chocolate and peanut sauce with blended pasilla and ancho peppers.    

There was also a number of vegetarian dishes on the main menu at Riviera Maya.  I understand that the restaurant is popular for catering vegetarian dinners.  And one thing that is different at Riviera Maya from other Mexican restaurants - the chips and salsa are not free.  A basket of their chips with their combination red and green sauce is $1.95.

Looking over the lunch specials menu, many of the items they serve on the regular menu are available from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday.  The one thing that I had my eye on with the regular menu were the enchiladas verde with your choice of chicken, shredded beef, pork or steak.  (Vegetarian enchiladas verde were also available with your choice of potatoes or zucchini for the filling.)  On the regular menu, you get three enchiladas - at lunch, you get two.  I got two of the pork enchiladas verde.  

Not long after I ordered my enchiladas showed up at the table.  A side of Xel-ha rice - basically rice with diced carrots, corn and peas - came with the enchilada.  A healthy bit of goat cheese was on the top of the enchiladas along with chopped tomatoes and lettuce.  The enchiladas were swimming in the verde sauce. 

The enchiladas had a crispy crunch to the shell, but the pork was tender and succulent. It was seasoned and had a bit of a bite to the taste.  With the chile verde sauce had a nice little spicy kick with a little lingering aftertaste.  The enchiladas weren't big, but they were big enough for lunch.

The Xel-ha rice was perfectly steamed and the bits of carrots, corn and peas gave it a nice flavor above and beyond what you normally get with rice.  The rice didn't have any Mexican seasoning which I kind of liked.  Overall, the meal was about as authentic of Mexican food that you could have without being in Mexico.

There are some other Mexican restaurants in the immediate area that I'd like to try at some point, but I may be coming back to Riviera Maya first to try a shredded beef filled chile relleno or a Taco Xel-ha - a corn tortilla stuffed with steak, pork, chorizo and bacon.  The service was adequate.  The food was very good and the atmosphere was, well, trippy.  Riviera Maya holds its own against some of the other very good Mexican restaurants that I've visited in the greater Milwaukee area. 

Goose the Market - Indianapolis

Earlier this year, I was talking with a guy at one of my dealers in Indianapolis and we were talking about places to buy eclectic beers in the area.  He was telling me about a place that was a wine and beer store not far from his business in near-north Indianapolis - an interesting place with an interesting name - Goose the Market.  He told me that in addition to beers, they also had a butcher shop that sold dry aged steaks and their own artisan meats.  I figured I needed to check this place out at some point.

Then not long ago, I posted a picture on Road Tips' Twitter account of the meal I was having at an Indian restaurant in the Indy suburbs.  One of Road Tips' Twitter followers, the guy who has the wonderful Chicago BBQ King blog site (a.k.a "Smokin', Chokin' and Chowin' with the King") replied back to me and asked if I'd had a sandwich at Goose the Market.  I still hadn't made it there yet and I didn't know that it was also a deli that served sandwiches.  He said it was a "must stop" for him each time he made it down to Indianapolis.  With that kind of recommendation, I made it a point to stop into Goose the Market on my way out of town to grab a sandwich for the road.  

Christopher Eley is a native of Indianapolis who found his passion working in restaurants as a teenager working at one of the Sahm's locations in the area.  A self-professed under achiever in high school, Eley went off to Johnson and Wales College of Culinary Arts in Providence, R.I., to learn how to be a chef.  He then went to Purdue University where he studied hotel and restaurant management.  

Eley went to Chicago and worked with legendary chef Rick Tramonto (Tru, Tramonto Steak and Seafood, Osteria di Tramanto) and Tramonto's ex-wife - and revered pastry chef - Gale Gand.  Eley tells the story of telling a chef he used to work for - possibly Tramonto - that he wanted to possibly open his own restaurant at some point.  The chef's advice to Eley?  "Give me $500,000 and then I'll punch you in the face.  Then we'll call it even."  

Tired of working for someone else and wanting to get back to Indianapolis, Eley and his wife, Mollie, (pictured right) bought a newly developed building in the Fall Creek Place neighborhood on the corner of Delaware and 25th just north of downtown Indy.  His goal was to have a gourmet butcher shop that focused on selling naturally and locally raised meat products.  Mollie's nickname growing up was "Goose", hence the name - Goose the Market - and they opened for business in October of 2007.  Chris and Mollie made their home on the second and third floors of the building which stood where an old abandoned gas station once sat before the area was redeveloped.  

After awhile, Chris Eley began to sell wine and cheese in his store.  And, against his own better judgement, he eventually began to sell artisan sandwiches in Goose the Market.  A year after they opened, Goose the Market was named by Bon Appetit magazine as one of the 10 top sandwich places in the United States. 

The Eley's eventually began to sell eclectic beers and opened the Enoteca, a small wine bar in the basement of their business that they call the "Goose Cellar".  The downstairs area has seating for 15 people and a seasonal outdoor patio in the back has room for 10 more patrons.  Goose the Market is now a full-service deli that also sells coffee, espresso, pastries and gelato.

Chris Eley's goal was to have his own USDA-inspected facility to smoke and cure the naturally-raised meats that didn't use compounded nitrates in the process.  In 2011, they opened their own meat processing business - the Smoking Goose - that sells handcrafted salami, sausages, cured and smoked meats to restaurants and hotels in the greater Indianapolis area.

I was through with my last appointment in Indianapolis around 10:30 a.m. and I drove over to Goose the Market, finding a parking spot just up the street on Delaware.  (see map)  Walking into the restaurant you immediately see the long counter filled with all different types of meats.  They had 100-day-old aged steaks in the case along with their own smoked and cured meats from the Smoking Goose.  I didn't bring my cooler with me or I would have picked up some salami, capicola and pepperoni for my homemade Italian sandwiches.  

 
On the wall directly opposite the meat counter were boxes filled with a number of locally and naturally raised produce.  The produce is seasonal so you won't see many summer veggies in the produce bins in the wintertime.  

The menu for sandwiches is on one of the blackboards on the wall behind the meat counter.  Their signature sandwich - the Goose - consists of prosciutto, fresh basil, fresh mozzarella and extra virgin olive oil on a hard roll hoagie.  The Tatiana featured beef brisket, Emmental Swiss cheese, sauerkraut and topped with a sweet pepper mustard on a hoagie.  And the Stahly had sliced smoked turkey breast, Mascarpone Italian cheese, stewed apples, pink peppercorns and fresh lettuce greens on a hoagie.  

The one that caught my eye, however, was the Batali.  It was an Italian hoagie that featured capicola, soppressata, dry cured capicola (or coppa), provolone cheese, hot giardiniera, tomato preserves, fresh romaine lettuce and sliced marinated red onions.  Actually, it was the one sandwich at Goose the Market the Chicago BBQ King told me was his favorite.  I ordered that from one of the young ladies behind the counter. 

Since they weren't busy, it wasn't long before I got my sandwich.  After paying for it, I asked if I could have a look around the downstairs area.  She said, "Have at it!"  

The Enoteca (from the Italian "wine depository) in the Goose Cellar features a number of bottles of wine for sale.  A large community table with heavy benches on two sides sits in the middle of the wine room for people to use while they're eating sandwiches from the deli upstairs or to sip some wine when the wine bar is open.  Deep well windows let in some natural light into the room to give it a more open and less sub-terranean feel.  

 
Of more interest to me, they had a varied selection of microbrews and imports in the Enoteca.  Many of the microbrews were from Indiana craft brewers such as Three Floyds, Sun King and Oaken Barrel Brewing Co.  Some beers I was familiar with, some were not.  There wasn't anything that jumped out at me that made me want to take something home.  At least, not on this trip.  

The wine bar area of the Enoteca was situated in a small room off to the side of the larger room in the basement. There was a small bar where you can get wines by the glass.  I believe they also sold beer at the wine bar, but I'm not certain about that.  They also offered cheese and charcurterie plates in the Enoteca.  This would be the kind of place my wife would like to go to.  

 
They had a number of package goods available in the wine bar area.  Salsas, jellys and jams, coffees and other packaged goods were available for sale.  

Ah!  The Batali sandwich - the main reason why I went to Goose the Market in the first place.  The hoagie bread had a crunchy outside and a chewy inner core.  The fresh Italian meats were a mix of spicy and robust flavors, but not hot enough to detract from the overall taste of the meats.  The giardiniera was not that hot - at least, to me - but it was a nice accompaniment to the taste of the Italian meats.  The sandwich was good served cold and the flavors of the meats would have probably been enhanced even more if they would have been warmed up - the way I like to make my homemade Italian sandwiches.  I was able to eat one half of the sandwich and the other half kept well for a couple days.  The Batali was as good as the Chicago BBQ King told me it would be.  (You can follow him here on Twitter.)

Goose the Market is one of those little places that makes traveling on the road a worthwhile experience.  Finding a place that is as unique and diverse as the little butcher shop/delicatessen/wine bar on N. Delaware in Indianapolis is a large treat.  The Batali sandwich was very good and the overall vibe to the place was very pleasing.  If you get to Indianapolis at some point, you need to go check out Goose the Market.  Oh, and take your cooler. 

Redwood Steakhouse - Anita, IA

I'm not quite certain how I found out about the Redwood Steakhouse in the small west central Iowa town of Anita.  It has been on my "restaurants to visit" list for quite sometime.  On a trip to Omaha recently, I took the exit off Interstate 80 and made my way into Anita and the Redwood Steakhouse.

Since 1947, the Redwood Steakhouse has been in business, a favorite spot for special dinners, receptions and banquets.   In the early 70's, the original owners were looking to sell the business and a young local - Leo Peoppe - was interested.  Leo went home on March 13, 1972 - a Friday the 13th, at that - to announce to his wife, Jo Ann, that he had just purchased the Redwood.  The Peoppe's officially took over the business on April 1, 1972 - yep, April Fools Day.  Through all the superstitions and bad omens that accompanied their purchase, they continue to run the Redwood today.  

Local lore has it that the Redwood Steakhouse got its name from the red wood siding that was originally on the building.  When the Peoppe's took over, they decided to keep the name the same.  

Redwood Steakhouse is located on White Pole Road - which is also Iowa Highway 83 (and formerly U.S. Highway 6) - on the west end of Anita, across from the Crestwood Hills Golf Course and very near Lake Anita State Park. (see map) Heading west on Highway 83, the road takes you to Wiota which is the home of another popular local steakhouse - the Wiota Steak House (which, unfortunately, was damaged by a kitchen fire in late October of last year).  Going further west on Highway 83, you run into Atlantic which is the home of The Pines Steakhouse and the Feedlot Steakhouse.  Just by driving along the highway between Atlantic and Anita, there's some pretty good steakhouses to try.  

It was around 7 p.m. on a rainy evening when I made it into the Redwood Steakhouse.  Not many diners were in the place that evening.  I didn't know the drill and I didn't know if I needed to be seated by someone or what.  No wait staff were in sight as I stood there for a moment before I finally decided to grab a booth along the wall of the restaurant.  A waitress finally did appear and see me.  She came over to greet me and dropped off a menu.  I saw that they had Sierra Nevada pale ale available and I ordered one of those.  The server asked me if I wanted a glass with ice with the beer.  I sort of looked at her funny and I said, "Is that how they do things in Anita?"  She looked at me sort of funny and I quizzically said, "A glass of ice with the beer?"  

She sort of rolled her eyes, shook her head and gave a little laugh.  "Not a glass of ice," she said in a somewhat embarrassed fashion.  "A frosted ice glass with your beer."  She had the downhome Iowa appeal to her.  

The dining room at the Redwood Steakhouse was nice, but it was like walking back into the 70's.  It featured subdued lighting, but bright enough to be able to easily read the menu.  Booths with high back olive green naugahyde vinyl coverings were placed along the dark-paneled walls, while tables with matching olive green naugahyde chair backs were placed throughout the middle part of the room.  A small bar was near the kitchen. Leo Peoppe was running double duty that night as both the bartender and the grill man. 

 
I got up to use the restroom and on my way I found an old 70's-style Rock-ola juke box.  It looked lke it was still in use - it had a number of contemporary and classic country songs on the menu.  It was actually pretty cool to see.  The Redwood Steakhouse had a great retro feel to it. 

Looking through the menu, the main focus is on steak.  But they had a surprisingly long list of seafood and fresh water fish on the menu, as well.  Pork chops, grilled and fried chicken, burgers and sandwiches also populated the menu.  They also had a long list of appetizers including what they called the Number 1 onion rings in the state of Iowa.  OK, I've got to try the onion rings if they say they're that good. 

The onion rings had a nice flaky beer batter on the outside.  This was a small order - for $4.95 - and it was probably more than enough for 2 or 3 people.  The only problem was that they were pretty greasy and that I felt the oil they cooked them in needed to be changed.  There was just kind of that "well-used oil" taste on the onion rings probably from too many other deep fried items other than onion rings being dropped into the deep oil fryer.  Although they were light and flaky, I was disappointed in their taste.       

I wanted a steak that evening.  The Redwood features USDA Choice steaks and the first steak they have on their menu is called the Redwood Special - a 12 to 14 oz. ribeye.  It was either the Redwood Special or the filet.  I ordered the Redwood Special, medium rare.   A choice of herbed rice, a baked potato, French fries or hash browns came with the meal.  I asked my waitress if I could get some cheese and onions on the hash browns.  She said, "Oh, you bet.  But you know what else I like on my hash browns?  Sour cream."  She talked me into it.  

With the meal I got a salad.  I ordered it with the housemade French dressing.  I had asked if the dressing was a "Russian or Western-style French", but it confused my server as to what I was really asking for.  It turned out it was just a basic French dressing that came on the salad.

And, of course, with any type of throwback steak house worth its salt, a relish tray came with the salad.  It featured a wide array of vegetables including pickled beets, sweet dill pickle slices, and celery; cheese cubes, and surprisingly good pickled herring.  A relish tray is always a great touch at an old-time steak house.    

   
The steak made it out to the table and between the onion rings, salad and relish tray, I was getting stuffed.  The slab of ribeye looked to be more toward the 14 ounce size and the opposite side of the plate was filled with crisp hash browns topped with copious amounts of chopped grill onions and finished with some cheddar cheese.  The sour cream came on the side in a small paper container.  

The steaks at the Redwood Steakhouse are flat-grilled, not chargrilled or broiled.  The flat-grill they have probably has years and years of that grilled meat build up on it that does nothing but enhance the flavor of the meat.  The first taste of the steak showed that it had great flavor, not only from the grill, but from the great cut of meat.  I usually order my steaks rare or rare-plus, but ribeyes - being that they usually have more marbling - usually need to be at least a medium-rare for me.  Surprisingly, the ribeye that they called the Redwood Special was very lean.  It had little marbling and most of what fat was on the steak had been cooked out on the flat grill.  I could have easily ordered my steak rare, but medium-rare was fine as it was.

The Redwood Steakhouse is a little over 3 miles off Interstate 80.  If you're driving between Des Moines and Omaha - or if you're just looking to do a road trip for a great little place for steaks, it's going to be tough to beat the Redwood Steakhouse.  I thoroughly enjoyed nearly every aspect of the place - the steak was excellent, the salad was good, the relish tray - always a treat, and the service and ambiance was very good.  About the only complaint I would have is the onion rings which were far from being Number 1 in Iowa that evening.   This is a place that has been open for over 65 years and under the same ownership for over 40 years.  If you're looking for a great retro-style steakhouse, I sincerely recommend the Redwood Steakhouse. 

Pizano's - Glenview, IL

I was in the Chicago area on a Friday night - not my ideal situation, but I had a dealer event I had to work the next day.  I've been driving up and down Waukegan Road in Glenview quite a bit over the past couple three years and a place that I'd driven past that had piqued my interest was Pizano's, a pizza joint that has a long and illustrious family history.  I decided to stop into Pizano's that cool, rainy late fall evening.

In 1943, Rudy Malnati was working as a pizza chef at the original Pizzeria Uno in downtown Chicago.  Pizza historians have long said that even though Ike Sewell and Ric Riccardo owned Pizzeria Uno, it was Rudy Malnati who came up with the Chicago-style deep dish pizza concept.  Rudy Malnati eventually became a co-owner and opened Pizzeria Due in 1955.  Rudy and his son, Lou, managed the Pizzeria Due location in the 50's and 60's.  In 1971, Lou broke off from his father and opened the first of his eponymous deep dish pizza restaurants in the Chicago suburb of Lincolnwood.     

Rudy Malnati passed away in 1974 and Ike Sewell bought out the family's shares of Pizzeria Uno/Due shortly thereafter.  Son Rudy Malnati, Jr. owned a bar at the time and had thought about opening his own pizza place somewhere in the city.  After Sewell sold Pizzeria Uno, Rudy, Jr. became unhappy with the philosophical direction of the pizza restaurant that his father had helped start.  While Lou Malnati's focused on deep dish pizza, Rudy, Jr. felt that his pizza joint needed to have thin crust pizza, as well.  He opened his first Pizano's location on State Street in 1991.  

At first, Rudy, Jr. wanted his pizzeria to have a touch of class.  Waiters were dressed in coats and ties and people who weren't familiar with the place looked in the window and thought it was a high-dollar restaurant.  Rudy Malnati, Jr. then tossed the coat and tie look for waiters in polo shirts and khakis.  People started to come into his restaurant after that.  

Rudy Malnati's mom, Donna Marie, came into work everyday (and still does, deep into her 80's) to make the family's secret pizza dough recipe.  The original restaurant was soon followed by more three more locations of Pizano's in the city of Chicago, and the Glenview location was opened in 2008 - the only Pizano's location located outside the city limits of Chicago.  The sixth Pizano's location opened in Lincoln Park near DePaul University in the fall of 2013. 

The Glenview location is on the corner of Waukegan Road and Chestnut Ave. (see map)  Valet parking is available, but I was able to find a parking spot in the lot.  I walked into the brick building and was greeted by a young lady who asked me if I wanted to sit in the dining area or in the bar.  I opted for the bar area and she showed me to a small table with newsprint on top of a checkerboard table cloth.  She left off a menu and I was soon thereafter greeted by my server for the evening, Jenny, who was taking a pizza to another table.  She said she'd be back to take my drink order in a moment.  

In addition to both deep-dish and thin-crust pizza, Pizano's has appetizers, soups, salads and traditional Italian entrees and pasta.  But I pretty much knew that I was going to get a thin crust pizza that evening.  When Jenny came back to take my drink order, I told her that I was ready to order a pizza, as well.  "Oh," she exclaimed in a surprised fashion.  "Well, that was quick!  What can I get ya?"

I ordered my usual sausage, pepperoni and mushroom pizza - a small (10").  Jenny said, "We'll have that coming right up!"  She left for a moment, then brought out a small basket of homemade bread.  With olive oil and parmesan cheese on the table, it was a nice start to the meal.  But the bread was so good that I was afraid that I'd over-indulge on the bread and not be hungry by the time the pizza made it to the table.  

The dining area in the bar was full of Friday night diners.  The tables were a little close and I had a couple seated pretty close to me.  I wished I'd gotten a booth instead as it was difficult to not hear their conversation about their friends sexual preferences.  Although I don't like to eavesdrop, I found the talk about their friends bi-sexual preference to be somewhat fascinating.  I tried to concentrate on the basketball game that was on one of the flat screens behind the bar.  

About 20 minutes after I put the order in with Jenny, she brought out a piping hot thin crust pizza.  The toppings were plentiful, piled high on top of the party-cut pizza.  After letting it cool for a few moments, I took my first bite of a Pizano's pizza.

The sausage on their pizza is similar to other Malnati-style pizzas.  They use no fennel in their sausage as the Malnati family feels that it masks the fresh taste of the sausage.  I prefer a good fennel sausage, but the large chunks of sausage with sort of a peppery taste on the Pizano's pizza were good enough for me.  The pepperoni was spicy and slightly salty, and the large chunks of fresh mushrooms gave it a wonderful taste.  The sauce was somewhat sweet and not bitter, and there were tons of mozzarella mixed it.  The crust was crisp, but it wasn't cracker thin.  It held up well under the weight of the toppings.  

About the only complaint I could have was that they served the pizza on cardboard on the pizza pan.  It sort of gave the pizza that "carry-out" taste.  Not that there's a lot wrong with that, but I was eating in the restaurant and I could begin to taste the cardboard later on as I made my way through the pizza.

I was able to eat - maybe - two-thirds of the pizza before I said, "No more."  Jenny boxed it up for me and I had the rest for breakfast the next morning.  It warmed up well in the microwave that I had in my hotel room.   

Before I left the restaurant, I went to use the restroom.  On the walls in the hall that led to the restrooms and connected the bar dining area with the other dining area at Pizano's was a number of photos, jerseys and other memorabilia centering around Chicago professional sports.  It was kind of interesting to see the assortment of autographed photos and jerseys they had hanging on the wall.  

For my first experience at a Pizano's, I came away with a good feeling about the place.  The pizza easily passed my, "Does it taste good with beer?" test.  When you're talking about such a pizza family legacy with the Malnati's, it's no wonder the pizza is so good.  I'm just sort of surprised at myself for not trying Pizano's earlier.  

Oscar's on Pierce - Milwaukee

Talking with Chris at Ultra Fidelis in Milwaukee about burger joints in the area, he suggested I find a place that had just opened nearly three years ago - Oscar's on Pierce.  He boldly told me that it was the best burger in Milwaukee and that they had a great selection of beers.  After a morning meeting in Milwaukee before heading to Chicago, I sought out Oscar's on Pierce to see if what Chris said was true.  

Oscar's on Pierce is not to be confused with Oscar's Frozen Custard, a burger and custard shop with two locations in Milwaukee.  It is owned by Oscar Castaneda, a native of Mexico, and his wife, Elisabeth, who hails from Vienna, Austria.  Oscar made his way from his hometown south of Mexico City to Milwaukee and eventually worked for another very good burger place in Milwaukee - Sobelman's (click here to see my review of Sobelman's).  It was at Sobelman's where he met Elisabeth.  Oscar eventually went to work at The Wicked Hop in Milwaukee's Historic Third Ward entertainment and restaurant district.  Wanting to own their own bar to offer great burgers and a great selection of beers at a reasonable price, Oscar and Elisabeth found a nearly 100-year-old building in the Mitchell Park neighborhood of Milwaukee and transformed it into what would be Oscar's on Pierce.  They opened in mid-March of 2011 and have become a solid neighborhood burger joint ever since.  They built an outdoor patio on the back of the building and every once in awhile they'll have bands and music out back in the warmer months.   

Pictured right - Oscar Castaneda

Oscar's goes by many names - Oscar's on Pierce, Oscar's Pub and Grill, Oscar's Bar and Grille - but no matter what you call it, it's pretty much the same place.  Most of the locals refer to it as Oscar's on Pierce, although their Facebook page is under Oscar's Bar and Grill, the same as what is on their logo.  Oscar's is located - of course - on Pierce Street, a block north of National and a block west of S. 16th St. (see map)  There's a good sized parking lot to the east side of the building and more parking available up and down Pierce.  I got there during the lunch rush on my visit and I was able to get a parking place just below the outdoor patio.  

The place was understandably packed.  I found an open seat at the bar and watched the bartender - who looked almost eerily similar to the actor Tim Robbins - make a number of Oscar's signature Bloody Mary's.  They start with a homemade bloody mary mix (and vodka, of course), then add in everything but the kitchen sink - celery, pickle, olives, fresh mozzarella balls, lime and lemon wedges and then, surprisingly, a thick strip of crisp bacon.  The bartender was an artisan making the six or so Bloody Mary's for a group.  But it also meant that he was getting backed up for drink orders.  When he finally extracted himself from the Bloody Mary's, he finally got over to me and asked what I wanted to drink.  They had a fine selection of bottled and beers on tap and I ordered a glass of Anchor Steam.  He asked me if I wanted a menu and I said I did.  He handed one to me when he landed my beer in front of me and he said, "My name is John.  I'll be back with you in a minute."  

There are two areas inside Oscar's on Pierce - the bar area has a handful of tables and a long "L" shaped bar that seats about 15 people.  Antique tin tiles are on the ceiling with antique style lamps hanging down.  There's a small dining room in the back that features a number of tables.  Oscar's probably seats 60 to 70 people inside their building.

All the burgers at Oscar's feature a half-pound of premium Black Angus beef.  Chris had told me that their signature burger - the Big O - was the one to get.  It's a burger topped with smoked gouda and chipotle jack cheese, then topped with hickory-smoked bacon, fried onions and jalapenos, and served with a side of housemade guacamole.  It sounded very interesting, but it also sounded like there would be a lot of different flavors that would mask the taste of the beef.  I looked for something that wasn't quite so "busy" for my burger.  

The Big Gringo featured a burger topped with American and white cheddar cheese with bacon.  The Big Foot was topped with Boursin and blue cheese.  The Big Aloha was topped with ham, a pineapple slice, havarti cheese and a slice of avocado.  The Big O was a little more expensive than the others - $7.25 versus $6.75 - very reasonable, indeed, for the type of burgers they were.  And if you didn't want an eclectic burger, you can get an Oscar burger for $5.00 and an Oscar cheeseburger for $5.50.  

What I settled on was the Big Hondo - a half-pound burger patty topped with Swiss cheese and sauteed mushrooms.  I asked John if I could get bacon on it, as well.  "No problem," he replied.  Handcut French fries came with the burger, but John wanted to know if I wanted to substitute them for their parmesan/garlic fries.  Knowing I had a couple meetings scheduled later in Chicago, I should have said, "No!"  But I ended up going the parmesan/garlic fry route.   I knew I wasn't going to have many.  

About 20 minutes after I ordered my burger, it was brought out to me. The buns at Oscar's are made by the Wild Flour Bakery, a local bakery/cafe in the Milwaukee area.   The crown of the bun was sort of crisp and crunchy, but was soft inside.  It was chewy, but not too chewy where it detracted from the taste of the burger.  Two strips of thick hickory-smoked bacon were laid across the top of the patty that was swimming in Swiss cheese.  Fresh sauteed mushrooms rounded out the toppings on the burger.

The burger was very good.  I could get a good taste of the beef which tasted fresh and flavorful.  The combination of the bacon, Swiss cheese and fresh mushrooms were a winning taste sensation.  The burger, for me, was a little overcooked and didn't have that juiciness that look for in a good burger.  But it was still very good.  

The fries were lightly sprinkled with parmesan cheese and they did have a garlic taste to them.  It wasn't overpowering in taste.  But, as I said, I only had a half dozen or so of the fries.  I was more interested in finishing the burger.

The lunch crowd had filtered out as I was working on my burger.  John came over and asked if I wanted another Anchor Steam.  I told him, no, I was fine.  He said, "You know, my girl friend and I are going out to the Bay Area in January.  We have some friends out there and we like to head out there from time to time.  I called the Anchor Brewery, I don't know, a couple weeks ago, and asked if I could get a brewery tour.  You know what they told me?  They said their brewery tours are sold out into March!"  (This was in November when I was there.)

I told him of the time that Cindy and I were in San Francisco around 15 years ago and I called the brewery up and wanted to get a tour.  They pretty much told me the same thing - the tours were sold out weeks in advance.  I told John, "I grew up in the hometown of the then-owner of Anchor, Fritz Maytag.  He was the grandson of the guy who founded the Maytag washer machine company.  I tried telling the lady on the phone that I was from Fritz Maytag's hometown of Newton, IA and that didn't matter a bit to her."  

John laughed along with me and said, "She wouldn't have cared if you were the President of the United States.  You weren't getting in!"  His quick smile and outgoing nature made him a natural to work the bar at Oscar's.

So, is it the best burger in Milwaukee?  Man, I've had some very good ones at Sobelman's, Matty's, Jake's Burger, Stack'd Burger Bar, and AJ Bombers, to name a few (click on the links to take you to my reviews of these Milwaukee burger joints), all of which have probably passed the venerable Solly's in what I thought was the best burger in Milwaukee at one time.  (I do need to make a return trip to Solly's for a more in-depth review on the place.)  The burger at Oscar's was very good, don't get me wrong.  I would have no problem recommending the place and I would go back for a Big O burger at some point.  I don't know if I can call it the best burger I've had in Milwaukee, but it's gotta be damn close.  

Edelweiss - Norridge, IL

I was in the mood for comfort food on a recent visit to Chicago.  Indian food has become my "go-to" comfort food, even over a good ol' hot beef sandwich.  But it seemed like I'd been eating at a LOT of Indian restaurants lately and decided to give Indian food a rest for awhile.  Hmmmm....  What other kind of cuisine is there that features German food.  Ah ha!  German food!  I did a quick look on Urbanspoon for a German restaurant in the near Northwest suburbs of Chicago and I came up with what looked to be a very popular German restaurant - Edelweiss in suburban Norridge.

Edelweiss originally opened in 1972, but since 1991 it has been owned by local attorney Walter Kosch and his wife, Veronica.  In 2004, executive chef Hector Zapata came on board using unique twists on ingredients and flavors to tweak the taste of the meals at Edelweiss.  A graduate of Washburne Trade School's culinary program, Zapata worked at a handful of restaurants in the Chicagoland area before ending up at Edelweiss.

Edelweiss is a popular destination for the annual Oktoberfest celebration.  A couple of years ago, Edelweiss went through an extensive restoration that included the building of an authentic German beer garden.  The restaurant also has banquet facilities available.  

It was about a 15 minute drive from my hotel near O'Hare Airport to Edelweiss on W. Irving Park Road (see map).  It was a rainy night and the parking lot on the west side of the building was full, but I was able to find some parking right out in front of the restaurant on Irving Park.   

The bar area at Edelweiss was like stepping into an authentic German brewhaus.  Antique German steins are placed on shelves along side decorative antique plates hanging from the wall.  The large square bar was filled with people when I got there and I didn't feel like eating at one of the out tables in the bar area. 

 
I decided to have eat in the large and ornate dining room.  It featured a number of cloth-draped tabletops, hanging ornaments and soft lighting.  The dining room was about half full of family diners and couples out having a meal.  One of the lederhosen-clad waitresses showed me to a corner table in the dining room.   She dropped off a menu and told me that my server - Karen - would be over in a moment.  

As I was going through the menu, Karen came over to greet me.  She had a thick German accent with a quick smile.  She asked me if I wanted anything from the bar.  They have 16 imported beers on tap at Edelweiss as well as a handful of Belgian Lambic-style beers from the Lindeman's family brewery located in central Belgium.  I picked out a Warsteiner.  

Before she went to get my beer, Karen pointed out a special menu they had that evening.  It featured either a grilled or blackened salmon entree, chicken Kiev, or stuffed pork chops.  But I was looking more for the traditional German favorites like weinerschnitzel, sauerbraten or Kassler Rippchen - smoked pork chops.  At Edelweiss, they steam their smoked pork chops in a flavored consommé.  

They also had some interesting things on the menu - too many things to choose from that I had to tell Karen I wasn't ready to order when she came back with my large stein of beer.  The first thing that intrigued me was their Schnitzel a la Holstein.  It featured their signature weinerschnitzel topped with a fried egg, capers and anchovies.   Their Schweinbraten was a garlic and carraway rubbed pork loin that was slow roasted and served with a pork gravy.  Mmmmm....  That sounded damn good.  

The Schweinemedallions featured sauteed pork tenderloin medallions, then topped with a mushroom cream and cognac sauce.  And the jagerschnitzel sounded interesting as it was topped with a housemade Hunters sauce consisting of bacon, mushrooms and onions with cognac.  

Given all that interesting and good sounding stuff, I'm sitting here right now and wondering why I ordered the sauerbraten - the traditional German beef dish featuring braised sirloin that had been marinated for days in a housemade combination of herbs, spices and red wine.  It was topped with a housemade sweet and sour sauce.  I also got a couple of sides to go along with the dinner and as I was looking quickly at what they had to offer, Karen suggested, "Red cabbage?"  Then she said, "Spatzle?"  She read my mind.  Those were the two top things on my list of sides that included sauerkraut, German fries, and bread dumplings.  As a starter for the meal, I got a cup of the liver dumpling soup.  

As I was waiting for my liver dumpling soup to show up, a middle-aged couple showed up and took the table two spots over from me.  The lady was greeted warmly by some of the staff and it appeared that she used to work at Edelweiss, but was working at another German restaurant.  Later on, I wanted to ask her where she was working.

The liver dumpling soup featured a large beef liver dumpling in a very flavorful beef consommé.  A basket of assorted breads were brought out with the soup and I used some of the dry rye bread to dip into the broth.  I don't care for liver that much, but I do like a good beef liver dumpling soup and the one at Edelweiss was very good.

 
Karen brought out my sauerbraten with the spatzle and red cabbage.  A ladle-full of the sweet and sour sauce was on the sauerbraten.  (I heard later on from the lady who used to work at Edelweiss that she told her dining companion for the evening to order "extra gravy" when he ordered food there.)  

More of the gravy sauce wouldn't have helped the sauerbraten.  It was tough and chewy.  I couldn't cut it with a fork like I've been able to with sauerbraten at other German restaurants I've been to in the past, and it was almost too tough to cut with a knife.  The sauerbraten was very disappointing.  

However, the red cabbage and very flavorful spatzle helped make up for the unsatisfying sauerbraten.  The sweet and sour nature of the red cabbage was a great taste sensation, and the spices and herbs in the spatzle helped zip up the taste.  It may have been some of the best spatzle - if not THE best - I can ever remember having. 

Although I was disappointed in my sauerbraten, I made a mental note to come back at some point to try one of their pork dishes at Edelweiss.  They were just too interesting to neglect.  I enjoyed the sides, the service from Karen was very good, and I liked the great atmosphere at Edelweiss.  I'm hoping that the sauerbraten was an anomaly because you can't stay in business for over 40 years and get voted as Chicago's favorite German restaurant by their patrons if the food is mediocre.  I'll let you know if my second visit was a success or disappointing as this trip was.  

Meritage - Milwaukee

I've owed the guys from Ultra Fidelis in Milwaukee a nice meal for a little while.  All are followers of Road Tips and have turned me on to - or have taken me to - some pretty nice places in the Milwaukee area over the years.  On this journey to Milwaukee, they suggested going to a place called Meritage in the Washington Heights neighborhood on the city's west side.  On a rainy evening, we drove over to the place on W. Vliet Street. (see map)

As with Meritage wines - a blending of different varieties of grapes to create a Bordeaux-style of wine - chef Jan Kelly blends a combination of locally grown foods that work well with the wines she has on hand at Meritage.  The menu at Meritage changes with the seasons allowing Kelly to get the freshest foods from local farmers and producers.  

Jan Kelly comes from a culinary family and has her own rich culinary background.  Her parents ran a unique fine dining gourmet restaurant in Southern California called The Hobbit.  The Hobbit is housed in a Spanish-style home and offers only one seating an evening serving a seven-course meal.  Jan Philippi, as she was known then, didn't necessarily want to get into the restaurant business, but she found that working in the kitchen was fun and rewarding.  Her idea of being an animal training soon waned and she ended up moving up to Northern California to work in other restaurants.

Pictured right - Jan Kelly 

Philippi took a fill-in job in a kitchen in a restaurant in Santa Cruz, CA, making salads and shucking oysters.  It was there that she found her first mentor, a classically-trained French chef.  Had she not had that experience working with that chef, her career in cooking would have ended when the full-time worker came back.  She ended up going to work for another restaurant in the Santa Cruz area, this one headed by a Swiss-trained chef, eventually becoming the pastry chef.  

After her brother took over The Hobbit, Jan Philippi eventually moved back to Southern California to become the chef in the family restaurant.  In the meantime, she met and eventually married Gary Kelly, a former speed skater who had trained at the Olympic speed skate track in Milwaukee and who attend the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee.  Each summer Gary and the-now Jan Kelly came back to Milwaukee to visit.  Jan Kelly fell in love with the city and when her husband was offered a job in Milwaukee in the mid-90's, she jumped at the chance to follow him to the Midwest.  It was quite a leap of faith for a girl who lived her whole life in California.  

Jan Kelly's first job in Milwaukee was as the sous chef at the old Delafield restaurant, with other sous-chef stints at a couple other restaurants.  She had a couple of other jobs at other restaurants around Milwaukee before she became executive chef at Barossa in the city's Walker's Point neighborhood.  When Barossa closed in 2007, Kelly and her husband took another leap of faith by opening Meritage in what was formerly the Highlander restaurant, but had most recently been a martini bar.   

Kelly's goal is to make people get out of their comfort zone when it comes to food, to allow her customers to trust her when it comes to the clever blending of ethnic foods and ingredients.  Kelly says that she likes to give her patrons a new flavor within a familiar dish, trying all the time to have fun with the food.  And it's worked.  A couple years ago, Kelly was named a semi-finalist for the James Beard Foundation award for best chef in the Midwest.  

It was a rainy night when we went to Meritage.  Parking is on the street only in the neighborhood and I got a little soaked running from my car a block and a half away to the restaurant.  But inside, I found a small, cozy and comfortable place with a bar area off to the side.  I was joined by Jon - one of the co-owners of Ultra Fidelis, Bob - who had just come off knee replacement surgery, and Chris - a part-timer at U.F. whose main vocation is a traveling sales guy like me, and who has shared with me some of his favorite places to eat in the Midwest.  We were seated at a table near the bar and we were greeted by our server that evening - a 20-something young man with an urban hip look to him.  He dropped off menus for us and told us of a couple specials that evening.  One of the specials was a sea bass entree.  It sounded intriguing, but so did a couple of other things on the menu.  

Not knowing what to expect, I immediately saw that I, indeed, needed to think outside my culinary comfort zone at Meritage.  There was a mix of Mexican, Asian and European influenced foods, sometimes in the same entree.  The Duck Stir Fry entree consisted of a braised duck leg with carrots, daikon (an Eastern Asian type of radish), and bok choy served in a black pepper sauce with Udon (Chinese) noodles and fried duck wings.  The Stacked Enchilada featured layers of grilled shrimp, smoked pork rice and corn tortillas served with adobo sauce.  The Pork Tenderloin at Meritage consisted of a juniper berry-encrusted pork chop topped with a parsnip and celery root puree, and served with an apple, arugula, beet, fennel and walnut salad.  And I thought the prices were pretty reasonable.  Each of those entrees were $19 or $20 bucks.  There was a lot of stuff going on in those dishes.  

When it came time to order, however, I was torn between the Machamentales Stew - a Mexican stew consisting of bison meat, green chilies, pineapple and sweet potatoes served with mashed plantains; or the Saffron Pasta and Braised Veal entree that consisted of homemade pasta served with white wine and herb-braised veal chunks with an assortment of seasonal vegetables.  When everyone started to order they made the waiters job easy - all three of my guests ordered the sea bass special for that evening.  I was just shaking my head when the waiter got to me and I said, "Geez, guys.  You were each supposed to order something different so I'd have more time to figure out what I wanted."  I did a quick mental "eenie-meenie-mynie-mo" and came up with the Saffron Pasta and Braised Veal.  Jon picked out a nice bottle of white wine that I neglected to note what it was.  

We each had salads or soups to open the meal.  Jon, who was seated to my left, had the beet salad.  It was very interesting.  It consisted of chopped roasted beets with a horseradish and blue cheese dressing mixed in along with walnuts and arugula.  He said, "Boy, this is tough to beat."  

 

I opted for the green chile with lamb soup.  I've been on a roll with green chile soups since a couple of recent trips to Colorado.  But having the lamb in the soup instead of pork made it even more appealing.  I was never really big on lamb until I got deep into Indian food.  The soup had chopped cilantro mixed in with the green chile broth.  The lamb was tender and flavorful, but the soup wasn't overly spicy.  At least not for me.  And for five and a half bucks, it was a great bargain to start the meal.  

As I said, Jon, Bob and Chris all got the sea bass entree.  It featured a fruit blend sitting on top of a pan-seared sea bass filet which was then perched on top of, I believe, roasted vegetables and arugula.  It was a healthy piece of sea bass that all three got.  And each of them said it was delicious.  

 

My saffron and braised veal dish was a potpourri of colors and flavors featuring large chunks of tender veal that was somewhat shredded and an assortment of veggies mixed in with the homemade pasta.  A piece of garlic bread with bone marrow spread on it came with the dish.  It was an absolutely fabulous meal.  

Afterward, as Jon and I are wont to do when we get together for a good meal, we got a glass of Scotch - The Balvenie doublewood.  But Chris was familiar with the bartender, Dave, and his penchant for smoking alcohol such as bourbon.  Chris said, "He had this smoked bourbon and he called it 'Campfire'.  And after you took a sip of it, you really thought you were drinking the smoke of a campfire."  He said it wasn't unpleasant, but had a smooth, silky and smoky flavor to it.  Chris asked Dave if he had any of the "Campfire" and he said he didn't.  But he had a smoked brandy that evening.  Chris got one of those and we asked if we could get a sample for Jon, Bob and me to try.  

It was interesting, to say the least.  It had the initial smoothness of brandy with a smoky aftertaste.  The smoke wasn't overpowering, but had a nice lingering slow fade.  I was asking Dave about his technique and he said that he takes a couple bottles of whatever he wants to smoke and puts them into a canister to infuse the smoke into them.  I asked him how he came about finding out about smoking alcohol and he said it was sort of an idea that he had after reading about getting a smoke taste into beer.  He said the first time he tried it, it sort of backfired on him.  "Actually, the first time I tried it, I didn't think I smoked it long enough after sampling it.  Then I put it in for, I don't know, three or four hours and it was too smoky.  I figured that a couple hours of smoking the alcohol works about the best."  That's how long it took him infuse the smoke into the brandy. 

Overall, our meal at Meritage was very good.  We had great service and it was fun talking with Dave the bartender about his penchant for smoked alcohol.  And I thought the price of the meals were very reasonable for all that was going on with our dishes.  I can't find much of anything to complain about Meritage.  There's a lot of good places to eat in Milwaukee, but if you're looking for something different with out-of-the-box thinking when it comes to the menu, I'd heartily recommend Meritage.  

BlackFinn American Grille - Mount Prospect, IL

Staying out in the northwest Chicago suburb of Mount Prospect recently, I ended up at the new-ish Hampton Inn in the Randhurst Village, a redeveloped living, shopping and entertainment center that was once home to the largest indoor mall in the Chicago area.  There are a handful of restaurants within the complex and one that is right down the street from the Hampton Inn is a place called BlackFinn American Grille.  It was a three minute walk from the front door of the hotel to BlackFinn.  

The Mount Prospect BlackFinn location opened in August of 2012, one of a handful of franchise properties overseen by BlackFinn LLC based out of Charlotte, NC.  BlackFinn started out as an Irish saloon in Charlotte in 1994 and eventually evolved into a contemporary American-style grill.  There are BlackFinn American Grille locations in Houston, suburban St. Louis, and in Jacksonville, FL.  There are BlackFinn Ameripub restaurants in downtown Chicago, suburban Washington, D.C. and in Austin, TX.  Even though they are siblings to the BlackFinn American Grilles, they have a different menu and business concept.  

(As an aside - franchise owners in the Dallas area and in the Chicago suburb of Naperville either closed or sold their BlackFinn locations earlier this year after problems arose of unpaid vendors and employees (Dallas) and a suspension of the liquor license due to a series of late night problems (Naperville).)    

Kevin Finegold is the managing partner for the Mount Prospect BlackFinn.  Finegold has a long history in the food service world.  He started out working for McCormick and Schmick's seafood restaurant in Kansas City before moving to Chicago.  Finegold eventually became the Midwestern regional manager for McCormick and Schmick's before he became the Executive General Manager for the McCormick and Schmick's location in Skokie, IL.  He left McCormick and Schmick's in April of 2011 to assist in the June 2011 opening of Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville restaurant on Navy Pier.  In November of 2011, Finegold jumped at the chance to become the managing partner of the planned BlackFinn American Grille that was to open the next year in Mount Prospect.  

The BlackFinn in Mount Prospect is divided into two sections.  There's a contemporary dining area on the right as you enter the restaurant, and a somewhat "sports bar" atmosphere area to the left.  I decided to sit at the bar and catch some basketball that they had on the many flat screen televisions they had around the bar area.  

The very busy bartender - the only bartender for the whole place - came over to greet me and asked me if I wanted anything to drink.  They have over 40 different beers on tap at BlackFinn.  One of the beers listed on the beer menu was a Bell's seasonal.  I asked the bartender which seasonal it was and he said, "Uhhh, it's the Oktoberfest."  I signed up for one of those.  The only problem was that he didn't bring me the Oktoberfest, he poured me the Oberon Ale, Bell's wheat ale.  I don't like wheat beers.  But I couldn't get the bartender's attention to get another beer because he was so busy.  I managed to drink the Oberon Ale.  

It was evident from the bartender being so busy (one bartender for a place that size was a little ridiculous, I thought) that I was going to have to fend for myself if I wanted to think about getting food. A guy was seated two seats over and he had a menu that he was looking through.  After he was finished, I asked if I could get it from him.  The BlackFinn menu was a full mix of American-style food ranging from salads and appetizers, sandwiches and burgers, main entrees such as chicken, seafood and steaks, and a number of pasta dishes.  

The first thing that jumped out at me was the bacon-wrapped meatloaf that BlackFinn had on their menu.  It was sort of a "comfort food" night for me and the meatloaf was served with mashed sweet potatoes, collard greens and a housemade honey chipotle ketchup.  I was kind of burnt out on burgers, but the Saloon burger also caught my eye.  It was a 1/2 pound burger patty topped with bacon, mushroom, caramelized onions and Swiss cheese.  Any other time I would have probably jumped on that.  They also had pork carnitas tacos on the menu - slow roasted marinated pork topped pepper jack cheese, guacamole, tomatoes, onions and cilantro.  I almost went with those.  

But what I ended up ordering were the fish tacos.  If you're a regular reader of Road Tips, you know I'm a sucker for a good grilled fish taco.  The fish tacos at BlackFinn consisted of grilled tilapia (you could also get them beer-battered), topped with chopped cabbage, an avocado creme sauce, and cilantro.  When the bartender brought the tacos out to me, I also ordered up a Lagunitas IPA that they had on tap. 

The tacos were just what I was looking for.  I didn't want anything really heavy for dinner and the tilapia was lightly grilled and had good flavor.  I thought they were a little fishy, initially.  But lemon juice and the avocado creme sauce helped mask any fishy taste they may have had.  A side of rice pilaf came with the fish tacos and I scooped some onto each of my tacos to help enhance the taste.  While I couldn't call them outstanding, they were good for what I was looking for that evening.  

Other than getting the feeling that the place was woefully understaffed (one bartender for the size of a place like that?), I was pleased enough with my experience at BlackFinn.  I also thought that the food at BlackFinn was above average, but not anything extremely special.  When you're doing so many things on the menu, it's a little difficult to excel in one area.  Typical of American-style regional restaurants, BlackFinn tries to have a little bit of everything on the menu to satiate the taste buds of any diner walking through the door. Other than the fact I wouldn't have any problem heading back to BlackFinn at some point, probably if I stay at the Hampton Inn in Mount Prospect and don't want to venture too far from the hotel some evening.