Road Tips

Flight Bar + Grille - Huxley, IA

Coming down from Minneapolis on a recent trip to the Twin Cities, I decided to continue on toward Des Moines rather that taking the Avenue of the Saints cutoff that shaves about an hour of my drive back home.  The main reason was to stop in the small town of Huxley just south of Ames to try a burger at the 2023 Best Burger in Iowa contest winner, Flight Bar + Grille.  

Since 2010, the Iowa Beef Industry Council has held a contest for the Best Burger in Iowa.  Semi-finalists are determined by a voting campaign (the ballot box is usually "stuffed" by fans and friends of a particular burger joint), and the top 10 vote-getters are then visited by a handful of judges who try the establishments signature burger.  The judges then determine who they feel has the best burger out of the 10 they tried.  Some of the previous winners, well, I thought 2 or 3 of them were pretty bad burgers and I was sort of scratching my head as to why the judges thought that particular burger was the best in Iowa that year.

(As and aside - I've hit all of the winners (click here to see the Road Tips entries on the Best Burger in Iowa category), with the exception of 2 - 2019 winner Wood Iron Grille in Oskaloosa, and 2021 winner Bambino's in Ossian.  One of these days I'll get to those two places to try their burgers.)

The couple who started Flight Bar + Grill have a Quad City-connection.  Matt Pacha and his wife Marianne grew up in Eldridge, IA just north of Davenport.  Pacha got his start at Hy-Vee in Davenport and worked there during high school and into his first couple of years of college at St. Ambrose University.  He wound up as an assistant store manager at one of the Hy-Vee stores in Davenport, then was transferred to one of the Hy-Vee stores in Ames, IA in 2015 where he became the director of store operations, eventually becoming an assistant store manager.  

Pictured right - Marianne and Matt Pacha.  

When Matt was transferred to Ames, they settled in Huxley, IA, a fast-growing commuter town between Ankeny and Ames.  It was similar to Eldridge and they immediately felt an affinity with the town.  Their dream was to start a community-style pub where all ages could congregate over food, drinks and live sports on TV.  

The local high school were named the Bombers and had a B-52 bomber as part of their logo.  The Pachas wanted to use the flight theme for their restaurant and decided it would simply be called Flight.  Work on the restaurant began in the summer of 2021 and hired Katie Boughey as their executive chef.  Boughey and Matt Pacha had worked together at the east Hy-Vee in Ames.  Work progressed and by early March 2022, Flight Bar + Grill opened for business.  

And just a little over one year in business, Flight Bar + Grille hit the jackpot by having their double-smashed patty Foundation burger was judged the best burger in Iowa for 2023.  For each Foundation burger sold at Flight Bar + Grill, the Pachas donate $1 to the Ballard Education Foundation, a non-profit designed to "enhance the educational experiences and opportunities available to students of Ballard Community Schools."

I pulled into Flight Bar + Grill just about 1:30 p.m.  It's located in a strip mall on the far north side of Huxley just about 8 miles south of Ames. (see map)  It's a little strange to get to Flight as you have to pull into the Fareway parking lot and drive to the north side of the strip mal.  Parking was plentiful in the lot in front of the brick building that housed Flight Bar and Grill.

I had accumulated a number of e-mails on my drive between Minneapolis and Huxley and I needed a place to spread out and work on my computer while I had lunch.  It was a nice day and the hostess suggested sitting outside on the covered patio.  I didn't really want to sit outside trying to work, so I went for a table inside the main dining room which was well-lit by the large windows on the north and east side of the room with exposed ductwork in the ceiling.  The hostess seemed to be adamant about seating me outside, but I wanted a four-seat table in the dining area.  She reluctantly dropped off a menu at the table I picked out.  (Note to servers and host staff - Why can't I sit where I want to?  Especially when the restaurant is less than packed?)

My server that day was a nice young lady by the name of Alesha.  She was extremely pleasant during the duration of my visit to Flight.  There weren't a lot of people in the restaurant while I was there, but the high ceiling with no sound treatment, the big windows and the concrete floor told me that this place probably got pretty loud when it filled up.  Alesha asked me what I wanted to drink and I noticed on the drink menu that they had the Big Grove Easy Eddy hazy IPA on tap.  That was an easy choice for me.  

Burgers were the highlight of the menu, but they also had sandwiches, wraps, soups, salads and appetizers to choose from.  It wasn't an extensive menu, but there were enough interesting items to choose from.  

The Foundation burger had two smashed patties on a brioche bun topped with cheddar cheese, bacon, grilled onions and topped with a house-made ground mustard aioli.  Lettuce and a tomato slice finished out the burger.  That sounded good, but it also sounded like a lot of other flavors and I wanted to have a taste of the burger meat more than anything else.  

While the mushroom/Swiss cheese burger with a black pepper aioli sounded intriguing, I went with the Classic burger - a double smashed-patty burger topped with cheddar cheese and a garlic aioli.  I asked Alesha if she could put bacon on it and she said it was no problem.  For a side, I got their house French fries.  

There was a problem with my burger from the start.  First of all, there was no cheddar cheese on the burger.  I thought about asking Alesha to see if she could bring some cheese, but then I thought not.  A large dollop of garlic aioli was placed on top of the bacon which formed an "X" across the top of the burger.  

From the first bite I could tell the burger was over-seasoned.  Whatever salt concoction they put on the burger, well, it was way too much.  The bun was spongy, but there was too much of it.  I started to peel the edges off the burger with each bite.  The garlic aioli was overpowering and there was too much of it on the burger and combined with the over-seasoning, it really hid the taste of the beef in the burger.  It was sort of disappointing and turned out to be somewhat of a gut-bomb.  It sat in my stomach for a long time and I wasn't really hungry when I finally made it home later in the day.  

The fries, however, were pretty good.  They were of the battered variety and had a nice soft potato inlay.  But the burger was so filling that I only had a few before I finally threw in the towel.  

Once again, I have to question what the judges in the Best Burger in Iowa contest were thinking when they named the burger at Flight Bar + Grill as the best in Iowa for 2023.  The Classic burger I had wasn't too much different from the award-winning Foundation burger - other than the cook forgot to put the cheddar cheese on it.  I just wasn't all that impressed with it.  But I do have to admit that Flight Bar + Grill was a nice place and probably a very popular place with the people in the town of Huxley.  I have to hand it to the Pachas for putting something of that caliber in the small - but growing - town.  

Cafe Beaudelaire - Ames, IA

I've been somewhat dubious of the past winners of the Best Burger in Iowa contest which has been held since 2010 by the Iowa Beef Industry Council.  Some of the ones I've tried were, well, not all that good.  But others have been great.  So, when this year's winner was announced back in May, I was even more skeptical that the Best Burger in Iowa was at a small Brazilian cafe in Ames by the name of Cafe Beaudelaire.  On a trip down from the Twin Cities to Des Moines awhile back, I decided to stop in to Ames and give the burger at Cafe Beaudelaire a try.  

About 30 years ago, Claudio Gianello came to Ames to visit his brother who was studying for his doctorate in agronomy at Iowa State University.  Claudio decided to stick around Ames for awhile and soon he met Kellie Jacobs, an ISU student from the west central Iowa town of Carroll.  The two fell in love, and while Claudio waited for Kellie to finish school he decided to open a restaurant in the Campustown area across from the Iowa State campus and featured Brazilian cuisine, but with an American flair.  Gianello got the name of the restaurant from a derivative of the name of the French poet Baudelaire as it somewhat translates to "Beauty of the Air".     

Even though it was a Brazilian restaurant, Gianello was welcoming of cultures from all over the world.  His little cafe soon became a gathering place for students from other countries.  And when the World Cup was held in 1994, Claudio put in televisions for foreign students to come in and watch the soccer matches at what locals and students referred to as "Cafe B". 

Pictured at right - Claudio Gianello.  Photo courtesy Iowa Beef Producers Council.  

Of course, burgers were a big item with students at ISU and Claudio knew that the Iowa-raised black angus beef was some of the best in the world.  He had burgers on the menu since they first opened, but he was always playing around with ingredients to add to the beef that was ground fresh in house.  A few years ago, he ended up coming up with a simple combination of salt, pepper, and ground oregano as a seasoning for his signature burgers.

For three years, Gianello had employed a young Iowa State student by the name of Lexi Romitti as a waitress.  Romitti was a student in Iowa State's Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication and she was looking to do a public relations campaign as a special project.  Working with a small group of other students, Romitti began a campaign to create more awareness among students about Cafe B.  When the Iowa Beef Industry Council announced their Best Burger contest in February, Romitti spearheaded efforts to bring students into Cafe Beaudelaire with "Burger Bashes" where they could vote for the burger as one of the best in Iowa.  

The efforts of Romitti and her team paid off as Cafe Beaudelaire was one of the top 10 vote getters in the Best Burger in Iowa contest.  Judges from the Iowa Beef Industry Council secretly came in to Cafe B to try the burger and they determined it was the Best Burger in Iowa for 2018.  Gianello's restaurant joined 2014 winner Brick City Grill to make Ames the only city in Iowa to have two Best Burger winners.  

I was able to find a parking space along Lincoln Way in front of Cafe Beaudelaire, and after some jostling between a tight space and heavy traffic I finally got settled in.  (see map)  Entering the small restaurant, I was greeted by a young lady by the name of Kayli who said I could sit anywhere.  I took a table in the middle of the dining area.  A small bar was along one wall with some flat screen televisions on the wall.  It was a colorful, funky kind of restaurant that made me feel right at home.  

Kayli had dropped off a menu for me to look over.  I knew already that I was going to get the burger, but I wanted to see what else they had to offer.  Actually, it wasn't that large of a menu.  They had variations of American and South American choices - many of the appetizers had a Brazilian flair such as empanadas, yucca fries, and something called Pac de Queijo - fresh bite-sized bread with parmesan and gouda cheese baked into them and served with a marinara sauce.  In addition to some burgers, they had a Cuban sandwich, a pita sandwich with a choice of either roast beef or chicken, and a popular Brazilian sandwich called the Bauru - it featured a beef patty and ham slices on fresh baked wheat bread topped with mayo, tomatoes, lettuce, onions, corn, peas, mozzarella cheese and a fried egg.  You could also get one with a grilled chicken breast or a spicy black bean patty.  Cafe B also had vegetarian options along with soups and salads.  They also feature a brunch menu on Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

I got the classic burger with cheddar cheese.  A fried egg and bacon strips were also available for toppings, but I didn't want a bunch of stuff on there to mask the taste of the burger.  They also had a half-chorizo/half-angus beef burger, a burger topped with Muenster cheese and grilled red and green peppers, as well as a Mexican-style burger topped with guacamole and gouda cheese.  A side of Brazilian potatoes came with the burger.  

The burger was flat-grilled and smash-pressed with a crispy outer shell.  The patty was misshapen from the grilling technique.  It was served on what I believe was a potato bun and came with a sliced onion, lettuce and a pickle.  The burger was actually too salty for my taste.  I don't put a lot of salt on my food and I immediately picked up on the abundance of salt in the patty.  There was too much bun, as well.  I found myself tearing away chunks of the bun because there was just too much of it.  

But other than that - and the burger being too salty - I thought the burger was very good.  It had a great beef flavor and it was very juicy.  I really wish they hadn't loaded it with so much salt.  

The Brazilian potatoes were basically seasoned wedge potatoes.  They were good with a crispy outer shell and a nice flaky inner core.  Once again, I wasn't all that interested in the potatoes, but for someone who does like steak-style wedge fries they would like these.

I'm now 9 for 9 in trying the Best Burger in Iowa contest winner and I'd have to put the burger at Cafe Beaudelaire somewhere in the middle.  While the fresh ground beef was juicy and flavorful, they seasoned it with too much salt.  The bun was airy and spongy, but there was too much bun for the size of the burger.  The Brazilian fries were basically seasoned potato wedges, but they were perfectly cooked with a good crispiness to the outer shell and a warm flakiness on the inside.  I couldn't quibble about the friendly service I received while at Cafe Beaudelaire.  While they seemed to have a good beer selection, I ended up just having water with my burger.  I'm happy that a place like Cafe B is the winner of the Best Burger in Iowa, but I have to think there were other burgers in the contest that may have been better.  

Amici Ristorante - Niles, IL

In my travels around the northwest suburbs of Chicago over the years, I've frequently passed an ornate Italian restaurant at the corner of Milwaukee and Howard Avenues in Niles.   One recent evening after a long day of calling on accounts in the Chicago area, I happened to be driving past the restaurant on my way to my hotel.  I thought I'd give it a try that night and I double-backed and found myself in the parking lot in front of Amici Ristorante.  (see map)

Mike and Sarah Zimmerman are the owners of Amici (Italian for "friends") Ristorante which opened in 1989.  The exterior of the restaurant resembles an Italian countryside villa, while the two main dining rooms are also rustic in their decor.  

In front of the restaurant is a nice patio area for al fresco dining.  It featured a number of wrought iron tables and chairs, some tables with small umbrellas.  Vines grew on the exterior wall and on an arbor over the outside dining area.  It was a beautiful evening, but no one was seated on the patio.  

I ended up sitting in a booth in the lounge area.  The lounge was located in the middle of the two dining areas and looked more like an old time Italian eatery's bar.  The music playing in the background reflected the old time atmosphere to the place - there was music from Frank Sinatra, Kay Starr, Perry Como and Keely Smith that was played in the lounge.  I also heard a great Nat King Cole/Dean Martin duet - Long, Long Ago - that I added to one of my Tidal song lists when I got back to the hotel.  

I was greeted by my server for the evening, Monica.  Monica told me that she has been a waitress at various places in the area for 45 years.  She fit into her lounge surroundings as she had that endearing old-time quality to her that 50 years ago she would have been referred to as a "broad".  But I say that in the most complementary and affectionate way.  She was a fun and brassy lady.  

Many of the items on the dinner menu at Amici Ristorante were Italian specialties including pasta dishes, chicken entrees, as well as veal and seafood dishes.  They also have ribs, steaks, pork chops and pizza on the menu.  A couple seated near me in the lounge got the pizza that evening and it was a thin crust with plenty of toppings on it.  It looked very good.  

After I ordered my entree, Monica brought out a dinner salad and a basket of warm, fresh-baked bread.  The salad had their housemade Italian dressing on it and featured fresh lettuce greens, chopped red onions and carrots, and a slices of pickled beets and cucumbers.  Everything was fresh and cool in the salad and the Italian dressing had a great zesty taste.  

I've been on a meat-filled ravioli kick as of late and that's exactly what I ordered for my dinner at Amici Ristorante.  For good measure, I had Monica have the chef throw in a couple meatballs with the ravioli and bolognese sauce that I had on top of the ravioli.  I thought a glass of wine would be a nice thing to have along with the ravioli and meat sauce that evening and they had the Liberty School cabernet available by the glass from their wine list.  

The ravioli were good sized and had to be cut in half to eat.  There was plenty of the beef/veal/pork mixture in the ravioli, themselves.  The bolognese sauce was a bit too sweet for my tastes, but it was still very good.  The meatballs were also pretty large and had pretty much the same mixture as what were in the pillows of ravioli.  It was a great, old-home Italian dinner - one that made me pretty full by the time I was finished.  

For driving by Amici Ristorante many times over the years, I'm almost kicking myself for not trying it sooner than this visit.  From the Italian rustic decor, to the wonderful old time lounge, to the 50's and 60's pop classics playing in the background, to my server's wonderful service - complete with a bit of sass and old school attitude - my visit to Amici Ristorante was more than I expected.  The meat-filled ravioli in the slightly sweet bolognese sauce, along with two large meatballs, was a spot-hitter.  And after seeing the pizza at Amici Ristorante, I'd like to head back at some point and try one of those.  Let's just say I won't be ignoring Amici Ristorante when I drive by in the future.

Brick City Grill - Ames, IA

Since 2010, the Iowa Beef Industry Council has sponsored the Best Burger in Iowa contest.  My quest is to stop at the places that have been awarded the best burger title and up to now I was four for four with stops at 2010 winner Sac County Cattle Company (click here to see the entry), 2011 winner Rusty Duck (click here to see the entry), 2012 winner Coon Bowl III (click here to see the entry), and 2013 winner 61 Chop House (now closed - but click here to see the entry).  The 2014 winner is a place that I was somewhat familiar with, but had never been there before - Brick City Grill in Ames.  On a recent trip driving by Ames I stopped into Brick City to try one of their burgers.  

If you go back to review the places I've been to you'll see that I have not been happy with two of the four winners thanks to a very overcooked burger, mildly upset at one for a slightly overcooked burger, and happy enough with the fourth one, but it still wasn't the best burger I've ever had - even in Iowa.  I was hoping that some of the anomalies that happened with the previous winners wouldn't be the same with Brick City.  If the place served me an overcooked burger, then I would have seriously had to wonder about the credentials of the judges of the Best Burger contest.  

To get the Best Burger in Iowa it took owner Jason Mikkelsen less than a year of being in business to achieve that award.  Mikkelsen (pictured right - picture courtesy Farm Progress.com) had a background in the restaurant industry working for 18 years before opening Brick City Grill in May of 2013.  Mikkelsen, a native of rural Creston, had 18 years of restaurant experience before he got the chance to take over the old Brewers location in the Somerset neighborhood of Ames after it closed in April of 2013 after nearly 10 years of being in business.  

Mikkelsen added booth seating, about a dozen televisions and revamped the kitchen to accommodate the burgers that he would feature at his new restaurant.  And to get the burger meat just right, Mikkelsen has a proprietary chuck-based blend that is ground early each morning and delivered to the restaurant at 6 a.m. for daily consumption.  The burgers are hand-pattied, then flat grilled to keep the juices inside and the only seasonings added are minimal amounts of kosher salt and black pepper.  The brioche buns are the key to the burger at Brick City - as they are with most great burgers - and are more expensive than what you'll find at other burger joints.   

It was just after the noon hour rush when I pulled up to Brick City Grill on Stange Road in Ames.  (see map)  I found parking on the street just down the way from the place, but there is also a parking lot behind the establishment.  It is literally around the corner from another place in Ames that has a pretty good burger - The Cafe.  (Click here to see the entry on The Cafe.)  

After being greeted at the front door, I was seated at a booth along the street side of the building and given a menu.  They had a somewhat impressive list of beers at Brick City and I ended up ordered a Big Sky IPA while I looked through the menu.  

The dining area was open and bright with a lot of natural daylight coming through the windows.  Booths lined the walls and a number of wooden tables and chairs were in the middle of restaurant.  A long bar with high chairs was the most prominent feature of the place.  A number of bottled beers were visible in the glass-front refrigerators behind the bar.  

They had 9 burgers on the menu including one that immediately caught my eye - the 60/40.  It was 60 percent ground beef and 40 percent ground bacon.  I thought for a moment about getting that, but I wanted to try the burger that got them the Best Burger in Iowa award. 

But actually, there wasn't a notation on the menu as to which burger was the award winner.  Signs throughout the restaurant shouted that Brick City had the best burger, but I didn't know which one it was.  Their Classic burger was topped with lettuce, tomato, onions and dill pickles (cheese was extra).  The Bacon cheeseburger was topped with hickory smoked bacon and your choice of American, Swiss, cheddar or pepper jack cheese.  The Jalapeno Jack burger featured a spicy seasoned burger topped with pepper jack cheese, slice jalapenos and a housemade chipotle mayo sauce.   And they had a Pretzel burger served on a pretzel bun and topped with American cheese, bacon and 1000 Island dressing.

They also had things other than burgers on the menu at Brick City Grill.  They had a number of appetizers, salads and sandwiches including a reuben sandwich, grilled or fried chicken sandwiches, a B.L.T. and a beef brisket sandwich.  Entrees included grilled salmon, a smoked pork chop and a 12 ounce rib-eye that is glazed in a sauce with a Jack Daniels base.  And they also had hot dogs on the menus including the KC Royals BBQ Dog - it's the Brick City knock-off of the great All-Star Dog sold at the Dugout Dog House at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.  (Click here to see my entry on Kauffman Stadium.)  It could be the best thing I've ever eaten at a major league baseball park.   

When my server came back around to get my order, I asked her what the award winning burger was and she told me, "Well, actually all of them are the award winners."  I was sort of incredulous because I know how the nominating process works for the Best Burger in Iowa contest.  Only one burger can be nominated.  But, it could be that all the burgers on the menu had gotten enough nominations, but I doubt it.  

With that out of the way, I decided upon getting the Worcestershire burger - a burger patty topped mushrooms sauteed in Worcestershire sauce and Swiss cheese.  I asked if I could get some bacon on it, as well, and she said that would be no problem.  For sides, I had my choice of a salad, fries, mashed potatoes or fresh vegetables to name a few.  But then I saw that they had tater tots and I couldn't pass those up.  

The burger came out about 15 minutes after I ordered it and it was sitting high and pretty on the plate.  The presentation was outstanding.  I could only hope that the burger tasted as good as it looked.  

From the first taste, I knew I had a winner.  Even with the Worcestershire-tinged sauteed mushrooms, bacon and Swiss cheese, I could tell the burger had great flavor, a nice ground texture to it kept it all together, and it was certainly juicy.  The brioche bun held together very well and was a perfect compliment to the burger.  

Even the tater tots were very good.  They had a nice crispy outer shell with a flaky potato inner core.  This was a very good lunch.  

With apologies to the Rusty Duck - whose burger I felt was very good - the burger at Brick City Grill may have been the first Best Burger in Iowa that I felt was worthy of the honor.  The burger patty was big and juicy, the Swiss cheese was fresh and pungent, the sauteed mushrooms had a subtle Worcestershire tang, and the bacon had a nice crispy taste that added an overall tasty flavor to an already very good burger.  Finally, a Best Burger in Iowa worthy of being called the best burger.  

West Towne Pub - Ames, IA

Staying in Ames recently, very near the hotel I was staying at was a place that I'd seen before on visits to the area but had never been to - West Towne Pub.  I decided to have a closer look at the place before I left the area that particular day.  

West Towne Pub is a sports bar that also features a number of eclectic beers on tap and in bottles.  It's owned by Bryan Kinneer - a former sales rep in the medical industry who decided that he wanted to get out of the sales racket about 8 years ago and open up his own sports bar - and his wife, Shelley.  Along with Kinneer's brother, Kevin, they also own the nearby Perfect Games family fun center that features bowling, laser tag, video games and a pizzeria, Kingpin Pizza.  Both businesses are located in the West Towne development on the southwest side of Ames.  (see map)

Walking into West Towne Pub, you immediately see a ton of flat screen televisions throughout the place.  The decor is decidedly industrial with exposed support beams and duct work on the ceiling.  A cold slab concrete floor is on the main dining level while a step up bar area overlooks the dining room.  It was early and they had only been open for about 30 minutes when I stopped in.

I was greeted by a young lady who led me to a booth along the glass-walled south side of the sports bar.  She gave me a menu and told me that my server would be with me in a moment.  Not long after, a young lady by the name of Emily showed up.  They had a pretty impressive line-up of beers at West Towne Pub and I ended up ordering a Boulevard Pale Ale as I looked through the menu.  

The food at West Towne Pub is typical of any sports bar - the usual deep fried appetizers and chicken wings, a number of sandwiches, a few entrees including a pasta dish, pork chops and ribs, and a handful of hand-pattied burgers that West Towne Pub claims are 25% bigger than most places.  Even though I was thinking of getting Thy Reuben - their take on a reuben sandwich - or the Cuban sandwich (but I've yet to find a good Cuban sandwich outside of Miami), I ended up getting the Towne Bacon cheeseburger - called their signature burger on the menu.  It said that they spent a lot of money with consultants coming up with the burger's name, but I think that borders on hyperbole.  I had my choice of cheese - American, Cheddar, Swiss or Provolone.  I got the Swiss cheese to go along with the apple-smoked bacon.  A side of West Towne Pub's "Brew City" French fries came with the meal.  

The burger came with lettuce, onions and tomato slices.  The Swiss cheese was melted over the bacon and the burger patty.  It looked damned good.  

 
The burger was, indeed, huge.  The bun was thick and I was worried that it would be a little too much bun for the burger.  But the bun was airy and collapsed easily when you put your fingers into it.  

From the first bite I knew this was a winning burger.  It made me go, "Mmmmmm...." as I savored my first bite.  Juicy and flavorsome, the burger patty was cooked with a little pink in the middle - exactly how I like it.  The Swiss cheese had a wonderfully complementary taste to the burger without being overpowering.  And the applewood-smoked bacon was a great companion taste.  And the bun stayed together with all that was on the burger.  The key to a good burger is a good bun.  The bun on the Towne Pub cheeseburger was very good.   

The "Brew City" fries were crispy on the outside and moist inside.  They were good, but it was going to be all I could do to finish the large Towne Pub cheeseburger.  And as good as the burger was, I knew I wouldn't be eating many of the fries.

Many sports bars that I've come across in my travels usually have just OK bar food.  They just figure that if someone is going to come in and watch sports, they'll probably eat just about anything that the place puts on the menu.  But I could tell that they cared about the food at West Towne Pub.  The burger was excellent - one of the best I've ever had at a sports bar.  The fries, too, were very good - even though I didn't pay much attention to them.  The beer selection was good and I thought Emily's service was top notch.  I would have no problem returning to West Towne Pub for another burger at some point.

The Cafe - Ames, IA

A tip of the hat to a gentleman who calls himself "Prexcoble" who left a comment on the entry I had for Oddfellows Burger Kitchen in Ames, IA (see that entry here).  He suggested that before I do my Best Burger List for 2012 (see that entry here), I needed to try the burger at The Cafe in Ames, IA.  I didn't get there in time to do that, but I was in Ames recently working on a problem that a customer was having with one of the products we sell.  After I finished up with that, I decided to go have lunch at The Cafe.

The Cafe is located in the north part of Ames on Northridge Parkway along with a number of other businesses and restaurants in the Somer Street neighborhood. (see map)  In fact, a dealer that I called on for awhile was located just down the street from The Cafe.  But until this visit, I had never been in the place before.  

Actually, The Cafe will celebrate their 10th anniversary next month.  The original owners, Bob Cummings, Kevin Rettig and Pat Breen opened their doors in February of 2003.  In doing a little digging on the three, I found that Breen is the owner of the popular Aunt Maude's restaurant in downtown Ames, and that Cummings was the owner of O'Malley's and McGee's, a Mexican restaurant that closed down a few years ago.  I believe Cummings is the managing partner of The Cafe.  

I parked on the street in front of The Cafe (there's also parking in the rear) and went inside just before 2 p.m.  I was standing there for quite some time at the hostess stand before a young lady finally came up to me after a couple minutes and asked if I needed any help.  "I'd like to get some lunch," I replied.

She looked at her watch and said, "Well, we quit serving lunch at 2. (It was still before 2 on my clock on my phone.) Let me check."  She went away for a moment and I saw her talking to another lady and pointing in my direction.  The other lady looked at a clock in the kitchen area and she came up to me.  She cheerfully said, "Sure, we can get you in.  It's officially 1:58 on the clock."  The place was packed with diners and I thought it was rather strange to have the cut off so early, but there are restaurants that do changeovers from lunch to dinner after the noon rush.  As the young lady ushered me back to a booth, I heard the first girl who greeted me say in a not-very-nice tone to the cook staff, "We have ONE MORE for lunch!"  I half expected to hear groans and words of derision from the staff they way she said it.  But they didn't.

I was seated in a booth in one of the two dining areas at The Cafe.  There's a second dining area in the bar area in the back of the place (pictured right). There is also a small coffee shop/bakery off to the side of the front entrance.  I took a number of pictures of the place, but none of them turned out.  The lighting in the place was a mix of reduced direct lighting and natural light coming in from the large windows in the front of the restaurant.  The lighting played havoc with any type of good picture that I wanted to get.  

The hostess left off a menu with me, and even though I knew that I was just going to get a burger I wanted to see what else The Cafe had to offer.  The menu isn't that extensive so it was sort of perplexing to me why they needed a changeover between lunch and dinner.  In fact, the only thing that was different from the lunch part of the menu were five entrees that included wood-grilled salmon, a chicken entree, duck breast and couple others.  But I only eat at restaurants and don't run one, so I don't fully understand how they work behind the scenes.    

The menu items at The Cafe are locally sourced and some items are made in house.  They encase their own fennel sausage for their pizza at The Cafe and they use locally grown beef for their burger and New York strip steak.  Nearly all of the meats that are made for entrees, sandwiches or salads are cooked over an oak wood-fire grill.  The wonderful smell of smoldering oak wood was prevalent throughout the restaurant.  

Because it was still busy, it took some time for a server to come over.  Finally, after sitting for about five minutes, a tall, personable young lady by the name of Paula came by to greet me.  She said, "I'm sorry I haven't been over sooner.  Can I get you something to drink?"

I told her, "Sure, and I pretty much know what I'm going to have for lunch, too."

Surprised, Paula said, "Oh!  OK!  Do you want to hear the specials we have?"  I told her I did not.  "Go ahead," she exclaimed.  I ordered the Cafe Burger - a half-pound wood grilled burger topped with white cheddar cheese and Russian dressing, with lettuce, tomato and pickled onions served on a kaiser/rosemary bun that, I'm guessing, is made in their bakery.  For a buck more, I asked Paula to put some bacon on the burger.  Homemade potato chips came with the burger.

It took about 15 minutes for the burger to come out to me after I ordered.   The lettuce, tomato slice and pickled onions were set off to the side.  I tried one of the pickled onions before I put them on the burger and they tasted excellent.  Two thick pieces of bacon laid on top of the thick burger patty. 

The bun had enough rosemary on it that you could smell the herb from two feet away.  I was worried that it may overpower the overall taste of the burger, but from my first bite into the burger, my fears went away.  

The burger was cooked with a little hint of pink in the middle - a tad more overdone than I like, but it was still good.  I wasn't certain that I cared for the Russian dressing on the burger, but I do like Russian dressing on salads.  I should have gotten the dressing on the side. But, the wood-grilled taste of the burger was wonderful, and the burger patty, itself, was moist, but not really juicy.  

The highlight was the kaiser/rosemary bun.  It had a somewhat crunchy crown, but it yielded a moist and chewy inner core.  It was spongy and it could easily be mashed to be able to take a full bite of the burger.  The great thing about it - the rosemary didn't fall off when I mashed it down.  The rosemary was a great additional taste to what was already a pretty fine burger.  

And the burger was a belt buster, too.  I was able to finish the burger, but I was satiably full afterward.  Not to the point that I felt that I overate, but more to the point that I knew that I wouldn't need a big dinner that evening.

Where would I put the Cafe Burger from The Cafe on my best burger list?  It's probably more of a gourmet burger than one you'd find in a greasy old burger joint.  I would probably put it on my honorable mention list, but I think the burger over at Oddfellows was more pleasing to me.  That's not to say the burger at The Cafe wasn't good - far from it.  It is a very good burger and one that I wouldn't have any problem having again.  I'll just have to make sure that I'm REALLY hungry and that it's well before 2 p.m. if I get back there for lunch.  

Oddfellows Burger Kitchen - Ames, IA

After eating at - and doing background research on Pazzesco Pasta and Chophouse in Ames, IA (see my entry on that place here) - I found that the owner was also a partner in a new gourmet burger joint in town, Oddfellows Burger Kitchen.  I was in Ames recently calling on a dealer and I found that Oddfellows wasn't far from his office.  I stopped in for lunch that particular day just to see if their burgers were as good as advertised.

(Update - Pazzesco closed their doors in March of 2012, not long after I visited their restaurant.  They say on their web site they're looking for a new location, but as of the fall of 2012, they appear to still be closed.) 

The owner of Pazzesco, Chris Patterson, partnered up with Sai Kiojai, to open Oddfellows earlier this year in the old Cafe Shi location in the Northern Lights shopping center, just north of the North Grand Mall on Wheeler Avenue just off Grand Avenue on the north side of Ames (see map).  Patterson is a native of nearby Nevada, IA and attended Iowa State University.  He had a long history of working at, managing and owning a number of restaurants around the country before moving back to Ames a couple three years ago to open Pazzesco.   Patterson saw a need for an upscale burger place in Ames and came up with the concept of Oddfellows.  

The decor of Oddfellows can easily be described as colorful and funky.  The walls are painted in bright pastel colors and covered with movie posters, odd-ball antiques and concert posters.  Most of the posters are tacked up with staples and I'm wondering how long it will be before some of them are torn off the wall.  There's a main dining area and a bar area.  The main dining room was still full just after 1 p.m. when I got in there, so I took a seat in the bar area.

A large group of workers from Iowa State University was finishing up their lunch when I was seated near a window in the bar.  There are a number of flat screen televisions in the bar area and it looks like it would be a good place to watch a sporting event.  But I would stop short of calling it a sports bar.  

The young man who directed me to my seat dropped off a menu and told me my waitress would be with me shortly.  I took a look through the menu as I waited and found that Oddfellows did, indeed, have some interesting burgers on their menu.  They grind their beef fresh each day and feature fresh ingredients for their toppings.  Their signature Oddfellow burger features a burger that uses a split donut instead of a bun.  The Elvis burger is topped with bananas and peanut butter (editorial comment: "Yuck!"), and they had a grilled cheese burger that is basically a double grilled cheese sandwich made with four slices of Texas toast and a burger in the middle.  They also had burgers, one topped with crab meat, another with beef brisket.  They also had a number of appetizers including bacon-wrapped dates.  I'm not big on dates, but it's pretty hard not to like a food that is wrapped in bacon. (Although I recently did have bacon-wrapped braunschweiger that almost made me gag.)

I had been there for about three minutes and the young guy who seated me came over and said, "Sorry she hasn't been here to take your drink order.  She's a little busy finishing up with this big group.  What can I get ya?"  I ordered a bottle of beer and continued to look over the menu. 

My waitress came over to me and dropped off my beer.  She had the unique name of Kearstin and profusely apologized for not coming over sooner.  I told her I fully understood.  She had a large group that all paid individually and she and another waitress were doing their best to keep up.  By that time, I'd had enough time to look over the menu and I had decided to get the green chile burger, topped with pepperjack cheese, cooked medium.  I had my choice of sides like fries, rings or macaroni and cheese.  For funsies, I got the mac and cheese.

Less than 20 minutes after I ordered, Kearstin cheerfully dropped off my burger at the table.  The pepperjack cheese was melted over the green chiles, holding them on top of the burger patty.  Actually, I don't know if I would call the green chiles as "fresh" - they looked like they had just come out of a can.  That didn't matter to me all that much.  

The burger, itself, was cooked exactly as I like with a little bit of pink in the middle.  Too many times I encounter grill chefs who don't quite understand that a burger cooked all the way through is not medium.  The meat did taste fresh and had the nice flat griddle taste to it.  The bun was light and fluffy, lightly toasted and a little chewy.  It held together well with the juiciness of the burger.  The only problem was that the chiles kept falling off.  It made for a messy burger and they need to put more napkins on the table when they serve a burger like this.  I went through the napkin I had on my lap rather quickly and had to reach across the table and steal the napkin wrapped around the extra silverware.  

While I can say the burger was above average, the mac and cheese was "eh!"  It was pretty basic and lifeless.  Trader Joe's mac and cheese out of a box was much better than the mac and cheese at Oddfellows.  I just had a couple bites before I decided it wasn't worth eating any more.   

While the burger was very good, it was also a little expensive ($9.00).  I don't know how a place like Oddfellows will do in a smaller university town in the Midwest like Ames, but I'm hoping they do make it.  Kearstin did a nice job in taking care of me and I hung around a bit taking a look at some of the posters and memorabilia they had on the walls at Oddfellows.  All in all, I give Oddfellows Burger Kitchen a "thumbs up".  A little expensive, but still pretty darn good.       

Hickory Park - Ames, IA

Years ago, I used to call on a stereo shop in the Campustown (aka Dog Town to some of the locals) area of Ames, right next to Iowa State University.  There was a small barbecue place not far from the store ran by an old man by the name of George Battle - Battle's Barbecue.  It was more of a hole-in-the-wall place but George had great barbecue.  I remember Battle's Barbecue was always compared to another barbecue place in Ames called Hickory Park.  I really liked Battle's Barbecue, but had never tried Hickory Park before. Since my blog has taken off with the number of readers I get on a daily basis, a number of people in Central Iowa have told me about Hickory Park in Ames.  My wife even ate there when she was in Ames for meetings last year.  I've heard both ways - some loved the place, others didn't think much of it.  I was driving between the Twin Cities and Des Moines recently and decided to stop in and get some lunch at Hickory Park just to see what others were talking about.  

I'd known about Hickory Park for a number of years, considering they've been in business since 1970.  It was in a small building on East Lincoln Way that Dave Wheelock opened his first barbecue place.  Winning over the locals with his St. Louis/Kansas City-style barbecue, it became apparent that he needed a larger space.  

At the start of 1982, Hickory Park moved to a larger location on SE 16th St. in Ames.  Wheelock was able to more than triple the number of patrons he was able to seat at one time to nearly 200 people.  15 years later, Hickory Park moved to its present day location on S. Duff, one of the main drags in Ames (see map).  It's large building with equally large parking lot is easy to find for anyone coming north off of Highway 30.  

Hickory Park cooks their meats in a special grill oven that combines an open flame with convection heat, then they pot braise their meats, glazing the meat with barbecue sauce, then putting it on the grill again to finish it off.  That is certainly an interesting way of barbecuing their meat and one that some barbecue snobs turn up their nose at.  But it if tastes good, like some people think it does, why not do it that way?  I had to find out for myself.   

I got into the restaurant around 1:30 and there were a number of people standing around.  I went to the hostess stand and told her it was just me.  She said, "I can seat you right away."  

As we walked back into the large dining area, I asked the hostess, "Weren't those people back there ahead of me?"

She said, "Yeah, but they're two large parties and they're waiting for a large table to open up.  I can get you to a small table no problem."

She sat me down along the west wall of the restaurant with the windows looking out toward S. Duff Ave.  The dining area was huge, segmented into smaller dining rooms that seemed to have a different motif in each area.  There was an area that had an old 1890's type of decor, while the dining area I was seated in was sort of rustic with a number of old signs and antique lights hanging from the ceiling.  Even at 1:30 in the afternoon, I would say the place was well over half full.  

She gave me a menu to look over and the first thing I noticed was that it wasn't just barbecue they did at Hickory Park, but they had nearly a dozen burgers to choose from, as well as a like number of specialty sandwiches, salads, deli sandwiches and entrees including a number of smoked meat platters.  I get a little worried when a restaurant offers so many things to eat.  Most of the times they do all of them good, but it's generally not outstanding. 

But I was there for the barbecue and I wanted to try a little bit of two or three of their meats.  They had a combination dinner that featured sliced beef brisket, sliced pork and sliced turkey for $7.25.  Two sides came with that and I got their cole slaw and their baked beans.  I got a beer to go along with the barbecue. 

My waitress brought out my meal less than 10 minutes after I ordered it (no wonder the place is so busy at lunch time).  There were three large slices of both pork and beef and a large slice of smoked turkey.  I used some of the barbecue sauce that was sweet, a little tangy and had a little smoky taste to it.  The sauce was OK, not the best I've had, but just OK.  

The three meats were all thickly sliced for barbecue.  They weren't as tender as I would have liked it to be, but they were sort of flavorful.  The beef brisket had a nice smoke ring around the outer edge and out of the three it was the most tender.  

The pork was good, but not outstanding.  I couldn't tell if they used a rub on the outer layer of the pork, but it had a slightly smoky flavor.  

I usually don't get smoked turkey (or chicken, or that matter) when I go to a barbecue place, but this was not bad.  Turkey is usually dry and while this was far from moist, it wasn't overly dried out and overcooked like I've found at other places.

The beans were pedestrian, but livened up a bit when I added some more barbecue sauce.  And the cole slaw was rather bland.  I just had a couple small bites and gave up.  

The waitress came back around to see how I was doing and I told her that I was full.  She said, "No room for any ice cream?"  Nope, not this time.  It turns out that another big draw for Hickory Park is their old fashioned ice cream parlor that features an extensive menu of malts and shakes, splits and parfaits, and sodas and floats.  They have over a dozen different types of ice cream to choose from at Hickory Park and it appeared that a number of adults and youngsters at the place were enjoying their desserts.

But the meat portions that I got on my plate were a great value for $7.25.  I was certainly stuffed by the time I finished off the brisket, then the pork, then made a dent in the large slab of turkey.  While I can't say that Hickory Park was the best barbecue I've ever had, it's not bad at all.   The beans were just all right, the cole slaw was "eh!", and the sauce was serviceable and did it's part in help with the overall taste of the meat.  But even though the food was a great value at Hickory Park, I couldn't help but wonder if Battle's Barbecue is still in business.  

Pazzesco Pasta and Chophouse - Ames, IA

I found myself in Ames, Iowa one evening staying overnight for an early morning meeting with a prospective dealer. Not knowing much about the culinary fare of Ames, I asked the girl at the front desk if there was a steakhouse or an Italian restaurant that she recommended. Her face lit up and said, "Yeah! Actually, you can have both at a place not far from here!" She recommended I try Pazzesco Pasta and Chophouse out on the western edge of Ames on Lincoln Way (see map).

Pazzesco (pronounced Pad-ZEE-sko), which roughly means "wild, crazy and fantastic" in Italian is the brain child of Chris Patterson, a native of nearby Nevada, IA (we Iowans pronounce Nevada as "nuh-VAY-da" with the long "A" in the middle). Patterson was a graduate of Iowa State University with a degree in Hotel, Restaurant and Industrial Administration and co-founded GNC Restaurants, a multi-concept restaurant group based out of Ames. He ran GNC for about five years before moving on to work for the Cracker Barrel restaurants.

After becoming a District Manager for Cracker Barrel, Patterson went on to work as a Regional Manager for Canyon Cafe, a Southwestern-cuisine restaurant chain based in Dallas. Patterson worked for Canyon Cafe for four years before the restaurants were purchased by AVADO Brands, a restaurant holding company that owned a number of Don Pablo's Mexican restaurants as well as a number of Hops Grillhouse and Brewery locations. (AVADO filed for bankruptcy in 2007.)

Soon thereafter, Patterson (pictured right) then went on to work with the Leeann Chin, a Twin Cities-based contemporary Chinese fast food chain. Patterson opened the first 3 Leeann Chin locations in Kansas City, eventually opening 7 total in the area. From Leeann Chin, Patterson went on to become the President and C.O.O. of Austin Grill, a multi-location Tex-Mex restaurant in the Washington D.C. area.

After Austin Grill was sold in 2008, Patterson decided that he wanted to do something else. He wasn't overly happy with the new owners and he was finding solace in music. He had formed an alternative country music group - Leaving, TX - in 2004 and the group had gained somewhat of a following in the Washington D.C. area and even toured parts of Europe. But the restaurant business was in his blood and he decided to move back to his roots in Iowa soon after Austin Grill was sold.

The Broiler steakhouse on the far west side of Ames was a popular place to eat for over 45 years. (Years ago I had a t-shirt with "The Broiler" on the front of it. Don't quite remember how I got it as I'd never been to The Broiler, but I used to wear it all the time when I played basketball.) The original Broiler closed for awhile around 2007, but reopened in the fall of 2008. It didn't last long, closing for good sometime in 2009. The building sat idle until Patterson came back to Ames and decided to open an Italian steakhouse in the place. Patterson literally gutted the place and formed the restaurant to his vision. Pazzesco opened in July of 2010.

(Pazzesco in Ames. Photo by Scott Dresmel, courtesy Ames.Patch.com)

Patterson is also a partner in a new gourmet burger place in Ames called Oddfellows Burger Kitchen - a restaurant on Ames' north side that opened earlier this year. I might have to try that place at some point. (Update - I did try Oddfellows very recently. Look for that entry on Road Tips in the coming weeks.)

Kellie Doyle is the chef at Pazzesco. Doyle's grandmother immigrated from Italy and many of the recipes used at the restaurant were handed down by her grandmother's ancestors. Patterson has also added some of his own recipes from working in Italian-style restaurants years ago. Doyle has been Patterson's chef since he opened Pazzesco.

Since it had been years since I'd been on the west side of Lincoln Way in Ames, I wasn't too certain where Pazzesco was. As I started to get out on the fringe of town, I saw a brightly lit side along the south side of the road just past the Boone County/Story County line. A handful of cars were in the lot when I pulled in.

A hostess met me at the front counter. She asked if I wanted to have a seat in the bar or have a table in the dining room. I went with the dining room option and she took me to a table along the wall near the front of the restaurant. The only problem was that a large family with two very loud and shrieking kids were at a large table just behind me. After a bit, I almost got up to go to the bar. But the adults were able to corral the kids and their loud screaming after awhile.

The main dining room was long and narrow with a number of old pictures on the wall. A fire place was at one end of the room with a number of tables throughout the subtle-lit room. It was cozy and inviting, even with the little kids still whining behind me.

The hostess had left me a menu and my waitress for the evening, Lindsey, came out to greet me and to take my drink order. I saw an Italian beer on their menu that I hadn't had in quite sometime - Menabrae. Menabrae is one of the oldest continuous breweries in Italy starting out in 1846. They had the lager and the amber Menabrae at Pazzesco and I got a bottle of the lager.

While I was waiting on my beer and looking through the menu, another person brought out a basket of bread and a plate with herbs and garlic swimming in garlic oil. The bread was halfway dried out and sort of bland, but the herbs and garlic oil made it taste a lot better.

Most of the items on the menu were your basic Italian entrees. They had veal and chicken parmesan, as well as chicken and veal piccata. They had pork piccata, too, and that sounded very interesting. I was going into the place thinking of getting a steak - they cook it either over a charbroiled grill, or they broil it in a concoction of better and garlic then serve it with a brown butter sauce. Oooo... I was so damn tempted to get a steak. But the veal piccata kept talking to me.

Lindsey came back and asked me if I had any questions. I asked her if the veal slices they had were large or more like medallions. She tired to use her hands to size the veal for me and she wasn't doing a good job of describing it. I said, "Wait, forget it. I'll make it easy for you and get the veal piccata." It was served on a bed of angel hair pasta with capers. I also ordered a house salad with their homemade garlic parmesan dressing.

The salad was a bunch of assorted greens with some croutons tossed about and the dressing on the side (below left). The dressing was a creamy garlic parmesan that was neither all that pungent in garlic nor parmesan cheesy. It was a pretty pedestrian salad. But the half-stale bread dipped in the olive oil and herbs was still getting my attention.

When Lindsey brought out the veal piccata (above right), I could tell from the looks of it that I was going to have trouble liking it. The veal had a heavy breading over it, then it looked like it had been stuck in a microwave to melt a bit of shredded mozzarella cheese. At first I thought it was a cracker and corn meal crust on the veal, but then I couldn't figure out what it was. The veal was stiff and tough - so tough that I had to ask Lindsey for a steak knife. Even with the steak knife, it still didn't cut very well. It was chewy and not very flavorful. The pasta under the veal was woefully overcooked and somewhat mushy. It didn't roll up very easily on the fork and the only spoon available at the table was a small one that made it difficult to roll the pasta on the fork. The capers were strong and forward in taste, but they were the only things on the plate that were. Still, the bread and the olive oil and herbs were saving the meal.

Looking back, I should have gone with my first instincts and gotten the steak. The veal was not very good, the pasta was overcooked and the salad was "eh!". But even with the nearly stale bread, the garlic herb olive oil dip was the highlight of the evening. That, and Lindsey's stellar service. Even though it was a good value, I can't really say that I was overly impressed with the food at Pazzesco. From reviews I've read on a handful of sites, it appears they do have a following and people do like the place. It could have been an off night, but the veal seemed like it was deep fried rather than pan-cooked. I probably won't be back to Pazzesco anytime soon. But if I do, I'd get the steak rather than the veal.

(Update - Interestingly, I may have had one of the last meals in Pazzesco.  I usually write my entries of places weeks in advance and it was mid-March when I was in there.  They closed on March 24 with a note on their web site saying they were looking for a new location.  So far, there is no indication that they've reopened.)