St. Olaf Tap and the Biggest Tenderloin Ever....

Making the trek to St. Olaf is like a pilgrimage for the faithful followers of the Breaded Pork Tenderloin. The biggest tenderloin in Iowa is not easy to find, but its light breading texture makes it easy to eat. Driving through the bluff country of northeast Iowa is like driving through another country, you can't see the next town from 10 miles away. You won't want to miss this sandwich.

Edit for Spring 2011, New owners and name, check out updated blog entry HERE.

Location: 106 S Main Street in St. Olaf (population 136), in Clayton County, in the northeast corner of Iowa.

Directions: Take State Highway 13 or Gunder Rd from Elkader in the south, or Postville to the north. The St. Olaf Tap is the only place open for business in the nearly abandoned main street. Gunder Road also leads to the legendary Gunder Burger in an unincorporated township to the north.

The Tenderloin: This was what I had been looking for so long. Its sixteen ounces of tenderized pork. The breading is light and stays on the meat. The moisture of the meat moves into the breading to make it stick and shine. There is a pinch of pepper that does more for the visual appeal in the close-up than anything else. The meat was especially white and well-cooked. The most impressive thing is the great job of trimming the huge cut of pork. There was almost no fat to chew on in the pound of meat. Overall this is the least filling of all the super-jumbo tenderloins. The lightness makes it easy to get through, with little gastro-intestinal disturbance that other tenderloins bring. Overall 9.2 out of 10. I had to finish it in my car, but I did finish the whole thing in about 20 minutes.



Price: $9.95 for the 16 oz., also available in 8 oz. and 4 oz. sizes.

Also on the Menu: Fried chicken, burgers, sweet potato fries and other bar food favorites.

Service: One person in denim overalls worked the bar, waited tables, and cooked. This isn't difficult when only one person is here. Jim made conversation and described St. Olaf as a "dying town". He claimed the tenderloin was cut, tenderized, and breaded just a few hours earlier by a eighty year-old man who had been doing it for decades.
Ambiance: The bar area has a TV playing at loud volume. There are booths and tables for seating. The dim light made photos difficult, I was the only person there on a snowy day. The walls are covered with normal pub and grub junk, you can purchase t-shirts with the St. Olaf Tap logo from the sign. Lights dimmed to save on electric bills meant that my pictures didn't turn out as good as the should have, the sandwich looks better in person.Final Thoughts: Finding the biggest tenderloin was like spotting a Yeti while trekking through Iowa's version of the Himalayan Mountains. The town is hidden, the road is less-traveled, and maybe St. Olaf will disappear from the map someday. But this tenderloin is the biggest you will find anywhere in Iowa, bar none.

Iowa's Best Burger Cafe in Kellogg

This burger place inside a gas station is not humble. They think their burgers are the best in Iowa. they also serve a homemade tenderloin, so a detour from the highway was in order after a recent visit to Kellogg.

Location: At intersection of I-80 and State Highway 224, just south of Kellogg, Iowa.

Directions: Exit the Interstate at Exit 173, turn north at "Burgers, T Loins, Camping" sign.
The tenderloin: For the small price you get a small tenderloin. The edges barely get past the bun. the inside is moist with juicy pork. The breading has a pinch of pepper that adds just the right amount of flavor. This is one of the better small cuts of pork loin you will find. Overall 6.5 out of 10.

Price: $3.19

Also on the menu: burgers, obviously, from a broiler oven. There is also ice-cream and chicken.

Service: Its counter service with one counter for gas and food customers.

Ambiance: Cramped interior with shelves between counter and booths. Beef jerky seems to be everywhere. Picnic tables with birds eating crumbs are outside. Sign outside reads "free restrooms".

Final Thoughts: Its too bad I don't eat hamburgers. This is an okay small tenderloin. The place has classic gas station atmosphere. Its also very close to the highway. However, I don't think I will be spending the night here anytime soon.

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.

44 Drive-In of Panora

Highway 44 brings a small but steady stream of traffic to the area of Panora and nearby Lake Panora. The location on the west side of Panora means that the tourism traffic to the lake never reaches this place. The 44 Drive-In is an old-fashioned small-time burger joint just off this rural route. I may have rolled through town during the slowest time of year.

Location: 104 NW 5th St. in Panora, population 1,175, in Guthrie County, about 50 miles west of Des Moines.

Directions: Take Highway 44 through town, the 44 is on the north side of the street on the west side of Panora.The Tenderloin: This is full-sized piece of pork loin. It has been pounded into a half-moon shape. It has the typical breading and average thickness. The "large" size sandwich sticks out just beyond the bun. There is modest amount of moisture inside. Served with the fixings on a large, toasted bun. 6/10

Price: $5.50, or $4.00 for small size. Grilled tenderloin also available.

Also on the Menu: Homemade Chili, onion rings, ice cream sundaes, and the house special is the "44 Burger". Service: A counter inside and window outside give you access to the skeleton staff working here. You pick up your food after your number is called.

Ambiance: The busted-up sign tells you this place is a dive. The driveway isn't paved, there is dust all over the picnic tables in front. The inside is clean but the decorations are nothing special.

Final Thoughts: This may not be the best homemade tenderloin in Panora. It may not even be the third best in this small town of many tenderloins to be detailed later. But it is a homemade in Iowa, so it gets documented here.

Starlight Cafe in Winterset

Winterset is the home of John Wayne, and is located between the covered bridges immortalized in a Robert James Waller novel. The tourism has dried up in the decade-plus since the film came out, and the town isn't touched by commuters from Des Moines as often as its location would lead you to believe. It is home to a former one-stop diner and gas station on the south side of town. The Starlight Cafe does not impress from outside, but has a worthy tenderloin to give its customers.

Location: 422 South 1st St. in Winterset, in Madison County, about 30 miles from Des Moines.

Directions: The Starlight Cafe is on the main north-south road through the middle of town. Its behind some buildings but the sign is visible from the road.

The Tenderloin: The "Giant Breaded Tenderloin" described on the menu came after a 5 minute wait. The meat inside was a good consistent white color and mostly steamy and moist inside. The whole thing was a little thicker on one side, and roughly triangular in shape This gets a half-point deduction for the parallel marks along the top from being frozen after breading. The breading has little grease of crumbs to leave on your fingers or the plate. Overall an impressive and large tenderloin. Served on a lightly toasted bun. 7.5/10

Price: $4.99 for the sandwich with whatever fixings you choose.


Service: a single lady took my order and fixed the tenderloin herself.

Also on the menu: a full breakfast menu, homemade mashed potatoes, fried chicken, sandwiches and ice cream.


Ambiance: The inside is a small and cramped area with booths and a dining counter, ancient furniture is too big for the small dining area. The wood-panelling is old and there is a crooked feel to the building. A toy shotgun on the wall reminds you this is John Wayne's hometown.


Final Thoughts: This is a roadside dive with some good food served inside. Its been in operation since 1946, the dining area was once even smaller. This place is worth seeking out on the south end of Winterset.

One Stop Sandwich Shop on the Square in Indianola

One Stop is a well known local Mexican food restaurant owned and operated by gringos for over 25 years. This place was once know as the One Stop Taco Shop, and had a building on Highway 69 on the north side of Indianola. Eight years ago It relocated to the north side of the town square, and changed to the One Stop Sandwich Shop. Menu claims local newspaper poll awarded this restaurant the "best tacos and onion rings in Warren County". Sadly, the building collapsed on Sunday morning.

Location: 112 W. Ashland in Indianola. About ten miles south of Des Moines.

Directions: Its in the middle of the block on the north side of the square. The square is a few blocks west of the highway that runs through town.

The Tenderloin: The old lady taking orders confirmed to me that the tenderloin was pounded with a hammer on site. What arrived on my tray was a less-greasy type of tenderloin. The inside was steamy and warm. The breading was dry and left few crumbs on the tray. There was an uneven thickness to the tenderloin itself. Served on warm but not toasted bun with all the fixings you desire. This was an okay tenderloin, but not the sort of thing to take me away from the excellent one served across the square at Crouse Cafe. 6.5/10

Price: $4.69 for jumbo size, also available in regular size for $3.49.

Also on the menu: Fresh made flour tacos are the house specialty. A huge menu of Mexican dishes, burgers, fried chicken and appetizers are also available. Ice cream is also served.

Service: Order at a counter, after looking at large menu on the wall. Wait for your number to be called, and pick up food from kitchen window.

Ambiance: Nice natural light from large front windows in a high-ceiling dining room with booths and tables..

Final Thoughts: Am I cursed or something, just a month after I eat here the place just spontaneously collapses. This is just after Bibbs on 6th was flooded. Its an open secret that many of the town square buildings are falling apart, many were built quickly over a hundred years ago. The flat roofs must be maintained, if not then the snow alone will collapse the roof in any given winter. This place collapsed on Sunday after a crack was noticed in the plaster two days earlier. Jason Cross took photos of the aftermath:

For Emergency Tenderloin Cravings: go south to the Crouse Cafe for one of the best in the state. Signatures Grill serves an okay homemade tenderloin as well.

Dari Barn Sweet Shop in Grinnell

Just down the road from the liberal arts college is the Dari Barn. This ice cream stand carries on the great tradition of barn-shaped dessert stands that have lines stretching in front during the summer months.

Location: 1810 6th Ave in Grinnell, Iowa.

Directions: Drive east on Highway 6 from downtown Grinnell, look for barn-shaped building.

The Tenderloin: After ordering, I was asked If I wanted "everything" on the sandwich. What I got was a whole garden of veggies between a large bun. The pork loin is cut fresh, and was nice warm and crispy, but way too small. The bun was not toasted. This is a thin cut of pork loin dwarfed by the fixings and bun. 5/10.

Price: $3.97

Also on the menu: a large selection of ice-cream favorites, soft-serve, frozen yogurt, fried stuff, baked potatoes, hot dogs, and sandwiches. "More than malts" indeed.

Service: You order from a small window and talk to a teenage kid, who gives you a number to wait for.

Ambiance: Classic small-town ice-cream stand. Picnic tables for sunny days, and a gravel parking lot.

Final Thoughts: I think the reputation of this sandwich preceded my trip and led to disappointment. The thin cut of pork loin is the most boring form of tenderloin sandwich. This is a nice place for dessert, but skip the tenderloin.