Brick St Market Cafe in Bondurant, Iowa

This new grocery store in the eastern suburb of Bondurant has an interesting story behind it. You can read about the owners of the Brick St Market by doing a google search for "Bondurant Lottery Winners". Its always nice to see people investing in their communities, and they are taking a big risk by building this grocery store here. Brick St. Market actually isn't the only restaurant in the Des Moines area where lottery winners invested their winnings into their business.

Location: 114 Brick St SE in Bondurant, just north and east of Des Moines.

Directions: Just follow Hubbell Avenue out of town until it turns into Highway 65, Brick St is just on the edge of Bondurant.

Online at: website is HERE.

The Tenderloin: The local newspaper article claims the loin meat is softened with a tenderizing machine, and specifically states there is no pounding. The result is a very thick piece of consistently soft pork. The small layer of batter-like breading has a heavy dose of seasoning salt and a touch of pepper and maybe a little bit of something else. The bun seemed to be cut by hand, and while well toasted, the top was a little smaller than the base and things like proportions and ratios are important to me. Served with your choice of LTOP, overall 8.5 out of ten.

Price: $7.99 with a side. I went with the Sidewinder Fries:

Also on the menu: The cafe has a huge menu including breakfast, ice cream, burgers, deli sandwiches and a salad bar.


Service: The service on the day I stopped in seemed to be backed up by a huge group of locals who all arrived at once and sat together and ordered the same thing.

Ambiance: This is a newly built grocery store with a cafe area that includes a counter, booths, and tables for seating. The color scheme on the store and the baskets reminds me of Culver's.


Final Thoughts: This is as close as you can get to a small town award worthy tenderloin in the Des Moines area. They seem to be selling quite a few of these.

Classic Deli & Ice Cream Shoppe in Brooklyn

Brooklyn Iowa, the Community of Flags, the town with a sign on the Interstate that people mistake for a borough in New York City. The Classic Deli aims to recreate the old roadside Ice Cream Shoppe experience along old Highway 6 in Brooklyn. I think this place only opened in 2012, a recent comment told me to check out this place and its tenderloin sandwich.

Location: 120 N. Jackson St. in Brooklyn, Iowa just an hour west of Des Moines.

Directions: Jackson St is the Main St. reaching town from Highway 6, or you can get here from I-80 and taking county roads.

Online at: facebook page is HERE.

The Tenderloin: Listed as The Low Rider on the menu, the description claims this is cut fresh and pan fried to order. Only a handful of places make the pan fried claim, and nothing on the menu here is deep fried. The breading was crispy and flaky in some areas, and warmed to a "toasty" texture without much flavor in other parts that turned a deep black. The juiciness was great, and every part was thick with pork and juice. Overall 8.0 out of ten.

Price: $7.00 with a bag of potato chips.

Also on the menu: The full ice cream menu and deli sandwiches and paninis make up most of the menu. They don't just churn out the usual fried stuff. Check out the Pie Board for homemade pies:

Howdy!

Service: I think there is table service but I just grabbed takeout from the counter.

Ambiance: This is an old Main St building that was renovated and reopened in 2012. There is a long counter along with tables for seating. High ceilings, old fixtures, and Grant Wood prints on the walls make this place look good.

Final Thoughts: The Insterstate offramp for the Brooklyn exit used to have an old fashioned service station and a diner named Brooklyn 80. It had been there for a long time but I never got around to making a stop. One day it was gone and replaced with a new gas station that since shuttered its doors, so I never made it there. Its always great to see a new place open up in a town you've driven past over and over again before. 

The Other Place in Clear Lake, Iowa

The Other Place is one of the most successful restaurant chains ever conceived in Iowa. The initial locations in the Cedar Falls and Waterloo opened in the seventies, then Mason City and Clear Lake in the eighties. Finally expanding to Kansas City and later Central Iowa in the past decade. The locations have stayed in business for decades, and the older ones look more like old pizza parlors from the outside. The Other Place in Clear Lake also suffered a grease fire in its kitchen in January but reopened just three weeks later.

Location: 200 Highway 18 West in Clear Lake, Cerro Gordo County in Northern Iowa.

Directions: Its just a mile off I-35 taking the Highway 18 exit through Clear Lake. Its hard to miss the gigantic building.

Online at: website for the chain  with locations and menus is HERE.

The Tenderloin: Taking the bun off the top reveals some marks that look like this was in storage for a while. The breading was more of a fine layer than anything crunchy, once again little seasoning save some visible black pepper flakes. The meat had been tenderized thoroughly and pounded into a large triangle shape. This is one of the better chain restaurant tenderloins out there, and clearly hand breaded. Served on a gigantic bun with more than enough vegetables on the side. Overall 7.5 out of ten.

Price: $8.75 with a side, but its a special on Thursdays for $7.45

Also on the menu: Like most chain sports bars the menu is huge with lots of stuff they might not be particularly good at making. There are soups and baked sandwiches, wings, fried appetizers, pastas, and their pizza is overloaded with cheese and toppings. The Mexican section even includes the "Biggest Burrito in Town", is that a realistic claim in Storm Lake, Iowa?

The sides available include homemade chips that were good salty crunchy things that paired well with ketchup:

Service: I was in during the off hours in the middle of the day, no wait for a table and nothing to complain about.

Ambiance: This is a very modern and new sports bar with a gigantic dining area and at least twenty televisions tuned into sports. There is a bar area, takeout counter, and outside patio space for special events and barbecues. The whole place is just huge.

Final Thoughts: The Clear Lake and Mason City area has a lot of choices for dining. While The Other Place isn't the best its still a good choice for groups or families who need a large menu and tons of televisions. Just across the street is the honorary Buddy Holly Place and the lake isn't far away.

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.

Smokey D's BBQ just north of Des Moines

Smokey D's is the BBQ and catering empire that grew out of a competitive BBQ team run by a central Iowa native that has won trophy after trophy across the country. The catering empire used to be based from a warehouse just north of here, with a walk-up counter and waiting area cluttered with competition trophies just sitting on the floor. The new location opened up around the same time the owner's BBQ team "A Boy and his BBQ" won the final round of BBQ Pitmasters on the TLC Channel. Later last year, a local food writer named the partners who operate Smokey D's as Restauranteurs of the Year in Des Moines.

Location: 5055 NW 2nd Street in Saylor Township just north of Des Moines.


Directions: Its right north of the 2nd St. offramp of I-80 on the north side of Des Moines beside the Harley Davidson Big Barn.


Online at: their website is here.

The Tenderloin: I have had three of these and each has come in a different shape. The pictured one has the classic butterfly cut into something resembling a "mitten". The mass feels like a little over eight ounces, and be too large to fit in a usual to-go container. Served with pickles and onions on a toasted bun. The breading feels like some fine bread crumbs, and forms a consistent texture that I hope is visible in the close-up photo. You can see little bits of seasoning above the white pork loin. The meat itself is chewy tender, with a good amount of juice inside. Let the record show that I prefer my tenderloins with Russ & Frank's Fiery BBQ Sauce under the bun. Overall 8.27 out of ten.

Price: $5.69 a la carte

The Farm Boy: This is best described as a breaded pork tenderloin with two slices of bread, about a pound of seasoned fries, smothered in gravy, and topped with bacon and cheese. The fries have a ton of salt thrown on top of them, and the flour in the gravy makes the whole thing just a little too thick with mountains of fried potato getting in the way of the tenderloin. By the time you are done digging and find the loin inside, your taste buds are basically dead. Served on a platter. It bears a slight resemblance to the "horseshoe" sandwiches of Springfield Illinois, which are built on slices of white bread topped with french fries and a melted cheese sauce. I simply can't recommend this thing to anyone.

Price: $12.79, listed on the BIG D section of the Menu.

Also on the menu: The menu stars with the BBQ basics of pulled pork, brisket, ribs with the usual sides. The new location has expanded the offerings with fried stuff, and a daily comfort food special.
Ribs come in a platter with a half rack and two sides for a low price of $11.99. The dry rub adds enough flavor on the surface to avoid needing any sauce.

The Mac and Cheese takes a pretty basic mixture but pumps in something like the same spice mixture found on the Garlic Bread or in the dry rub and other parts of the menu.

I really don't know why they decided to bread the wings they are smoked and fried before saucing. They come in three varieties, even though there are five different BBQ sauces at each table. The ranch dip tasted like they added something to the regular spices.

Service: Order at the counter after waiting in line, which passes a bunch of trophies and a signed picture of Guy Fieri. The food is brought to your table. There is a separate entrance and counter for to-go orders.
Ambiance: As recently as two years ago, this building was a dump of epic proportions known as Stagecoach Spaces with a busted sign visible for miles. It was rented out for events like poker tournaments, and I think I know someone who went to a rave with techno music, glowsticks, and lasers lights here. The renovation has been enormous, as parts of the building were falling apart. Half of the building is a Harley Davidson retail space. The dining area has a full bar along with counter seating, booths, tables and flatscreen televisions visible from any angle. Honestly I preferred the walk-up old location with the picnic tables outside in the gravel parking lot.
Final Thoughts: There is a long list of Championship Competitive BBQ masters who have failed to translate their success into operating a restaurant. Its also no secret that the Central Iowa BBQ Restaurant scene is a little crowded right now, with over thirty restaurants advertising their offerings as "BBQ". Smokey D's has grown over the years, and the new location is a big expansion from the last incarnation. My visits to the new location have found more people in line than actually sitting down and eating. I hope the highway crowds keep coming for the BBQ and the tenderloin.

Farmer Nicks Restaurant near Brooklyn

I had driven past Farmer Nick's Restaurant a few times over the years because I could have sworn the place looked closed. There are rusted old tractors and an out of use gas station connected to the building, along with an archaic satellite dish right in front. The dirt parking are had some semi-trucks and upon getting closer I saw some traffic inside. It turns out the sign reading "Homemade Tenderloins" faces north, away from the Interstate.

Special Note: This is Brooklyn Iowa, the inspiration for the ironic "No Sleep Till Brooklyn" t-shirt available from Raygun in Des Moines available here: http://raygunsite.com/shop/women/t-shirts/brooklyn-10019


Location: The address is in Brooklyn but its really in between Victor, Guernsey, and Brooklyn in Poweshiek County, Eastern Iowa.


Directions: Get off I-80 at exit 201 and drive north a short distance on Highway 21 to see this place.
The Tenderloin: This had the usual triangle shaped pork loin cut. The meat was cut thin but was soft to the touch. The cracker meal made a small layer of crunch. Served with lettuce, tomato, onion, on a toasted bun. This was an alright homemade tenderloin, overall 7.5 out of ten.


Price: $5.50, also available in a dinner with two sides or smothered with gravy along with mashed potatos.

Also on the menu: Its comfort food all the way through with burgers, the usual fried stuff, and a Czech Burger described as a pork patty topped with melted cheese. The menu lists a locally grown Buffalo Burger.


The Black Raspberry Pie: This is listed as the house special on the menu, they had five other varieties of homemade pies to choose from. $2.50
Service: Its table service with a couple attentive waitresses running around constantly.


Ambiance: The marked "Entrance" is in the back, you have to walk through a room filled with old farm furniture and other stuff for sale. The dining area has some vintage and funky fixtures to sit at. The decorations are just random, like sports trophies from 1994, or stacks of pizza boxes and a line of Beer Steins. They don't even serve pizza or beer if I remember correctly.


Final Thoughts: This place certainly is popular with the locals, as it was nearly full on the Tuesday I stopped by. Since Brooklyn 80 Diner had closed I hadn't found a good place to eat along this part of I-80. I think I will get one of the daily specials next time I stop in here.