TC's Point After in Dewitt and Chuckie's Tenderloin Truck

Storefront on Old Highway 61

This is an entry about one tenderloin sold in two places. It all started in Dewitt, Iowa, along Old Route 61 at TC's Point After. Its a small town sports bar with a large menu. It sounds like Chuckie sold his stake in TC's Point After in order to take his tenderloin truck to locations far from Clinton County, Iowa. Its been spotted in Denver, San Diego, and at Cactus League baseball spring training sites in Arizona. A recent spotting at the Iowa State Fair meant I could get a chance to try the mobile version. This is also the first homemade pork tenderloin I've found at the State Fair, most concessions use the awful half-pound frozen fritters.

Location: 719 6th Ave. in Dewitt, Clinton County, Quad Cities area in Eastern Iowa.

Directions: Its on Old Higway 61, the original main street through Dewitt, now you have to take a turn off the State Highway to drive up along 11th St to reach 6th Ave.

Online At: you can try to follow TC's or the mobile trailer at their facebook page HERE.

Outside the Point After in Dewitt

Chuckie's Famous Tenderloin: The video interviews with Chuckie include references to "special flour" and 14 seasonings inside the batter itself. There is a lot of depth in the texture of the batter, this can be seen by the little dots or different seasonings. Chuckie even calls his center cut of pork loin the "ribeye of the tenderloin". The tenderizing is done "fresh" at the mobile trailer, and I take this to mean they cut and mechanically tenderize it to order. The loin is not big, it feels like six ounces. The result of the preparation is a great subtle breading flavor with nice soft white pork loin. This is a good sandwich served on an untoasted bun. Overall 9.1 out of ten.

Wrinkles of flavored batter

Price: Vending fees and other things affect the prices at any truck. From a video on the QC news website shows a setup in San Diego, California with the tenderloin being sold for ten dollars a la carte. At the Iowa State Fair it was $8.00 for a tenderloin with waffle fries. The picture below is from a while ago at TC's Point After, so don't get angry if its gone up.

Its Good!

Also on the menu: The sign outside TC's Point After reads Steaks and Prime Rib along with Food and Spirits. The menu is huge with burgers and daily specials. The truck was literally just tenderloins and waffle fries.

Food Truck Setup at Iowa State Fair

Service: Just regular sports bar service in Dewitt, I grabbed the loin to go. The truck looks like a two person operation when I visited during a slow time.

At the 2013 Iowa State Fair

Ambiance: The Point After in Dewitt is a very clear Chicago Cubs and local teams sports bar. It has dated woodwork and old fixtures, thankfully covered by sports junk. Its pretty dark inside, so pictures were impossible. I think they do group tours to visit the Cubs in Chicago.

In a basket with waffle fries.

Final thoughts: This is a sandwich that travels well. I mean it gets around more than any other tenderloin. I know some small town cafes will have mobile trailers for local county fairs or dirt track racing nights. These rarely leave the State of Iowa. I can say with some confidence that Chuckie will be back at San Diego Chargers home games this fall. I would guess they would be available for events in the Southern California or Arizona area too.

That is one happy pig.

 

Racers in Sexton, Iowa

Wikipedia has Sexton, Iowa listed as a ghost town with an old grain elevator remaining. That is odd because I remember not just the grain elevator but also a handful of houses. I also remember stopping by a roadhouse named Racers with a giant menu and wall-to-wall racing decorations.

Location: 1826 Highway 18 in Sexton, unincorporated township outside Algona in Kossuth County, Northern Iowa.

Directions: Its in "downtown Sexton" which means the one cross street along Highway 18 between Algona and Britt.

The Tenderloin: Exceptionally thick and juicy, barely tenderized meat to chew through slowly. The trim job left some bits of fat out inside. The outside is a thin batter with deep amounts of black pepper and spices. The battered tenderloins have a way of locking in juices and this one is no exception. Served on a toasted bun. Overall 7.8 out of ten.

Price: $6.95 with a side of fries

Also on the menu: The menu is big with all the usual fried stuff and bar fare. They also bake Stone Willy brand pizzas. There are a bunch of things with intentional misspellings like Wingz and the creatively titled RUEBENZ BALLZ appetizer.

Service: Each of my visits has had one person running the bar and tables while another person cooks. Its just regular bar service.

Ambiance: This is a racing bar with beer signs and racing posters covering the walls in every direction. The lights are dim, neon beer signs, and there are flatscreen televisions to watch.


Final Thoughts: Its always nice to find something good to eat while driving through a small town. Its a good thing they had a sign reading Homemade Tenderloins, it makes my job easier when deciding where to stop.

Gramma's Kitchen in Walcott, Iowa

I have found my fair share of battered tenderloins while driving through Iowa. The slight difference in texture and crispiness sets them apart from the breaded tenderloin sandwiches. The pictures come out a little different because of the smoother surface on the batter coated pork loin. Gramma's Kitchen in Walcott was voted your 2011 IPPA Best Tenderloin in the State of Iowa, and it is described as "famous" on their menu.

Location: 3408 N Plainview Rd in Walcott, Iowa just outside Davenport next door to the World's  Largest Truck Stop.

Directions: This is on the north side of the Interstate at exit 284, Across from the giant truck stop with a giant sign you can't miss.

Online At: Website is HERE.

The Tenderloin: Getting this in a to-go box, it opens up like a package of fish-n-chips with a giant battered strip of pork stretching across the container. The meat felt like a seven ounce triangle of pork that took a great shape after being battered and fried.You can see in the picture that the loin formed something of a curled up shape that held the fixins and the bun in place on top. The batter was crunchy on the edges, but the middle and inside could be described as "fluffy", something rarely seen in pork tenderloins. Served with all your fixins to stack under a toasted flour-dusted bun. Overall 8.7 out of ten.

Price: $8.50 with side of fries.

Also on the menu: The menu has the comfort food classics like Iowa Chop, Cured Ham, Meatloaf, and pies along with some of the usual stuff you see everywhere. The Checkered Flag menu has sports bar items and a Pork Chimichanga.


Service: The restaurants owned by the Heart of America Group are a lot of things, but they are all fast, efficient, clean, can handle groups and you never need a reservation. I think they serve any item from the Checkered Flag or Gramma's Kitchen in both dining areas.

Ambiance: I didn't have time to dine in, but there is a gift shop area in front of reception with Iowa and  farm-themed stuff for sale. The dining are is made out to look like some imaginary Gramma out there somewhere. There is another entrance to the building with an entirely separate restaurant, the racing themed sports bar-like Checkered Flag.


Final Thoughts: Gramma's Kitchen may have the most convenient location of any tenderloin in Iowa. Smitty's in Des Moines is close to the airport, but more people drive through Iowa on I-80 than any other way through Iowa. The truck stop across the street is very busy year round. Gramma's Kitchen is not a small-town mom-and-pop place, but their professional culinary team had put together a competitive loin.

Little Chicago Pizza & Gyros in Mason City

After repeated trips to Mason City, I felt the need to update my post about the Suzie-Q Cafe. Then a recent Urbanspoon comment left by user reviewer named Jim made me consider trying another Spic-N-Span tenderloin just a block down the street in Mason City. Little Chicago Pizza and Gyros gives little indication that there is any tenderloin inside. The menu board doesn't even list the tenderloin, its only on the folding takeout menu. I think I read in the newspaper website that Little Chicago took its Spic-N-Span batter recipe from the owners of Sluggo's, which occupied the same space, but now I can't seem to find the article.


Location: 11 2nd St NE in Mason City, Cerro Gordo County, in Northern Iowa.


Directions: Its right in the middle of downtown Mason City, about 8 miles from I-35, Highway 65 is the north-south street on either side.

The Tenderloin: This is described on the menu as "Spic-N-Span style", dipped into their special batter. I have to make it clear that I didn't do any side-by-side comparison with the Suzie-Q, but this tenderloin was in batter without any kind of spicy note. It felt more like classic seasoning salt mix. What stood out was the softness and juiciness of the loin inside. The steam in the pork meat and the tenderizing made the whole sandwich soft. Served on a kaiser bun with your choice of fixins, Overall 8.0 out of ten.

Price: $4.29 also available "Gangster Style" with fries in a combo for a little extra.

Also on the menu: Burgers, pizza, they have a spinning cone of Gyro meat, and other Italian sandwiches.


Service: Just basic carry-out service, nothing to write home about.

Ambiance: I walked in the door and saw the counter and just a couple tables and a cash register counter in front of the kitchen and menu board. Their facebook page shows a dining area but I must have missed it.The classic gyro meat supplier poster with the Greek woman looks out the window, and patriotic posters cover the interior walls.


Final Thoughts: I may need some locals from Mason City to help me out here with some questions I have after eating here. Was there once a diner named the Spic-N-Span in downtown Mason City, in the area that is now a downtown mall? What happened to that place, did it close over 30 years ago and people still want Spic-N-Span tenderloins? Are there more Spic-N-Spans out there for me to try?

Elm's Club in Creston

Downtown Creston is a typical regional Iowa town with a big train station and tall buildings like the newly renovated Hotel Iowana. The exterior of The Elms Club gives no hint that any kind of special sandwich lies inside. Walking inside and looking at the menu reminds the visitor that this was a 3rd place winner in a 2003 IPPA Breaded Tenderloin contest. I had been meaning to make it here earlier. A few years ago I came to this place on a Friday night only to find it was a bike night and the kitchen was closed with a bbq smoker selling pulled pork sandwiches outside.


Location: 108 North Elm Street Creston, Union County, south and west of Des Moines.


Directions: The Elms Club is on Elm St in the old downtown area of Creston, north of the railroad tracks and Amtrack Station. Follow the signs from the highway to find the business district.

Online at: A facebook page is HERE.
The Tenderloin: The thick and slightly seasoned batter made several crunchy knots on several edges of the tenderloin. Delicious looking golden brown outside lead to bright white pork inside. The whole sandwich felt heavy, but not too big for small appetites. The juiciness and thick white meat was tasty and just tender enough. This is a good one. Overall 9.0 out of ten.

Price: $4.25, an exceptional value.

Also on the menu: the usual bar food and fried stuff with burgers and chicken fried steak.

Service: Its bar service and the place gets busy for Karaoke and other events.

Ambiance: This is a darkly lit bar with tables, booths, and a counter for seating. The light comes from beer signs and flatscreen televisions. Taking pictures inside the bar were impossible, and most of my photos didn't get the color quite right.

Final Thoughts: The Elms Club in Creston is a low key small town bar with a very good battered tenderloin. Its as the sign reads: Drinks, Food, Pool.

Colony Inn in Ventura

When one travels into the northern regions of Iowa, or further into Minnesota, the pork tenderloins are more likely to be battered instead of breaded. The attraction of Clear Lake means many people visit this area in the summer, and there are plentiful dining options near, or on, the lake. Ventura probably sees its population swell during the summer as people visit the lake. When driving into Ventura, the sign for this place near the entrance to town reads Colony Inn Restaurant and Lounge.

Location: 104 N Weimar St in Ventura (population 670), in Cerro Gordo County, about two hours drive north of Des Moines in northern Iowa.

Directions: You take the Clear Lake Highway 18 exit West from I-80. Turn south at the sign for Ventura and find the old main street behind the grain elevators.

Online at: http://www.thecolonyinn.com/

The Tenderloin: First things first, this one was huge, and it looked really good with the fixins on the side of the giant plate. It felt like at least twelve ounces before battering and frying. The big letdown was the lack of any seasoning in the batter. The meat was beaten a little too much, leading to a limp flopping sandwich. It has tons of natural pork taste in the bright white meat locked in by the battering and frying process, but not any other flavor on top of it. Overall 7.5 out of ten.

Price: $9.75
Also on the menu: A big menu with steaks, salads and burgers.

Service: Its table service, I visited when it wasn't busy.
Ambiance: This place has a hunting lodge style dining area with wood paneling and pictures of game animals. There are booths and a bar to eat at. There is a lounge area in the next room, somewhere is a banquet hall in this large building.

The menu here tells me this tenderloin once nearly won a best tenderloin in the state award. But their new website doesn't have it listed on the menu. Maybe its because the sandwich page hasn't been uploaded yet, but I don't know. The people who operate this restaurant also run the kitchen at the seasonally-opened PM Park on the opposite side of Clear Lake. Next on my list in Ventura is the Muskie Lounge with lakeside boat service. The Suzie-Q Cafe in nearby Mason City serves a battered loin with a lot more flavor mixed in. Further west in Algona I found a good breaded tenderloin. Either way, this area has plenty of good tenderloins.

Cactus Bob's BBQ Corral in Johnston

Updated Winter 2013, scroll down for subsequent visit notes!

Cactus Bob's is probably the most serious BBQ place in suburban Des Moines, they have seven in-house varieties of super-hot BBQ sauce. Their BBQ meats are refrigerated after smoking and reheated upon ordering, done to a scientific method outlined by their state of the art smoking machine. Nearly everything on the menu, including the french fries and potato chips, is homemade. Recently, a tenderloin special was added, so I had to check it out.

Location: 5955 Merle Hay Road in Johnston, Iowa. Just north of Des Moines.

Directions: go north from Merle Hay a few miles past the freeway. Cactus Bob's is in a strip mall close to Van Dee's Ice Cream.

Online At: http://www.cactusbobs.com/

The Tenderloin: The breading was like a thick batter but thoroughly cooked with a hint of pepper flavor. It formed a skin that was dry and crunchy on the edges. The meat was white and more tender than the other tenderloins from BBQ places in Des Moines. Served on a bun and ready for BBQ sauce. This was a tasty tenderloin 8.0 out of ten.

Price: It came in a basket with a side and a drink for $7.50

Also on the Menu: A full selection of BBQ favorites including beef brisket, pork ribs, and chicken. Sides are made fresh, and Cactus Bob's own pickle mix, jerky, and BBQ sauce are available for sale.

Service: Its just counter service with your number called when your order is ready. It can take a while to get your food when busy.

Ambiance: Its a suburban strip mall location with tables to sit, and a large dining area decorated with Texas-themed junk.

Final thoughts: This is a special place in the chain-food restaurant dominated suburbs. They have a contest where if you eat a brisket sandwich dipped in the hottest of sauces in less than 10 minutes without water, you get your money back and a picture on their wall of fame. If they did this with the tenderloin I may have to give it a try, because nothing involving tenderloins has ever scared me.





Update Winter 2013

I made it back a few times to try some of the other items on the menu. The last few years have seen this place expand into the retail bay next door for a vastly larger dining area. The BBQ sauce and General Store setups seem to be a bit larger. The dining area is decorated with hot sauce bottles, but the tacky western stuff dominates the rest of the interior.

The ribs were reasonably prices at around $15 with a couple sides. These had a tasty dry rub and good texture on the different parts of the ribs. Some areas were a little dry but I liked the firmness off the meat for the most part. I can't stand places that serve these too tender and falling off the bone.

The mac and cheese feels like a basic recipe where they add some bread crumbs on top. I wasn't impressed here, and would go with another side next time.

The hand cut french fries are deeply crunchy and feel like they have been fried more than once to reach their deep brown color. They add a bunch of salt on top when you order, but you can shake it off and dip them in BBQ sauce.

Suzie-Q Cafe in Mason City

Updated 2012: scroll to bottom of post for updates from subsequent visits!



This is a small boxy diner, in a building originally built by Valentines Manufacturing in Wichita, Kansas and loaded on a train to be brought to its location just north of the central loop in Mason City. The place isn't big, but its hard to miss with its bright paint job and busy front door.

Location: 14 2nd St NW in Mason City. Just north of downtown loop. Halfway between Des Moines and Minneapolis, about a two-hour drive.

Directions: Exit I-80 and drive past miles of sprawling retail development to get to downtown Mason City and find this place one block off of busy loop area.

The Tenderloin: The Spic 'n Span tenderloin is advertised on the front door of the Suzie-Q, they definitely want people to try it and get hooked. This is a battered piece of bright white pork meat. The batter has a touch of black pepper that hits your tongue upon breaking past the flaky layer to the pasty warm underneath. It just has tons of flavor. The batter has large amounts of grease, but the nice warm bun keeps your hands clean. The pork is nice and firm inside, with moisture held in during preparation. This is a great tenderloin. 9/10

Price: $5.35, or in meal for $6.75.

Also on the menu: full breakfast and omelet choices, and their self-proclaimed best burgers in town.
Service: Two people were working inside. The food is cooked right in front of you. Take-out window not in service when I visited.

Ambiance: Nine stools are provided for sitting, with little space for standing. There is a busy atmosphere with cramped quarters and constant movement of patrons and staff. Everything can be smelled from the stools. The staff were very familiar with the patrons during my visit.

Final Thoughts: While visiting the Music Man Theatre and Frank Lloyd Wright building, this place is perfect for a quick bite. My informants tell me that battering of tenderloins, or nearly anything else, is more common north of the Minnesota border. This place certainly does their tenderloin right, its a can't miss sandwich while in the northern part of the state.

Update 2012:

Some things have changed since my initial write-up in 2008, but a lot more has stayed the same. The guy that runs the Suzie-Q Cafe is still doing magic tricks and cooking sandwiches to order in the middle of the day. The Suzie-Q added evening hours but I think the extra staff just don't give the same service. If you walk in here and the extroverted magician isn't in, maybe its better to come back another time.

The biggest addition to the menu is the Spic-N-Span Melt, which takes the same battered spicy tenderloin and adds grilled onion, melted cheese, and toast to add even more flavour to this sandwich:

The thing I've learned from subsequent visits is that this place is run by a perfectionist who is constantly making small changes or adding things to the menu. Burgers are always hand pattied, and there was once a machine for making curly fries to order.

This was a special Tender Bender Burger, with a grilled tenderloin over a hamburger, served on the same tasty bun. I don't think its on the regular daily menu:

The Suzie-Q has always had taken breakfast seriously, but I rarely get to eat breakfast. I can thank my busy morning for that. I was able to grab an omelet platter here once, it was made from several eggs wrapped around bacon and sausage, topped with cheese. Served with hash browns and toast for less than seven dollars if I remember correctly.

The biggest difference is what downtown Mason City is like compared to 5 years ago. I remember looking at the Frank Lloyd Wright hotel downtown and thinking "this is it?" But after an impressive renovation the hotel is jaw-dropping. Both the Park Inn Hotel and the Stockman House are worth the ten minute drive off Interstate 35 by themselves. The center of Mason City no longer feels like a bunch of empty buildings and a dead mall. The Suzie-Q itself might be getting a makeover someday too.