Road Tips

The Tangled Wood - Bettendorf, IA

Earlier this year, one of the restaurants that we would go to from time to time - Governor's in Bettendorf - closed their doors and moved to a new location with a new concept and a new name called The Tangled Wood.  We were eager to try the place a couple months after they opened, but each time we would go there the place was packed.  My wife had a Monday off recently and I suggested that we go out for lunch somewhere.  Then I remembered that we hadn't been to The Tangled Wood as of yet, so we ventured out there.

Governor's in Bettendorf had been a main-stay for over 40 years before they closed their location late last year at the corner of Middle Road and Devil's Glen to make way for a Hy-Vee Fast and Fresh convenience store.  The ownership group - headed by Craig Wagner who also owns Steventon's and Blue Iguana out in LeClaire, IA - had announced nearly 2 years ago that they had outgrown the purpose for Governor's and were looking to put a new re-branded restaurant somewhere in Bettendorf.  They had already closed the Governor's over in Moline in 2016 (personal note - that was the place my wife and I had our first official lunch date in 1993), and were focusing their efforts on the new Bettendorf location.  They built a building just up the road from the old Governor's location at Devil's Glen and Tanglewood Road in Bettendorf (see map) and opened in January of this year.   

It was around 1:30 p.m. when we made it into The Tangled Wood.  We immediately were impressed with the dining area which featured a mixture of contemporary industrial fixtures and frames with some beautiful wood and brick accents.  It was definitely a step-up from the decor at Governor's which had grown tired over the years.  The atmosphere at The Tangled Wood was much more bright and lively compared to the dark wood accents and low lighting that people experienced at Governor's.  

We should have realized something was amiss from the start when two young ladies were standing at the hostess stand for a couple minutes before they even acknowledged our presence.  We had been sort of wandering around looking into the dining area and in the bar area before my wife went up to them and said, "Can we get seated for lunch?"  One of the young ladies said, "Oh!  I'm sorry.  I thought you were looking for someone."  No - we just wanted to check the place out since it was our first visit.

We had our choice of the bar or the dining room and we opted for a booth in the bar.  The brick walls featured a number of flat screen televisions hanging from them, a number of high-top tables in the middle, booths on one wall and low-top tables along the other wall.  A large outdoor patio/bar area - which was still under construction when we were there (but is open now) - was just beyond the large windows past the bar.  Even if the patio was open, we wouldn't have sat out there as we were having an extremely cold late spring in the Midwest.  And this day was no exception.

The bar, itself, featured three sides of seating with a large island of liquor shelves and taps in the middle.  Their beer menu featured 44 beers on tap, as well as another 30 cans and bottles to choose from.  Governor's always had a good beer selection, but nothing like the selection The Tangled Wood has.

After we were seated in the booth in the bar area, we were given food menus to look over.  A couple young ladies who were servers came over to greet us.  One explained that the other one was new and was in shadow training.  (Turned out the "new" waitress was a seasoned veteran server from other restaurants whose first day at The Tangled Wood was that day and probably could have shown the other one a thing or two about waitressing.)  I noticed that they had Kona Big Wave Golden Ale on tap and I ordered a pint of that.  My wife just went with water for the time being.  It was great they had the Big Wave on tap, but I was disappointed as it tasted sort of flat.      

It's basically a whole new menu from the one they had at Governor's - well, sort of.  They still have a number of sandwiches, appetizers, burgers and salads on the menu - many that were available at Governor's only with a new name.  The Tangled Wood also features barbecued entrees such as ribs and brisket, they have 12" pizzas with a hand-tossed or tavern-thin crust, and they have some of Governor's old favorites like fish and chips, and their classic nachos on the menu.  

My wife went with the grilled chicken sandwich.  She asked for it without the brioche bun, but they put the house spread in a bowl on the side.  (Don't exactly know what the house spread was, sort of like a mayo/dijon mustard, I guess.)  She got the tomato-braised kale for her side.  

I ordered the mushroom-Swiss burger with bacon on it.  I also saw that they had onion straws for some of their sandwiches and I asked our waitress if I could get a side of those.  The onion straws turned out to be nothing like I would classify as onion straws but more like thin cut food purveyor-style frozen onion rings.  

On the menu, the grilled chicken sandwich was called "Tastes Like Chicken".  My wife said it did not.  It was overcooked, rubbery and void of flavor.  She surmised the reason they had the house-made sauce with it was to at least give it some flavor.  She was highly disappointed in the grilled chicken.  But she did say that she very much liked the tomato-braised kale.  

I had asked for some "pink" in my burger when the waitress asked how I wanted my burger cooked.  Pink went out the window long before this burger was served to me.  It was over-cooked and well-done.  It didn't help that the bun that came with it was also dry - and there was too much of it.  The grilled mushrooms were all right, and they slathered a lot of Swiss cheese on top of the burger to help give it some flavor.  But the bacon was too crispy and crumbled apart like bacon bits.  The onion rings were as I feared they would be - pretty dull.  We were not happy with the quality of our meal.

And our waitresses literally left us.  I like to be checked on, but not hovered over, during our meal and I really wanted another pint of Big Wave to help wash the dry food down.  But they never came back.  Finally, I was able to flag down the "new" waitress and she came over.  She thought the other waitress had been back to check on us, but we hadn't seen her.  She got me another flat tasting Big Wave, mainly because I didn't have their beer list and I wasn't going to go up to the bar to check out their tap handles.  

We had hoped that our first visit to The Tangled Wood was an anomaly and that we would like to go back again at some point to try one of their tavern-style pizzas.  But we've heard from a handful of friends who have gone out there since that they, too, were sort of disappointed in the food and service.  It's a nice place, don't get me wrong.  And I understand the outdoor patio/bar area is always packed during these summer months.  But the chicken breast and the burger patty we had were both woefully overcooked.  I really hoped The Tangled Wood would become part of our rotation of restaurants to visit when we'd go out on weekends with friends, but we're going to have to give it more time to figure things out before we'll go there again. 

Rubaiyat - Decorah, IA

My wife and I decided to head up to NE Iowa for our wedding anniversary this year, particularly to Decorah where my wife has been pestering me to take her to for quite some time.  We really hadn't spent a lot of time around the Decorah area, but we have friends of ours who went to Luther College there years ago who go up a couple times a year to hang with old college friends.  So, it's almost like we've spent time in Decorah as we were familiar with all the places they liked to hang out.  But we wanted to go to someplace sort of special for our anniversary dinner and we found a place along Water Street, the main drag through downtown Decorah, that looked like it would fit the bill for us.  This is our visit to Rubaiyat.  

For the owners of Rubaiyat, Andy and Kim Bonnet, owning a restaurant was something they had wanted to do for nearly all their lives.  Andy grew up in Galena, IL and Kim grew up in nearby Dubuque and both entered the food service industry at the age of 14.  The two met while working at Fried Green Tomatoes in Galena (click here to see the Road Tips entry on Fried Green Tomatoes).  Kim went on to work as a server at Clarke University in Dubuque, eventually becoming the front of house hostess at a handful of other restaurants around Dubuque in her high school years.  Andy eventually ended up at the famed Timmerman's Supper Club in East Dubuque.  (Click here to see the Road Tips entry on Timmerman's.)  

Kim went off to college at Luther College, but would come back in the summer to work in restaurants in the Dubuque area.  After graduating from Luther with a degree in finance, Kim came back to Dubuque to work as a financial advisor.  But she couldn't get the restaurant business out of her blood and she would work at restaurants in the area as a second job at nights and on weekends.  

Andy and Kim eventually were married, and the first time Kim took Andy up to Decorah he experienced the same overwhelming sensation about the area that Kim experienced on her first visit to the town as a high school student looking at colleges.  The quaint town in a valley with a Norwegian influence gave them both a feeling of home when they were in Decorah.  

Pictured at right - Kim and Andy Bonnet

The Bonnets had discussed running their own restaurant at some point in time and were actively looking for a place to take over.  At a food show in Dubuque in 2006, Andy just happened to hear about two properties in downtown Decorah that could easily be turned into restaurant space if so desired.  One day while Kim was working at her financial advisor job, Andy drove up to Decorah to look at the two properties.  One building was probably too small for what they wanted, the other one - a building that was built in the 1890's that had originally been two spaces, but was combined into one in the 1960's - was probably too big for what they needed.  The Bonnet's decided that the larger space would be better - they could grow into the space if needed - and they bought the building in March of 2007.  

Going through the renovation process, the walls were stripped down to the original brick facade and the drop ceiling was taken down to reveal the original tin ceiling tiles.  The original front doors to the building - which are being used today - were found in the upstairs area of the building.  The building had been many things over the years - a drug store, a dry goods store, a jewelry store, a Five and Dime store, a hardware store, an office supply store - but it had never been a restaurant.  (Although, the story goes that the second story of one of the buildings before they were combined was a speakeasy during Prohibition.)  After months of renovation and restoration, the Bonnet's opened Rubaiyat in November of 2007.  

Initially, the name Rubaiyat sort of threw me - I thought it was probably a Middle Eastern restaurant.  But after looking at their menu on the window in front of the place, it turned out to be an American restaurant that featured a number of seasonal farm-to-fork offerings that Andy Bonnet sources from suppliers within a 150-mile radius around Decorah.  But the name Rubaiyat also confused a number of people.  I can almost hear some of those people who live in NE Iowa or SE Minnesota now - "What in the hell is a Rubaiyat?!"  

When the Bonnets were brainstorming for their restaurant's name one evening sharing a bottle of Cakebread Cellars cabernet wine, Kim began to read a poem that was on the back of the bottle.  It turned out the that poem came from a collection of poems by 11th century Persian mathematician/astronomer/poet/philosopher Omar Khayyám called Rubaiyat.  Many of the nearly 1000 poems celebrated the pairing of food and wine with one of Khayyám's famous lines being, “A jug of wine, a loaf of bread—and thou.”  What a great name for their restaurant, the Bonnet's thought!  But - to this day - it continues to be the most asked question by new patrons at their restaurant.    

It was a somewhat rainy evening when we pulled up to Rubaiyat on Water Street.  (see map)  The May day that we experienced went from somewhat cloudy and cool weather, to warm sunshine, to off and on heavy showers toward the latter part of the afternoon.  It had turned chilly - much too chilly for late May - by the time we went out for dinner.  

The bar area was to the right as you come into Rubaiyat.  It was a lively place when we got there - not so lively when we were leaving.  They featured a full bar with a great tap selection - 40 beers in total - with half of them being craft beers from the area.  

We were met at the hostess table by Kim Bonnet who recognized our name from the reservation I had made earlier in the day.  Even though the dining room was packed with diners around 7:30 on a Saturday evening, they had our table waiting for us.  She took us to a smaller table next to the wall toward the front of the dining room.  Kim gave us a couple menus to look through and it wasn't long after before our server for the evening - a young man by the name of James (more on him later) - came by to greet us.  He took our drink order to start out - my wife went with a limoncello martini and I went with a Pseudo Sue IPA from the Toppling Goliath brewery just up the road.  

The menu changes seasonally - and at times, weekly - at Rubaiyat.  They feature meat entrees such a beef, chicken or pork option, some seafood dishes, a pasta selection or two, and a flat bread pizza with a cauliflower crust.  They have a number of eclectic shared plates for appetizers, as well as a selection of salads and soups.  

The wine list is also extensive and very interesting at Rubaiyat.  Some we were very familiar with, others not so much.  For 11 years in a row now (they just received a 2019 mention), Rubaiyat has garnered the Wine Spectator Award of Excellence and they've also been recognized by Wine Enthusiast for their Award of Distinction.  Rubaiyat is only one of three Iowa restaurants to receive those honors from both publications.  Many of their wines were on display on shelves in the dining area and the prices were very reasonable, as well.  We selected a bottle of the 2014 Jordan cabernet that they had for $66 bucks - that same bottle in larger cities would be 40% higher in cost.    

For starters, my wife went with the kale Caesar's salad.  It had a ton of garlic included in it - I had to have a bite just so I'd be able to be around her later in the evening.  It was very good.  The salad came with a fresh baked loaf of warm sourdough bread that was simply excellent in taste.  

I got the wedge salad, only it didn't really look like a wedge salad from other restaurants.  This salad featured  romaine lettuce leaves topped with the usual bacon bits, chopped tomatoes and slathered in a blue cheese dressing.  Slices of a hard boiled boiled egg were crowned on top of the salad.  

For our main entrees that night, my wife ended up with the beef tenderloin filet.  It was paired with a side of bacon-grilled Brussels sprouts.  I'm not big on Brussels sprouts - especially steamed.  But she made me have a bite of these and they were excellent.  "They're so stupidly easy to make," she exclaimed.  "We can have these at home!"  I thought the filet - topped with buttered truffles - looked overcooked.  But when she cut into it, the steak had a nice pink middle.  My wife declared her steak as "excellent".  

I went with the pasta dish that night, the chicken parmigiana with spinach ravioli stuffed with blue cheese.  It was also fabulous.  The chicken parm had a nice coating of shaved mozzarella on top with a wonderful tangy marinara sauce surrounding it.  The blue cheese-stuffed ravioli pillows had that great house-made pasta taste to them.  Blue cheese can be somewhat overpowering in taste to me sometimes, but the ravioli had a subtle blue cheese taste quality to it.  I was more than happy with what I ordered.  

We were savoring our meal at the end when James came over to offer up their dessert choices for the evening.  We weren't overly certain that we wanted dessert as we were both satiated by our meal selection.  But then he came up with the dessert menu and we immediately got that look on our faces of "How can we pass this up?"  One of the desserts was a lavender vanilla cheese cake with mixed wild berries and drizzled with a raspberry-cream sauce.  When my wife heard, "Lavender" from James, she was hooked.  But he had other things to offer, as well.  

One of the other desserts was a classic creme brûlée.  Quite honestly, we couldn't make up our mind, so we went with both knowing good and well that we'd be completely miserable and full of guilt if we finished both.  The creme brûlée had a nice full-bodied, but light custard taste to it.  But it was very rich and we were only able to finish about half of it.

The reviews on the lavender vanilla cheesecake were mixed at our table, however.  I liked it - a lot.  My wife, not so much.  She actually thought the lavender flavor was overpowering.  And she loves lavender!  Well, mainly the scent of lavender, but maybe not the taste.  I actually ate more of the cheesecake than the creme brûlée.  Both, I felt, were extremely good.  

As the night wound down, we had a nice little chat with James.  It was raining off and on with the temperature dropping, so we weren't in any hurry to depart.  In fact, Rubaiyat encourages their patrons to linger and savor their meals and enjoy their wine.  We never felt hurried all evening long.  It was a great laid-back feeling during our visit.  We asked James his story and he said that he was from the Hyde Park area of Chicago and had come out to Luther to be a performance voice major.  He was a week away from graduating and after that he really didn't know exactly what he wanted to do.  "Maybe I'll work on a cruise ship or some dinner theater," he told us.  "Or maybe I'll have to find a real job," he said laughingly.

I don't know if I can say much more about our wonderful experience at Rubaiyat.  This was one of those restaurants where I wish I could just pick the whole thing up and drop it within a 10 minute drive of our home.  I'm not certain that the people who live in, around, or near Decorah know that they have such a gem in Rubaiyat.  Everything we had was delicious - the beef tenderloin filet that my wife had, and the chicken parm with blue cheese-stuffed ravioli that I had were both outstanding.  The salads - a garlic kale salad for my wife, and the interesting wedge salad that I had - were both very good.  And while my wife was a little disappointed with the lavender vanilla cheese cake, I thought that and the creme brûlée desserts we had were both very good.  The service was personable, prompt, and professional.  And the atmosphere was laid-back - to the point where they encourage people to stick around and not be hurried with their meal - and comfortable.  If you get to Decorah for a weekend outing, I would wholeheartedly recommend Rubaiyat for one of your meals when you're there.

 

 

Double B's BBQ - West Allis, WI

About a year ago, I was staying at a new Hampton Inn across the street from the Wisconsin State Fair Park in West Allis on the west side of Milwaukee.  I was driving down National that evening to go find something to eat and I passed what appeared to be a barbecue joint.   Driving back after dinner, I went slowly by the place and it turned out that it was a barbecue place, but they were closed because it was Monday.  I made a mental note to head back to West Allis at some point to try Double B's BBQ.  On a non-Monday evening recently, I had the chance to do just that.  

You could say that the restaurant business is in Mark Timber's blood.  He started out as a youngster working in his father's pizza place, Dino's Pizza, just north of General Mitchell International Airport on Milwaukee's south side.  From there, Timber moved on to manage the Telstar Drive-in just down the road from Dino's.  When his father sold Dino's, he moved to Taos, New Mexico to retire.  Mark followed his father and he started working in a fine dining establishment, La Doña Luz (which is now a bed-and-breakfast in Taos).  It turns out that the elder Timber couldn't handle retirement and he ended up buying a restaurant in Taos.  But Mark Timber found that he missed Milwaukee and he moved back after five years in Taos. 

Now married to his wife, Judy, the Timber's bought a custard stand in south suburban Oak Creek in the early 80's, selling it in 1987.  From there, Mark Timber went to work for the new Potawatomi Bingo (now the Potawatomi Hotel and Casino) helping design their kitchen and coming up with the menus for the burgeoning gambling establishment.  After his time at Potawatomi, he moved on to help run Butch's Old Casino Steak House for 12 years before the place closed in 2015.  

A few years ago between jobs at restaurants, Timber was working part-time at a cabinet shop in the Milwaukee area.  He was talking with one of his co-workers about his restaurant experience and his co-worker suggested that Timber to go out and invest in a smoker.  What started out as a casual home hobby for Timber turned into something of an obsession.  After his time at Butch's came to an end, he saw an on-line ad looking for someone to take over the kitchen at Double B's, a small bar on West Greenfield.  He decided to jump in with both feet and start up his barbecue operation.  

Pictured at right - Mark and Judy Timber.  Photo courtesy Timber's Catering Facebook Page.    

At first, the regular clientele who were used to a non-barbecue menu at Double B's were a little weary of the change.  However, it wasn't long before the Timber's Memphis-style barbecue offerings won many of them over and created their own following that includes people from Chicago coming up to have their barbecue.  The family also runs a catering company and a food truck with their son, Phil.  Their daughter, Christina, runs the bar now at Double B's, and not long ago the family bought a spot a couple doors to the east of Double B's that they're going to use as a banquet/celebration hall for their catering company.  

I pulled up in front of Double B's around 6:30 that particular evening.  I was able to find a parking spot just down the way from the place on Greenfield Ave.  (see map)  Actually, I could have walked from the hotel to Double B's as it was less than a half mile away.  But it was a cool evening - spring was having trouble making a normal appearance in the Upper Midwest this year - and I thought I'd just drive to the barbecue joint.  

I was greeted by Stephen, who turned out to be my server for the evening, as well.  The place was filling up fast and the bar was packed.  He took me to a table that had a banquette seat across the west wall of the place.  As much as I detest sitting at tables with banquette seats, I decided I could work with it on this visit.  

Stephen dropped off a menu for me to look through.  They had a number of good craft beers available at the bar and I ordered up a Karben4 Fantasy Factory IPA, it's quickly becoming one of my favorite beers.   

They have the usual barbecue offerings at Double B's - brisket, pulled pork, smoked chicken, sausage, as well as both baby back and spare ribs.  They also feature a number of smoked meat sandwiches as well as burgers, and some pretty interesting appetizers including smoked chicken wings, burnt ends and bacon-wrapped meatballs.  I damned near ordered up some of those just to try.  Next time.  

For dinner that evening I got the brisket platter.  It featured thick cuts of tender brisket with a combination rub consisting of a bit of ground chile and black pepper with a bit of sugar.  The meat is smoked with hickory wood - low and slow.  I had a choice of sides with the brisket.  I got the baked beans and the cole slaw.  (Cornbread, French fries, sweet potato fries, and a house-made mac & cheese were also available as sides.)  Some bread and butter pickles came with the platter.

The brisket was very good.  It pulled apart very easily when I cut it with my fork.  I really didn't need a knife with it.  The rub combined with the smokiness of the hickory wood flavor in the meat was a great taste sensation.  

I know I shouldn't have even dallied with the barbecue sauce, but Double B's had three that I tried.  They had a XXX Picante barbecue sauce that I didn't really think was all that hot.  It did sneak up on me after a few moments, but it wasn't anything that I couldn't handle.  But they had a Kansas City-style sauce that was thick and sweet.  But the one I liked the best of the three was the Texas bold sauce which was basically the Kansas City-style sauce with some ground hot pepper mixed in.  It had great sweet and somewhat spicy taste quality.  

The cole slaw was a creamy/vinegar blend that I thought was very good, as well.  The beans, I thought, were good, but they got extremely better when I added some of the Texas bold sauce to them.  Overall, I thought the barbecue was very solid.  

Before I took off, I went to the restroom and then ventured out back to their patio area.  The patio was empty that evening, but I'm sure that it fills up when the weather warms up.  Filament heaters and Edison lights were hanging from the rafters, but the focus of the patio was large hickory wood smoker - one of two that Timber uses.  Timber employs 3 pit masters and his two smokers are running 24 hours a day to keep up with the demand for his meats for both the restaurant, the food truck and the catering business.  Timber's catering company provides food for over 100 events annually, the vast majority of them are weddings.  Many of the customers that come into Double B's probably had their first taste of Timber's barbecue at a wedding held out west of Milwaukee at some point.  

I've tried some barbecue places around Milwaukee over the years and I have to say that I really wasn't impressed with any of them - until now.  Mark and Judy Timber's Double B BBQ is solid Memphis-style barbecue with a simple rub and a wonderful smoky flavor to their meats.  Their baked beans were good - even better with the addition of their Texas Bold barbecue sauce - and I thought their cole slaw was good, as well.  They had a wonderful selection of local and regional craft beers, and had a full bar, as well.  Double B's is closed on Sunday and Monday, but you can enjoy their barbecue the other days of the week.  I know I'll be going back at some point to try the bacon-wrapped meatballs appetizer.

Minnesota Vacationland - 2019

Earlier this summer, my wife and I spent a few days in the Glacial Lakes region in Kandiyohi County in west central Minnesota, about 100 miles west of the Twin Cities.  We had been wanting to go to Minnesota and hang around a lake for sometime, but just never found the opportunity to do so.  But it was on a trip to St. Cloud earlier this year that I discovered that there was a Hampton Inn in Spicer, MN, right on Green Lake, a 5400 acre body of water.  Being the cheap guy that I can be at times, we decided to use some of the points I get from being a Lifetime Hilton Diamond member and spend a few days there.   

After spending our first night in Rochester, MN, we took off on a cross country trip across Southern into West Central Minnesota.  It turned out that with flooding earlier this year, a number of roads along the Minnesota River near and west of Mankato had been closed due to damage.  We ended up having to take a detour in New Ulm, MN that took us into the city.

It was rather fortuitous for us in that we would have never discovered the August Schell Brewery nestled in a small park in New Ulm not far from the banks of the Cottonwood River. (see map)  I've been somewhat familiar with Schell's American Lager for a number of years, but over the past few years they've branched out with a number of different styles of their craft beer.  And Schell's also owns and brews Grain Belt Beer, an Upper Midwest institution.  

We walked around the grounds that featured the original Schell house that cozily sits amongst tall trees and lush terraced gardens.  We found the gift shop and looked around at what they had in there, but we didn't take a tour of the brewery.  We did end up, however, in Schell's beer garden enjoying a couple of their India Pale Ales before we made it back on the road.

The detours probably added 45 to 50 minutes of regular travel time between Mankato and where we ended up in Spicer.  Spicer is located on the western edge of Green Lake.  It's a small town with three or four restaurants, a grocery store, at least three boat dealers, and a large general store - Mel's Sport Shop - that sold everything from clothing to beer to fishing tackle to snacks to guns to gifts to gas.  Mel's had you covered if you needed anything while you were in Spicer.

As I said, we spent our nights at the Hampton Inn in Spicer (see map).  They billed themselves as a resort, but it was really just a newer Hampton Inn, finished in mid-2017.  And it wasn't even on the lakefront.  There were houses and trees in between the hotel and the lake.  From our tiny hotel room (one of the smallest - if not THE smallest - King-bed rooms I've ever been in), we could see slivers of the lake in the far away distance.  

When we checked in, we found ourselves talking to the manager of the property who did a bang-up job of selling us on Spicer and the nearby town of New London.  She talked about all the activities that we could do (they had a couple pontoon boats that we could rent for $250 for 8 hours plus added fees), the shopping in New London, the wonderful restaurants in the area, the great hot breakfast provided free at the hotel, and the peaceful, laid-back atmosphere that brings people to Green Lake.  We found out in a couple days that she really oversold some of the activities and the charm of Spicer and New London.  And the free hot breakfast was nothing more than a standard Hampton Inn breakfast of scrambled eggs, cheese omelets and turkey sausage.  But one thing she didn't oversell was the laid back nature of the Green Lake area.  

Green Lake is a large, island-less lake that had crystal clear water and little shoreline vegetation.  Because Spicer didn't have many - if any - tourist-type places that catered to little kids, there was a distinct lack of screaming little turds around the streets, parks and beaches along the lake.  It could have been that we were there during the week, also after a large Fourth of July celebration the city of Spicer puts on annually.  But it was peaceful, restful and laid-back.  

We spent much of our time on a deck at a city park in Spicer looking out over the lake.  It was a couple blocks from our hotel and it was just fabulous sitting there with a book or an iPad catching up on our reading.  Or just sitting there looking out onto the lake hearing the geese honk or the loons cry in the distance.  Since our room was so small, we couldn't wait to get out of there each morning.  We walked along Lake Ave. up to Skyline Dr. nearly every morning (we woke up to rain one morning) and stopped at the deck at the park to enjoy the light morning breeze and the warm summer sun.  Other than a day or so of rain, the weather was picture perfect with highs in the low 80's with low humidities.  

This was the view from the deck at Pirotta Park in Spicer as we sat in one of their wonderful swinging rocker chairs.  Many times we were the only people on the deck.  It was our own little slice of heaven.

We took a drive around Green Lake our first night there and we couldn't believe the number of homes for sale along the lake.  We were talking with a couple who we met at a brewpub in New London one evening - they recognized us from the previous evening as we were sitting outside a beachfront restaurant in Spicer enjoying mai tais while staring out at the lake - and they had a vacation house on the lake.  We asked them about the number of houses for sale around the lake - it was my wife's estimation that nearly a 1/3 of the homes around the lake's 12 mile plus loop were for sale.  I thought it was, maybe, 1 out of every four houses.  But we did see a number of homes in a row that were for sale at different places around the lake.  

The guy told us that many of the houses are owned by both people from the Twin Cities and by farmers in the area.  With the uncertainty of farm markets going on with trade wars with China, he explained to us that many of the houses were owned by farmers who couldn't afford to keep the lake homes.  "But you're right," he said to me.  "There's a lot of houses for sale."

He also mentioned that a number of other homes owned by people from the Twin Cities go up for sale annually.  "It's a 100 miles from the center of the Twin Cities out here," he was saying as we talked at the brewpub.  "And it's not an easy 100 mile drive from the cities.  People get a house out here, find out that they only use it two or three times a year, then realize that it's stupid to have a lake home so far from the city.  Then they end up selling it, usually to someone else from the Twin Cities who then realizes after three years that he doesn't use it enough."

The one other thing that I didn't see around Green Lake were resorts.  In fact, there was only one or two places that billed themselves as resorts, but they were nothing more than glorified campgrounds for people who wanted to put camper trailers on the grounds for the summer months.  I was told that over 30 years ago there were over 20 resorts on the lake.  The last one closed last year - Spicer Castle, a 15 room, 1 cabin bed-and-breakfast that was built in 1895 by Spicer's founder, John Spicer.  There were no supper clubs in the area, no large campgrounds, no real attractions.  If you were looking for a place to veg out and do nothing, Spicer was the place.  

The one day it rained, we decided to head up to New London and check out the place.  The lady at the hotel made it sound like New London was a destination that rivaled the likes of Galena, IL with its charming shops, restaurants and brewpub.  It was far from that.  After driving down the main street of the small town (about the size of Spicer), my wife and I sort of looked at one another and thought, "This is it? This is all there is to New London?"  We didn't get out of the car that day, but we did go back another day when it was nicer and walked the three or four blocks that make up the downtown retail area.  Most of the shops were geared toward seasonal tourists - tourists with a lot of money.  My wife wound up shaking her head in dismay and disbelief after leaving the last shop we were in that morning.  

What New London did have - in addition to a great brewpub with an attached farm-to-fork restaurant that I'll be writing about at a later date - was a number of lakes chained together by the middle fork of the Crow River.  One afternoon, we found a park with a long curving lake by it and we watched an instructor for a local ski club pull some young skiers - we surmised that they were not even teenagers yet - up and down the lake with a ski boat.  They were actually quite entertaining to watch.  There was a grandstand on the shore near us and a ski jump ramp in the lake and it was my guess that the ski club put on shows there.  (The kids didn't use the ski jump ramp.)  I think we sat there for over an hour, not only watching them but enjoying the cool shade along the lake.  

Outside of New London was Sibley State Park, a 2900 acre park that featured nature trails, camping, an interpretive center, and a handful of small lakes including a beach at the largest, Lake Andrew.  The centerpiece of Sibley State Park was a viewing tower on the top of Mount Tom.  We drove up through a tree-shrouded lane to a parking lot near the viewing tower.  It was a short hike up a trail, then a few steps up the tower gave us a 360 degree view of a 50 mile radius around the park.   My wife, who is very skittish with towers, was able to get up the sturdy steps and take a look at the surrounding area with me.  

We had passed a winery on our way between Spicer and New London a few times on our back-and-forth's between the two towns.  We decided to stop in one afternoon and check the place out - Glacial Ridge Winery.  Owner Ron Wothe was in the tasting room and we sat down to give some of his wines a taste.  He explained to us that he has many of his grapes shipped in from Northern California and he makes the wine there.  

He had two whites and five reds to sample that day.  Two of the wines - a wonderful white American Vermintino by the name of Bacio, and a velvety lightly oaked cabernet by the name of Green Lake Girl - were definitely head and shoulders above the others.  We liked the Bacio wine so much that we bought a couple bottles to take home for our next door neighbor lady who was doing her best not to let our plants and flowers die while we were away.  

Glacial Ridge also hosts a summer concert series and they were setting up for that evening's show while we were there.  Ron Wothe told us that they had been rained out of the previously scheduled events.  "It's been a bad spring and early summer up here," he said as he watched some of the band members set up on the small stage in the orchard across the parking lot from the winery.  "We could have 300 people out here later tonight," he said before inviting us to come back.  We did drive by going up for a beer at the New London brewpub and a large number of cars were parked along the line going to the winery and far down the road that gets you to the entrance of the lane.  I'm guessing he had a good night that evening.   

On the rainy day, we did drive down to Willmar - 10 miles from Spicer - to check out the largest town in the area.  Here's a road tip - there's NOTHING in Willmar.  I mean, nothing.  We did find a pretty good restaurant on a picturesque golf course that I'll let you know about at a later date, but that was about it.  The couple we met at the brewpub in New London that week were from Willmar and even THEY said there was nothing in Willmar.  

And one day, we decided to make the 50 minute trip up to St. Cloud to have lunch and look around.  After lunch at the White Horse Restaurant in downtown St. Cloud (click here to see the original Road Tips entry on the White Horse), we ventured over toward the campus of St. Cloud State University and went over the Mississippi River to find a wonderful botanical garden - the Munsinger Gardens part of the Munsinger/Clemons Botanical Society based in St. Cloud.   

The garden was one of the best ones we've found in our travels - and that even includes going to botanical gardens in Hawaii.  It featured bricked walkways that went through all different types of flower and plants - both annuals and perennials.  The botanical garden had a number of fountains that were centerpieces of different sections of the property.  Down the hill from the botanical garden was a tree-laden park that went along the Mississippi River.  We dodged off-and-on rain drops as we walked through both the garden and park that day.

My wife and I were especially interested in the rose garden they had at the Munsinger Gardens.  However, a tough winter and cold spring took its toll on many of the rose bushes and they were in the midst of replanting many of the roses when we were there.  One of the many workers at the garden told us that the combination of heavy snow cover, then a cold snap in early May damaged many of the rose bushes.  We were sort of disappointed because this was a large rose garden and we wanted to get a peek at some roses we may want to put in our garden at home.  But only a handful were blooming.  

So, that's a quick synopsis of our laid-back, veg-out, do nothing vacation.  Well, we actually did some things, but for the most part we hung out when we could.  We spent about an hour of our last morning in Spicer sitting on the deck at Pirotta Park looking out at the peaceful water on Green Lake.  It was really tough to leave Spicer and it was almost a culture shock when we stayed in downtown Minneapolis that evening with all the hustle and bustle compared to calm and quiet of Spicer.  We would have no problem heading back to chill at Spicer and to hang out in the great little brewpub in New London that I'll write about sometime very soon.  

What I Ate the Iowa State Fair

My sister's fiancé is always on me to call him when I get to Des Moines as he likes to hang out.  I was going to be in Des Moines this week and I called him a few days ago to let him know that I would be spending a night in the city.  The only problem was that he and my sister had plans - they were going to the Iowa State Fair for a concert that same night.  "But come to the fair and hang out with us before the show," he implored.  I told him that I wasn't certain when I would get in town as I was coming down from Minneapolis.  But I made it in town earlier than I thought and I ended up meeting them at the State Fair where we sat at the Craft Beer Tent and hung out.  I walked them to the grandstand before the show started, then I went on a quest to find the "People's Choice" winner of the best new food at the fair this year - the "Georgie's Roast with the Most" wrap from G. Mig's stand.  

G. Mig's 5th Street Pub is a bar/restaurant in the Valley Junction area of West Des Moines.  Owner/chef George Migliero was the long-time chef at the private Wakonda Club starting there in 1995 before leaving there to take over the 5th Street Pub in 2012.  Migliero was named the Iowa Restaurateur of the Year in 2014 and in 2016 he decided to put a stand out at the Iowa State Fair.  Each year since, he has been a finalist for the "Best New Food at the Fair" award and last year he won a fair contest for having the best salad that included tofu on it.  (Seriously.)  

After leaving my sister and her fiancé, I took a quick look on my phone to find out where G. Mig's stand was and it turned out that it was near the southeast side of the Varied Industries building.  When I got there, the line wasn't long.  When I finished, it turned out the line was well over a dozen people deep.  

All were, no doubt, wanting to try what I was having, the pot roast beef wrap.  It consisted of cheddar tortilla wrap stuffed with tender slow-roasted beef along with a mixture of white rice, crumbled chorizo sausage, roasted green chiles, cheddar-jack cheese, a sweet corn salsa, crispy tortilla crumbles and finished with a drizzle of sour cream.  A wonderful and thick green chile salsa was available to add to it, which I did liberally.  

And it was wonderful.  The beef was tender, the sweet corn salsa was very prevalent in the taste, the green chiles added a big of a smoky flavor, and the hint of a spiciness from the chorizo was evident.  But the salsa verde was simply outstanding.

I normally get a Gizmo from Carl's Gizmo when I go to the fair, but the last couple times I went there, I thought it wasn't worth what they were charging for.  (They've made them smaller and were charging more for them.)  But for $10 bucks, the "Georgie's Roast with the Most" wrap was worth the price and then some.  If you're going to the State Fair this weekend, it's my high recommendation that if you're hungry and looking for something to eat, then search out the G. Mig's stand south and east of the Varied Industries building for the People's Choice winner for 2019.  

Fuzzy's Taco Shop - Coralville, IA

On a drive home from Des Moines one day, my wife and I were sort of hungry by the time we got to Iowa City.  After a quick stop at Trader Joe's in Coralville to pick up some items, we drove further down into the Iowa River Landing area to get something to eat.  We really didn't want anything heavy, but we spied a place that we thought might fit the bill for us that day - Fuzzy's Taco Shop.  We weren't familiar with the place, but we decided to give it a try.  We found a parking spot behind the building along E. 9th St. in Coralville (see map) and went inside.  

It turns out that Fuzzy's Taco Shop is a national franchise chain of fast casual Mexican restaurants that got its start with just one location in Fort Worth, TX.  Paul Willis was a serial restaurateur who was involved in many restaurants after graduating from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY.  He'd develop a concept and a menu for a restaurant and once that venture got up and running, he'd move on to another project.  

In 2001, the 35-year-old Willis saw an opportunity in placing a fast casual restaurant on Berry Street near the Texas Christian University campus in Fort Worth.  He soon opened Fuzzy's Taco Shop complete with its kitschy decor and a full menu of Mexican favorites.  It was soon after he opened Fuzzy's that the business caught the eye of Alan Bush.  

Alan Bush, along with his son, Chuck, became enamored with the concept of Fuzzy's.  Of course, after getting the restaurant up and ready, Paul Willis was looking to do something else, and in 2003 he sold Fuzzy's to the Bush's.  (Willis went on to become the personal chef for country music star Toby Keith for awhile before opening up the Yucatan Taco Stand in 2008.  Willis passed away in 2013 from complications of diabetes and heart disease.)  

The Bush's wanted to expand Fuzzy's concept and began to franchise the operation in 2007.  Today, there are over 120 Fuzzy's Taco Shops in 17 states across the United States.  Alan Bush is semi-retired from the company and Chuck Bush left the company after it was sold to a venture capital group three years ago.  Corey Butcher, a Texas native and owners of health clubs in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, is the franchisee of the Coralville Fuzzy's Taco Shop.  He currently holds the franchise on a number of Fuzzy's Taco Shops including all five in the state of Iowa.  The Fuzzy's Taco Shop in Coralville opened in March of 2017.  

Inside the Coralville Fuzzy's Taco Shop, there's an explosion of colors throughout the place.  Reds, yellows, deep blues, greens and oranges mix with flat screen televisions, signs that suggest to "Sit Here" or "Have a Beer", along with University of Iowa athletic paraphernalia on the walls.  For as few people in the place, the colors gave it a vibrant and fun atmosphere.

It's counter service at Fuzzy's with the menu on the wall behind the front counter.   It's a pretty extensive menu of Mexican favorites served up in a fast-casual style.  Chips with queso, guacamole or salsa are available for a price.  They have a number of salads that include items such as tempura shrimp, grilled fish, fajita beef or chicken.  They have a dozen different types of tacos including seasoned beef, chicken, shrimp and veggie tacos.  They have a like number of burritos on the menu, as well as quesadillas, nacho plates, burrito bowls, and full entrees such as fajitas, enchiladas and combo plates.  Breakfast tacos and burritos are also available, as well as a kids menu.  

They also have alcohol at Fuzzy's Taco Shop - domestic, craft and imported beers, margaritas and specialty mixed cocktails.  I got a big schooner of the Big Grove IPA while my wife got a similar-sized top shelf margarita with Herradura silver tequila.  After placing our order and getting our drinks, we took a seat in one of the yellow-topped booths in the center of the restaurant.

For our first visit to Fuzzy's, we went pretty basic.  My wife got the shredded braised beef burrito.  She usually gets beans and rice on the side, but she said while she was hungry, she wasn't THAT hungry.  She said she really enjoyed the burrito.  It wasn't obscenely large like you'll find at other fast casual Mexican restaurant establishments and along with the large Herradura margarita, she felt the meal hit this spot for her.

I ended up getting three tacos - spicy pulled pork, shredded braised beef, and grilled fish.  They came on small corn tortillas and were topped with fresh onions and cilantro.  They were small enough, but they were all pretty full of the meat and fish fillings.  All three were actually very good - the grilled fish taco, I thought, was simply outstanding.  It was just enough food where I wasn't hungry the rest of the day.  

We really didn't know Fuzzy's Taco Stand was a chain when we went in and we usually try to stay away from chain restaurants.  But there's something to be said about specialty places like Fuzzy's who seem to have the formula down pretty well.  While we'd rather eat in a more authentic Mexican restaurant or grocery store, I thought Fuzzy's was pretty good for what it was.  I enjoyed the three tacos I ordered - the grilled fish taco was excellent, in my opinion - and my wife was pleased with her braised beef burrito.  The selection of craft beers was surprising, as was the fact that they had top-shelf tequila available for their margaritas.  Fuzzy's Taco Stand delivered a pretty good package of fast-casual Mexican food and drinks.  We both said we would have no problem going back at some point.

Kavanaugh's Hilltop Tap - Rock Island, IL

My wife and I have been venturing out on weekends trying to find some places that have a good burger around the Quad Cities.  We were familiar with Kavanaugh's Hilltop Tap just up the hill from Augustana College in Rock Island and we had heard from some other people that they had a pretty good burger.  One chilly and rainy Saturday afternoon in early Spring, we headed over to Kavanaugh's for lunch.  

In 1984, Mike Kavanaugh, a union electrician whose experience with bars was having an occasional drink in one, bought the little bar in the College Hill neighborhood of Rock Island along with his wife, Diane, and a couple of other partners.  The area was a little seedy when they bought the place and the couple did their best in helping clean up the neighborhood and helping attract more reputable businesses to the area.  In 1991, the Kavanaugh's bought out their partners to become sole owners of the establishment.  Their sons, Tim and Mike, Jr. helped run the place, as well.  

Each year, the Kavanaugh's reinvested profits into their little bar helping expand the floor plan of the place.  In 2013, just in time for their first annual Shamrockin' Paddy O'Pardy on St. Patrick's Day, they expanded their deck in the back and added a covered area that has also served as a live music venue and an overflow dining area with a bar.  And earlier this year, Mike and Diane Kavanaugh retired and sold the bar and grill to their son, Tim, and two of Tim's friends.

It was around 1:30 p.m. when my wife and I pulled into Kavanaugh's parking lot along 30th Street in Rock Island.  (see map)  The outside of the building features a light stone facade with a matching stone wall on the parking lot side.  It's a long and narrow structure with a peaked roof. 

The back annex area was about half full when we walked in to the place.  The Mississippi Valley Blues Society has sponsored a number of shows over the past couple three years that have been held in the covered deck area.  For a cool and rainy day, the place was buttoned up and it was sort of cozy in there.  An event was being held down at Augustana College that day and a handful of people were coming up the hill and into Kavanaugh's to get out of the rain.  The back bar in the deck area was closed.

My wife and I ended up going out to the original front bar area.  It featured a traditional long bar on one side with a number of flat screen televisions throughout the room.  Short tables were located in the center of the bar room with high top tables along the far wall opposite the bar.  It had a low ceiling and had a great little neighborhood bar vibe to the place.  

There were a couple ladies working behind the bar as my wife and I took a seat at one of the high-top tables along the wall.  One of them, Tracy, shouted out, "You guys hang on and I'll be over in a minute to take your drink order."  We took a look at a couple menus that were on the table to get an idea of what to get while we waited for her to come over.  She eventually made it over, apologized for being too busy (which we quickly dismissed as being fine with us), and asked what we wanted to drink.  I got a bloody mary and a bottle of beer to chase it back.  Unfortunately, the bottle of beer was warm.  

Tracy came back over and I said, "I don't know if you have a problem with the cooler, but this beer is nearly room temperature."  She put her hand around the bottle and said, "Oh, my gosh!  They must have just filled the cooler before I came in."  She was going to go get me another bottle, but I had noticed that they had the Leave It to Henry American Pale Ale from the Five Cities Brewery over in Bettendorf on tap.  We hadn't been to Five Cities yet and I was intrigued enough to want to give it a try.  I told Tracey that I'd get that.  After she brought the pint over, I knew something wasn't right from the first sip.  It tasted flat.  But I still drank it.  (Turned out that it probably wasn't flat - I've had another one since then and it tasted the same way at another establishment that had it.)  My wife got a bottle of the Lagunitas IPA.  Later on, I got a Lagunitas to go along with my lunch.  It took three beers before I got a good one.  At least the bloody mary was good.  

The menu at Kavanaugh's isn't all that long with a number of your typical appetizers - wings, nachos, deep-fried breaded cauliflower with cheese, and something they call "Drunken Mushrooms".  They soak their mushrooms in Jameson whiskey before they're breaded and deep-fried.  They also had three or four wraps, as well as sandwiches and burgers.   The special they had that day was an Italian beef sandwich that someone at a table adjacent to us got.  It looked as good as any Italian beef sandwich I've had in Chicago.

My wife and I ended up going the burger route - she got a single (1/4 lb.) burger topped with American cheese.  A choice of house-made French fries or house chips came with the burger.  

I got the double burger topped with pepper jack cheese, mushrooms and bacon.  Pickles, lettuce, tomato and onion are available on request with the burger, I asked Tracy I'd take all that too, but that didn't get done.  But that was fine - there was enough of the other stuff on the burger the way I'd ordered it. 

The burgers at Kavanaugh's are chargrilled and I'm getting to the point where I like a good flat-top-grilled burger over a chargrilled one.  Nonetheless, it had a lot of good flavor to the burger.  The mushrooms were fresh and sautéed, the pepper jack cheese was oozing out from under the bun top, and the bacon was cooked the way I like it - not too crisp and could easily curl up in between the burger patties.  

About the only quibble that I had with the burger at Kavanaugh's was that it was too salty for my taste.  My wife thought her burger was a little salty, as well.  She uses salt on her food a lot more than I do and if she detects an abundance of salt in her food, well, then there's a lot of salt in the food.  The fries were good, but the burger was so big that I concentrated more on that than I did the fries.   

I have mixed feelings about Kavanaugh's Hilltop Tap - more positive than negative.  I liked the atmosphere of the place, it had a nice neighborhood feeling.  The service was good, but the first beer was warm and they forgot my requested veggies for my burger.  While the burger was too salty for my tastes, it was still pretty good.  We'll put Kavanaugh's on  our rotation for food because I want to try their reuben at some point and it appears that they have some interesting appetizers, as well.  

Craftsman Table and Tap - Middleton, WI

I had a morning meeting in Madison and decided to head up the night before and I spent the night in a hotel in Middleton on Madison's northwest side.  I was looking for a place to eat that had an interesting food menu and a good selection of craft beers to choose from.  I found a place on line that sounded like it fit the bill - Craftsman Table and Tap.  It wasn't far from the hotel, so I took off to find the place for dinner.

Craftsman Table & Tap is part of the Food Fight Restaurant Group that was established in the early 1990's by restaurateur Monty Schiro and realtor/developer Peder Moren.  Schiro had a long history in the restaurant business starting as a dishwasher in his early teens at a restaurant in Madison eventually working his way up the ladder as a bus boy, a waiter and was a restaurant manager by the age of 21.  After graduating college with a degree in art history, Schiro moved to Minneapolis.   Like many people who get a degree in college, they usually end up doing something else in life.  The restaurant business was deep in Monty Schiro's blood and he opened his first restaurant at the age of 24 in the Twin Cities.

Schiro eventually moved back to Madison and managed a location of the popular local chain Ovens of Brittany for about nine years.  But suddenly finding himself in his mid-30's, he was wanting to run his own place again.  In 1990, Schiro started his first Madison area restaurant and his one restaurant soon became four independent eateries.  In 1994, he was looking for a place to put a new concept, Monty's Blue Plate Diner.  Schiro met Peder Moren who was showing a property that was an old gas station.  The two struck a deal and they eventually combined forces for future expansion of the Food Fight Restaurant Group.  Schiro had also studied architecture in college and he designed the floor plan, interior and exterior motifs in many of the restaurants.  

In early 2012, Food Fight opened Craftsman Table and Tap, a European-style restaurant that specialized in upscale rustic comfort food with a great craft beer selection.  Today, there are 20 restaurants under the Food Fight Restaurant Group umbrella in the greater Madison area.  In addition to Monty's and Craftsman Table, Food Fight also oversees restaurants such as Steenbock's on Orchard, The Cooper's Tavern, Johnny Delmonico's Steakhouse, Fresco, and Eldorado Grill, 

Craftsman Table and Tap is located in a complex of retail businesses and restaurants at the corner of Century Ave. and Donna Dr. in Middleton.  (see map)  There's a parking lot behind the place and it was full when I pulled in around 6 p.m. that evening.  However, one car was leaving on my second trip through the lot, so I was able to pull in there.  

The decor inside Craftsman Table and Tap is sort of a contemporary industrial motif.  Large windows let in natural light and the high exposed ceiling gave it a bit of a hollow sound with the many conversations going on in the place.  

I ended up seated at the bar and I was greeted by Ismael, one of the bartenders.  He gave me a food menu and pointed out the list of about 18 beers they had on tap on the wall near where I was seated.  I ended up getting a Moxee Gold IPA from the Stone Brewing Co. near San Diego.  They also had a handful of craft beers and ciders available in bottles, as well.  

Looking through the food menu I found a number of shared plate appetizers, soups and salads, burgers, sandwiches and a handful of entrees that are served after 5 p.m.  A few things caught my eye, literally.  A guy seated near me got the Southern-fried chicken breast sandwich and it was huge!  The coating on the chicken breast sitting opened-faced on a brioche bun looked delicious.  The guy who ordered it commented to the person he was seated with, "This is two meals!"  

On the other side of me, three people were seated together and they had ordered a shared plate of the Prince Edward Island mussels that they had on special that evening.  The meaty mussels were swimming in a garlic butter sauce and they made my mouth water.  One of the people also got a cup of chili that looked pretty good, as well.  (I also found out after my visit that Craftsman Table and Tap are somewhat famous for the cheese curds they serve.)

I really didn't know what I wanted to eat that evening.  The grilled chicken and applewood-smoked bacon was interesting to me.  I considered the Swiss cheese and mushroom burger, as well as the reuben sandwich.  I even thought about getting the tuna melt sandwich for awhile.  

I had been on the road a lot lately and I was just sort of wishy-washy about what to order that evening.  I ordered up one of the specials they had that evening - the braised pot roast.  It was served with a side of Yukon gold mashed potatoes and grilled Brussels sprouts.  The braised beef was tender and pulled apart easily.  I could cut it with a fork with very little problem.  I had a few bites of the potatoes, but I was pretty impressed with the grilled Brussels sprouts.  I don't like Brussels sprouts all that much, but sometimes my wife will toast some in the oven or pan fry them at home and I like them much better than steamed.  These sprouts were actually very good.  It was a good comfort meal that I needed at a time where I was getting into sort of a food funk from eating out so much on the road.  

I was impressed enough with my visit to Craftsman Table and Tap in Middleton.  They had a number of interesting items on the menu - both food and beer on tap - as well as some good specials, like the braised pot roast that I had.  It was a good, hearty, "stick-to-your-ribs" kind of a meal that was a spot-hitter for me.  It was a comfortable place and the bartender was attentive and quick on helping me with any small request I had.  Craftsman Table and Tap is a nice little neighborhood place that featured a number of upscale comfort food offerings.