Food in the Midwest

One of the goals of Colorado 2K5 was to experience food that we don't just have at our homes in Illinois (Blom), Indiana (Drew), and Ohio (me). Basically, no Taco Bell or Wendy's. We pretty much lived up to this goal, and here's my personal run-down of all the food we experienced:

1) BART AND YETI'S: Located right in Vail, Colorado, this is a great little Irish pub that we went to for lunch on St. Patty's Day. To start off with, the hostess had this fantastic green outfit on, and even though the wait was longer than quoted, eveyone was extremely nice. The burgers and sandwiches were great, the green beer was cold, and the place is named for two beloved dogs for goodness sake. Overall, this was a fantastic experience, a jewel among the mountains.

2) IOWA 80 TRUCK STOP: Somewhere between Rockford and Des Moines, in the middle of Iowa, you will find the World's Largest Truck Stop. God bless America. They feature over 800 truck parking spots, a movie theatre, more junk things to buy than I've ever seen, cool T-shirts, chrome and more chrome, a few fast-food places, and one very fine restaurant. Yes, this was the first meal of the trip we had, and it was hard to top. We sat at the bar and talked to Cora, one of the finest waitresses I've ever seen. She told stories we didn't quite understand, kept our waters filled, and the food wasn't too shabby either. Overall, it was a euphoric experience, and if anyone is driving on 80, you must stop. Ask for Cora. She'll be the one running away from you when you try to take her picture.

3) HOT DOG STAND: I had never been to Denver, and I loved the downtown. Eclectic and clean, spacious and intimate, old yet young, this is a city I could live in. (Plus they have a great opera season this year AND a great little shop devoted to all things Nepal...) We didn't want a spend a lot on lunch, plus we were getting anxious to get into the hills, so we enjoyed a meal at the hot dog stand, where we had the jumbo beef hot dog meal, which included the dog, chips, and a drink for only $2 or something. We sat in the boulevard eating and reflecting on the city and then when we got cold we could just jump on a shuttle back to our car.

4) CULVER'S: Okay, this is where we got a little lax on our goal. Drew had never eaten at a Culver's and I didn't think they even existed in Indiana or Ohio, and it wasn't until after we ordered our meals that we discovered they do. Nevertheless, the burger was great, the custard was pretty good (I've had better, both at a different Culver's and elsewhere), but Drew and I both agreed that the fries were some of the best we've ever tasted. I think that shows something. Every place in the world gives fries with their burger, but it's the burger that is the obvious focus. Culver's has it right...the burger is still pretty dang good, but you actually enjoy every last fry too. Finally a place has fast food with all the necessities covered. Granted, this is a pretty expensive fast food, but maybe you can just ask for a bucket of fries and save some money.

5) WHISKEY CREEK: On Monday night we stayed in Nebraska, in the amazing town that is Kearney. We were hungry, and thought Whiskey Creek might fit the bill. It didn't. It started off with Emily, our flustered hostess that later said some of the stupedest things we've ever heard (we called her over to the table to talk some more after she sat us.) I'll give a highlight: When she sat us, she asked us what time it was. We told her a little past 8. The response was amazing, "Wow...I always eat at 4." I work in a restaurant and I assure you that people eat at all times of day and I am quite certain Emily must know this as well. Just because she was flustered by three dashing men is no excuse for stupidity. My burger wasn't bad (you might notice that I love burgers and am always in the mood for one), but the other guys didn't like their sandwiches at all. Plus our waiter was somewhat of a goon, which never helps. I wouldn't really recommend this place, but we sure did get a lot of laughs out of it, which made it all worthwhile.

6) PAZZO'S: There is not too much in Eagle-Vail, so on a Friday night, this was a bumpin'-bumpin' place to be. You see, eveyone else's pizza looked good. The thing is, ours didn't and wasn't. We got the Sicilian Style and it was dry and hard. The menu said it fed 6-8, which actually meant there were a total of 8 pieces. So although this place is supposed to be pretty good and the people there seemed to be enjoying it, we left disappointed.

7) RUNZA: We had never heard of a Runza, but Nebraska has plenty of them. So on the way home, we stopped in Ogallala, Nebraska (yes, that's the name of this unfortunate town). I asked the girl at the register what she recommended and she said she loves the Cheese Runza and their onion rings. I tried them both and flat-out did not like my meal. Needless to say, the jokes were flying ("Yeah, that cheese runza sure gave me the runzas," or "At Runza, everything will just runza right through you") and although the burgers apparently were alright (Blom and Drew were smarter than me and stuck with something standard and relatively safe), I don't think I would ever go back.

Honorable Mention: PADDY'S in Eagle-Vail is a fantastic little Irish pub we went to for some St. Paddy's celebration. Everyone was loving the holiday, there was green galore, and our bartenders were amazing, especially the one who forgot to take our money.

Un-honorable Mention: THE ELEPHANT EYE at the hotel in Kearney was nice to look at (a bar up in a tree-house overlooking the pool), but left much to be desired. I guess you just can't expect good things from a bartender who is wearing flip-flops and a hooded sweatshirt.

So that's the run-down. At least at every place, even the ones with much-to-be-desired food, gave us something to remember and laugh about. Food and fellowship, two of the great things of life. Well, gotta runza. Peace.