Road Tips

Bravas Burgers - Fort Wayne, IN

Always on the lookout for new places to eat while I'm on the road, while in Fort Wayne recently I found an article in Fort Wayne Monthly magazine regarding a new place called Bravas Burgers that grew from a hot dog street cart to a food truck to a brick-and-mortar gourmet burger restaurant south of the city's downtown area.  I decided to go find the place for lunch while I was there.  

19-year-old Bo Gonzalez was a recent drop out of music school sitting around with some friends one night trying to figure out what to do with their lives.  While they were making homemade tacos Gonzalez came up with an idea of doing a street cart selling tacos outside bars at night.  But he found out that it was not practical to have a taco cart due to the proper storage of different types of meat and toppings.  

Still obsessed with the idea of having a street cart food business, Gonzalez then switched directions and decided to do hot dogs.  While living in Chicago before moving back to Fort Wayne he was inspired by Doug Sohn, the owner of the now-closed Hot Doug's gourmet hot dog joint in Chicago.  In Gonzalez view, Hot Doug's did only one thing and they did it right.  After moving back to Fort Wayne he truly missed the concept of doing only one thing and doing it well.  He was confident that he had a winning idea and he opened his hot dog food cart in the summer of 2011.  

It was an unprofitable summer for Gonzalez - he considered selling six hot dogs a "good day" - but he did garner a bit of a following for his hot dogs topped with eclectic items.  One of the toppings was a home-recipe "Bravas" sauce that he got from his Spanish-native father which was a bold (the English word for Brava) spicy tomato-based condiment that was used as an every day topping in Spain.  He ended up naming his little business Bravas and after the first season he decided to run it like a real business.

Pictured right - Bo Gonzales.  (Photo courtesy WBOI.org) 

Gonzalez had gotten some help from his parents to start his business, but then went to a bank to get a line of credit to help cushion any monetary needs for his second season. The second summer went so well that - with the help of his sister Becky and some of his friends - Gonzalez started to make money in his little venture.  It was then that he decided to buy a food truck and up the food ante a bit by selling Spanish-inspired tapas dishes.  

Gonzalez and his friends took a road trip to West Virginia to pick up a used food truck they found for sale on the Internet.  Once it was back in Fort Wayne they fixed it up to their specifications, placed nice signage on the sides and went out to the streets of Fort Wayne to feed the masses.    

But people in Fort Wayne didn't seem to care for his tapas offerings as they continued to order the gourmet hot dogs from the food truck.  Gonzalez tried a new concept, having "burger nights" when the food truck would be parked outside a local music club serving burgers along with the hot dogs.  The burgers that Gonzalez and his crew made became just as popular, if not more popular than the hot dogs, frequently selling out on any given evening.  It turns out that cold Indiana winters made his food truck a seasonal business, Gonzalez decided that he wanted to open a restaurant that focused on burgers and would provide income year round.  

In the fall of 2014, Gonzalez found a building on Fort Wayne's south side that used to house a pizza joint.   The building - over 80 years old - wasn't very big and had all the elements in place for a restaurant.  Bravas Burgers opened in early December of 2014.  In addition to running his new restaurant, Gonzalez plans on having the food truck show up outside popular bars and at area events in the summertime.

Gonzales has surrounded himself with friends who have some culinary skills, as well.  His head chef is Fort Wayne native Zach Croy who got his culinary degree at the prestigious New England Culinary Institute and who previously worked at the outstanding Joseph Decuis in nearby Roanoke, IN.  (Click here to see my entry on Joseph Decuis.)   And the friend who was with Gonzalez the night he came up with the original idea for doing a street food cart, Ted Doal, is a line cook and sort of a "jack-of-all-trades" for the burger joint.  

I pulled up in front of Bravas Burgers on Fairfield Ave around 12:45 p.m.  (see map)  There was limited parking on the street, but I found a larger parking lot behind the building next to Bravas.  There's a narrow walkway on the north side of Bravas building that led to the front of the business.  

The little place was packed with people when I first went in.  The seating options were a dozen wooden picnic tables - that's it.  Artwork with burger themes and a number of framed articles on Bravas were on the light blue painted walls.  I also got a minor kick out the BurgerTime video game that stood along the north wall of the place.  The little spot had a laid-back and very casual vibe - a vibe that I thoroughly enjoyed.  

The menu was on the wall next to the counter where you order your food.  In addition to their main burgers - The Classic with lettuce, tomato, fried onions and a jalapeño remoulade; the Bravas Burger topped with chili, fries, provolone cheese and Bravas sauce; and the PB burger topped with housemade peanut butter, white cheddar cheese, bacon, pickled sweet peppers and mayo.  

Bravas also offers a number of specialty burgers that change on a monthly basis or upon the availability of locally-sourced ingredients.  Some of the specialty burgers that day included a gruyere cheese burger; a burger topped with molé sauce; a burger topped with Fontana cheese and a tomato jam; and a burger called "The Slow Jam" that had a caramelized onion jam, maple dijon mustard, and brie cheese along with pickled apple slices on top.  

I was sort of surprised after the fact that they didn't have any of their gourmet hot dogs on the menu, but they did have one of their more popular tapas dishes - patatas - on the menu.  Patatas are white potatoes cut into small wedges, deep fried in oil, then topped with the spicy Bravas sauce.  You could get them plain, with the Bravas sauce, or "poutine"-style topped with gravy and Wisconsin cheddar cheese curds.  

But I was there to try the burger and I ordered up the Classic burger.  The young lady behind the counter asked me if I wanted cheese and bacon on the burger.  Well, absolutely!  For now, Bravas Burgers only offers soft drinks - including Mexican soda pop - for drinks, but Gonzalez is hoping to get a liquor license to serve craft brews made in some of the local breweries around Fort Wayne.  I just had a glass of water that I poured from an urn along the wall to go along with the burger.  

By the time my burger was ready, a picnic table came open.  While not the most comfortable form of dining, the picnic tables were sort of a unique touch.  It turns out that the picnic tables were locally made by a 17-year-old carpenter who worked on his project for Bravas after school and on the weekends.  He did a good job, I'll have to say.  

The burger was served on a small metal tray on wax paper.  A side of very fresh, crisp and very good potato chips came with the burger.  To keep the bun on the top, a small plastic sword held it in place.  

The bun - which is locally baked for Bravas Burgers by Zinnia's Bakehouse - was slightly grilled and was light, puffy and airy.  Cheese was oozing off the burger and chopped lettuce was falling out before I could even have my first bite.

As I took my first bite and savored the flavor of the burger, I instinctively went, "Mmmmm..."  Bravas uses three different types of beef for their burgers.  They trim the beef in house, cut them into cubes and salt cures the beef for a couple days.  They then grind the beef themselves so it's fresh everyday.  The burger had a bold flavor, was very juicy and extremely flavorful.  The bacon Bravas uses on their burgers comes from Ossian, a specialty meat packer in Fort Wayne.  A hint of a spicy taste from the jalapeño remoulade came through, but it wasn't overpowering.  Even though it was a five napkin burger from the juicy nature of the burger and all the great toppings, the bun stayed together very nicely, as well.  This was simply a great burger.   

I can't say enough about the burger I had at Bravas Burger.  The back story alone of the entrepreneurial spirit Bo Gonzalez and his friends has shown in going from a budding idea, to running a street cart, to getting a food truck and then getting a brick-and-mortar location in four years is inspiring in many ways.  Having a great burger is just the icing on the cake on what will undoubtedly be a great future for Bravas Burgers.   

Zia's Trattoria - Chicago

Staying in the near Northwest suburbs of Chicago, I've been looking more to the east of O'Hare International Airport to find neighborhoods with food choices.  While heading to the Edison Park neighborhood on the extreme Northwest side of Chicago to go to a specific restaurant for dinner, I found a little Italian place just down the street - Zia's Trattoria.  Instead of getting steak at a North Country-style supper club like I planned, I went down the street to get Italian food instead.  

Zia's Trattoria partner/chef Joe Calabrese knows his way around a kitchen.  Trained at the famous Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY, Calabrese worked under Gabino Sotelino at Ambria in Chicago, as well as at the renown Spiaggia Italian restaurant.  When he decided to open his own restaurant, Calabrese spent time with family in the Tuscany and Liguria researching recipes with many of his aunts.  When he opened the restaurant in 1997, he paid homage to his aunts who helped him with his recipes by naming the restaurant Zia's Trattoria which means "Aunt's Table" in Italian.  

In addition to Zia's Trattoria, Calabrese is a partner in Café Touché - a combination French and Creole restaurant just a block down the street from Zia's Trattoria - and Zia's Lago Vista - an offshoot of Zia's Trattoria in Chicago's Lake View neighborhood.  His wife, Mary Kay, is also a partner in all three restaurants, as is Tom Penkala, the financial officer for the company since it was formed in 1997.  

As I said earlier, I was actually on my way to the Northwoods-themed supper club - Mecca - when I saw Zia's Trattoria at the corner of N. Northwest Highway and N. Oliphant Ave. in Edison Park.  (see map)  Zia's Trattoria has complementary valet parking, but I was able to find a parking spot just down the street on N. Northwest Highway.  

Entering Zia's Trattoria, I found a bar area that was packed. It appeared that the bar was a favorite of many people in the neighborhood.  I knew I was going to have to get a table in the dining room.  And even though it was busy, I was able to be seated right away.  

A young guy at the host stand took me to a white paper over white linen-topped table in the dining room and dropped off a menu.  Not long after, a pleasant lady by the name of Christen came over to let me know she'd be taking care of me for the evening.  I ordered up a glass of the Revolution Brewing Co.'s Anti-Hero IPA to enjoy while I looked through the menu.  

The dining area had sort of a rustic Italian look to it.  Soft earth tone colors with antique-style light fixtures adorned the walls.  A row of windows were on the north side of the dining room.  Coupled with a hard wood floor, it had the makings of being a very loud place.  But the ceiling had some wood designs that damped the loud acoustics of the room making the noise level in the L-shaped dining room tolerable.  A semi-private room for dining or small receptions is located behind a curtain off to the side of the dining area.  

It turns out that Zia's Trattoria was a favorite of Barack Obama - long before he became President of the United States.  In 2001, Obama, then a state senator in Illinois, appeared on WTTW's popular "Check Please" program that features everyday people giving reviews on restaurants in and around the greater Chicagoland area.  You can click here to see the segment from 14 years ago featuring Obama's recollection of his family's visit to Zia's Trattoria.

The menu was very interesting, to say the least.  Appetizers included calimari, cozze made with Prince Edward Island mussels, bruschetta, and speidino consisting of a skewer of beef tenderloin, portobello mushrooms, red peppers and tomatoes.  Zia's Trattoria also featured a number of salads including a carpaccio salad, a Caesar's salad, and a cavolifiore (cauliflower) salad that featured pickled and roasted cauliflower, arugula, pistachios, ricotta cheese with a honey vinaigrette.

If you couldn't find something to eat on the menu at Zia's Trattoria, then you may as well forget about eating at any other Italian restaurant.  Pasta dishes included a classic lasagna entree, linguine pescatory with shrimp, mussels, clams, scallops and calimari in a spicy tomato sauce, and a penne Abruzesse with spicy sausage and mushrooms in a tomato ragu.  For meat-based entrees, Zia's Trattoria featured a pancetta-wrapped pork loin with a mushroom-marsala sauce, as well as a braised lamb shank, and a spicy chicken breast dish with Kalamata olives and capers in a spicy tomato/white wine/garlic sauce.  

There were a few specials off the menu that evening, but the first thing that jumped out at me was the veal saltimbocca - veal cutlets cooked with prosciutto and grilled lemon slices in a tomato/white wine/cream sauce.  When Christen came back to take my order I first asked about the freshness of the tomatoes in the capri salad.  Assuring me that they were very fresh, even for the time of year, I ordered the veal saltimbocca with the capri salad.  I asked her to leave the wine list because I was probably going to order some wine with my meal.  

The capri salad featured sliced tomatoes topped with fresh mozzarella cheese, red onion slices, roasted red peppers and prosciutto, drizzled with a house vinaigrette and finished with some parmigiana cheese.  Christen asked if she could add some freshly ground black pepper and I told her to load it up.   She was right - the tomatoes were very fresh.  The taste combination of the tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, prosciutto with the red onion and roasted peppers was off the charts.  It was a great start to the meal.  

Another server brought my veal saltimbocca to me as Christen was getting me a glass of the Ferrari-Carano chardonnay I ordered from her when she picked up my capri salad plate.  The three veal cutlets were swimming in the tomato/cream/white wine sauce.  A couple grilled lemon slices topped the prosciutto on top of the veal.  A side of escarole - endive leaves cooked with garlic - came with the veal saltimbocca.

From the first bite, I could tell this was a fabulous meal.  The capri salad was great, but the veal saltimbocca was off the charts.  The taste sensations of the veal and prosciutto together with the sauce were outstanding.  I got a hint of lemon and sage in the bites, as well.  The veal was tender, easily cut by a fork and there was plenty of it.  I sopped up much of the sauce with some of the fresh bread that was provided earlier in the meal.  The escarole was all right - I'm not much into cooked endive - but that was fine.  The veal was all I needed.   Christina came by to check on me about halfway through the meal.  I told her the veal saltimbocca was excellent.  "Isn't it," she asked back.  "It's one of my favorites."  

Some of the criticisms of Road Tips is that I over-praise some restaurant and the food that they feature.  But I know what I like and the meal I had at Zia's Trattoria was phenomenal.  Sometimes dining alone is a pain in the ass, but the staff made me feel welcome and comfortable.   Christina's service was straight up professional, yet personable.   The atmosphere was relaxed and quaint.  For me, Zia's Trattoria was truly a memorable meal and a place that I'd heartily recommend to anyone staying near O'Hare.   I'll eventually make it to Mecca some day, but it will tough passing by Zia's Trattoria.

Sahm's Restaurant - Fishers, IN

Staying in the northeast Indianapolis suburbs on a recent trip to the area, I decided that I needed some comfort food on a cold winter's evening.  Indian food has become my "go-to" for comfort food, but I felt that I needed something more than that this particular evening.  Doing some searches for comfort food in the area on both Yelp and Urbanspoon, I found a place in Fishers by the name of Sahm's Restaurant and Pub.  I took off to find the place and get something to eat.  

In 1986, Ed Sahm bought an Irish pub in a strip shopping complex that had recently closed.  One of the reasons it went out of business was because it's location - 116th St. and Allisonville Road (see map) - was literally out in the country.  But Sahm, who along with his wife Lisa owned the Penn Street Food Emporium, took a chance on the location and it turned out that the urban sprawl of Indianapolis soon built up around the location.  

Sahm came from a big family and his mother along with 8 brothers and sisters and various other family members all worked in the restaurant at some point in time.  Over the years, Sahm closed the Penn St. Food Emporium in 1992 as he expanded Sahm's in different parts of Indianapolis.  Today there are 10 Sahm's restaurants that feature everything from full service restaurants to breakfast and lunch only establishments.  Sahm's also has a catering business that is pretty popular around the Indianapolis area.   

I got into Sahm's around 7:30 that particular evening.  As you walk in there's the main dining area on the left and a door leading to the Flying Horse Lounge, the bar area at Sahm's.  I contemplated going into the bar, but decided to sit in the dining room in a booth.  

My server for the evening, a pleasant lady by the name of Rose came over to ask me what I wanted to drink.  I asked what kind of beer that they had to offer and she said, "There's a beer list right over..."  Then she stopped for a moment and realized that I didn't have beer menu on my table.  She ran back to the hostess stand to grab one.  I found a Bell's Two Hearted Ale on the beer menu.  

As I looked through the extensive dinner menu that evening, they had a number of specials that evening that included a couple fish platters, a steak dinner and a pasta selection,  but I was immediately smitten with the description of their meat loaf that was served with mashed potatoes and gravy.  Even tempting dishes such as pot roast with roasted veggies, a number of burgers and a sandwich called the Italian Goose Melt made with Italian meats from Indianapolis' Smoking Goose Meatery couldn't sway me from the meat loaf dinner.  I had my choice of two sides - mashed potatoes and gravy were a given, but I was sort of at a loss as to my second side.  I thought about getting a salad or mac and cheese, but then I noticed a fried mushroom side that was served with a creamy horseradish sauce.  I had to give those a try. 

A few moments before Rose brought out my meat loaf dinner, she brought out a small loaf of warm fresh baked dark rye bread.  I'm a sucker for fresh dark rye and this bread was very good.  When the meat loaf came out, I was ready to eat.  

The meat loaf was topped with a tomato brown sugar dressing that was sort of like ketchup, but better.  The disappointing part of the meal was that they put white gravy on the mashed potatoes.  It was like a chicken gravy, not a beef gravy that I think should accompany mashed potatoes with a beef dish.  It wasn't a deal breaker for me, but I thought it would have been better with the brown gravy.  

The meat loaf was very good - a spot hitter for comfort food on a cold night.  The pieces weren't large, but it was enough for me.  However, the fried mushrooms were, in my estimation, excellent.  The mushroom slices were fresh, dipped in a breaded coating and deep fried.  The horseradish sauce had a bit of a bite to it and went extremely well with the taste of the mushrooms.  I even took some of the mushrooms and put them on top of the meat loaf to get that dual taste sensation going.  It was simply a very good meal.

While Sahm's Restaurant in Fishers isn't fine dining, it's comfortable enough for family dining or as a single diner like myself.  The ambiance of the dining room was fine, although it was a 2/3rd wall that separated the lounge from the dining room and the boisterous conversations from the lounge easily carried into the dining area offering a bit of a distraction.  Rose's service was efficient and pleasant, and the comfort food I had was well above average.  The only quibble had to do with the gravy, but that didn't deter from the overall culinary experience.    

Ubriaco's Trattoria - Davenport, IA

A new place opened in the Village of East Davenport last summer that we've been somewhat intrigued with the name - Ubriaco's Trattoria.  It had been some time past our "three month rule" that we have for new restaurants and decided to give the place a try on a cold Friday night.  

The East Village is full of bars and pubs, but there really hasn't been a fine dining establishment in the village for, well, as long as I can remember.  The building that houses Ubriaco's at the corner of Mound and 11th St. (see map) has been a number of things since I moved to the Quad Cities nearly 25 years ago.  It was a notorious strip bar right before I moved to town, then it was owned by TC's Point After (click here to read about TC's Point After in DeWitt, IA).   After that over the years it's been many things including The Village Idiot and most recently the Mound Street Landing.  When they were working on the building last summer before it opened, one shop owner in the Village of East Davenport told me that any place that wasn't going to be a bar was going to be a good thing for the neighborhood.  

However, I kind of got the idea that it was probably going to be a bar first when I looked up the meaning of Ubriaco - it means "drunk" in Italian.  The men behind the place have both bar and fine dining backgrounds.  Kyle Born was the general manager at The McClellan Stockade just up the street from Ubriaco's Trattoria for a number of years before opening The Smoking Dog Pub in the District of Rock Island.  

His partner in Ubriaco's Trattoria - Jerry Bergheger - is a native of Rock Island who has extensive training and work in the fine dining culinary field.  Bergheger first worked for Charles Moskowitz (Chef "CHAWLES" as I used to refer to him) at the former C'est Michelle, which was an utterly pretentious restaurant in Moline.  

Bergheger got the bug from working at C'est Michelle to take a one year culinary course in Chicago.  After working at various restaurants in Chicago he decided to get further training at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY.  After graduating from the C.I.A., Bergheger has worked with noted chefs in New York (Rocco di Spirito and Daniel Boulud), L.A. (Joachim Splichal) and Chicago (Paul Bartolotta), as well as spending time cooking in Italy where he found his calling with Italian food.

Bergheger ended up back in the Quad Cities to run the kitchen at the former Abbey Hotel in Bettendorf and then opened Atlante Trattoria in the District of Rock Island.  In the spring of 2014, Bergheger sold his interest in Atlante to his two brothers, bought the former O'Melia's Supper Club in Rock Island and opened Jake O's Grille.  Bergheger and Born opened Ubriaco's Trattoria in late July of last year.  

It had been a while since I had been in the building that now houses Ubriaco's Trattoria.  While some things have changed, other things have not.  There's still a bar area along the north side, but it seems to have been spiffed up since the last time I was in.  Actually, it was quite nice with an ornate lattice-style wine bottle holder and dark walnut accents for the shelves and trim.

Seating for dining have replaced a game room that I remember being in place years ago.  Walls of bleached barn planks are on the wall in a room that has a number of booths for dining.  There's still remnants of the building's past with a small stage set up along the south wall that's still used for live music or karaoke on some weekend nights.  A soft earth-tone gold on the walls gave the dining area a rustic Italian feel.  

Met by a hostess at a stand near the bar, we were shown to a seat in a booth in the former game room and were given menus to look through.  Our server for the evening - and I'm gonna give her the nom de guerre of Trudy because I'm not going to be even close to giving her any faint praise during this post - came over to greet us.  She asked if we wanted anything to drink and I got a beer while Cindy got a glass of house cabernet.  

And we waited and waited for our drinks.  Trudy came over to see if we were ready to order our food and we had to point out to her that we hadn't even gotten our drinks that we'd ordered from her 10 minutes prior.  She apologized, "Gosh, you guys!  I'll get them right away!"  It was another five minutes before she showed back up with the drinks.  At that point, we seriously thought about getting up and just walking out.  

Another reason we thought about walking out was that the menu was far from what I would call Italian food.  Oh, there were four pasta entrees - spaghetti with a "Sunday Gravy" recipe that chef Jerry Bergheger has perfected from his time in Italy, a chicken fettucine pasta, lasagna bolognese, and shrimp and spaghetti in a red sauce.  That was it.  They had some entrees with an Italian bent - Chicken saltimbocca, a Gorgonzola-crusted ribeye with a chianti sauce, and something called Italiano Jambalaya that had sausage, chicken, shrimp, peppers and tomatoes.  But I was really in the mood for pasta that evening and there just wasn't much to appease me on the menu.

I ended up getting the lasagna - a small portion of a bolognese style lasagna with ground sausage and beef mixed in.  The other quibble I had with Ubriaco's Trattoria is that soup or salad was an extra charge and didn't come with the meal.  For an extra five bucks you could get soup or a spring mix dinner salad.  

And the portions weren't all that large.  (The place was pretty dark and none of the pictures that I took of our food came out.  I lifted this picture of the lasagna from Ubriaco's Trattoria's Facebook page.  Honestly, it wasn't much larger than this.)  And they had the gall to charge $13 bucks for the lasagna.  With no salad beforehand.  While I thought the lasagna was good - the taste combination of the tomato sauce made with white wine and cream along with ground pork and beef was very interesting - I didn't think of it being a good value at all.

Cindy got the Mediterranean Salmon - it came with chopped spinach, olives and tomatoes along with feta cheese with some rice on the side.  The salmon was, I'm guessing, six ounces in sizes, but they charged $18 bucks for it.  While Cindy thought it was good, she said it wasn't outstanding.  

I guess what really turned us off was the service, or lack of it from Trudy.  She brought our food out to us and asked if we needed anything else.  I told her that I could use another beer and she said, "Comin' right up!"  Only it didn't.  I left my beer bottle on the edge of the table to remind her that I was still waiting on my beer, but she never came back.  Long after we finished our dinners - which didn't take long given the portion sizes - she finally did show up to drop off our check.  She took our plates, grabbed the empty beer bottle without realizing that I never did get the second beer and I decided to cut our losses by giving her the money for the bill on the spot including a small tip.  Cindy noted that she didn't ask if we wanted any dessert.  (I said, "Maybe they don't have any!"  They do...) 

We gave Ubriaco's another chance recently when we went down there for lunch on weekend day.  This time we sat at the bar and had Joey wait on us.  Friendly, personable and efficient, Joey was the antithesis of the our first experience with the wait staff at Ubriaco's.  

The lunch menu at Ubriaco's features salads, sandwiches and their signature Ubriaco burger.  It's a 1/3 pound burger red wine-glazed beef patty topped with gorgonzola cheese that is hand-melted onto the patty by a butane torch, then topped with onion jam and bacon and served on a ciabatta bun.  That's what Cindy got for her lunch.  And she thought it was pretty good.  She gave me a bite and while I don't care for gorgonzola or blue cheese on a burger (it's too forward a taste combined with the beef), I thought it was also very good.  

I thought for a moment about getting the Carnivore burger that is topped with ham, pepperoni, capocollo, and gouda cheese on a pretzel bun, but I ended up getting the Bella burger that is topped with a roasted portobello mushroom, mozzarella cheese and a sun-dried tomato pesto with chopped greens.  The portobello mushroom was actually thicker than the burger patty and it was very delicious on its own.  The ciabatta bun was lightly grilled, but was spongy and flavorful.  It was a pretty good burger, I'd have to say.   

The food at Ubriaco's Trattoria was good, but I thought the dinner we had was a pretty poor value versus the portion sizes served.  The menu was lacking on what I thought would be more pasta offerings from an Italian restaurant.  And the service was just abysmal.  Plus it still had more of a bar atmosphere than a nicer Italian-style trattoria.  The burgers and fine service on our return visit gave us hope that our first visit was an aberration.  We had such high hopes for Ubriaco's Trattoria, considering it's less than a five minute drive from our house.  We may give them a chance for dinner again at some point.  

(Update - June 2016 - We never did make it back to Ubriaco's.  They couldn't really figure out if they wanted to be a nice Italian restaurant or a night spot in the heart of the East Village of Davenport.  They closed in April of this year for "remodeling", but we never really saw any work going on.  I happened to see a guy whose family owns the building and he said, "Naw, they're not coming back.  They're actively trying to sell the contract they have with us to some other restaurant or bar owners."  So, that's that for Ubriaco's.)

 

Shahi Nihari (Hot & Spicy) - Villa Park, IL

It had been a long day for me while calling on accounts in the Chicago area recently.  I was heading back out to my hotel in Addison and decided to let my GPS figure out where to go have dinner that evening.   I found an Indian/Pakistani restaurant by the name of Shahi Nihari that wasn't far away from where I was at.  I decided to give them a try for dinner that night.  

Actually, I should clarify Shahi Nihari as a Pakistani/Indian restaurant with much more of an emphasis on Pakistani cuisine.  They're also known as Hot N Spicy to many people, as well.  Owner/CEO Anwar Gazi was born and raised in Pakistan and moved to the U.S. a number of years ago.  About 9 years ago Gazi opened Shahi Nihari to cater to a growing Muslim population in the western suburbs of Chicago.  At one point they had three locations including one in Lombard, but they closed that up and moved just down the road to a larger location in Villa Park a couple three years ago.  They also used to have a location in Schaumburg, but they now have a location on Golf Road in Morton Grove.  

Shahi Nihari is located on North Ave. in Villa Park almost right on the borders of where Lombard, Addison and Villa Park all meet up.  (see map)  I went in and was greeted by a pleasant man who showed me to a table in their dining room.  There is a larger banquet room off to the side of the main dining area.  

When I got into the menu I knew that I was far from an Indian restaurant.  First of all, there was beef on the menu.  Secondly, there was very little on the menu that remotely looked like it was Indian food.  They had beef and chicken kabobs, a number of sandwiches, and a number of entrees that included lamb including daal gosht and palak gosht.  They even had a brain masala on the menu.  Uh, no thanks.  

While I was looking through the menu trying to make heads or tails of what I was getting into, a waiter brought over a plate of sliced cucumbers and onions with a lime wedge on the plate.  A cucumber sauce as well as a brown sauce came with the plate.  Now, I didn't have the faintest idea what or why this was placed in front of me.  I don't care for raw cucumbers all that much (although my wife makes a great cucumber/onion salad in a mayo cream sauce), and I don't know why there would be raw onion slices as an appetizer.  I was on my own on this one, but willing to broaden my culinary horizons.  Actually, the cucumber sauce - what I thought would be sort of cool and refreshing - was pretty spicy.  I'm guessing the green specs in the sauce were quite possibly pureed jalapenos.  And the brown sauce - what I guessed to be the spicy of the two - was actually pretty mild.  

The other thing that I found out at Shahi Nihari, they didn't have beer.  No Kingfisher, no Taj Mahal, not even a Bud Light.  Hmmm...  OK.  Well, I guess I'm not gonna get a beer to cut the spicy taste in my mouth.   

At a table next to me, there were two couples - one with a small child.  One of the couples were regulars at Shahi Nihari and looked to be of Southern Asian descent.  They were telling the other couple that this place had the most authentic Pakistani food in Chicago.  I silently wished that they would give me some pointers on what to order.  

I ended up getting their namesake dish, the Shahi Nihari - it's basically shredded beef served in a spicy curry gravy.  I also ordered some garlic naan - one of the few things I recognized on the menu.  

The Shahi Nihari was served in a large square bowl and that was it.  No rice or anything else to go with it.  There was a very shallow layer of grease on the top of the curry gravy sauce.  There wasn't a lot of beef in the dish.  

The curry gravy wasn't all that spicy - at least to me.  The beef was tender and pulled apart very easily.  But I couldn't get over the layer of grease that had coagulated at the top.  I would stir it up and within a couple minute the layer of grease would reappear.  I wasn't really certain I liked the Shahi Nihari or not.

What I did like was the garlic naan.  It was thicker than most naan breads that I've had at Indian restaurants and it was loaded with garlic.  I used some of the garlic naan to dip into the curry gravy, as well as into the spicy cucumber sauce.  All the time I was thinking that a beer would really be nice with this meal.  

For going into Shahi Nihari as a complete neophyte of true Pakistani cuisine, I guess I was impressed enough to learn more about what they had to offer and to possibly get back there to try something else.  The Shahi Nihari entree was fine, but it was basically over in six bites.  There was a lot of the curry gravy left over and I would have liked to have a little rice to go along with it so it wouldn't have gone to waste.  Would I eat there again?  Sure!  But I'd probably go for one of the lamb dishes the next time.    

Burger Bar - Springfield, IL

I had heard that Hubert Keller's Burger Bar in St. Louis had closed up (click here to see the entry on the Burger Bar at Lumiere Place) and I was looking up information on the closing.  I came across another Burger Bar that I'd never heard of before, this one was in Springfield, IL.  I wondered if it was under the same ownership, but it was not.  I wanted to check out Springfield's Burger Bar at some point and on a recent trip through the city I decided to hit the place to see what it was all about.  

About the time the St. Louis Burger Bar had decided to close their doors in 2012, the Springfield Burger Bar opened up.  Local realtor Doug Kent and his wife Karen are the owners of the Burger Bar - which is also known as the Back Door Lounge - and it's located on the south side of Springfield in a strip mall next to a Country Market grocery store on S. 6th St.  (see map)

It was during the noon rush when I made it into the Burger Bar and the dining room was pretty full.  I ended up sitting at the bar which allowed me to be able to spread out a bit.  The dining room had a number of wooden chairs and tables with some cartoonish figures painted on the wall.  It wasn't a large place, but people didn't seem to be on top of one another.

The bar area featured a full service bar and a number of flat panel televisions hung on the wall.  There was a video gaming - as in gambling - area off to the side with no one in the room.  As I walked into the front door of the Burger Bar there was a sign that said over $542,000 had been paid out in winnings since video gaming in bars has been legal in Illinois since late in 2012.  I immediately wondered how much money was spent for over $542,000 in pay outs.  

My server/bartender that day was Alycia, a very friendly young woman who handed me a menu and asked what I'd like to drink.  Their beer list was pretty basic - mostly the main American brands - so I just went with a Bud Light.  She gave me a moment to take a look through the menu to see what they had to offer.

In addition to burgers, they feature a number of regular bar-type appetizers - chicken wings and fingers, beer-battered mushrooms and mozzarella sticks.  They also had fried green tomatoes on the menu as well as fried pickles and something called Big Boy Potachos - basically waffle fries with chili, cheese, tomatoes, lettuce and sour cream.  

Burger Bar also featured about a dozen specialty burgers including the Brunch Burger with an 8 ounce burger patty topped with a fried egg, bacon and American cheese and served on an English muffin.  The Cowboy Burger was also an 8 ounce burger topped with barbecued pulled pork, cheddar cheese and onion rings.  The Mac 'n Cheese burger was topped with - of course - mac and cheese.  And the Nuclear Burger was topped with spicy chili mayo, pepper jack cheese and hot giardiniera.  

I decided to build my own burger.  I had a choice of either a single, double or triple 5 ounce burger patty (veggie patties and turkey burgers are also available) and then there were over a dozen of free toppings (onion, tomato, black or green olives, jalapeños, etc.) to choose from.  Six different types of cheese slices were also available for about 50 cents each.  From there you could get a bun upgrade from the regular bun to a pretzel bun, a salt and pepper bun, or what they called a jumbo gourmet bun.  Premium toppings for about a buck each included bacon, onion rings, a fried egg and grilled peppers and onions.  There were a lot of interesting combinations that one could have with a burger at the Burger Bar.

Of course, I went with my old stand-by of a double cheeseburger with Swiss cheese, bacon and grilled mushrooms.  For an additional $1.49 I got some fries with the burger.  I don't know why - 10 ounces of beef on a burger was a lot of food for lunch.  

Because of the lunch rush it took awhile for my burger to get to me.  I was catching up on the latest sports happenings on TV as well as talking with many of the servers who were coming to the drink station that was near where I was seated.  Everyone was friendly, asking how I was doing, if I needed anything while I was waiting.  I felt very welcomed and comfortable at Burger Bar.  

Alycia brought out my burger and placed it in front of me, served in a basket with wax paper.  I kind of laughed because it came with a plastic fork embedded into the fries.  This was a big-assed burger on a lightly toasted bun and topped with mushrooms, then the bacon and the cheese on top.  I would have liked the cheese on the burger patty, then the bacon and mushrooms on top.

Now, I figured that the two 5 ounce burger patties would cook down but this was a thick burger.  It turned out that they had put the Swiss cheese on the lower patty, but not the top one.  I thought it was strange, but it wasn't a deal breaker.

And the burger was...good.  It was actually better than average, but not the best I've ever had.  The burger was juicy and cooked to a slight pink middle.  The bun was light and held together very well with all the toppings.  The mushrooms had a great grilled and earthy taste to them.  The bacon was crisp and the Swiss cheese was pronounced in its taste.  Yes, this was a good to very good burger.

But there was a lot of it.  I had trouble finishing the burger and I only had a couple fries to go along with it.  But what I had of the fries I thought they were very good.  They had a nice crisp outer shell and a good light potato taste in the middle.  They would have been a good complement to the burger had I gotten a single instead of a double.  

I was thoroughly stuffed when I left Burger Bar and got into my car to head down the road.  But the stop was worth it.  I thought the overall taste and consistency of the burger was a B+ if I were grading it.  I'm glad I didn't get a gourmet or a pretzel bun because the regular bun that comes with the burger was a good bun.  Alycia was a very good bartender/server and very friendly in a pleasant kind of way - as were many of the staff members at Burger Bar.  But it was a lot of food.  I didn't even eat dinner that evening because I just wasn't hungry from lunch.  You can certainly get a lot of food for your money at the Burger Bar in Springfield.    

Cafe Napoli - Clayton, MO

I was in St. Louis recently and met up with a good friend who works in the front office for the St. Louis Rams.  I was staying in the upscale St. Louis neighborhood of Clayton and he doesn't live far from there.  We decided to meet up for dinner and he suggested a place that was almost equidistant from my hotel and his house, a little Italian restaurant by the name of Cafe Napoli.  

I'd heard of Cafe Napoli before, but never had the chance to go there.  It's been open since 1989 and the restaurant has entertained celebrities and sports legends during its 25 year existence. Cafe Napoli's charismatic owner, Tony Pietoso, has a pretty interesting back story coming to America as a teenaged orphan with an ability for playing soccer, having that dream squelched when a devastating knee injury in his early 20's forced him to give up professional aspirations, becoming a hair dresser for a few years before going to work as a waiter in an upscale restaurant in Clayton.  It was during his time working as a waiter - which included a lot of table-side preparation - that Pietoso decided to open his own place.  

After looking for spots near the famous Hill neighborhood in St. Louis, Pietoso found a small space in a basement on Bermiston in Clayton.   His wife, Kathy, joined him in the small restaurant and not long after that he asked his brother Fortunato and his wife to come work with him in the kitchen.  As natives of Naples, the Pietoso brothers focused upon southern Italian foods including pasta dishes made with hearty tomato sauces and seafood specialties, along with veal and chicken entrees. 

Because the subterranean restaurant was partially hidden from view, Tony Pietoso would stand on the sidewalk in front of the business offering people free lunches in his restaurant if they didn't like the food.  I'm guessing that not many people took him up on the free offer of food because Cafe Napoli became a big hit.  It was at the time that Tony Pietoso decided that he needed to expand the restaurant that his brother left the restaurant after a difference in philosophies.  

(Pictured right - Tony Pietoso.  Photo courtesy St. Louis Business Journal.)

In 1994, Tony Pietoso found a larger space at the corner of Bermiston and Forsythe in Clayton across the street from the Clayton City Hall.  (see map)  His step-son, Todd, and his sons, Ande and Kye, grew up in the business and the three opened Bar Napoli next door to Cafe Napoli in 2003.  In 2008, the family opened Cafe Napoli2 in west suburban Town and Country.  (see map)  Todd has since left the family business, but Ande is the general manager for Cafe Napoli2, while Kye is the G.M. for Cafe Napoli and Bar Napoli.  Chip Bates is the executive chef for Cafe Napoli.  

We made plans to meet up at Cafe Napoli around 7:30, but I got in a little early and was greeted by a young lady at the hostess stand.  I told her that I was meeting someone for dinner, but I was certain that I was early.  I told her that I'd just wait in the bar and gave her my name.  As I turned to go toward the bar, a dapper man with gray hair said to me in a heavy Italian accent, "Hello, sir.  Welcome.  How are you this evening?"  It was Tony Pietoso, the owner of Cafe Napoli.  He sat at the bar later on and I couldn't help but take notice of the uncanny resemblance he had to actor Joe Pesci.   

The bar area was nice, but it seemed to be a little smallish.  Still, there were people who were seated in the bar area having dinner.  A hockey match was on the television behind the bar and I ordered up a Schlafly Pale Ale from the bartender, Dan.  

My friend showed up just after 7:30 and I suggested that we adjourn to the dining room, but he saw the hockey match on TV and he said, "What's wrong with eating at the bar?  That's fine with me."  He took a seat next to me, we asked Dan to get us a couple menus, he put down place settings for us and we were set for the evening.  

As I said, the menu is more in tune with Southern Italian cuisine - lots of red sauce pasta dishes, veal and chicken entrees, some seafood and pasta combinations, and a couple steaks.  Dan told us of a couple specials they had that evening that included a bone-in beef tenderloin filet, and an entree featuring scallops and pasta in a white wine garlic sauce.  

I had my eye on the veal piccata - tender veal medallions with sauteed mushrooms in a white wine, lemon and butter sauce.  I got a house salad - the Bella Napoli featured both iceberg and romaine lettuce along with hearts of palm, artichoke hearts, and red onion slices and topped with grated mozzarella and their house Italian dressing.  

My buddy said, "Oh, man.  I have to get the veal parm.  It's so good here."  The veal parmigiana features a pounded veal cutlets, breaded and lightly grill-fried, then covered with mozzarella cheese and marinara sauce and baked.  He got a Caesar salad to start out.  

After finishing our very good salads, Dan brought out the veal dishes that we'd ordered.  My veal medallions were swimming in the white wine, lemon and butter sauce.  Sauteed mushrooms were plentiful in the sauce with the veal.  A side of bowtie pasta in a light marinara cream sauce came on the side.  Along with dinner, I got a glass of Jordan cabernet - one of their house wines at Cafe Napoli, which was a pleasant surprise.  

My friend's veal parmigiana featured two veal cutlets pounded flat and covered in bread crumbs.  It was topped with a generous amount of mozzarella and marinara.  It, too, came with bow-tie pasta with the tomato cream sauce.  It looked great.

But I was more than happy with my veal piccata.  The veal was tender and flavorful, very easy to cut.  I sopped up the white wine/butter/lemon sauce the best that I could with the veal bites, but I had to resort to some of the housemade bread that Dan provided us to sponge up some of that great tasting sauce.  The meal wasn't filling, but it was more than enough to make me feel satiated after I finished.  

My buddy couldn't rave more about the veal parm.  "This is the best veal parm in the city," he told me between bites.  With all the great Italian restaurants in St. Louis, that's saying an awful lot.  But, as I said, it looked spectacular.  

As we finished up, Dan - who offered superb and professional service throughout the evening - asked us how things were going and wondered if we'd made any room for dessert.  I was fine with what I had that evening.  But I'm guessing that their tiramisu or cannoli had to be pretty spectacular.  

My buddy used a $100 gift card for our meals, even though I protested that I should at least pay for half the meal.  But he insisted, saying, "I don't get out that much.  I've had this gift card for a long time."  The bill came to $90 bucks, he told Dan to keep the remaining $10 bucks on the card and I popped a $20 down to add to the tip.  All I had were $20's on me and I didn't want to say, "Hey, give me some change!"  But his service was worth the extra tip.  

I was very impressed with my meal, the service and the ambiance at Cafe Napoli - even though we sat in the bar.   The veal piccata and salad I had was top notch - one of the better veal piccata dishes I've ever had.  It's been a long time coming for me to finally make it to Cafe Napoli, but the wait was worth it.  I'm hoping it won't be so long the next time I make it in.  

Zeke's Island Cafe - Davenport, IA

There's a little place not far from where we live in Davenport where we like to go to from time to time as a change of pace from the other restaurants we frequent in the area.  I had been meaning to write about this place, but something inside kept telling me, "No!  This is OUR place and I don't want other people to know about it!"  But the place is now very popular with local residents and I thought the time is right to finally tell you about Zeke's Island Cafe.  

Zeke's Island Cafe combines the culinary traditions of Caribbean and Pacific island cuisine into a paradise of food delight.  The crossing of food cultures makes Zeke's one of the more interesting restaurants in the greater Quad City area.  And the owners have a great back story as to how they got their little island cafe opened in the middle of the United States.  

Jason Stewart was a Quad City native who grew up in Bettendorf.  As a young kid, he was a tinkerer in the kitchen - he'd take boxes of macaroni and cheese and add things to doctor up the bland taste.  To his own admission, some things worked, others didn't.

He was also a budding drummer when he was an early teen and he wanted to buy a set of drums.  He took a job in the kitchen at the Davenport Country Club washing dishes.  As he got more experience he started doing other jobs around the kitchen, eventually becoming a sous chef chopping vegetables into small pieces "because no one else wanted to do it" as he said in an interview on WVIK radio.  He moved up to becoming a fry cook - mostly catfish filets - and gained more duties around the kitchen.  

Outside the kitchen, Jason had an interest in photography and decided to apply to the Kansas City Art Institute after graduating from Bettendorf High School in 1990.  He was accepted and on his way to Kansas City he began to think that maybe he had more fun working in the kitchen at the Davenport Country Club and maybe that's the profession he should pursue.  He got to Kansas City to tell school officials, "Thanks, but no thanks."  He headed back home to the Quad Cities.

He entered the culinary program at Scott Community College in the Quad Cities.  He likened his cooking experiences to being a frustrated chemist.  (I've always said that my playing around in the kitchen coming up with different takes on traditional recipes was because I was a frustrated chemist.)  Chemistry didn't come easy for Jason - he dropped out of chemistry class three times in high school - but working with different food items in a kitchen intrigued him.  He studied at Scott Community College for two semesters before he realized that the curriculum wasn't challenging enough for him.  

Stewart went on to study culinary arts at Johnson & Wales University in Providence, RI.  He chose Johnson & Wales over the equally prestigious, but more well-known Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY primarily because of the more intense curriculum the culinary program offered.  The dropout rate for freshmen was very high, but Jason found that he was much further along than many of his classmates due to his nearly five years of working in a kitchen prior to going to school in Rhode Island.  Stewart got his degree in two years and garnered a 4.0 grade point in doing so.  

Jason Stewart - now known as "Chef Stu" - came back to the Quad Cities and immediately became the assistant chef at the Davenport Country Club.  However, when the Lady Luck Casino (now the Isle of Capri Casino) was getting ready to open in Bettendorf, he got on there during the time the Isle of Capri corporate executive chef was training the kitchen staff while the Lady Luck's executive kitchen staff was getting trained in Biloxi.  Chef Stu liked the concept of working in a start up kitchen.  Well, that was until the Lady Luck's executive chef and sous chefs came back from Biloxi to open the kitchen.  Even though Stu liked the concept of a kitchen "team", he found that he didn't fit very well into the team that was assembled in the kitchen at the Lady Luck.  He decided that he would be more of a "project" kind of guy in the future. 

Chef Stu eventually married his now-wife Jessica and they went to Hawaii for their honeymoon.  While on the islands they were disappointed in the various foods they tried.  However, at the airport as they were waiting for their flight back to the mainland they tried a plate of nachos topped with kalua pork - the wonderful traditional Hawaiian pork served at luau's where they wrap the pork in banana leaves and cook it in a pit over hot rocks for hours.  They were amazed that the best thing they tasted in Hawaii was at the airport bar.  

Pictured right - Jason (Chef Stu) and Jessica Stewart.  Photo courtesy Quad City Times.   

Stu and Jessica decided they wanted to open their own restaurant and they found a building at the corner of E. Kimberly Road and Belle Ave. in an out building that was part of a deteriorating strip mall.  (see map)  The building had housed a number of restaurants over the years, the most recent was a Chinese drive-thru restaurant.  The Stewarts opened a pasta restaurant that went nowhere.  Stu admitted that he wasn't fully committed to the concept of the restaurant and they closed the doors in January of 2014.  (I will admit, I went by it many times when it was a pasta place, but never went in.)  

Stu and Jessica dreamed of sailing around the world, trying all different types of island cuisines.  Then the idea came to them - why don't they open a restaurant that brings native island foods to the Quad Cities?  About six weeks later, they opened Zeke's Island Cafe in place of the pasta restaurant.  

For the first four months, the menu was pretty basic.  The kalua pork nachos were the highlight of their menu and they dabbled with fish tacos and Jamaican jerk chicken. However, it wasn't until Rob and Geri Mafnas-Cruz wandered into the place that Stu and Jessica started on the path to authentic island cuisine.  The Mafnas-Cruz family came from Guam and Geri eventually showed Stu many recipes that were staples on their home island.  Eventually, Geri Mafnas-Cruz volunteered in the kitchen at Zeke's Island Cafe for three months while Stu learned and perfected many of the recipes provided by the family.  

Soon thereafter, a family from Venezuela came to the restaurant and talked Stu into making some of their favorite foods.  After awhile, Stu - still the inveterate tinkerer in the kitchen - began to mix some of the cultural offerings.  Some of his traditionalist customers didn't like that he did it, but he didn't mind the heat he got.  In fact, he found that many of the traditional island dishes that he originally offered were a melting pot of cultural foods from neighboring islands.   

It turned out that a number of Pacific and Caribbean island natives live in the Quad Cities (many of whom go to the Palmer School of Chiropractic) and many of them would come in to try the cuisine.  A few of them would help out the Stewarts by volunteering in the kitchen - their pay would be meals that they'd have at the end of their shift.  Over the first few months of business, Stu had a whole team of volunteers - his team - that were helping him build his dream.  Stu found that he liked to build a team - similar to the team he worked with years ago at the Davenport Country Club.  As the restaurant became more popular - and profitable - Stu and Jessica were able to hire many of the volunteers as part-time team members.  

The other interesting aspect is that Zeke's Island Cafe has garnered a following without the use of a web site, but entirely through social media and word of mouth.  Last summer, they began to promote daily specials on their Facebook page - and that's how my wife initially found out about the place.  

If we hit the traffic lights right, we are less than a three minute drive from home to Zeke's Island Cafe.  The well-lit interior features some island decorations - fishnets, tropical plants and other island-themed ornaments and accessories give the place an island feel.  Like us, the Stewarts hope to get back to Hawaii at some point.  But their restaurant with the tropical decor will have to do for the time being.  

The menu is on a chalkboard on the wall near the front counter and open kitchen.  It changes based upon availability of foods and different things that Stu wants to try in the kitchen.  For a few weeks Zeke's hasn't had any Facebook specials, much to the consternation of my wife.  The Stewarts have been working with Kilkenny's Pub in downtown Davenport starting up a satellite location - Zeke's Island Hideaway - in the kitchen area of the pub.  Stu promised my wife that once the satellite location gets up and going on its own he'll bring back the daily specials that she's so fond of.  (They started up the Facebook daily specials again in early March.)

On this visit, I ended up ordering the tilapia fish tacos and a 1/2 pound side of peel and eat shrimp that I normally have coated with a zesty spicy seasoning.  But Cindy protested that the shrimp was too spicy for her, so we got it plain that evening.   My wife loves the pork nachos and we got some of them and she also got an order of the pork slider appetizers to go with the nachos.  Zeke's Island Cafe is a BYOB place and I always bring in a couple bottles of the Big Wave Golden Ale from the Kona Brewing Co. in Hawaii.  On this visit, Cindy had me bring along a bottle of the Lagunitas India Pale Ale for her to enjoy with her meal.

We found a seat in one of the booths along the east window of the restaurant.  Jessica Stewart was seated nearby and greeted us as we walked by, she recognized us from the many visits we've had in the past.  (It was getting to the point that Cindy had to stop going there as she was afraid she'd get burned out on Zeke's.  Times when I would be on the road, she would go there so much for a quick meal when they had the daily specials.)  And as always, island music from Hawaii or the Caribbean was playing in the background.  

The peel and eat shrimp features medium sized steamed shrimp along with tubs of melted butter and shrimp sauce.  I don't know what I like to dip the shrimp in more - the butter or the zesty sauce.  I usually end up dipping a shrimp tail in both before eating it.   

Their signature pork nachos come with tortilla chips topped with ample amounts of the pulled kalua pork, cilantro, chopped green onions and tomatoes, and drizzled with sour cream and a sweet barbecue sauce.  The pork is very good - I'm amazed that they have such good kalua pork at Zeke's.  It rivals the kalua pork that I get from time to time at Ono Kine Grindz in the Milwaukee area.  (Click here to see the entry on Ono Kine Grindz.)  

The fish tacos feature chunks of grilled tilapia topped with spicy mayo based sauce and covered with chopped tomatoes and cheese.  I don't care for cheese all that much on fish tacos and I told Stu that later on when he came over to visit with us.  I told him that it wasn't a deal breaker and I'd just order the without cheese in the future.  One thing that Chef Stu is accommodating with is suggestions that he gets from his customers.  He'll be the first to admit that he's not an authority on island cuisine and defers to many customers on ideas for possible menu items.  But if you ask me, what he's got on the menu is pretty damned good.   

Normally an appetizer, Cindy got a couple of the pork sliders that were topped with the sweet and zesty barbecue sauce and chopped green onions.  The pork sliders were served on King's Hawaiian rolls.  Like I said, I can't say enough about the pork they serve at Zeke's.  Even without the barbecue sauce, I think the pulled kalua pork would be great on its own.  

It was a typical visit to Zeke's Island Cafe for us.  We lingered talking with Stu and enjoying the beers and the island music after we finished our food.  Calling Zeke's Island Cafe an island-themed restaurant is like calling a place that puts up a flag of Ireland on the wall an Irish pub.  Yeah, it's not quite the island paradise that one conjures up in their mind.  But if you close your eyes as you're eating the food, you can almost imagine yourself sitting in a small Hawaiian or Caribbean cafe eating authentic island cuisine.  The secret is definitely out - Zeke's Island Cafe has some excellent food at a great value.   

30hop - Coralville, IA

I'd been hearing about a new place over in the Iowa City/Coralville area that had an interesting selection of beers, eclectic shareable food, and a spacious second floor outdoor patio deck that was extremely popular in the summer months.  While over in Iowa City for a brief shopping excursion, my wife and I stopped into 30hop to see what it was all about.  

30hop is located in the Iowa River Landing development in Coralville that features shopping, restaurants, hotels, commercial and medical offices.  (see map)  It's owners feature a "who's-who" of Iowa City area restaurateurs including Eric Shewmaker from BlackStone restaurant and bar, Matthew Swift of Red's Ale House in North Liberty, Brian Flynn who also has a stake in BlackStone, as well as Vesta (also located within the Iowa River Landing area), Donnelly's Irish Pub and the venerable Joe's Place bar in downtown Iowa City, and Dan Blum who was the general manager of BlackStone during its formative years.  

The group opened 30hop in the summer of 2014.  The group hired Iowa City native Ryan Funk as the executive chef of 30hop.  Funk is a graduate of the culinary school at the Art Institute of California-San Diego and has worked under celebrity chef Brian Malarkey.  Funk's culinary background also included a stint under award-winning chef Anthony Sinsay whose Filipino-inspired shareable foods found their way to 30hop.   

The interior of 30hop is a combination of rustic charm and contemporary industrial with barn board facades over the bar area, an open ceiling with exposed beams, large metal window frames that let a lot of natural light in, and number of wooden booths and sturdy tables with metal chairs.  As an added "rural/urban" touch, the tables and booths near the bar area featured suspended lights with stainless steel buckets as shades.  30hop's interior and exterior was designed by the Chicago architectural firm Pappageorge Haymes giving the space an “trendy-yet-comfortable, urban-industrial" feel.  A large American flag painted onto barn boards is the overwhelming feature in the dining area.  

It was around 1:30 when we got into 30hop.  The place was about half full of people and our hostess tried to sit us at a high-top semi-communal table.  My short wife balked at this noting that there were booths open along the windows.  The hostess quickly changed course and showed us to a booth.  She dropped off a couple menus and not long after that our server Victoria came to greet us.  

Victoria asked us what we'd like to drink.  They have over 2 dozen beers on tap from microbreweries around the Midwest.  The only problem was that we didn't have a beer menu on the table.  Victoria reached for one on another table and we took a quick look through the beer menu while she did something else for a moment.  When she came back, I ordered a 23 ounce glass of the 8-Bit American Pale Ale from the Tallgrass Brewing Co. in Manhattan, KS that was more hoppy than other APA's that I've had.  My wife was looking for a true IPA and she settled upon the NZ IPA from the Zipline Brewing Co. in Lincoln, NE.  The NZ IPA uses a series of hops grown on New Zealand and it was actually pretty smooth for a somewhat hoppy beer.  

The menu is pretty concise featuring the aforementioned sharable plates that are more like tapas-style appetizers.  Dishes such as the Sisig - pork belly, egg and rice; the Veggie Noodles - wok-stirred vegetables, noodles, sesame oil and garlic; and the Chicken Lollies - with chorizo, sweet piqullo peppers and chopped celery showed Ryan Funk's influence of Filipino food.  The sharable plates also featured mac and cheese, calamari with apples and arugula, and crab cakes with arugula and drizzled with Tabasco and lemon juice.   

Other than the shareable plates, they had a handful of burgers and sandwiches, as well as few entrees such as a duck breast, a New York strip or beef tenderloin filet, and seafood options such as salmon or a black cod filet that both had Pacific-rim flavors with them.  

They had a few eclectic burgers such as a lamb or turkey burger, as well as a ground chicken burger or a grilled chicken filet.  30hop also featured a 50/50 burger - one half ground beef, one half ground bacon.  I've seen similar burgers pop up at some other burger places, but as much as I like bacon I don't think that having half the burger made out of bacon would be a good combination.  One never knows until they tried it, I guess.  

I decided upon the 30hop burger - it came topped with white cheddar cheese, a bacon/mayo spread, and lettuce and tomato.  I got their battered fries as a side.  Cindy also got the 30hop burger, only she got the sweet potato fries for her side.  

The burgers came out to the table with a nice presentation.  The lettuce consisted of one small green leaf, but the tomato slice was a deep red in color.  We were amazed that a tomato that red and ripe - and flavorful - would be available in Iowa in the dead of winter.  

The burger was thick with a hint of pink in the middle - the way I like my burgers.  The first bite told me that this was a very good burger.  It was juicy and full of that great beef flavor from a grilled burger.  The bun wasn't thick, but held together very well with the toppings and condiments.  Bottom line - this was a exceptional burger.

Both the battered fries that I had and the sweet potato fries that Cindy had were just "meh!"  The star of the plate was the burger and I wasn't at all put out by the underwhelming sides because the burger - on its own - was more than enough.  

Our first visit to 30hop was good - a very pleasant experience with a very good burger. Victoria did a very good job of taking care of us.  And the beer list was very good and very interesting.  We made a plan to come back in the warmer months to dine, or at the very least, have a beer with some local friends on the upper outside deck.  30hop is a welcome addition to the ever growing list of eateries and beer pubs around the Iowa City area.  

In-N-Out Burger - Las Vegas

On our last day of the 2015 Consumer Electronics Show earlier this year in Las Vegas, we had spent about four hours packing up and getting ready to ship the products back to our warehouse outside of Montreal.  We were tired, hungry and happy that another show was over.  Since we had rented a 9 room house - a "villa", as it was described on its web site - we had been having a lot of our meals there.  But we didn't have anything planned for dinner that evening.  We didn't want to go to a restaurant and have to wait for a meal. I had been wanting to get back to an In-N-Out Burger joint for sometime.  It turns out that there was one on Sahara Ave. on the way back to our rental house.  We decided to go there and grab some burgers for dinner on the way home.    

I've eaten at In-N-Out a handful of times in the past.  There's a somewhat famous location near Los Angeles International Airport that I've been to which is the favorite first stop of many who just arrived in Los Angeles.  I've been to the one on Maryland Parkway near the University of Nevada campus in Las Vegas.  And I've also been to the world's busiest In-N-Out (or so I was told) located on Tropicana just off Interstate 15 in Las Vegas.  But it had been a LONG time since my last visit to an In-N-Out, possibly as long as 9 or 10 years.    

In-N-Out has achieved cult status with many people who crave the fresh burger patties (never frozen) and are familiar with the "secret menu" the restaurant has quietly promoted for years.  Given that they're only located in the Southwestern part of the U.S. and have resisted branching out further, In-N-Out has maintained a somewhat mystical pull for thousands across the U.S.  

The mystique of In-N-Out burger began in 1948 when the husband and wife team of Harry and Esther Snyder started their venture in the eastern Los Angeles suburb of Baldwin Park.  The newlyweds knew next to nothing about the burgeoning fast food concept of restaurants that were beginning to spring up along the West Coast.   Harry was an Army veteran who found work after World War II as a baked goods caterer.  Esther had some restaurant experience working as a manager after graduating college with a zoology degree.  It was at Esther's restaurant that Harry met Esther and they eventually married.  

Harry found a small 10' X 10' building at the corner of Francisquito and Garvey streets in Baldwin Park (see map - but the original location was torn down when Interstate 10 was constructed in the 50's), literally across the street from Harry's boyhood home.  Each day, he sought out the freshest meat and produce for his burgers.  But Harry also came up with a new concept that allowed customers to place their orders from their cars and then pick up the food at a window.  At nights after working in his little restaurant, Harry would tinker with a speaker system that had a small microphone built next to the speaker so that the customer in the car could have two-way communications to order food.  After getting his prototype to work, Harry installed the system making In-N-Out one of the first drive-thru restaurants on the West Coast.

The first In-N-Out drive-thru in Baldwin Park, CA.  Picture courtesy Gear Patrol.   

Business boomed at In-N-Out, but the Snyders resisted the urge to grow quickly.  By 1958 there were five locations in Southern California, each of them were looked after by Harry and Esther.  They continued to use only the freshest ingredients for their burgers and Esther continued to hand-patty each burger that was sold by the restaurants.  As the company grew even more, they had to go to an automated burger-patty facility to keep up with public demand.  

Harry and Esther's two sons Harry, known as Guy, and Rich literally grew up in the business.  Rich was thrust into leading the company after Harry died of lung cancer in 1976.  When Harry passed away, there were only 18 In-N-Out locations in Southern California.  Rich oversaw an expansion over the next 15 years that saw the chain grow to over 90 stores - all in the Southern California area.  During this time the family maintained complete control over the quality of the food, never franchising or outsourcing its food, and they continued to make the burgers "to order" - never making them beforehand and putting them in a warming bin.  (Because they continued to make their food to order, it caused traffic jams at some locations that rankled local officials.)  It wasn't until 1992 that the Snyder family opened their first location outside of California over in Las Vegas.  

In 1993, Rich and In-N-Out Chief Operating Officer Phil West were flying back to Southern California on a corporate jet after a trip to scout locations in central California.  On final approach to John Wayne Airport in Orange County, the pilot lost control of the private airplane (turbulence from a Boeing 757 that landed just ahead of them caused the plane to become unstable in flight) and Snyder and West were killed along with three others when the plane crashed.  Ironically, Esther Snyder had been on the plane earlier, but had been let off at a small airport east of L.A. before the crash occurred.    

Guy Snyder became the president of In-N-Out after his brothers death.  He oversaw even more growth for In-N-Out and established a small network of distribution centers that were no more than a one day drive from each location ensuring fresh meat and produce at each In-N-Out.  In 1999, Guy Snyder died from an accidental overdose of pain killers and In-N-Out leadership reverted back to Esther Snyder with Guy's stepson-in-law Mark Taylor as the Chief Operating Officer.  

In 2000, In-N-Out opened their first location in Arizona and ventured into Utah in 2008 and into Texas 2010.  In 2006, Esther Snyder passed away at the age of 86 and her shares in the company were passed along to a trust fund for her only grandchild Lynsi Snyder, Guy's daughter.  Lynsi was only 17 when her father passed away and she became the President of In-N-Out in 2010 with Mark Taylor - her stepbrother-in-law (he was married to Lynsi's older sister her mom had from a previous marriage) - continuing as the company's C.O.O.  Lynsi Synder took ownership of 50% of the company when she turned 30 and will take sole ownership of In-N-Out when she turns 35 in May of 2017.

Pictured right - Lynsi Snyder.  Picture courtesy Orange County Register.

Lynsi Snyder is well-known for keeping a very low profile and is somewhat media shy.  It has been reported that Lynsi Snyder has been the subject of two kidnapping attempts - once when she was in high school and the other a few years later near the In-N-Out distribution facility in Baldwin Park, CA.  She also hasn't been lucky in love - she has gone through three divorces since first marrying at the age of 18 and is currently on husband number 4.  She has three children from marriages 2 and 3 to carry on the Snyder legacy.  Bloomberg News reported that Lynsi Snyder's net worth passed the $1 billion dollar mark in 2013, the valuation of In-N-Out's privately-held stock.   The other interesting aspect about Lynsi Snyder - she's a respected amateur NHRA drag racer, something that has been in her blood nearly all her life since her father first took her to drag races before she started grade school.  

During our week in Las Vegas for CES, we had valet parked at The Mirage just across Las Vegas Blvd. from The Venetian where we had our display suites because it was easier than getting in and out of the mess caused by CES at The Venetian.  Coming back to pick up one of our vehicles, I was talking with one of the valets at The Mirage and he was the one who told me that the In-N-Out at Tropicana and I-15 was the busiest of all the restaurants.  "Oh, no," he cautioned us as we got the van.  "You want to stay away from that place on a Friday night.  The one up on Sahara will be easier to get in and out of."  

The Sahara Ave. In-N-Out is located about a quarter mile west of I-15, just west of S. Rancho Drive.  (see map)   Before we stopped in, two of the guys in our company who travel California cautioned us on In-N-Out.  "Yeah, In-N-Out is all right.  But I think it's overrated," my colleague Matt told me.  "I like Five Guys better."  

My colleague Chris - who lives in the Phoenix area - concurred.  "Yeah, I'd rather go to Five Guys, too," he said.  "I like the fries better at Five Guys, too."  Well, for those of us who either hadn't had In-N-Out before, or hadn't had it in a long time - like me - we were still going to give the place a try.

We decided to go inside and place our orders since we were in two vehicles.  This location was similar to other In-N-Out's that I've been too - well lit and heavy on the white with red trim decor with a number of booths and tables throughout the place.  They always seem to be cleaning at In-N-Out's, from what I remember.  

The menu for In-N-Out is located on the board above the two cash registers.  Orders are placed and you wait for your food to come up - everything is made to order at In-N-Out, just as it was when they first opened over 65 years ago.  Most of my colleagues were ordering things like the Double-Double - a double flat grilled burger with slices of cheese on each patty - with lettuce, tomato and a housemade sauce that has been in the Snyder family since In-N-Out first opened.  

But I knew the secret menu and I ordered up a 3X3 - a triple cheeseburger with cheese on each patty, basically a Double Double only with an extra patty.  You can also specify grilled or a sliced raw onion for the 3X3.  I got the raw onion slice on mine.   In-N-Out is famous for their "Animal Style" burgers that are grilled with yellow mustard and a favorite of thousands since 1961.  I've tried a burger "Animal Style" and I don't care for it as much as a regular grilled burger.  

It was a five minute drive back to our "villa" and we were all ready to eat when we got there.  Grabbing a wonderful Ballast Point Sculpin IPA beer from the fridge, we sat down at the large table like one big family to eat our burgers.  

My 3X3 burger was in a paper wrapper and piled high with three beef patties all with melted cheese on top.  The lettuce, tomato and onion were all fresh flavorful.  The lettuce was especially crisp even for over 10 minutes after the burger was placed in the sack.  

And the taste was....  Well, it was good.  It wasn't what I quite remembered from previous visits to In-N-Out.  I mean, I've had a number of other burgers in between the times I had In-N-Out burgers that this one was difficult to compare to previous In-N-Out burgers that I'd had years ago.  Does that make sense?  In any event, the burger was good, but not what I would say was earthshakingly good.  

We just ordered a ton of fries and sort of shared them family style around the table.  The French fries were crisp and light.  In-N-Out fries are made from fresh potatoes cut in-house and fried in vegetable oil that is changed daily.  They're actually very good when it comes to fries from a fast casual restaurant.  But like most other fries, if they aren't eaten five minutes after they come out of the fryer they're pretty limp and soggy.

It's difficult to say who has the better burger between the fast casual burger chains that are out there around the U.S.  If I had my choice between fast casual "made-to-order" burger places, I'd probably go to Five Guys first, Whataburger second and In-N-Out third.  I'd also have to throw Smashburger in the mix, plus I've yet to try the new "up and comers" like Umami Burger and Shake Shack (which I'll be able to soon experience now that both are open in Chicago), and it's been a long, long time since I've had a Fatburger.  But it's tough to beat In-N-Out's consistency, their tradition and the pull they've had on their customers for over 65 years.  They simply make a very good burger.  

Guadalajara - Muscatine, IA

After putting over 200,000 miles on my car over the past six plus years, I had to get a new car a few weeks ago and I took my time in trying to figure out what I wanted.  My wife and I were in Muscatine looking at cars at a dealership and we decided to head downtown to look for someplace to eat.  My wife spied a Mexican food place on the east side of 2nd St. by the name of Guadalajara.  (see map)  It looked inviting enough for us to stop and give it a try.  

 

There's a large Mexican population in the Muscatine area thanks to hundreds of migrant farm workers who stayed in the area years ago after coming up to the U.S. to work in the melon fields in the Mississippi River valley.  The Vazquez family - Ramiro and Lupe - were entrenched in the Muscatine community for a number of years, Ramiro owning his own construction company, and Lupe working for the local school district.  An opportunity to buy and run their own restaurant came up nearly seven years ago and the Vasquez's jumped at the chance mainly for their love of homemade Mexican food and the recipes that had been handed down in the family.

 

The original Guadalajara was a small place on the west side of 2nd St.  But in a short time, the Vazquez's bought a building directly across the street more than doubling their capacity.  In the fall of 2013, the owner of the building right next to theirs came to the couple with a proposition - the breakfast/lunch shop next door was moving and would they be interested in expanding their restaurant into that space.  Lupe Vazquez had longed for a larger and more efficient kitchen and now was the chance to get it.  Ramiro Vazquez's construction company did the remodeling of the space, putting in a much larger kitchen, more seating for the restaurant and less waiting times for patrons.  The expanded dining room, along with the new kitchen, opened in the early summer of 2014.  When the Vazquez's first opened for business across the street, they had a staff of one cook and two servers.  Today, Guadalajara has a staff of four cooks and 24 servers.   

 

We were greeted just inside the front door by a young lady who guided us to the new part of Guadalajara and put us in a spacious booth that would have comfortably seated a family of six.  She dropped off a couple menus for us and a short time later another young lady dropped off a basket of fresh tortilla chips and some salsa.  

 

The menu at Guadalajara is pretty extensive.  Entrees include steak and/or shrimp platters, chicken specialties and combination plates.  Appetizers, soups and tortas are also available.  Everything looked to be authentic Mexican fare.

 

A separate part of the menu featured health conscious dishes Guadalajara serves up as part of the Blue Zones Project - a healthy living and eating initiative that is being implemented at schools and restaurants across the state of Iowa.  Low fat and low sodium dishes are available at Guadalajara as part of the Blue Zones Project menu.  

Our server Alexandra came over to greet us while we were looking through the menu and asked what we'd like to get.  I ordered up a bottle of the Dos Equis Amber beer while Cindy went with a margarita.  It turned out that Cindy's margarita was almost too sweet and somewhat syrupy.  

 

I immediately found what I wanted to get for dinner, the enchiladas verdes - enchiladas filled with one choice of meat (steak, ground beef, chicken, pork al pastor, lengua - or beef tongue - and chorizo) and topped with a green chile sauce.  I picked the pork al pastor for my meat filling.  Cindy was having a more difficult time figuring out what she wanted, but she ended up getting the combo fajitas - steak, chicken and shrimp.  

 

We've found that good Mexican food takes time and it was over 15 minutes from the time we ordered to the time that the food made it to our table.  And it wasn't because there were a lot of people in the place.  And the food looked good.   My plate was full of refried beans, Mexican rice, and three medium sized enchiladas.  A generous dollop of guacamole was included on the plate - a nice touch, I thought.  

 

Cindy's fajitas were still sizzling when they brought them to the table.  She immediately began to stir them up - a trick we learned years ago to keep the meat and veggies on the plate from getting burned on one side.  A separate large plate of refried beans, rice, chopped tomatoes and guacamole came with the fajita meat.  

 

I decided that I need some additional chile verde sauce and I flagged down Alexandra to ask for some.  I will say that her service was very good - she kept checking on us before and during the dinner without being obtrusive.  She cheerfully took care of any request - more chips, more salsa, more beer - that we had.  

 

The al pastor enchiladas were very good.  The pork had been simmered in spices and had a wonderful quality fresh taste.  Along with the chile verde sauce and the guacamole, the al pastor enchiladas were very good.  If I had a quibble with the taste, it was that it was too salty for my tastes.  

 

Cindy declared her fajitas to be very good, as well, however she felt the meat was also too salty.  She was eating the meat off the hotplate and picking at the rice and beans on her plate.  She offered me a bite of the fajita meat and I tried some of the steak.  The seasoning was a little salty, but the overall taste was delicious.  

 

The portions were huge, so big that we couldn't even begin to finish all of the items we had on our plates.  It didn't help that the fresh chips and the excellent salsa served before we ordered our meals were devoured rather quickly.  

 

Our experience at Guadalajara was nothing but positive.   The food was very good and very authentic, albeit a little too salty for our tastes.  The service from Alexandra and the others who helped out was excellent.  We were comfortable and at ease in the new dining space at Guadalajara.  In an area where there's a significant Hispanic population you should be able to find a very good Mexican restaurant.  And we found one with Guadalajara.