Road Tips

Lost Signal Brewing Company - Springfield, MO

Down in Springfield, MO this past fall, I was looking on-line for a brew pub to have dinner one evening.  There was one in the downtown area that I wasn't familiar with, a combination brew pub/barbecue joint by the name of Lost Signal Brewing Company.  I found out where it was and took off to give the place a try.   

When I first started to go to Springfield over 30 years ago, the downtown area was sort of a jumbled potpourri of businesses with not a lot of places to eat.  Over the years - especially within the past 10 years - there's been a renaissance of specialty shopping and eateries in the heart of Springfield.  Tyler Hoke recognized the revitalization of downtown Springfield and decided to look for a building to put his combination brewery/barbecue joint.  

Like many people who open craft breweries, Tyler Hoke was brewing beer at home for his friends and family.  But his father, Jack, was known for making good barbecue for friends and family, as well.  Jack Hoke headed up a competition barbecue team - Smooth Smoke BBQ - and like many people who have competition teams they end up opening restaurants.  With Tyler's beers and Jack's barbecue, the two joined forces to have something that you don't see very often - a combination brew pub/barbecue place.  

Pictured right - Tyler Hoke. Photo courtesy Feast Magazine.

A local radio station in Springfield - KICK-AM - was bought by a large corporation and they moved out of their longtime home in downtown Springfield to a building with other local radio stations.  The old radio station building was empty for two years before Tyler Hoke discovered it would be perfect for his brew pub/barbecue joint.  The Hoke's acquired the building and set about setting up a brewery on one side and a kitchen on the other with a smoker just outside.  Working throughout most of 2016, Lost Signal Brewing Company opened in February of 2017.  Hoke brainstormed for names for the business, writing down dozens of names for the place.  But he thought the Lost Signal name was the best which paid homage to the former radio station.  

I put in the address for Lost Signal into my GPS, and as I got closer I began to recognize a building just a block away as the former location of an account I had called on a number of years ago.  Finding Lost Signal was actually pretty easy once you figured it out - the original transmitting tower still stands on the roof.  (see map)  I came up to the front of Lost Signal, but realized that I had missed the parking lot off to the side.  I came around to the back alley and parked in the lot.  The smoking area was working on the side of the building near the back entrance.   

Coming in the side entrance, I found the bar off to the left.  It was a small - it sat, if I remember right, six or seven people.  Listings of the beers they had that evening were on the wall behind and to the side of the bar.  

The dining room was L-shaped with a big area between the bar and the kitchen, then there was a long stretch that was between the brew room and the outdoor patio area.  There was a private function going on in the patio area that night and I was getting dirty looks when I went out there to take a snap shot of the area.

I took a seat at the bar and one of the bartenders on duty, Zachary, came over to greet me.  He gave me a food menu and I ordered up an American pale ale that they had on tap.  Later on, I tried one of their India pale ales.  Both were very good beers - hoppy, yet smooth on the finish.  

They didn't have that big of a selection of barbecue at Lost Signal, but they had the basics - ribs, smoked chicken, pulled pork and brisket.  You had your choice of having the meat on its own or as a sandwich.  They had three or four appetizers including a brisket and gravy poutine, street tacos with a choice of meat or black bean salsa, and loaded barbecue nachos.  Sides included mac & cheese, bacon jalapeño cornbread, and a spicy cole slaw made with a chili/barbecue sauce.

As I normally like to do when I try out a barbecue place for the first time, I went with the combo - sliced brisket and pulled pork.  I got the baked beans for my side.  It was served on a small cookie sheet with wax paper.  They had a couple three different types of barbecue sauces to choose from including a sweet and smoky sauce and a somewhat spicy sauce.  

The brisket was very good.  It was tender and had a great smoked beef flavor.  It was very easy to cut and it really didn't need a lot of sauce to help enhance the flavor.

The pulled pork, however, needed help.  It was dry and somewhat lifeless in taste.  A mixture of the sweet and smoky and the spicy sauces helped give it some moisture, but it was still pretty suspect in flavor.  As good as the brisket was, the pulled pork was disappointing.  

The baked beans were fine, but nothing special.  I did mix some of the spicy barbecue sauce in with the beans to give them a little more zip in taste.  Overall, it was an OK meal with the brisket really standing out above the pulled pork and beans.  

Lost Signal Brewing Company was a pretty unique place.  In all my travels, I'm not certain if I've ever come across at combination brew pub/barbecue joint - at least I don't remember if I have.  The beer I had - an American pale ale and an IPA - were both very good, as was the brisket slices I was served.  The pulled pork, however, was rather disappointing and the baked beans were just so-so.  But the space in which the brew pub/barbecue joint occupied had that kind of a comfortable and welcoming atmosphere.  I thought Lost Signal was OK, the beers were fine, but the barbecue was sort of up and down.  But I'd still say it's worth a visit if you make it to Springfield.

G Mig's 5th Street Pub - West Des Moines, IA

During a visit to the Iowa State Fair this past August, I wanted to try what was voted as the People's Choice winner for best new food at the fair, a beef and cheddar jack wrap from the G. Mig's stand located near the Varied Industries Building.  (Click here to read about that experience from earlier this year.)  In doing some research on G. Mig's, I found out that they had a restaurant in the Valley Junction area in West Des Moines.  A couple weeks after going to the state fair, my wife and I were traveling through Des Moines.  My wife texted a friend of ours and asked if she would like to meet us for lunch.  I suggested going to G. Mig's and our friend texted back, "Oh, yeah! I like that place!"  On a cloudy and cool Sunday afternoon, we ended up at G. Mig's 5th Street Pub.  (see map)

George Migliero was the longtime chef at the Wakonda Club, an exclusive private golf club on Des Moines' south side.  After heading the kitchen there for 17 years, Migliero resigned his position to take over the 5th Street Pub in Valley Junction in 2012.  He renamed it G. Mig's 5th Street Pub and completely changed the menu into more upscale pub fare.  His food quickly gained the attention of a number of patrons and critics, alike.  In 2014, Migliero was named the Iowa Restaurateur of the Year.  Two years later, Migliero decided to put a stand out at the Iowa State Fair.  Each year since, G. Mig's was a finalist for "best new food" at the fair before winning earlier this year.  And just last year, G. Mig's won a state fair contest for salads featuring tofu.  (Seriously.)  And because of all that, I wanted to get to G. Mig's at some point to check the place out and see what else it had to offer.  

The place was packed just after noon when we walked into G. Mig's.  It turns out that they serve breakfast on Saturday's and Sunday's starting at 8 a.m. and guessing from the crowd in there, it's pretty popular.  Our friend hadn't shown up yet, but we were able to cram into a table on an upper level opposite the bar.  It wasn't long before a waitress came over with some menus.  I ordered a bloody mary that had sort of a barbecue sauce taste to it.  It was thick and different from bloody mary's I normally have, but in the end I think I liked it. 

Our friend showed up and we had to steal a chair from an adjoining table.  She mentioned that it seemed like the place was packed every time she had been in there in the past.  "But it's a fun place," she said as we caught up in conversation with her.  

G. Mig's menu features a number of appetizers, soups and salads, burgers, sandwiches and wraps.  G. Mig's also features both lunch and dinner specials through the week.  Appetizers include flat breads, quesadillas, mini seafood tacos, and chicken wings.  Sandwiches such as a classic East Coast pastrami and a grilled-chicken strip and provolone sandwich with sweet peppers, onions and mushrooms were featured on the menu.  And, of course, they had the winning beef and cheddar wrap available on the menu.  

I tried to talk my wife into the beef cheddar jack wrap (they also had a pork carnitas and cheddar jack wrap), but she decided she wanted to go with the cranberry chicken salad croissant.  Diced celery, and dried cranberries were mixed in with the grilled chicken that was served on a bed of shredded lettuce on a soft and warm croissant.  For her side, she got the cole slaw that was unceremoniously served in a small styrofoam container.  The presentation wasn't what I would call elegant, but it was functional.

Our friend got the turkey reuben with a side of the pasta salad.  Sliced turkey with sauerkraut and Swiss cheese were placed on a swirl-rye bread and grilled.  The pasta salad was pretty unique - it had chunks of green onion, celery, and tomatoes on top of pasta.  Both my wife and our friend were happy with their choices.  

I damned near got the pork carnitas wrap, but I ended up getting what was called George's Prime Rib burger.  Migliero uses ground prime rib for his burgers and then tops the grilled patty with Swiss cheese, a wild mushroom spread, and caramelized onions.  I asked our waitress to leave the onions off the burger - I love the taste of caramelized onions, but my stomach doesn't.  It came on a ciabatta bun with a creamy horseradish sauce on the side.  I also got the interesting pasta salad.  And for a couple extra bucks, I got bacon on the burger.  Only it was crumbled bacon bits (I didn't read the fine print on the menu) instead of bacon slices.  The burger was thick and juicy - a definite multi-napkin burger - and the bun held together very well.  About the only quibble I had with the burger was that the chef placed the cheese on the burger and didn't allow it to melt over the patty on the grill.  But other than that, it was a very good burger.  

After trying their award winning beef and cheddar jack wrap at the Iowa State Fair, I made it a point to go to G. Mig's 5th Street Pub to see what the place was all about and to try their food.  I was impressed with the prime rib burger with Swiss cheese, bacon bits and a wild mushroom spread.  My wife enjoyed her chicken cranberry croissant and our friend thought her turkey reuben was very good.  It was a very popular place, but I felt we were a bit cramped at a smallish table opposite the bar area.  All in all, I thought G. Mig's was a great little neighborhood bar with some good food.  But I do want to get back there to try their carnitas and cheddar jack wrap at some point.  

The Half Nelson - Davenport, IA

Earlier this year, downtown Davenport was ravaged when a flood barrier broke and the Mississippi River - which reached its highest level in history - poured through into the streets of the lower downtown area.   A number of businesses were affected and it's taken some time for some to reopen.  One of those businesses - a new restaurant by the name of The Half Nelson - was scheduled to open for the first time the evening the HESCO barriers failed.  Instead, flood waters rushed in ruining fixtures and food delaying the opening until later in the summer.  I had been traveling in early September and I got home on a Sunday afternoon about 2 p.m. and we decided to go get something to eat.  My wife suggested going down to The Half Nelson to see if they were open.  We pulled up in front of the place and they were, indeed, open.  We parked out front and went in to get a late lunch.  

You can say Matthew Osborn grew up in the restaurant business.  His parents, Mike and Carla Osborn, own two popular Quad City-area restaurants - Miss Mamie's in Moline and Mo Brady's Steakhouse in Davenport.  The younger Osborn started working in his parent's restaurants as a youngster and about the only thing he knows about life outside of family is the restaurant business.  Both restaurants are toward the outskirts of both cities, but the younger Osborn saw an opportunity in a building in downtown Davenport that was built back in the 1920's.  

The N.O. Nelson Manufacturing Company was an Illinois-based manufacturer of plumbing supplies that was founded in St. Louis in 1877 by Nils Olas Nelson who initially wholesaled, then manufactured faucets, commodes, valves and hydrants.  The company built a facility in downtown Davenport, the same year that Nelson passed away.   Nelson Manufacturing sold the building in 1934 to a local seed store who built a three-story addition on the back to clean grain.  After the seed store closed in the 1960's, a number of businesses occupied the space, the last of which was an antique store that had been in business for 22 years before closing in 2016.  

A couple of local developers bought the building later that year and renovated the upper floors into apartments, while turning the ground floor space into two separate areas that could be used for restaurant or retail opportunities.  It caught the attention of Matthew Osborn who had spent nearly 4 years planning a restaurant which would feature more contemporary American fare found in larger cities.  In the fall of 2018, Matthew Osborn took the space on the east side half of the Nelson building - Bootleg Hill Honey Meads took the other side - and he came up with the clever name of The Half Nelson. 

Pictured right - Matthew Osborn.  Photo courtesy Quad City Times.  

The Osborn's had hoped to be open by mid-March, but like many new restaurants there were delays that pushed back the opening date by six weeks.  After everything was in place and training the staff was completed, Osborn set April 30 as the opening date.

As he was getting ready for opening night, Osborn was standing toward the back of the building when he noticed the alley filling up with water.  The HESCO barriers positioned along River Drive a block to the south had been breached.  Instead of serving food and drinks on opening night, Osborn and his staff spent the evening trying to salvage what they could.  

The Half Nelson sustained an estimated quarter of a million dollars in damage and the "true" opening night was pushed back nearly two months.  The restaurant celebrated their opening night on the first day of summer, June 21.  

My wife and I have a rule - actually, more of a guideline - to not visit restaurants that have not been open for at least 3 months.  So, we sort of disregarded that ground rule when we pulled up to The Half Nelson on that Sunday afternoon.  (see map)  The Bootleg Hill meadary next door had a "closed" sign in the window, but there were people in there.  The large sign in the front window The Half Nelson indicated it was open, but when we went in there no one else was in there.  We were greeted by a young man by the name of Ry and we inquired if they were open.  He said that, yes, they were open. 

I have to say that the interior of The Half Nelson was pretty nice.  It was sort of a mix of contemporary and art deco with a bit of urban industrial mixed in.  A long section of banquette seating was along the east wall opposite the bar, as well as along the north wall in front of the large windows that look out onto 2nd Street.

They have a spacious outdoor seating area at The Half Nelson.   It was a bit sterile with not a lot of decorations or amenities, but I'm sure they'll figure it out once they have an outdoor eating season under their belt.   

Ry took us to the tables along the north wall in front of the windows with the banquette seats.  I thoroughly detest banquette seating.  But, given that no one else was in the restaurant, I didn't mind us sitting there.  Actually, my wife thought the bench seats were rather comfortable.  Ry dropped off a couple menus for us to look over.  I saw that they had Kona Big Wave available and I immediately signed up for one of those.  My wife got a cranberry and vodka for her drink.  

Chef Zach Donovan has come up with a pretty interesting menu featuring interpretations of traditional American cuisine featuring steaks, seafood, pork chops, and pasta dishes.  The Scallops Fettucelle featured seared scallops served on a bed of fettuccine in a lemon butter sauce.   They had a Jim Beam barbecue-glazed pork chop, as well as a prime strip steak with chimichurri.  My wife spied the Lobster risotto and was interested in that.  The Duck Honsho featured a seared duck breast in a soy-ginger-pineapple glaze served with cilantro-lime rice.  The menu wasn't extensive, but what they had was sure interesting.

My wife and I decided to go with burgers that day.  She got the basic Bucktown Burger - a blended-beef patty topped with sharp cheddar cheese and served with steak fries.  But Ry told me of a special burger they had that day - the pimento bacon cheeseburger.  I had to have that.  It came with the same steak fries along with lettuce, sliced tomatoes, sliced red onions and dill pickles.  

The burger was very good.  The creamy pimento cheese really enhanced the taste of the blended beef.  The burger was juicy and very tasty.  It was a pretty messy burger, but it was messy in a very good way. 

We went pretty basic on our first visit to The Half Nelson, but given the eclectic and interesting items on their menu I know that we'll be back at some point to try some of their dinner items.  The burgers we had were both very good, the service from Ry was friendly and professional, and the decor and atmosphere at The Half Nelson was both pleasant and comfortable.  The Half Nelson is a welcome addition to a growing number of interesting restaurants in the Quad Cities.   

A Return to the Rusty Duck - Dexter, IA

During our vacation on Lake Panorama where we spent a few days at my sister's fiancé's lake house, my sister and her fiancé came out to join us for the weekend.  We were trying to figure out dinner options on a Saturday evening and my sister's fiancé brought up The Rusty Duck.  He was amazed when I told him that I'd been to the Rusty Duck before, but it had been a few years since I was there.  My sister had never been to The Rusty Duck and my wife, of course, had never been there before either.  Both women were sort of excited as my sister's fiancé and I were comparing notes on the place.  I asked him how far a drive it was to Dexter and he said it was about 15 to 20 minutes.  That's nothing for those two as they'll sometime drive an hour one way for food when they're staying out at the lake.  Later that evening, we jumped in his truck and headed down the road toward Dexter and The Rusty Duck.  

The Rusty Duck won the 2011 Best Burger in Iowa contest that is sponsored annually by the Iowa Beef Industry Council.  Once they were named, I made it a goal to stop there on my way to Omaha to give the burger a try.  However, the first time I went there, it turned out I was too early as they opened at 5 p.m.  And the second time I stopped, well, it turned out that they're closed on Monday (and Sunday).  When I finally got there to try the burger, I was somewhat amazed at how good it was.  (Click here to read about my 2012 visit to The Rusty Duck.)  

Brad Waldron (pictured at right) started The Rusty Duck about 15 years ago, but his restaurant career spans over 30 years now dating back to when he was a busboy at a now-closed Italian restaurant in Des Moines.  Waldron also had a burger-centric place in West Des Moines that I really liked called BW Burgers.  (Click here to read the Road Tips entry on BW Burgers.)  Unfortunately, Waldron - along with his son, Brandon, who ran the place for his father - were forced to close down BW Burgers in 2018 after three years in business when their lease was up, coupled with the lack of being able to find good help in the very tight Des Moines hospitality job market.  

Waldron went back to focusing on The Rusty Duck as he's the grill chef at the place which features steaks, the award-winning burgers, grilled pork loins, sautéed seafood entrees, pan-fried or grilled chicken dishes, pasta offerings, and a number of salads and steakhouse-style appetizers.   On nights The Rusty Duck is open you can catch glimpses of him through a small service window between the bar and kitchen working at the grill. 

As my sister's fiancé said, it was less than a 20 minute drive from the lake down to Dexter.  As we came into town from the north, we turned to the east and my sister exclaimed, "Oh my god!  This is where Drew's Chocolates are!  I've been here before!"  My wife and I were not familiar with Drew's Chocolates and my sister said that she used to stop there on the way out to Omaha years and years ago to pick up some of their chocolates.  Unfortunately, they were closed so we couldn't stop in to see what she was raving about.  

We pulled up in front of The Rusty Duck and parked just across the street.  (see map)  From the front of the place, well, it looks a little shabby.  It's not what you might expect from a popular Iowa steakhouse.  But inside, it's nice and cozy.  The low-ceilinged restaurant is L-shaped with the bar to the left as you come in.  Wood-paneled walls gave it a much more elegant look than the front of the building.  

We put our name in with the hostess and she said that it would be a bit of a wait for a table.  But as we were getting settled in to order a drink at the bar, she caught our attention and said that she had a table in front of the rock-mantled fire place.   The hostess gave us menus to look over, and after a bit a young lady came over to take our drinks order.  

One of the first things we had to get were the onion rings.  I saw another table with a big plate of them and I thought they looked good.  And they were.  Deep-fried in a light and flaky beer-battered coating, the onion rings at The Rusty Duck rivaled the onion rings of many other small town steakhouses I remember going to years ago.  We munched on those before we got our meals.

Now, my sister just loves chicken livers.  She said that she fell in love with chicken livers when she was working at a restaurant years ago.   And she says that finding chicken livers on a menu are tough to find.  (Her fiancé works for a company where one of their businesses deals with agricultural management and he said that the reason chicken livers are so hard to find is that companies will buy them up with other chicken parts to make pet food out of them.)  My sister was giddy when they brought them to the table.  They were big pieces of deep-fried liver and she decided after a couple that she was just going to have them as her dinner that evening.   

My wife had steak the night before and she was up for steak again this night.  She got the Italian ribeye, a 16-ounce ribeye marinated in Italian dressing, grilled and sprinkled with Italian seasonings.  She got sautéed mushrooms on the side with the steak and a rice pilaf.  It was a huge steak.  Before she cut into it, she said, "This may have been a mistake.  This is almost too much meat for me two nights in a row."  But she tore into it and said it was delicious.  She couldn't eat the whole thing and didn't take the rest with her.  "I already have a steak in the fridge to take home with me," she told our waitress.  

When comparing notes with my sister's fiancé before we got to The Rusty Duck, I was raving about the burger while he was raving about the steak.  He had to try the Ultimate Cheeseburger - the one that got the Best Burger in Iowa award in 2011.  Brad Waldron grinds pieces of beef that he cuts off of his steaks and uses that for The Rusty Duck's burgers.   The Ultimate Burger is 14 ounces and topped with grilled onions and peppers, mushrooms, American cheese and bacon.   It's a messy burger, but it's a good tasting mess.  He was really glad that I spoke so highly of it or he wouldn't have ordered it.  

While my sister's fiancé had never had the burger at The Rusty Duck before this, I never had the steak.  I got the 16 ounce rib-eye.  Onion rings came with the ribeye and had I known that I could get onion rings on the side, I probably wouldn't have ordered them as an appetizer.   I ordered the ribeye medium-rare and it came out cooked perfectly.  I made a huge dent in the steak, but there were a couple corners left when I finally threw in the towel.  It was a great cut of meat that was cooked to perfection.  

About the only quibble I had all evening is that our waitress was a little slow on the switch.  It had been busy earlier, but the crowd had thinned out considerably by the time we got our food.  I had asked for another beer and my sister got another drink.  The waitress brought my sister's drink out, but neglected to get my beer to me.  I saw it sitting on the bar and I almost went up to get it before she came back and I said something about it.  I also asked for some fresh ground horseradish and she put the order in with the kitchen.  I saw the small container up on the ledge by the grill, but she didn't bring it to me.  My steak was well over half-way finished before she finally realized the horseradish was sitting there.

But other than the small hiccups in service, I was still impressed enough with my second visit to The Rusty Duck.  The ribeye I had was thick, juicy and full of a great grilled beef flavor.  Everyone in our little party was more than happy with their food choices.   My sister was absolutely thrilled that A) they had chicken livers at The Rusty Duck; and B) they were excellent.  Her fiancé was more than impressed with their huge Ultimate Cheese burger.  And my wife really enjoyed her Italian ribeye.  The Rusty Duck ain't much to look at from the outside, but it's a nice little place on the inside with some great food.  

Huckleberry's - Rock Island, IL

A place that my wife and I have been over to in downtown Rock Island in the past - but not for awhile - is a pizza place called Huckleberry's.  They had gone through a devastating fire a few years back, but they rebuilt and reopened less than four months later.  We hadn't been there since they had reopened and it sort of dawned on us one Friday night that we needed to go try the place out again.

Huckleberry's owner, Jon Keim, and his then-girlfriend at the time - now wife - were asleep in their apartment above Huckleberry's when a fire broke out on an early Saturday morning in a building a couple doors from Huckleberry's that used to a cafe.  The building had been slated to be torn down at some point, and had been vacant for some time.  Keim and his girlfriend woke up when they smelled smoke and saw flames in the building next to them.  They were able to make it out, but Huckleberry's sustained heavy water and smoke damage, along with 8 other buildings.  Some of them had to be razed after the fire was put out.   Keim cleaned up the damage and rebuilt one of the two dining rooms at Huckleberry's and, miraculously, they reopened in early 2015.  Keim has now owned Huckleberry's for over 25 years.  

Huckleberry's is located on 18th Street in the heart of the Arts and Entertainment District of Rock Island, known locally as "The District".  (see map)  We were able to find a parking spot on the street in front of Huckleberry's, which is usually tough to do on a weekend evening given all the bars and restaurants in the immediate area.  

The main dining area as you go in to Huckleberry's looks pretty much the same as it was when we were last in there.  Knotty pine wooden booths were along the brick walls with tables on either side of a half wall in the center of the room.  The open kitchen area in the back was bustling with workers keeping up with pizza and calzone orders that were coming in for dine in and take out.  

The dining area off to the side that sustained considerable damage in the fire had a nice comfortable vibe to it.  This room is used for overflow or for events, primarily.  Surprisingly, no one was seated in the room that Friday evening.  

We were seated at one of the booths in the main dining area and given a couple menus to look over.  Our server for the evening, Jessica, came over to greet us and to take our drinks order.  They had a handful of craft beers on tap and in bottles including a number of Samuel Adams selections.  They had a lot of fruit beers available and the only IPA they had was a New Belgium Voodoo Ranger, but I've never really been a fan of the New Belgium beers.  I just sucked it up and got a domestic bottle.  My wife got a glass of the house chianti.  

Pizza and calzones are the main items Huckleberry's is most well-known for, but they also have a handful of pasta entrees including a bucatini pasta in a carbonara sauce with prosciutto ham and bacon, a shrimp and cheese tortellini with a basil pesto sauce, and an oven-baked pasta with penne pasta, in a spicy marinara with ground sausage, pepperoni, mushrooms, onions and green peppers layer with a combination of cheddar and mozzarella cheese.  Sandwiches such as a meatball sub or an Italian beef hoagie were also available on Huckleberry's menu, as well as a number of appetizers and salads.  We split a Caesar's salad to start off with because my wife felt she needed some greens in her if we were going to be eating dough, cheese and greasy meats.  It was actually a pretty good salad. 

Since it had been awhile from our last visit, we remembered the calzones were pretty good.  But my wife was sort of thinking we needed to try their pizza, too.  We ordered both a small calzone and a 7" hand-tossed pizza - both with sausage, pepperoni and mushrooms - to share between the two of us.  The calzone came out in a big mound stuffed full of the Italian meats and mushrooms with a mixture of ricotta and mozzarella cheeses.  It was served with a side of their sweet marinara sauce to dip the calzone crust in.  The calzone was good, not great, but it was certainly fine for us.    

The pizza was loaded mozzarella cheese on the top and had a bit of caramelization of the cheese and crust around the edges.  It was far from a Quad City-style pizza - which my wife and don't care for - with four triangle cuts with generous amounts of the toppings under the thick and gooey mozzarella.  It wasn't the best pizza we've had, nor was it the worst.  But, like the calzone, it worked for what we were looking for that evening.  

The service was a little sketchy as our server would disappear for long periods of time after our food was served.  I wanted another beer and my wife had to flag down another server who took my beer order.  Jessica finally brought the bottle back to me and asked how things were going.  By that time, we were pretty much done with our meals leaving pieces of the pizza and calzone crusts on the plates.  

But other than our server sort of disappearing after our meal was served and not checking with us to see if we needed anything else - like another beer - we had little to no problems at Huckleberry's.  Well, we also thought it was a little pricey, however - for all we got with an individual sized pizza and a calzone with three toppings or ingredients, a Caesar's salad, domestic beers and a glass of wine - the bill came to just a shade over $50 bucks before tip and tax.   The calzone and the pizza we had were good - not great, but good.  I was a little crestfallen for the lack of a good selection of craft beers, and the majority of the craft beers were fruit-based which I don't care for.  The place is clean, cozy and comfortable, to say the least.  We decided that Huckleberry's was worthy of future visits and I especially want to try their oven-baked pasta entree at some point in the future.  If you're looking for a good and serviceable calzone or pizza - and don't mind paying a little more than other places in the area - I don't think you'll be disappointed in the ones at Huckleberry's.  

Cocina Madrigal - Phoenix

I was down in Phoenix earlier this year for a meeting and afterward I was able to get together with one of my two sisters who live in the Valley of the Sun.  I hadn't been to Phoenix in years - nearly 17 years, to be exact - and my sister asked me where I'd like to go for dinner.  Mexican food in Phoenix was always a favorite of mine when I would visit there years ago.  My sister turned me on to a number of good - and truly authentic - Mexican restaurants over the years and I told her to take me to some good Mexican place.  She had heard about a place on the south side of Phoenix situated west of the airport and she suggested we meet at Cocina Madrigal for dinner that evening.  

Leo Madrigal was born in Oaxaca, Mexico and as a teenager he worked in restaurants in Mexico City.  He learned how to cook both the Qaxacan - well known for their cheese, chocolate and molé sauces - and the more urban Mexico City-style cuisines before heading to Houston in the early 80's to work in restaurants there.  In 1988, Madrigal moved to Phoenix to start a family and he eventually became involved in the first Ruth's Chris Steakhouse in Scottsdale. 

In 1998, Z'Tejas Southwestern Grill - which was based in Austin, TX - put their first location in Phoenix and hired Madrigal to be their corporate chef.  He developed a number of popular dishes for the restaurant, but after a number of years he moved on to being a menu consultant for a handful of restaurants including Hopdaddy, Eddie V's, Salty Sow, and Taco Guild.  

In 2015, the owners of the Z'Tejas Southwestern Grill filed for bankruptcy protection.  An ownership group out of Austin bought the restaurants - the ones that were still open, that is - and one of the first things they did was to hire Leo Madrigal back as their executive chef.  Madrigal helped stabilize the kitchens at Z'Tejas, but he was really looking at doing something else - something on his own.  

Pictured at right - Leo Madrigal.  Photo courtesy Cocina Madrigal.

Madrigal had lived in South Phoenix since 2002.  He liked it in South Phoenix, but he felt that the area was lacking in what he would call eclectic Mexican dishes.  He decided to start looking for a building to buy, but much of the real estate was too high for his budget.  However, a small restaurant space that was very close to his home became available and he grabbed the property.  The building was nearly 70 years old and needed some updating, but after renovations and getting things in order, Cocina Madrigal opened in June of 2018.  

I was staying at a hotel near Sky Harbor Airport and I got an Uber to take me over to Cocina Madrigal which was located a couple miles away.  As we were driving along E. Broadway, I noticed that there was a lot of police activity and some rather sketchy areas.  Passing a couple cop cars who had some guys handcuffed, my Uber driver told me, "Yeah, unfortunately, you see that a lot around here."  As we turned up S. 16th Street, I saw the sign for Cocina Madrigal on the left.  (see map)  The place looked, well, it didn't really look like an eclectic Mexican restaurant like my sister said it would be.  Getting out of the Uber, I thought to myself, "Good god, what has she gotten me into now?"

But upon entering Cocina Madrigal, I found a lively and pleasant place.  The dining room wasn't all that large, but it had a nice slate tile floor, plenty of lighting and it was very clean.  My sister had put in a reservation for us for 7 p.m., but she hadn't arrived yet.  

After checking in with the hostess, I went to the bar to wait for my sister to show up.  The bar area was a little darker than the dining room and also had a number of tables in the stucco-walled room.  I was greeted by a gregarious bartender who invited me to have a seat at the bar.  I ordered a Dos Equis Ambar that they had on tap.  It wasn't long before my sister showed up and we made it to our table in the dining room.  

We were greeted by our server for the evening, Eduardo, a tall, affable man with a big smile and a quick laugh.  I normally don't take pictures of my servers, but Eduardo was aces all night long.  He was excellent with his descriptions and explanations all night long.  He was a great guy.  He looked at me and said, "You look like you're the kind of guy who needs a top notch margarita."  I asked if he had one with Herradura and Cointreau sitting back at the bar with my name on it, and he laughed and said, "A man who knows how to drink a real margarita!"  My sister got one, as well.

Eduardo dropped off a couple menus for us to look through.  He gave a quick explanation on the food at Cocina Madrigal - everything was made fresh and from scratch.  It wasn't an extensive menu - just two pages, front and back - at least not like you'd find at most Mexican restaurants.  But many of the items sounded very interesting.  

While our drinks were getting made, a basket of chips with two different types of salsa was brought to the table by Eduardo.  "This is our house salsa," he said as he pointed to the larger of the two tubs in the basket.  "This one is our habanero salsa," as he pointed to the smaller of the two tubs.  "It's got a pretty good kick," he warned.  And it did.  Thankfully, I still had some of my beer left to help take the sting off of my tongue from the habanero salsa.

We also got some of Cocina Madrigal's guacamole.  It was made fresh with chunks of red onion, tomatoes, jalapeño, fresh lime juice and cilantro mixed in with the avocado.  With the fresh corn chips that were with the salsa, the guac was a great start to the meal.  And it helped cool down my mouth which was still raging somewhat from the bit of the habanero salsa that I tried.

One of the things on the menu that I wanted to try was the Hatch green chile pork appetizer.  It featured chunks of slow-roasted pork mixed in with Hatch chiles, cilantro, jalapeños, and garlic, all of which was topped with a jack cheese.  Fresh made flour tortillas came with it.  It was, in a word, incredible.  There were so many flavors just popping out of the mixture that were so unbelievable.  I could have just had that for my dinner that night, but there were so many other things that I wanted to try 

My sister was gung-ho about getting the wild mushroom enchilada.  It featured three wild mushrooms chopped, cooked and mixed in with jack cheese, rolled up in a corn tortilla and topped with sour cream, an avocado-tomato relish, and an ancho mole sauce.  It came with black beans and rice on the side.  She thought it was fabulous.  We were sharing food back and forth all night and she gave me a bite of it.  After tasting the wild mushroom enchilada, I had to wholeheartedly agree with her.  

I told Eduardo that I sort of wanted to try a little bit of everything on the menu, but I knew I would be limited.  I couldn't believe how great the pork and green chiles appetizer was and he suggested getting the barbacoa green chile enchilada.  He said that two normally come with the meal, but he could get me one and pro-rate the cost down.  The enchilada was filled with chunks of tender beef and topped with their great green chile sauce and shredded jack cheese.  It was delicious. 

I also got a couple tacos that my sister and I shared.   One was the tropical fish taco that was topped with chopped mango, a salsa picante, and a coconut cabbage mix.  The taste of that taco was unbelievable.  There were so many flavors popping in my mouth that I almost forgot it was a fish taco.  

The other taco was one of their signature items on their menu - the beef tenderloin taco.  Once again, Eduardo was accommodating enough to allow us to get one each rather than the three taco that normally come as a meal.  The beef tenderloin is marinated in a chipotle/pomegranate mixture grilled and served with fried Mexican peppers and crumbled gorgonzola cheese.  I was just shaking my head in amazement with the taste sensations I was experiencing.  

The meal we had at Cocina Madrigal was certainly a great experience.  Everything about the place - the food, the margaritas, the service from Eduardo - was top notch.  My sister still raves about the wild mushroom enchiladas when we talk from time to time.  I couldn't say enough about the great pork green chile appetizer and the barbacoa beef green chile enchilada that I had.  Cocina Madrigal may not be much to look at from the outside, but you can be guaranteed that the food inside would be worth the stop.

 

Middle Fork Cafe - New London, MN

During our vacation in the Spicer/New London area of West Central Minnesota, the manager at the hotel where we stayed completely oversold the breakfast they had when we checked into the place.  Since my wife has to have three square meals a day, we went out a couple mornings to find someplace to get something to start our day.  We had gone up to New London a couple days prior to check out the town (it was also somewhat oversold by the manager at the hotel), but we found a quaint little place on the main road through the downtown area called The Middle Fork Cafe.  We decided to head there for breakfast one morning.  

Cousins Cindy Finsaas and Suzanne Ziebarth are the owners of The Middle Fork Cafe which is named for the river that runs directly behind the restaurant - the Middle Fork of the Crow River.  The cafe is just downstream from the Mill Pond Dam which helps make a series of connected lakes that meander through the heart of New London.   

Finsaas is the only one of the two who had any previous restaurant experience as she was the original owner of Lulu Beans Coffee Shop in Willmar.  After selling the place in 2006, she was out of the restaurant industry for awhile before she decided it was time to do something.  Suzanne Ziebarth had been out of the country as a missionary for 16 years before moving back to Willmar about 8 years ago.  The two shared a love for locally-raised, natural foods and they started to look into doing their own farm-to-fork restaurant.  

The two found a spot in New London, a small town about 15 miles north of Willmar.  They had the opportunity to take over Jan's Riverside Cafe in downtown New London and the cousins decided to take the plunge in the spring of 2013.  The cousins did a complete renovation of the space with help from friends and family.  Contractors were brought in when needed, but Finsaas and Ziebarth oversaw most of the work.

Pictured right - Cindy Finsaas and Suzanne Ziebarth.  Photo courtesy West Central Tribune.  

After the remodeling was finished, Middle Fork Cafe opened in September of 2013.  At first, the restaurant was just opened for breakfast and lunch six days a week (closed Sunday).  But within a couple of years they began to stay open for dinner Thursday thru Saturday nights.  

The success of the Middle Fork Cafe in New London prompted Finsaas and Ziebarth to open a second location in their hometown of Willmar in July of 2018.  They partnered with local used-book store owner Heather King of the Flyleaf Book Shop to share their space in Willmar.  

It was a bright and sunny morning when we pulled into New London and found parking just down from Middle Fork Cafe on Main Street.  (see map)   Right inside the door was a refrigerated case that contained cakes and baked goods.  The cakes on display were decorated in a very ornate fashion.  We enquired after breakfast about some of the cakes they had and one was a lemon-blueberry cake - they had me at lemon, but blueberries are a wonderful combination with any lemon flavor.  

The inside dining area was a quaint and cozy area which featured a number of heavy wood tables and chairs.  The table tops were made from repurposed and refinished barn boards.  The floor was made from raw wooden planks that were found abandoned in a wooded area, sanded and finished.  Banquette seating along the wall was backed by a soft foam covered in fabric.  

Because it was such a beautiful morning, my wife said she wanted to sit out on the patio.  The patio area had a handful of metal-wire tables and chairs underneath a pergola made from repurposed wood from an old barn.  A trellis lined the back wall that looked out toward the Middle Fork of the Crow River. 

A young man came out with a couple menus for us to look over.  I got a bloody mary and an espresso to start out, while my wife got a glass of orange juice.  

The menu had both breakfast and lunch items listed.  Breakfast is served until 11 a.m. daily and they have pretty much what you'd expect for breakfast items - omelets, pancakes, French toast, a breakfast burrito and a breakfast croissant.   Pastries, muffins and rolls are made in-house.  For lunch, they have a number of sandwiches, salads and wraps to choose from.  A handful of gluten free items are available, as well. Everything Middle Fork Cafe has on their menu is locally-sourced and made-from-scratch.  

They make a quiche each day and my wife asked our server what the flavor of the day was.  It was a spinach quiche and my wife ordered that.  A side of fruit came with the quiche and she also got sourdough toast with her breakfast.  The quiche was big and fluffy with a caramelized cheese topping.  My wife was happy with her order.

I wasn't really all that hungry, but we were going to be out exploring the area and I didn't know if we would be having lunch or not.  I went pretty basic - two eggs over easy with bacon and sourdough toast.   It was fine for what it was, but I thought it was a little expensive - $7 bucks for two eggs, two pieces of bacon and sourdough toast.  

But still, we thought Middle Fork Cafe was a nice place for a good basic breakfast.  It was a quaint little place with a nice patio area.  My wife liked her spinach quiche and my basic eggs-bacon-toast was fine.  I liked that they had both espresso and bloody mary's available.  My only regret is that we never went back to get a piece of the lemon-blueberry cake that is made in-house at Middle Fork Cafe.  It was a nice little place and we were both happy with our meals.  

 

 

Prime Time - Guthrie Center, IA

During our summer vacation at Lake Panorama, located about an hour west of Des Moines, we stayed at my sister's fiancé's lake house.  He called me up about a week before we were going to be heading up and he said, "Hey, I was wanting to check with you to see if it were OK if your sister and I came out for the weekend when you guys are there."  I told him, well, sure!  After all, it was his place that he was letting us stay at, for god's sake.  They joined us on Friday afternoon and we talked about dinner options for the evening.  My sister's fiancé said there was only one option - a restaurant/bar in nearby Guthrie Center called Prime Time.  My sister was like, "Oooo, the prime rib at Prime Time.  Yes!"  Later that evening, we headed over to Guthrie Center for dinner at Prime Time.  (see map)

Actually, we had been in Prime Time a couple days before on a trip over to Guthrie Center for my wife to check out some shops.  I was bored and I ended up splitting off from her to go have a late morning bloody mary and a beer at Prime Time.  I think I took the lady behind the bar aback as I ordered a bloody mary and a bottle of beer at 11:30 in the morning with a number of people in the place having the lunch special that day - fried chicken, mashed potatoes and green beans.  The phone rang steadily with people inquiring about the lunch special.  I asked the lady if that was an every day occurrence, people calling to find out what the special is that day.  "Pretty much," she said.  "But when we have chicken, we usually sell out pretty quickly.  That's why it's a little more busy than usual in here today."   When my wife finally showed up to drag me out of the place, she was remarking about how busy the place was and it wasn't even noon yet.  

Since Guthrie Center isn't all that large - and dining options in the immediate area are limited - a place like Prime Time is extremely popular with the locals.  Open since 1996 and owned by Randy Rhodes, Prime Time was recently named as one of the 99 places to eat in the state of Iowa by Travel Iowa.  And just like when we were in there a couple days prior, prime rib nights - Friday and Saturday - at Prime Time are a big deal.  

From the outside, Prime Time's yellow stucco facade with fabric awnings give it the look of a Mexican restaurant.  But inside, there's a comfortable dining room with booths along a faux brick wall with faux arched windows attached above the booths.  Tables in the middle of the room were adorned with table cloths with muted lighting accenting the area.  

The bar area is much more lively than the dining room.  Beer signs and sports memorabilia adorn the walls.  A couple three flatscreen televisions were turned on to baseball games, and tables on step up platforms were in the front windows.  One of the ladies behind the bar instantly recognized my sister and her fiancé as they go to Prime Time on a regular basis when they stay at the lake.  It was early enough that the big crowd hadn't come in yet, so she sat us at a table next to the bar.   Drinks and beers were ordered and I took a look through the menu even though I was going to get the prime rib.  

Most other nights when they don't have the prime rib special, Prime Time features a number of entrees including a ribeye steak, pasta dishes, and a number of salads.  They have sandwiches on the main menu including a hot beef sandwich, a Philly cheesesteak sandwich, and a pork loin sandwich that you can get either grilled, breaded or Cajun-seasoned.  Burgers, appetizers, salads, and breaded seafood baskets are also available.  And along with the prime rib specials on Friday and Saturday nights, they also feature a walleye platter, chicken fried chicken, a Jack Daniel's-marinated grilled sirloin and a grilled peppercorn sirloin that is marinated in Italian dressing.   

My sister and her fiancé always order the large prime rib and share it.  They love the au jus and they always ask their waitress for extra tubs of the au jus.  I also ordered the prime rib, the smaller cut, and I asked our server if she could have the chef find the rarest piece in the kitchen.  And the chef did a good job with his search because the piece of prime rib she served me was pretty pink.  I had my choice of potato - my sister and her fiancé got the loaded baked potato, one each at an extra price - and I found out that they had tater tots.  I was happy about that.  Except they only had Tabasco instead of Cholula for me to put on my tots.  But that was all right.  

My wife isn't much of a prime rib fan.  At least she wasn't that night.  She ended up getting the steak de burgo special they had that evening.  It was a 12 ounce sirloin topped with a creamy de burgo sauce.  She got the loaded baked potato along with her steak.  A bread stick came with all our meals.  

The prime rib was very good.  It had a great beef flavor, it was very juicy and easy to cut.  The au jus that my sister's fiancé was raving about before the dinner turned out to be a little too salty for my taste.  But they really liked the au jus.  I just don't put a lot of salt on my food and when anything has heightened amounts of salt in it, my taste buds really pick up on that. Still, it wasn't a deal breaker.  I was able to get some fresh ground horseradish to go along with the prime rib, but it didn't really need anything else to help the wonderful taste.  

My wife was happy with her steak de burgo.  It was a big cut of meat and she was able to finish about half of it before having our server box up the rest to take back to the lakehouse.   But we went out for steak the next evening and she had to end up taking it back home in our cooler when we left on Sunday.  

My sister and her fiancé certainly didn't steer us wrong with their choice for dinner at Prime Time that evening.   It's a nice little place. People were friendly, the food was very good - pleasantly surprisingly good - and I thought it was a good value, too.  Prime Time is one of those out-of-the-way, under-the-radar kinds of places that I like to find and tell others about.