Road Tips

Shigs in Pit BBQ and Brew - Fort Wayne, IN

Out visiting dealers in Fort Wayne a few weeks ago, one of my dealers was telling me about a new barbecue place that had opened up down the road from them.  "Actually, it's not new," he explained to me.  "But it's a new location for them."  He gave me directions to Shigs in Pit BBQ and Brew on N. Maplecrest Road on the north side of Fort Wayne.  (see map) 

It turns out that they people behind Shigs in Pit BBQ are the same guys who founded Mad Anthony's Brewing Company in Fort Wayne nearly 20 years ago.  (Click here to read about Road Tips' visit to Mad Anthony's.)  Todd Grantham and Jeff Neels were old college roommates who got together with Blaine Stuckey to open Mad Anthony's in 1999.  But it turned out that in addition to brewing beer, Grantham got his kicks smoking meats.  He met a like-minded local guy, Stefan Kelley, who was a networks services manager for a local software company in Fort Wayne.  Grantham and Kelley entered a local barbecued ribs competition in 2005 naming their team "Shigs in Pit" - a takeoff on the Midwestern phrase "pigs in shit" (as in "happy as pigs in shit").  When they won that competition, they caught the bug and decided to enter other contests around the Midwest.  

Grantham and Kelley enlisted Jeff Neels to go to their first Kansas City Barbecue Society-sanctioned event in Madison, IN and picked up a sixth place finish for their smoked chicken.  Knowing that they could do even better, the group invested in commercial traveling smokers and took off for barbecue competitions around the country.

Pictured left - Jeff Neels, Todd Grantham and Stefan Kelly. Photo courtesy Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette. 

Shigs in Pit eventually won eleven Grand Championships and five Reserve Grand Championships in KCBS-sanctioned events in addition to a number of other awards they gathered at other rib contests around the country.  Shigs in Pit have also been invited to participate in two of the largest barbecue contests in the nation - the American Royal in Kansas City and the Jack Daniels World Championship Invitational in Lynchburg, TN.  

Of course, like many other successful barbecue competition teams, the group decided that they needed to let the public try their award winning smoked meats.  Along with their Mad Anthony's partner Blaine Stuckey - and with the blessing of Kelley - Grantham and Neels opened the original Shigs in Pit barbecue in 2012 at the corner of Fairfield and Taylor just south of downtown Fort Wayne.  (see map)  

The success of the original location meant that they could easily sustain two locations in the city.  They found a lot along N. Maplecrest Road and built a stand-alone building from the ground up.  They opened Shigs in Pit BBQ and Brews - featuring many beers on tap that were brewed at Mad Anthony's - in the summer of 2017.

It was around 1:30 p.m. on a cold, gray day when I made it into the north side Shigs in Pit location.  The was plenty of parking around the front of the building.  A young guy was attending to the smoker that was attached to the front corner of the building.

I found an open and expansive seating area when I went inside.  Barn boards were on the facade of the front counter while corrugated tin wainscoting lined the half walls that partitioned the dining area.  

There was a small two-sided bar also with a barn board facade underneath the bar.  Flat-screen televisions hung from a barn board overhang above the bar.  They had over 20 beers on tap from Mad Anthony's Brewing Company.  

Out back behind the place was a large concrete patio with a number of lights hanging above.  It was large enough that it could possibly double the amount of patrons the restaurant can serve in the warmer months.  More parking was available behind the restaurant, as well.   

The drill at Shigs in Pit is order at the counter, they give you a number on a table pole, you find a seat and they bring your food out to you.  The menu for both dining in and carry out was on the wall behind the counter with a window that looked into the kitchen along the back wall.  (Shigs in Pit also has an extensive menu for catering events such as receptions, parties, corporate events or reunions.)  The meats featured at Shigs in Pit included Indiana-raised St. Louis-cut pork ribs, pulled pork, chopped chicken, smoked ham, smoked turkey, and jalapeño cheddar sausage, as well as brisket and burnt ends for a $1.00 upcharge.  All the meats could be made into sandwiches, but they also had gourmet sandwiches such a smoked ham Creole po' boy sandwich, a smoked turkey sandwich with a cranberry mayo with cheddar cheese and bacon, and the "Big Shig Pig" which featured smoked bologna, pulled pork, pimento cheese and topped with creamy cole slaw.  

After I ordered up my lunch, I was told that I could get my beer over at the bar.  (They rang me up at the front counter, but alerted the bartender that I would be coming over to get the beer.)  I got an Ol' Woody pale ale that I'd had before on a previous visit to the Mad Anthony Brewing Co.  I found a seat at a table near the bar, and set my table pole with my number affixed to the top of it.  They had some pretty good music playing that day - some good blues that varied from the likes of Peter Green (a founding member of Fleetwood Mac), Chicago's Lil' Ed and Blues Imperials, and classic blues from Willie Dixon, and Freddie King.  

I had about a 10 minute wait before they brought out my lunch order.  I got the ribs and brisket combination.  I also ordered a side of their fries and a side of their interesting sounding green chile mac & cheese.  A slice of garlic bread came with the meal.  The lunch was served on a small metal tray on top of a piece of wax paper.  

They had three different types of barbecue sauce to go along with the smoked meats at Shigs in Pit.  They had a tangy sauce that was vinegar-based.  I usually shy away from vinegar-based sauces, but this was actually pretty good.  Their original barbecue sauce was a sweet molasses and smoky sauce, while they had a "hot" sauce that was basically the original sauce with a hot pepper mixture added.  I thought it was very good.  

The ribs had a rub on the outside that gave the meat a bit of a spicy kick.  But it was far from overpowering.  I'd have to say that I liked the combination rub they used.  But the ribs, themselves, were very dry.  It was like they had either cooked them too long, or had left them in a warming pan too long.  The meat on the ribs was tough and chewy.  The couple of good bites that I was able to get were very good.  But the ribs were just too tough for my tastes.  Even with putting sauce on the ribs didn't help that much.

The brisket, however, was very good.  It was moist, tender, and had a great smoky beef taste.  I found that I didn't need to put much - if any - barbecue sauce on the brisket as it was very good on its own.  

The fries were thin cut and fresh, but I didn't concentrate too much on them.  I was sort of surprised they didn't have baked beans as an option for sides, but they did have some something that caught my eye - green chile mac & cheese.  I ordered that for my second side, but what I thought I was getting and what I got were two different things.  I thought that the mac & cheese would be topped with a green chile sauce, but it appears that they just put chopped green chiles in the mix.  I mean, it was all right.  But I was expecting something completely more Southwest in a culinary nature.  

While I didn't care for their dried out ribs, I thought the brisket at Shigs in Pit was very good.  I should have tried the pulled pork, but I have a funny feeling that I'll be back there at some point.  The beer selection from the Mad Anthony's Brewing Company was wide and varied giving beer lovers a chance to have about any style they wanted.  It was a nice place on the inside, open and airy; and the played some very good blues music over the sound system.  And while I thought their sauces were also very good, I just wish the ribs wouldn't have been so tough and chewy.  

Bent River Brewing Company - Moline, IL

There are a number of brewpubs/craft breweries in the greater Quad Cities area - some may say that the area has reached a saturation of craft breweries.  But they keep growing with three more opening since last fall.  However, one of the oldest craft brewpubs in the area is still one of the most popular - Bent River Brewing Company.  One Saturday earlier this year, my wife suggested that we head over the Bent River in downtown Moline for lunch.  It had been awhile since we had been there for either beers or food and I thought it would be a nice diversion from laying around on a cold weekend day.  

Tim Koster was a home-brewing enthusiast who started Koski's Home Brew Fixin's in 1993 to supply other local enthusiasts with equipment, supplies and ingredients to make their own beer at home.  Koster was a pretty good brewer and he was convinced that he could sell his beers to the public.  He opened Bent River Brewing Company in 1996, but continued to brew in small batches.  It was a full two years later before he was able to procure copper brewing kettles from the Brauhaus company from Austria and they produced their first half-barrel of beer, an American Pale Ale.  

As business grew, Koster put in a kitchen and began to provide food to go along with his beers.  One of his good customers was Joel Krogman who was a longtime Culver's franchisee who had opened up the Blackthorn Pub and Eatery just down the street from Bent River.  When he wanted to get away from his own place for awhile, Krogman would belly up at the bar at Bent River and he got to know Koster and really enjoyed the beer Koster was brewing.  

Blackthorn closed in 2003, but Krogman continued to come into Bent River to pass time while he worked as a consultant in the restaurant industry.  When Koster told Krogman that he was thinking of selling Bent River, Krogman came up with a group of investors - Brian Smith, Nick Bowes, and Alan and Kathy Reschke - to join him in buying the brewpub.  The group took over the brewpub in 2009 with Nick Bowes as the general manager of the brewpub.  

It became very evident that Bent River's success was getting the best of them.  They were selling their variety of beers at over 60 restaurants and grocery stores in Eastern Iowa and Western Illinois and business was growing at a tremendous pace.  Krogman realized that they needed to expand their brewing operations and they looked for buildings in the greater Quad Cities to turn into a brewery.  

They found a building at the corner of what was at first a car wash, then had been a car detailing and convenience store operation at the corner of 24th St. and 5th Ave. in Rock Island across from the venerable Jim's Rib Haven.  Krogman and his group put in a new beer fermentation system with a bottling line, erected a silo that can store over 30 tons of grain, put in a bar and special events area, and a distribution warehouse.  With brewmaster Steve Ratcliff overseeing the operation - and Tim Koster coming back as a consultant on the new operation - the Rock Island Brewery, Tasting Room, Special Events and Distribution Center for Bent River opened in the spring of 2012.  Almost immediately, Ratcliff - who has been in charge of brewing at Bent River since 2008 - was overseeing the production of over 10,000 barrels of beer annually.  Bent River beers are found at bars, restaurants and stores in Iowa, Illinois and Wisconsin. 

(In 2016, Krogman and his investors franchised out the Bent River concept to a group of three investors in Burlington, IA.  The franchise group had bought an old J.C. Penney store in downtown Burlington and opened Burlington Bent River in the fall of 2016 complete with all of Bent River's beers.)  

The original Bent River is located in the heart of downtown Moline along 5th Ave. (see map)   It's housed in a building that dates back to the turn of the 20th century and is part of a number of buildings recognized by the National Register of Historic Places.  The facade of the building was renovated in an Italian Renaissance style to enhance the planned restoration of the historic buildings in downtown Moline.  

Inside Bent River is a long bar with the original copper brewing kettles in a line behind the bar.  Spotlights hanging from the ceiling highlighted the kettles and exposed ductwork hung over the bar area.   

The current beer list hangs in two places from the ceiling above and behind the bar.  Bent River features around seven or eight year-round beers with another half-dozen or so seasonal beers.  

The dining area consists of a long narrow room with booths along the wall, and a series of high top and low top tables.  They kept the historical integrity of the building with a tin ceiling and antique-style lighting with fans hanging from the ceiling.  

We took a seat in a booth along the wall and a guy came over to drop off menus and tell us that Candi was going to be our server, but he wanted to know if we wanted anything to drink.  My wife got the Haze IPA which is a very forward and hoppy beer.  I wanted to try samples of the blueberry stout they had just come out with, as well as the jalapeño ale.  I'm not big on stouts or on fruit beers, but I wanted to see what this one was like.  It was more of a coffee taste than a blueberry taste.  And the jalapeño ale was a little peppery in taste, but wasn't all that spicy.  I ended up getting a pint of their award-winning Mississippi Blonde, a nice light beer with an ABV of 3.6 as I didn't really want anything hoppy or heavy for lunch.  The Mississippi Blonde got a bronze medal in its category during the 2007 Great American Beer Festival in Denver.  

The food at Bent River isn't anything fancy as it's more along the lines of typical brewpub cuisine - burgers, sandwiches, appetizers, wraps, salads, and entrees such as mac and cheese, fish and chips, and shepherd's pie.  I've had the burger there on my previous visit and I thought it was fine.  But they had changed the menu from the last time we were in and they had a number of smoked meats on the menu including brisket, pulled pork, turkey, pastrami, and sausage.  The smoked pastrami sandwich was sort of calling my name.  

We started out with some of the smoked brisket poutine - chopped brisket on fries with deep fried cheese curds and topped with a housemade vinegar-based barbecue sauce.  I didn't care for the barbecue sauce - it was similar to a sauce my grandmother used to put on her Swiss steak when I was a young kid.  And she made Swiss steak all the time for nearly every birthday dinner she hosted.  It got to be a joke amongst our family members for all the times she did Swiss steak.  The poutine was just all right in my book.  

My wife really wanted to try some of the barbecue, so I decided to go that way rather than to get the smoked pastrami sandwich.  We went with the two meat platter of pulled pork and brisket.  For our sides, we got baked beans and sweet pepper cole slaw.  The meat was also topped with the vinegar-based sauce that I didn't care for at all.  

The brisket and pulled pork were both tender enough that you didn't need a knife to cut it up.  But the taste of the vinegar sauce just didn't do a thing for me.  I know there are people who like the vinegar-based barbecue sauces - I do, as well, if they're not too heavy on the vinegar.  Still, I ate my portion of both the pork and brisket and probably would have liked it with a more sweet and smoky - and somewhat spicy - barbecue sauce.  Or no sauce at all.  (I should have gotten the sauce on the side.)  

The sweet pepper cole slaw was all right, with chopped red and yellow peppers mixed in.  But the baked beans just downright sucked.  They were drab in taste with almost no redeeming quality whatsoever.  I think I had a couple bites of the beans before I decided that they weren't even worth having any more.  

Bent River is one of those places where the food and beer are good - not great - but they do a good job of preparing both.  While I had a minor problem with the vinegar-based sauce they used on the brisket and pulled pork, the meat was very tender and flavorful.  The sweet pepper cole slaw was fine, but the baked beans were not very good.  We were also somewhat disappointed in the brisket poutine.  It would have been a lot better had they put gravy on it instead of the vinegar-based barbecue sauce.  My wife enjoyed her Haze IPA - she really likes a good hoppy beer - and I have always liked their Mississippi Blonde beer.  Some people may like their new blueberry stout beer - I didn't care for it.  And the jalapeño ale sampler was all right, but didn't have that forward peppery taste I've had in other jalapeño beers.  Bent River may not be the best brewpub I've visited in terms of food or beers in my travels over the years, but they've found their own little niche in the Quad Cities and are still one of the more popular places in the area.  

Wildwood Tavern - Niles, IL

A place that has popped up over the past couple years is the Wildwood Tavern at the corner of Touhy and Caldwell Avenues in the northwest Chicago suburb of Niles.  (see map)  I've thought that the place looked pretty nice from the outside with its mountain cabin-type exterior with a nice patio on the side and I always had it in the back of my mind for a place to try out at some point.  During a trip into Chicago earlier this year, I decided to stop in and have something to eat at Wildwood Tavern.

Mark Freedman was only 11 years old in 1971 when his father Myron, and his uncle, Phil, opened a steakhouse - the eponymously named Myron and Phil's - along Devon Ave. in Lincolnwood.  Mark Freedman started out bussing tables shortly after the steakhouse opened up and he eventually worked his way up in nearly every capacity from kitchen work, to waiter, to manager, finally taking over ownership of the restaurant in 1998.  Mark's wife, Ellie, became a defacto partner as Ellie's background in business and the food service industry made it a match in heaven for the both of them.

In May of 2013, a devastating electrical fire destroyed Myron and Phil's. It was a double shot of grief for Freedman as his father passed away the same day at the age of 95. But the Freedman's held their head up and vowed they'd rebuild and reopen.  However, negotiations with the insurance company dragged on long enough that Freedman decided to not rebuild Myron and Phil's, but to have a new place that catered to a more casual crowd rather than a steakhouse clientele.   

Pictured right - Ellie and Mark Freedman.  Photo courtesy Chicago Tribune.

The Freedman's found a place in Niles that had recently been a steakhouse/barbecue spot that closed in 2013.  They gutted the building and gave it a northwoods motif.  Since the restaurant before them had a smoker, the Freedman's incorporated smoked meats into a mix of food items that included burgers, sandwiches, pizza, and some entrees.  With everything in place, the Wildwood Tavern opened in late August 2015.  

It was around 1:30 when I went into Wildwood Tavern in between appointments in the area.  There's a good-sized dining area off to the right when you come into the restaurant.  It has a high ceiling with a number of tables and booths interspersed throughout the area.  An outdoor patio is just off the main dining room.  

I took a seat at the large rectangular bar that had metal high-back chairs around it.  There was an island in the middle with glass refrigerators below and a line of flat panel televisions that were perched above for viewing on all sides of the bar.  The bartender that day, Marissa, was also going to be my server.  She got me a food menu and showed me a beer list that had a number of domestics and a smattering of craft brews.  Wildwood Tavern also had a pretty good wine menu, as well.  I ended up getting a Lagunitas IPA while I looked through the menu.   

It was a wide and varied menu at Wildwood Tavern.  They had a handful of sharable appetizers, as well as soups and salads.  Since they do have a smoker from the restaurant they took over, they have ribs, brisket, pulled pork and smoked chicken on the menu.  They have a number of burgers and sandwiches, as well as signature entrees such as the original Myron and Phil's skirt steak, pork chops, fish and chips, a charbroiled New York strip, and another Myron and Phil's specialty, braised brisket.   Wildwood Tavern also had thin-crust pizza that looked pretty good, as well.  They had a lot of things to choose from, but I just wasn't certain what I wanted.   

For starters, I got a cup of their chicken/andouille sausage and rice soup.  It was similar to gumbo, only not as thick of a consistency as good gumbo.  Still, this was very good soup.  It had a bit of a spicy bite from the andouille sausage, and the chicken was cut into big chunks.  If I had just gotten a bowl of the soup, I would have been happy.  

For my lunch that day, I went with one of their specials - Gramma's meatloaf.  It came with mashed potatoes and a hearty mushroom gravy.  It was two slabs of their house-made meatloaf with the mushroom gravy slathered over the top.  Getting meatloaf in a restaurant can be an iffy proposition, but this was actually very good.  While it wasn't as moist as I may like my meatloaf, it had a good consistency and taste quality.  I enjoyed the mushroom gravy with the meatloaf, but the pieces were pretty big.  I had a couple bites of the adequate mashed potatoes with the gravy and was able to finish off one of the meatloaf pieces and had the other one about halfway gone before I threw in the towel.  It was such a filling and well-rounded meal that I was full the rest of the day and didn't even bother getting dinner that evening.   

For my first time into Wildwood Tavern, I would have to say that I was more than happy with the meatloaf special they had that day.  The cup of chicken/andouille rice soup was also a warm and hearty opener to the meal.  While I sat at the bar, the service was prompt and attentive.  And it was a nice wholesome atmosphere at Wildwood Tavern.  Since it's not too far from where I stay when I go to Chicago, I'm sure I'll be back at some point to try their pizza.  The ghost of Myron and Phil's has come back in the form of the Wildwood Tavern.  (Photo courtesy Tripadvisor.) 

RoSal's - Chicago

About a year ago, my wife and I were in Chicago for our anniversary weekend and we went to Taylor Street in the heart of the present day Little Italy in Chicago to have dinner one evening.  We didn't have reservations, we thought we'd see if we could get into a place, even if we had to wait at the bar for awhile.  We started out toward the west end of Taylor Street in Little Italy and we went into a little place on the north side of the street around 6:45 that evening.  The place was small, cozy and quaint - and it was less than half full.  We thought we'd hit the jackpot on the first place we had stopped, but then a lady came out from the back of the restaurant to ask if we had any reservations.  When we told her we did not, she said, "I'm sorry, but we probably won't be able to seat you until after 9 p.m."  I was incredulous, pointing out the empty tables and she said, "We have a number of reservations starting at 7:00 p.m. and going through to 8 p.m.  We just couldn't get you in until after 9, but possibly earlier."  We decided to trudge on to look for another place, which we found down the street.  But this little place was also in the back of my mind, and on a recent trip into Chicago with my wife we ended up going back to RoSal's for dinner.  

Salvatore "Sol" Perry was born in Chicago to Italian immigrants who lived in the present day Little Italy.  When he was growing up, his father bought a bakery and the young Sol worked in the bakery until he graduated high school in 1957.  After graduation, he worked at the South Water Market, a large wholesale produce market.  Sol entered the Army in 1959 and did a two year stint.  Not long after he got out of the Army, he bought a small grocery store called West Side Foods in 1962.  

Rosanne Raimondi was also born in Chicago and grew up in the same neighborhood a few blocks away from the Perry family.  She was raised in her grandfather's four-flat building and she learned how to cook from her family who had old-time recipes from when they were growing up in Italy.  Rose and Sol were married in November of 1962 and they had two children, Cindy and Sal, Jr.  The Perry family all helped out in the family's grocery store, known in the neighborhood as having the freshest meats around.  

By 1990, Rose and Sol were looking for a change in life.  Rose was known as a wonderful cook and the couple thought they'd like to have a place where the could entertain people and serve some of Roseanne's old time Italian specialties.  They found a small building big enough for nine tables along W. Taylor Street and it was said that Rose literally moved her whole kitchen from her house to the restaurant to get things going.  Combining their names, they named their little restaurant RoSal's Italian Cucina.  

Of course, Roseanne's cooking became a hit and it wasn't any more than a year later when she said that she desperately needed help in the kitchen to keep up with the demand.  A young chef by the name of Anival Sanchez answered an ad and started to help Rose out in the kitchen.  Soon, Anival was taking charge of the kitchen making many of the Raimondi family dishes and adding a few of his own including the long time favorite Shrimp alla Anival that featured a pasta dish with grilled shrimp, prosciutto ham, and toasted pine nuts in a lemon cream sauce.   

In 1995, Linda Haile came to RoSal's to wait on tables.  She proved to be a proficient server with an outgoing and pleasant demeanor toward her customers.  Linda took on other duties at the restaurant over the years including becoming the front of house manager.  

In addition to Anival and Linda being a big part of RoSal's, the Perry's son, Salvatore, Jr. helped out when he could - that is, when he wasn't working as a tattoo artist.  And their daughter Cindy, and her husband, Joe Fulco would help out from time to time, as well.  

By 1999, Sol and Rose were looking to spend less time in the restaurant and they enlisted the full-time help of Cindy and Joe Fulco to take over the operations.  Joe's first job is as a locksmith.  He works as a independent contractor in the day, then trades in his locksmith hat for a chef's hat at night after 4 p.m.  Up until they fully retired in 2008, Roseanne and Sol continued to have a hand in picking out the meats and produce used at RoSal's, and Anival Sanchez and Linda Haile continue to work at the restaurant today.

We had made reservations via Open Table earlier in the day for 7:30 p.m.  We really didn't know if we needed reservations on a Sunday night in the winter time, but we thought we'd better at least have something in place just in case.  When we pulled up to RoSal's on W. Taylor, we were able to find parking right across the street.  (see map)  And when we went in, we were greeted by a young man who said we could sit anywhere.  There were only two tables occupied in RoSal's and we soon figured out why.  They closed at 8 p.m. on Sunday night.  

It turned out the young man - Phil - would be our server for the evening, as well.  I profusely apologized to him for coming in so late and he said it wouldn't be a problem.  After telling him that we'd try to hurry up the best we could, Phil sort of waved his hand and said, "That won't be necessary.  We're going to be here well after 8 p.m. cleaning and closing."   

RoSal's was exactly as we remembered it to be from our brief visit now a year ago.  It was a small, intimate place with seating for around 40 people.  It turned out that they also had a upstairs seating area with 15 more tables.  Linen table cloths covered the wooden tables.  Sconce light fixtures hung on the wall along with numerous pictures of Perry family members from over the years.  The kitchen was in the back of the restaurant with an open high counter where servers could talk with the cooks.  

We both figured that we'd be eating something with a red sauce for dinner that night so I had Phil bring us a bottle of the J. Lohr Vineyards Seven Oaks cabernet, a good and reasonably priced hearty red that we've had in the past.  By the time he brought the bottle to our table and opened it, the party of six sitting in the corner near us and the party of two seated up front were gone.  We had the place all to ourselves.  Yes, our own intimate little Italian restaurant.  My wife really dug that.  And so did I, actually.  

The menu at RoSal's featured a number of classic Italian dishes including eggplant parm, chicken marsala, a number of pasta dishes, veal entrees, steaks, seafood with pasta, and antipasti starters such as sausage and peppers, baked clams, and a stuffed artichoke.  There were a number of items that caught our eye as we were looking through the menu.  I must have changed my mind three or four times as I kept looking over what they had to offer.  

We started out by getting a basket of warm freshly baked bread that was outstanding in taste.  We each got a RoSal's special salad that consisted of mixed greens with chopped artichoke hearts, pepperoni slices, red onions, black olives, chopped tomatoes, with fontinella and provolone cheese topped with a house oil and vinegar Italian dressing and served to us in a family-style bowl.   The greens were crisp and cold, the pepperoni had a bit of a spicy bite, the artichoke hearts weren't mushy, and the red onions had a great forward taste.  Along with the wonderful bread they served with the salad, this was a great start to the meal.  

My wife had gone into the evening thinking that she was going to get something with a red sauce, but she ended up getting the veal piccata - two boneless veal chops sautéed in a white wine lemon sauce with capers, topped with melted provolone cheese and served on a bed of pasta tossed with garlic and oil.  She declared her meal to be wonderful, but very rich.  She couldn't remember having veal piccata with cheese on top of the veal before, but she really enjoyed the flavor.  

I went the red sauce route with the veal parmesan with pasta shells and a basil tomato marinara sauce.  My veal was also topped with melted provolone cheese.  Like my wife's veal, my cut was tender as I could easily cut it with my fork.  The marinara sauce was rich and flavorful with chopped fresh basil sprinkled over both the veal and marinara.  My meal was simply outstanding.  I was able to eat the veal parm along with much of the marinara sauce on the plate.  

Of course, we had to have dessert and we got a large chunk of RoSal's tiramisu.  The taste was heavenly and sinful at the same time.  The tiramisu was spongy, but wasn't mushy like it was two or three days old.  But it was so rich that we were having trouble finishing it up, especially after our wonderful and filling meals we had just had.  

While we were finishing up the tiramisu and the rest of the wine, Joe Fulco came out of the kitchen and introduced himself.  He asked how our meals were and we told them they were outstanding.  We apologized for being there so late - it was well after 8 p.m. when he came over to talk with us, but we never got the notion that he was trying to hurry us up at all.  

We continued to talk with him and he took a seat at our table for awhile.  He talked about the history of RoSal's, his other job as a locksmith and his love of working in the kitchen.  Joe also talked about how tough it is to run a restaurant these days with the demands of diners and how social media can portray a restaurant in a - sometimes unwarranted - bad way.  I didn't have the heart to tell him that my hobby was blogging about restaurants that I visited, but he shouldn't have to worry about me.  This was a great dining experience all the way around.  

My wife and I couldn't have been more happy with our meal and the service at RoSal's.  The restaurant had a great intimate and cozy feel to the place.  My veal parm dish was outstanding and my wife was more than impressed with her veal piccata.  The tiramisu was a wonderful end to the meal.  The hospitality shown to us by our server Phil and later on by owner Joe Fulco was a nice touch.  Not once did they try to hurry us along as we got in late and were there well past their closing time.  I can understand the owner's frustration with snippy or sour reviews on social media sites, but he doesn't have to worry about that with me.  We an outstanding meal and dining experience at RoSal's.  

Update - May 2018.  A couple days after publishing this post on RoSal's, I was informed that the Fulco's announced back in April that they would be closing RoSal's on May 13.  This isn't the first time that I've wrote an extensive review on a restaurant, only to have it close between the time we were there and the time it was published.  And my wife and I are really sad, too.  It was the last old world Italian restaurant on Taylor Street.  While we really liked RoSal's, we found another place in Chicago recently where we thought the food and ambience was on par - if not a little better - than RoSal's.  Look for that entry on Road Tips in the coming weeks.

Barrel + Rye - Geneva, IL

I had met one of my dealers in the western suburbs of Chicago for lunch at a place called Barrel + Rye in downtown Geneva, IL late last year.  I thought it was a pretty good meal and when my wife and I went into Chicago recently to have a long weekend, we ended up out in Geneva in the middle part of the afternoon.  We had a late breakfast and it was finally getting to the point where my wife needed something else before we drove back home.  I suggested Barrel + Rye since I'd been there previously and she was up for that.  

Buddies Jack Waters and Nicholas Roberge opened the doors to Barrel + Rye in November of 2014 offering over 200 whiskeys to choose from, as well as a nice selection of craft beers.  It's an American-style bistro where the food is eclectic with offerings such as a braised lamb/grilled cheese sandwich, mushroom risotto, tuna poke, and an herb-crusted grilled salmon salad.  Waters and Roberge have also developed another restaurant in Geneva - The Burger Local - and they also have a restaurant in west suburban Glen Ellyn - Maize + Mash (similar to Barrel + Rye) - and The Burger Social in Waters' and Roberge's hometown of Wheaton.  

Barrel + Rye is located at the corner of S. 3rd St. and South St. in Geneva.  (see map)  We found a parking spot on South Street just around the corner from the front door.  

Barrel + Rye is not a large place, it features an L-Shaped bar with tables along the wall.  It seats - maybe - 50 people tops.  The decor was a mixture of contemporary and somewhat rustic with an array of interesting Edison lamps hanging from the tin ceiling.  They had a large number of bourbon, rye and Scotch whiskies to choose from at Barrel + Rye.  

We took a seat at a table opposite the bar, given menus and were greeted by our server, Stacie.  They also had a good sized menu of craft beers and I ordered up a Stone Brewing Co. Delicious IPA while my wife ordered a Lagunitas IPA.  

I would have to say that because of the brevity of food items on the menu, that Barrel + Rye is more whisky-centric than an emphasis on food.  I don't want to say that food is an afterthought at the bistro, but the menu is pretty limited.  But that doesn't mean that what they have isn't pretty interesting.   They had a braised lamb grilled three-cheese sandwich, they had a five pepper-seasoned chicken sandwich topped with smoked gouda, a fried egg and maple syrup, and they had a rolled seasoned pork belly sandwich, as well.  

They had a number of sharable appetizers that could have been basically entrees, too.  They had a ginger-marinated ahi tuna poke mixed with avocado, cilantro, macadamia nuts, cucumbers, snap peas and a samba aioli.  There was a mushroom and saffron risotto for an appetizer, as well as shrimp and grits.  They also had soups, salads, and a charcuterie board available, as well.  

But because the menu was limited, I didn't want to get the same thing that I had got before - the Local burger. But that's what my wife ended up getting.  It was a half-pound locally-raised black angus beef patty that came with cheese for $12 bucks.  My wife didn't want cheese on her burger, but she did ask for grilled onions instead.  It was served on a toasted bun with red onions and lettuce on the side.  Along with the burger, she got a small B+R salad that consisted of mixed greens with chopped roasted red peppers, grilled corn, avocado, tortilla chips and topped with feta cheese and a cilantro vinaigrette.  She ended up eating much of the burger without the bun and she thought it was a very tasty burger.  But she really enjoyed the B+R salad, probably even more than the burger.

When I was in before, I had seen that they had brisket chili on the menu and I thought I'd try some of that.  I ordered a cup of the chili and Stacie brought out what I would call a bowl of the stuff.  (Turns out they only had one size offered.)  The chili consisted of large chunks of lean brisket with beans and topped with cheese, green onions and tortilla strips.  The chili was wonderful.  It had a great chili taste with hints of cumin and possibly oregano.  It was thick and rich.  I should have just stopped with the chili because it filled me up quick. 

But no, if the chili wasn't enough, I also got a plate of the duck confit poutine.   It was a classic poutine dish with French fries topped with pulled duck breast, cheese curds and a housemade gravy.  It was put under the broiler to melt the cheese curds and mix all the toppings together.  When Stacie brought it out, I noticed that there was a dearth of gravy to my liking.  She was kind enough to bring me a small bowl of gravy to add to the poutine.  

As much as the brisket chili was rich and flavorful, well, this had that beat in terms of taste sensations.  The duck confit was tender and had a great flavor.  The fries were crispy and the cheese was melted perfectly to allow everything to coagulate into one big gooey wonderful mess.  I could only eat about half the poutine - if that - concentrating fully on the pulled duck breast making sure that I got every last morsel of the succulent taste.  I was so full after the chili and the duck confit poutine that I didn't even think about having dinner that evening.  

Barrel + Rye is a nice little place that emphasizes the drink over the food with a large selection of whiskey to choose from, and a limited menu that is heavy on sharable appetizers over individual foods.  They also have a nice array of craft beers, and while the menu is small, the food is definitely unique and interesting.  My wife thoroughly enjoyed the Local burger - as did I on my first visit to the place.  And on this visit, I was more than happy with my rich and zesty chili, then topped that with the excellent and sinful pulled duck breast poutine.  It's a quiet, cozy little place with a great bar and good service.  If you're shopping in Geneva and would like to get a drink with some appetizers - or a sandwich - I think Barrel + Rye is a great little place to stop by and try.  

Ruby's - Davenport, IA

Another place in downtown Davenport that opened up last fall is a unique pub called Ruby's.  It's a combination beer pub/bike sales/repair/rental shop concept that the owners modeled after similar places in Colorado, South Carolina and Texas.  Early on, the place only served what they called gourmet brats.  Initially, we weren't too whippy on going there just to have a beer and a brat.  But a friend of ours had told us recently that they had expanded their menu to include appetizers, burgers, sandwiches and wraps - including vegetarian items.   On a very nice Saturday afternoon, we made our way down there to have lunch.  

Ruben Garcia is a native of Southern California who has worked as an artisan woodworker/cabinet maker most of his adult life.  His vocation took him all over the United States working on everything from high-end homes to hospitals to hotels.  When a chance to settle down in the Quad Cities to work at Elliott Aviation at the Quad City International Airport refurbishing private jets, he took the job in 2012.  

On his trips to different places around the United States before he landed in the Quad Cities, Garcia ran across combination pubs and bike shops that also rented bikes such as Denver Bicycle Cafe in Denver, CO, Piney Mountain Bike Lounge in Greenville, SC, and The Wheel in Austin, TX.  Wanting to do something similar in the Quad Cities became a significant dream for Garcia.  

Garcia eventually met Sidney Rognoni, a Davenport restaurateur who owned RAW, an upscale cocktail lounge with esoteric appetizers in downtown Davenport; and who is also a co-owner in Bowls Urban Eats, a noodle/pasta place with Asian and Italian specialties in downtown Davenport.  Garcia sold Rognoni on the concept and the two looked for a place to house their restaurant.  

Pictured right - Ruben Garcia and Sidney Rognoni.  Photo courtesy Quad City Times.  

There was a building along E. 3rd Street in downtown Davenport that used to house Jaguar Alley, a used foreign car sales and repair shop.  The group who owned the building bought the property planning to tear down the building and use the space as parking for a loft building they were constructing a block to the north.  But when it turned out that the owners didn't need the property for parking, they sought out people to lease the building.  It turned out to be a perfect place for the pub/bike rental  and sales shop as it was near the main bike path along the Mississippi River in Davenport.  After a full restoration of the building, Garcia and Rognoni opened Ruby's - which is Ruben Garcia's nickname - on September 1st of last year.   

The building also houses Panini and Friends, a panini/sandwich shop that is located on the north side of the building.  But much of the building at the corner of E. 3rd St. and LeClaire Ave. is occupied by Ruby's.  (see map)  Parking is available in a lot off 3rd St., but there's also on street parking by the restaurant on both sides of LeClaire Ave.  

Ruby's is housed in a long narrow space with an exposed ceiling and ductwork.  High-top tables line the barn board wall opposite the bar.  

The bar featured a long metal top with barn board front.  The lighting above the bar featured a hanging row of spoked bicycle wheels with Edison lamps coming through the axle.  It was a nifty lighting fixture, to say the least.

And Ruby's is also a working bicycle shop with sales, service and rentals.  They had a number of road and trail bikes on display.

When we were in there, Ruben Garcia was working with a guy who was looking at purchasing a trail bike.  He allowed the guy to take the bike for a spin around the outside area where there will eventually be a volleyball court and a dog area.  My wife has been on me to buy a new road bike for her for awhile now, so coming into Ruby's probably wasn't a smart thing on my part.  

There is also a large outdoor patio area with picnic tables and metal tables and chairs for people to enjoy during the warmer months.  There's a garage door that opens to allow people to walk freely from the patio into the bar area with a side door access when the garage door is closed.  

We took a seat toward the back corner of the restaurant and took a look at a menu that was on our table.  The place was about half full with a large party at a table toward the center of space.  We thought we saw a waitress working the table, but it turned out it was someone from the party being helpful in removing empty beer glasses and putting them on the bar.  It turned out that there was only one person working as a bartender and server when we were there.  And it took her a long time to get over to greet us.  We thought that was kind of ridiculous for a place to only have one person trying to take care of bar patrons and wait tables at the same time.  

When she finally got over to us, she said her name was Renee and she apologized for not getting over sooner.  She said that she recognized us from her previous job as a barista at a little drive-thru coffee shop that we frequent on weekends.  My wife immediately said, "Oh, yeah!  Sure!  I remember you!"  She asked us what we wanted to drink and I ordered an Avalanche amber ale from the Breckinridge Brewing Company in Colorado along with a Bloody Mary.  My wife ordered something we both weren't familiar with - a Wolf Pup Session IPA from the Golden Road Brewing Company out in Los Angeles.  She let me have a taste of it after Renee brought our drinks to our table and it had a nice hoppy flavor with a bit of a citrus taste on the back end.  When I ordered a second beer, I got the Wolf Pup instead of the Avalanche amber.  But I passed on a second bloody Mary - I wasn't too enamored with the mix they used.  It was sort of sweet in taste and not as spicy as I would have liked.  

Ruby's new and expanded menu features a number of appetizers, wraps, chicken sandwiches, burgers and brats to choose from.  They also had tacos made with either chicken or seasoned sausage, and they had a number of vegetarian options for the more health conscious bikers they hope to pull in, as well.  

My wife was looking for a more healthy option for lunch that day and she ended up going with a vegetarian wrap called the Sante Fe Black Bean wrap.  It featured black beans and chopped red peppers with chopped fresh romaine lettuce, pico de gallo, sliced avocado with a chipotle cream sauce all wrapped in a spinach tortilla shell. She got a side of their regular slaw to go with the wrap.  (I was hoping she would get a side of Ruby's blueberry slaw so I could see what that tasted like.)   My wife really enjoyed the overstuffed black bean wrap and ended up opening the second wrap to concentrate on the veggies inside.    

I was up for a burger and they had one that was topped with a peppercorn sauce, blue cheese crumbles, chopped green onions and crispy fried red onions on a pretzel bun.  For my side, I got the salt and pepper seasoned fries.  

I always have a bit of trepidation when I get a burger with blue cheese on it.  Sometimes the blue cheese overpowers the other flavors on the burger that you can't really enjoy the overall taste of the burger.  But the blue cheese they used on this burger was mild enough that I was able to pick up the flavor of the beef even with the peppercorn sauce, chopped fresh green onions, and the fried red onion straws.  It was a multi-napkin affair where the bun held together very well with the messy nature of the burger.  

The seasoned fries were also surprisingly good.  Each French fry was coated with a mixture of salt and pepper and the outer shell was crispy with a nice pillowy potato texture inside.  

While we were eating, we noticed that another server had shown up to help Renee out and Ruben Garcia was going around bussing tables after he finished with his bike customer.  Renee came out to check on us and to give us our bill.  "How was everything," she asked.  

My wife said, "It was great.  How are you holding up?"

Renee said that she was overwhelmed for awhile, but things had settled down for her since more help came in.  We told her we really liked Ruby's and we would definitely be back again when the weather got warmer, if not sooner.  She said, "This is really a great place.  We're going to continue to improve on the menu and change some things around.  Do come back and see what we're doing."  

So, really other than the lack of a wait staff on our first visit, we couldn't really come up with anything that we thought was that bad at Ruby's.  I really enjoyed my peppercorn/blue cheese burger and my wife was more than happy with her vegetarian black bean and pepper wrap.  While they had an interesting array of craft beers to choose from, my only quibble would be with the bloody Mary where I felt their mixture was a little too sweet for my tastes.  Still, we would have no problem recommending a trip down to Ruby's for a nice casual meal and some good beer.  And if you can do it on your bicycle, it makes the trip even better.  

Bruna's Ristorante - Chicago

About 20 years ago, a friend of mine and I drove into Chicago to go see the Iowa Hawkeyes play basketball at the United Center.  We went in early to grab a bite to eat and my friend had a map to an Italian place that he wanted to try.  I remember the place - it was on a corner at a T-intersection in a sort of residential area south of the United Center.  But for the life of me, I couldn't remember the name of the place.  I just remembered it was old school Italian and the food was very good.  

Trying to find the place again was always something that I had in the back of my mind over the years, but unfortunately I never came across the old restaurant during all my trips to Chicago over the past 15 plus years.  A good friend of mine at one of my dealers in Chicago had told me about a small Italian restaurant that he loved going to on S. Oakley in the middle of the original Little Italy (before the restaurants and businesses along Taylor Street took over that moniker years ago).  My wife and I were in Chicago for an extended weekend and we decided to drive to the restaurant that my friend had raved about.  When we pulled up in front of the place, we immediately had a problem - it was Monday night and it was closed.  Then I looked down the street and saw something that was vaguely familiar to me.  "Holy shit," I exclaimed as I drove up to the long lost restaurant I had eaten in 20 years ago.  "This is the place!"  It turns out that the name of the place was Bruna's Ristorante and it's one of the oldest Italian restaurants in the city of Chicago.  

And when I mean one of the oldest, I mean the 3rd oldest Italian restaurant in Chicago, a city full of Italian heritage.  The oldest restaurant is the venerable Italian Village which opened in 1927 in downtown Chicago, a place I've eaten at a couple times years ago, but it's sort of got a reputation as a tourist trap these days.  The second oldest Italian restaurant in Chicago is Tufano's in the Vernon Park neighborhood just south and west of downtown Chicago opened in 1931.  And Bruna's opened in 1933, just after the end of Prohibition.  

Bruna Cani was born in Michigan to Tuscan immigrant parents in the late 1890's.  Her family moved to Chicago when she was a young girl to the area of Chicago where a number of Tuscan immigrants were living on the city's southwest side.  Bruna - known as "Bella Bruna" to family and friends - started to work at an Italian restaurant along S. Oakley at W. 24th Place called Orsi & Cani (Bear & Dog) in the late 1920's.  She had a dispute with the owner of the restaurant and knowing that she could do a better job, she left there to open her own place just across the street.  

Bruna wanted her place to be a lively place where neighbors would congregate for a good meal at a reasonable price.  When "Bella Bruna" wasn't in the kitchen cooking up her famous dishes such as her famous slow-roasted Sunday chicken made with sage, rosemary and garlic, she would be in the dining room talking with her patrons or she would sometimes climb up on the top of the bar to dance and sing.  

By the late 70's, Bruna was still running the restaurant with the help of her daughter Marylyn, also known as Mickey.  But illness forced Bruna to sell the restaurant in 1981 to Luciano Silvestri.  Silvestri was a native of Siena in central Italy's Tuscany region, the same area where Bruna Cani's parents were born.  Silvestri had a long history of culinary experience starting at restaurants in his hometown and working world class restaurants Switzerland and London.  He then worked in the kitchens on ocean-going cruise ships, as well as at the world-renown Villa d'Este resort along Lake Como before he moved to Chicago in 1977.  Not only did Luciano keep all of Bruna's time-tested dishes on the menu, but he brought a number of his own family's recipes along to add to the already long list of great dishes at Bruna's Ristorante.  In addition to his knowledge of food, Silvestri also upgraded the wine selection at Bruna's offering a number of California and Italian wines, including a house wine that he exclusively imports from a winery near his hometown of Siena.     

In fact, it was Luciano Silvestri who greeted us when we walked in the door at Bruna's Ristorante after we had parked just down the street on W. 24th St. Place.  (see map)  A shorter man with a barrel chest, Luciano was welcoming and outgoing as he showed us past the bar area to the dining room in the back.

Upon entering the dining room, I told my wife, "Oh, yeah.  This is the place."  It had the same framed oil paintings on the wall that I remembered.  The decor looked like we had walked into the 1930's, the tables were all topped with linen table cloths, and it had a great cozy feeling to the room. I think she was just as excited for me finally finding the place again after all these years as she was excited about having some old school Italian food that evening.  

We were given food menus to look over and I figured that we'd both be getting foods with red sauces so I ordered up a bottle of the Ruffino Chianti Classico Reserva Ducale Oro for us to enjoy that evening.  My wife has been on a chianti kick as of late, and while I would have rather had a meat cabernet that evening, I knew she'd like this medium red from Italy to have with dinner.  

The menu was classic Italian with pasta dishes, chicken, beef and veal entrees, seafood offerings, as well as a number of Italian appetizers such as fried calamari, prosciutto and melon, bruschetta, and even a sausage and peppers appetizer.  They had a handful of chef's specials that evening, as well, including a seafood special, a pasta special, and a steak special.  

We had ordered up our food and after we both had a simple dinner salad with their house oil and vinegar Italian dressing on it, our food made it to the table.  My wife had ordered the chicken cacciatore.  Now, she'd had he chicken cacciatore in the past - it's usually a boneless chicken breast or a chicken breast with a thigh, in a tomato sauce with peppers and veggies.  But when our waiter brought her chicken cacciatore to the table, her eyes got as big as saucers.  "Oh my," she exclaimed as he sat it in front of her.  "I wasn't expecting this!"  She didn't know if she would like it or not.  

It was a half-chicken swimming in a tomato/chicken broth sauce with a medley of green and red peppers, sliced mushrooms, and green and black olives.  It also came with a side of a mashed potato and a plate of asparagus.  I told that she didn't have to eat the whole thing and she assured me that she probably wouldn't.  

She cut off some of the chicken, took her first bite and said, "Oh my gosh!  This is excellent!"  By the time she was through, she had made a significant dent in the chicken cacciatore.  "I didn't want to stop eating it, it was so good," she said before the waiter took it away from her.  

One of the chef's specialties on the menu was the meat-filled ravioli.  It came with the marinara sauce, but I asked the waiter if I could get the bolognese sauce on it.  He said it would be no problem.  And for good measure, I asked him to add a couple of meatballs.  

The ravioli were definitely housemade with large pasta pillows filled with a blended beef/veal/pork mixture.  The bolognese sauce was meaty and thick, almost too thick.  And the meatballs were delicious with not too much breading in them and a great pork/veal/beef taste.  The ravioli with the meat sauce was absolutely wonderful, but I determined about halfway through my dinner that I should have probably gone with the marinara - there was a lot of meat on my plate between the meat-filled ravioli, the meatballs and the bolognese sauce.  

We finished off the evening with a piece of Bruna's housemade tiramisu.  It was served on a plate where they had drizzled "Happy Holidays" in chocolate sauce (since it was just right around Christmas when we were there).  And it came with two plates where they had put a heart with an arrow through it with powdered chocolate.  It was a kind of a nice little touch for them to do that.

The presentation was only topped by the wonderful rich taste of the tiramisu.  We both had a lot to eat for our meals, but we couldn't resist finishing off the last morsel of the excellent tiramisu.  It was a great ending to a great meal.  

It took me a number of years to reconnect with Bruna's Ristorante given that I ate there just once before, and I couldn't remember either the name of the place or where it was exactly in Chicago.  It was just fortuitous that we stumbled on it that evening while looking for another restaurant the area that happened to be closed that night.  And everything I remember about it was the same.  Bruna's Ristorante isn't fancy, by any stretch.  Some may even call the decor dated and tired.  But if you looked past that and imagined yourself in your Italian grandmother's house having a great home cooked meal, then you'll love the classic old-school Italian cuisine they serve at Bruna's.  

Max's Deli - Highland Park, IL

I had a dealer who moved from the northwest suburbs of Chicago to the tony Highland Park area north of Chicago last year.   He relocated along a busy stretch of Skokie Valley Road across the street from the Crossroads Shopping Mall, a strip center whose largest store is a Binny's Beverage Depot.  Just down from Binny's is a Jewish delicatessen that has been around for nearly 29 years - Max's Delicatessen and Restaurant.  One day after calling on my dealer, I went across the street to have lunch at Max's.  

Bernie Katz was a North Shore Chicago real estate broker/investor who worked with his son, David.  When two aspiring restaurateurs approached Katz asking for monetary help with an idea they had for an authentic Jewish deli in Highland Park, he offered to be a partner in the new business.  One thing he wanted was to have it named after his favorite uncle, Max.  Mirroring many of the large sandwiches, big bagels and traditional Jewish dishes found at deli's in New York City, Max's Delicatessen and Restaurant - "Chicago's New York Deli" - opened in 1989.  

The business was open for only two months when Bernie Katz and the two men who he partnered with had a difference of opinion as how to run the business.  Katz ended up taking over the deli and oversaw the operation along with his son, David.  The two spent six months of on-the-job training to learn the restaurant business from the bottom up.  Whatever Katz and his former partners disagreed over, it turned out that he was probably right all along.  At one point in time, Chicago Magazine called Max's the best deli in Chicago.

The success of Max's on the North Shore called for a second location, this one was opened along N. Clark in Chicago's Lincoln Park neighborhood in 1991.  It was there for a number of years before the Katz family closed that down to concentrate on the original Max's Deli in Highland Park.  

In 2003, Max Katz's grandson Joey Morelli, who was working as a chef in a restaurant, wanted to open his own pizza place in the Lakeview neighborhood of Chicago.  With the financial backing of his grandfather, Joey Morelli recruited his father, Frank, a retired developer, to supervise the construction of the place.  He got his mother - and Bernie Katz's daughter - Barbara to decorate the place.  And he asked his brother, Greg, who was working in finance in New York City, to join him in the restaurant.  Joey's Brickhouse opened in May of 2004.  

In 2007, Bernie Katz and his son David had a falling out which estranged the two up to the time Bernie passed away two years later at the age of 89.  Wanting to keep the deli in the family, two years later Greg and Joey Morelli - who had closed down Joey's Brickhouse - took over the day-to-day operation/ownership of Max's Deli along with their cousin Stacey Katz Goldberg.  However, last fall, Greg Morelli was removed from ownership of the company after an escalating series of controversial and inflammatory social media posts set off community backlash and outrage.  Hoping the storm has passed now that Greg Morelli is gone, Joey Morelli and Stacey Goldberg continue to run Max's Deli today.  

Coming into Max's Deli, you'll find large refrigerated cases full of meats, cheeses, baked goods and side dishes.  Off to the side was a small counter with fixed stools.  There was a sign that said, "Take a menu and seat yourself".  

The dining area featured a large open area with a number of tables and booths.  There was a step-up dining area for overflow dining that was closed off after the lunch rush that day. 

I took a seat in one of the booths and was looking over the menu as to what they had to offer.  It wasn't much different from other Jewish deli's I've visited in the Chicago area - they had sandwiches, soups, salads and a number of "nosh" sides such as stuffed cabbage, chopped liver, whitefish salad, and potato knish.  They also had comfort food such as an open-faced hot beef sandwich, open-faced grilled sandwiches such as a reuben, tuna melt, and a turkey pastrami.  And they also had burgers on the menu if you wanted that instead of a deli sandwich.  Their breakfast menu was also extensive and interesting with a number of omelettes (the corned beef omelet really caught my eye), Challah French toast, cheese blintzes, and eggs Benedict.  

While I was going over the menu, a server brought me a basket of bread, rolls and matzo along with a small dish of sliced kosher dill pickles.  I didn't want to fill up on the bread, but I helped myself to the wonderful dill pickles.  They were a bit salty, but had a great dill cucumber taste.  Max's sold the pickles in their deli area and I should have stopped and got a jar or two to take home with me.  

My server for my visit was Maria and she came back later to take my order.  I ended up getting the brisket pastrami sandwich - the larger one of the two they offered.  I had her put it on the Jewish rye bread they had and put some Swiss cheese on it, as well.  The lean brisket pastrami was piled high and had a wonderful slightly salty taste to it.  The rye bread was a little dry - comparable to other Jewish deli's - but it held together very well.  While I prefer yellow mustard on my pastrami sandwiches, they had Gulden's spicy brown mustard at the table.  

I always go into these things thinking, "Well, I can always eat a half and take the rest with me."  But the sandwich was so good that I really couldn't quit eating it.  Actually, the meat was piled high on the one side of the sandwich and not as thick on the other side.  (A Jewish friend told me one time to look out for some deli's who will do this - they'll present one half of the sandwich as being over-stuffed with the other half not as full of meat.)  But it didn't matter to me.  I just thoroughly enjoyed the sandwich the way it was. 

I've eaten at a half-dozen Jewish deli's in and around the Chicago area over the past few years and it's difficult for me to say which one is the best of them all.  And Max's Deli fits into that group.  There really wasn't much of anything about Max's Deli that I could really complain about.  It's a large, yet, comfortable place to get a good deli sandwich.  The sandwich, itself, was delicious - especially the lean brisket pastrami.  I could have just eaten the meat without the bread along with the wonderful kosher dill pickles they provided before the meal and I would have been happy.  With one of my accounts literally across the street from Max's Deli, I know I'll be sneaking back in there from time to time to get a great sandwich.  Or maybe I'll even try their breakfast at some point.    

Missipi Brewing Company - Muscatine, IA

On our visits to Muscatine over the years, we've gone past a place a few times that has sort of intrigued us, a place called Missipi Brewing Company (the mis-spelling of Mississippi is intentional, in this case).  We actually thought it was a brewpub, but it turns out that it's a longtime bar/restaurant/music venue that the locals refer to as Missipi Brew, or just "The Brew".  I had my car in for service at the local Toyota dealership and my wife and I ended up heading down to Missipi Brewing Company for lunch after I got my car back.  

The concept for the Missipi Brewing Company actually got its start up river in Rock Island, IL nearly 40 years ago.  Oak Brook, IL native Dan Carmody was a 24-year-old guy who took a look at the closed down and boarded up storefronts in financially strapped downtown Rock Island as an opportunity to start his own urban renewal project.  Along with his father, John, his brother, Gerry, and a close friend, Jerry Ludden, Carmody started the Rock Island Brewing Company in 1979.  At first, it was just a bar and pub grub kind of place, but it wasn't until Dan Carmody did an outdoor music show in the summer of 1979 on the plaza out in front of Rock Island Brewing Company - also affectionately known as RIBCO to the locals - where the Carmody's saw the light that having a music venue would be a good thing.  

Sensing a sure-fire good thing ready for expansion, the Carmody family and Ludden looked for other places to open similar music/food/bar venues in the area.  In 1980, the group found a spot in Muscatine along River Drive in the old Fitzgerald Building in downtown Muscatine.  They took over a long narrow building and built an adjacent outdoor beer garden with a stage for live music.  They called the place the Missipi Brewing Company, the quick way some people pronounce Mississippi.

The Carmody's and Ludden eventually opened two more Missipi Brewing Company locations - one in Galesburg, IL and the other one in Moline, IL - within the next year.  However, like most rapidly expanding businesses, their expenses exceeded their revenues.  Eventually, the group was forced to either sell off or close down their bars.  

(Aside No. 1 - A number of years later, Dan Carmody became the general manager of the historic Eastern Market in Detroit, Gerry Carmody became a farm manager in Indiana before succumbing to a heart attack while on vacation in Florida in 2010, and Jerry Ludden became the owner of O'Meara's Pub in Bettendorf, IA, another at-one-time iconic music destination in the Quad Cities that shut down in 2002.)

(Aside No. 2 - over the years since I've lived in the Quad Cities, I've seen a number of national, regional and local musical artists both on the inside stage at RIBCO, as well as on the outdoor stage the City of Rock Island built in the middle of the plaza near the front of RIBCO.  Today, the District of Rock Island is a thriving entertainment destination with bars and restaurants.  And the impetus for the District began with the Rock Island Brewing Company.)

The group sold the Muscatine Missipi Brewing Company to local Muscatine residents Ron McGowan and Dan Vegter who ran the business for around 11 years.  It was in 1994 that McGowan and Vegter sold the bar to local realtor Dave Armstrong and his sister, Mary Kisner.  Armstrong and Kisner immediately made their sister, LeAnn Weinke, the general manager of the place.  Other family members have chipped in over the years with Armstrong's son, Skippy, eventually become the co-manager of the place.  

Pictured right - Dave Armstrong and Mary Kisner.  Photo courtesy Muscatine Journal.  

From the original bar/restaurant/outdoor patio, Armstrong and Kisner eventually bought the building to the west of them to expand the dining area of the Missipi Brewing Company.  Then when a spot on the other side of that building became available, Armstrong and Kisner bought that spot for an indoor music venue and secondary bar.  Annually, Missipi Brewing Company hosts over 100 nights of live music indoors and out.  

It was right about noon when we pulled up to the front of Missipi Brewing Company just up from River Drive on Iowa Ave. (see map)  Parking is at a premium in downtown Muscatine until River Drive is fully open from a major renovation it has been undergoing for the past couple of years, so we parked across 2nd Street on Iowa and walked back to the Brew for lunch.  

Inside the front door, we found a long, narrow space with large booths up front, a bar area toward the back and a handful of hightop tables along the wall opposite the bar.  The bar/restaurant had an antique tin ceiling, a large beer can collection along shelving high on the walls, and a number of beer signs.

The bar wasn't very big, but they had a number of craft brews on tap.  There were a number of flat panel televisions on the wall above and behind the bar.  It was a Saturday with a lot of men's college basketball games on that day, but they only had one television turned to basketball - and it was a women's basketball game, at that.  I'm sure that if I would have asked they would have changed the channel to some basketball on one of the TV's, but it wasn't that important.   In the background, contemporary country music was playing on the bar's sound system.  

The next room over is the overflow dining room complete with beer signs and pictures hanging on an exposed brick wall.  More booths and regular tables were in that room.  And just beyond that room was the indoor music venue with the second bar for Missipi Brewing Company.   All told, it was a surprisingly large space that was cut into thirds.  

It was a cold late winter day when we were there and the outdoor patio was closed down.  It also featured a stage and a bar area with the patio overlooking the Mississippi River beyond River Drive and the Canadian Pacific rail line that parallels River Drive in downtown Muscatine.   

We took a seat at one of the high top tables opposite the bar and our server, a lady with the interesting name of Aarin, came over to greet us.  Menus were on the table, but I was having trouble reading the beer taps from the glare of the window behind them.  She pulled up a tap menu from an iPad she was using and showed me a list of beers they had on tap.  She suggested a couple of local beers - an Arms Race pale ale from the Big Grove Brewery in Solon, IA, and the Iowa pale ale from Millstream Brewing Company in the Amana Colonies.  My wife took the Arms Race pale ale while I thought I'd do the Iowa pale ale.  I've had it before and while Millstream isn't my favorite beer, their pale ale is fine.  The Arms Race pale ale, however, was very bold and hoppy.  My wife really enjoyed the flavor.  

Missipi Brewing Company has what I would call typical bar fare - burgers, sandwiches, appetizers, and wraps.  After 5 p.m. their menu expands to include nightly specials and pizza.  I was hungry when we got there so a lot of things sounded pretty good to me.  And we were pleasantly surprised at the reasonable pricing of some of their offerings on the menu. 

My wife ended up getting the Southwestern grilled chicken wrap - large chunks of grilled chicken along with chopped lettuce, red onions and tomatoes with a corn and black bean salsa along with slices of pepperjack cheese rolled into a spinach tortilla.  It was a large wrap and she ended up having to pull the second half apart and eat the filling without the tortilla.  She thought it was very good.  

I went with a "build-your-own" burger - a flame-grilled burger that I had topped with pepperjack cheese, sautéed mushrooms and bacon along with dill pickles and chopped fresh onions.  When our server - another one of the ladies working there (they were tag-teaming serving us) - asked if I wanted a side to go along with the burger, I sort of turned up my nose at the fries.  She said, "We have waffle fries," and I sort of thought about that for a moment.  I asked about onion rings and she sort of hesitated making it appear that maybe she wasn't a fan of their onion rings. 

My wife said, "Too bad they don't have tater tots."  The young lady lit up and said, "We DO have tater tots!"   So, of course, I got the tater tots.

When Aarin brought the burger out to the table, I sort of looked at the bun and was not happy to see that it wasn't toasted.  It looked sort of thick and dry.  The burger patty was pretty thin, but it looked like it was misshapen from being hand-pattied.  But it was topped with an oozing chunk of pepperjack cheese, copious amounts of sautéed mushrooms and a couple three strips of crispy bacon.  A generous portion of tater tots accompanied the burger.  

My misgivings about the bun quickly vanished when I took my first bite.  The bun was light and airy.  With the thick cheese on the burger, it was a bit of a mess - a multi-napkin burger, for sure.  The flavors all complemented each other, but the fresh onions were especially forward in their taste.  I love a good fresh onion on a burger.  The bun held everything together very well.  While it wasn't an outstanding burger, it was still very good for what it was. 

The tater tots were a bit of a disappointment.  They had a freezer-burned taste to them, even drips of Tabasco didn't help the taste of them.  But my wife didn't seem to mind - she ended up eating a good portion of them.  I don't want to say that I'm a tater tot connoisseur, but I know a good tater tot and these were far from it.  

But overall, we enjoyed our first visit to the Missipi Brewing Company.  After driving by it so many times on prior visits to Muscatine, we're happy we finally made the decision to stop in for lunch.  The food was good - not great, but good enough.  The service that we experienced was friendly, prompt and efficient.  Missipi Brewing Company isn't a fancy place, but it's far from a dive.  And don't think that you're going to be able to try any of their beer because it's not a brewpub.  But they do have a pretty good selection of craft beers.  We were very comfortable in the place and I'd like to go back at some point when the weather is nice to enjoy some drinks on the large outdoor deck.  It's another place that is worthy of checking out for lunch when you're in Muscatine.