Missouri horning in on our horseshoe THE STATE JOURNAL-REGISTER Posted Dec 06, 2009 @ 12:04 AM
Last update Dec 06, 2009 @ 08:11 AM
I was in Missouri for Thanksgiving when my brother-in-law happened to recommend a restaurant in Eldon called The Silver Dollar. Good food, cheap. It sounds like my kind of place.
“Oh,” he says, “and they serve horseshoes.”
It wasn’t until the next day when I was in the car on the way home that it hit me.
Say what?
Missouri can’t sell horseshoe sandwiches. Those are ours. Springfield’s. You could look it up. You don’t ever find a reference to the horseshoe sandwich without it mentioning Springfield. We invented it. It’s ours.
Horseshoe Fun Fact #1: Googling “horseshoe sandwich, Springfield, Illinois” results in 257,000 hits. Googling “horseshoe sandwich, Missouri” results in exactly zero hits.
You can’t serve horseshoes someplace else. It’s unheard of. Can’t be done.
This is an outrage. I suppose Missourians will also claim Abe Lincoln. They’ll say he lived in Springfield, Mo., when he was elected president. It’s to place, and the kindness of those people he owes everything? I don’t think so.
Horseshoe Fun Fact #2: Did you know the horseshoe has its own Facebook page? It does. And it mentions Springfield, of course. You never find one without the other. Until now.
Determined to get to the bottom of this gross injustice, I called The Silver Dollar in Eldon and spoke (very harshly, too, I might add) with owner Stan Abazi. So, Stan, what’s up with our horseshoe sandwiches?
“I used to live in Illinois,” he explained. “I’m from Illinois. I had a business in Illinois for 30 years.”
But that, he said, was in Aurora, not Springfield. He heard about the horseshoe, of course, while living in Illinois and decided when he opened The Silver Dollar that he would just go ahead and serve it. He didn’t even ask permission.
“They like it,” he says of Missourians. “They try it and they love it.”
That’s no excuse. Didn’t anybody in Springfield copyright our sandwich? Is it too late?
We cannot share the horseshoe. We cannot let it become just another menu item at restaurants across the country. It’s ours.
Horseshoe Fun Fact #3: Depending on their personal vital statistics and profile, participants in the Weight Watchers program may consume somewhere from 18 to 37 points a day. A horseshoe sandwich equals 386 points.
I certainly plan to contact Sen. Dick Durbin’s Springfield office to ask whether, as soon as the senator votes on wars, health-care reform, economic issues, Wall Street oversight, perhaps a new Supreme Court justice and an alternative-energy policy (you know, the minor issues of our time) that he sponsor a bill proclaiming the horseshoe sandwich the exclusive property of Springfield.
After that, any out-of-town restaurant that serves horseshoe sandwiches will have to pay a hefty royalty fee to the city, and there will be no need for the city to raise the property tax as the mayor has proposed.
Final Horseshoe Fun Fact: There is another Web site devoted to the horseshoe
(
horseshoesandwich.com). Its blog could use some updating, but it does include a review of horseshoes at different Springfield restaurants.
That’s Springfield, Illinois, not Springfield, Missouri.
Dave Bakke can be reached at 788-1541 or
dave.bakke@sj-r.com.
Comments (21)
Nimzoman
The 'horseshoe' was 'invented' in Scandinavia 1,000 years ago. It is called smorebrod there.
obscureknight
actually, Dave...............
as a gross-out, pig-out dish, the horseshoe unfortunately is rather tame and sedate;
if you have watched some of the other dining spots that Adam Richman has visited for his cable program 'Man vs. Food' on the Travel Channel (Comcast no. 62), you will have seen that there are several 'sandwiches' which outweigh the classic horseshoe in both calories as well as overall weight
thus, if some little town in Missouri wants to serve a horseshoe, simply bear in mind that little town will forevermore have the same hick status as Springfield, IL.
magda1020
There's a bar in Chicago (
http://www.6degreesbucktown.com/) that serves horseshoes as well - I heard about it from a friend who knew the owner when they lived here.
BOUNTY HUNTER
Read the article through , it mentions ' horseshoe fun facts ' four times . This article was written all in fun .
Cochise
While I hate to out my own father, he called to ask for the horseshoe recipe, intending to serve it in his restaurant in Iowa last year. I stalled him but, drat the internet, he Googled it and was able to serve them anyway. Iowa can't serve horseshoes either, they are OURS!
curious observer
In 1998 my son taught the (gulp) cafeteria staff at Truman State University in Kirksville, MO how to make a horseshoe. He missed them too much. He sold out our honor for his own convenience. I'm so, so sorry. And other students started getting them. Like the swine flu, it could be spreading like wildfire for all we know.
Odd Job
Dave,
If you travel to Bettendorf IA, there is a 24 hour diner called Ross' which for years has been the home of the Magic Mountain. It bears a striking resemblance to the horseshoe.You may want to investigate.
BobJudd/Chatham
Horseshoe Fun Fact #3: > I certainly plan to contact Sen. Dick Durbins Springfield office to ask that he sponsor a bill proclaiming the horseshoe sandwich the exclusive property of Springfield.
May I add?:
Horseshoe Fun Fact #3 - ( A ) : I would be careful about alerting Durbin to the Horseshoe sandwich being served in Eldon Mo., for fear he would give Amtrak $Millions to run a Horseshoe Express, hi-speed train to them from Chicago and bypassing Springfield Ill.
A Good Humorous article Dave..
Some of the posters need to lighten up a tad, and enjoy some humor occasionally. Life's too Serious to take the all the small things so serious..
Suncatcher
We are the kings/queens of homeade cheese sauce! We don't tolerate any canned/powdered mixes, only the real deal thrives in our town. Most of the outside places don't do it right.
danrichards
everyone knows who invented the horseshoe ,a chef at the leland hotel and his assistant anthony [the buffalo] wables,god bless his creative soul.
Anony
When one says they serve horseshoes in another town, I would ask HOW that horseshoe is actually made. I was in Collinsville, IL a few years ago. Driving around town, looking for a place to eat, I saw a place that advertised horseshoes. I stopped and ordered one. When the server brought the plate out, I took one look and told her that I order the horseshoe. She said that that's what I had. I looked down again.....It was basically just a burger (with a burger bun) opened up with SOME cheese sauce poured over it. The fries were on the side as well. And there were pickles and onions on it too. Needless to say, next time I'm outside Springfield, IL and see that someone else is claiming to serve horseshoes I'll be sure to ask how it's made before ordering it. If you're gonna try and steal Springfield's main food attraction at least serve it correctly.
Skyballs
How do you feel about a fellow Springfield native who has opened restaurant elsewhere in the country who has decided to honor his roots by putting the Horseshoe on the menu? The son of the owner of Norb Andy's has done just that down here in Austin, TX and I am ever so thankful that he has. I love the fact that I can get a little taste of home even down here in Texas. Viva La Horseshoe!!!
katiebug
Several years ago, I was at a restaurant in Hannibal, MO and they had a horseshoe on the menu. I didn't order it, but the description sounded like ours. My parents live in SE MO and my dad has given the horseshoe recipe to a couple of restaurant owners that he knows, but the dish never made it to their menus...
L-town
You guys act like this is these things are the trade secret to Coca Cola. Its a piece of toast with meat, fries, and cheese on top. Its not some top secret recipe we are talking about here. Get a grip.
LandofLincoln
Export it! It's probably responsible for 5% of the obesity and heart attacks in the city anyways. Junk food that is entirely unnecessary.
pmwizz
I moved to Manitowoc, Wis a couple of years ago and I tried to get my favorite pub to serve the horseshoe...even gave them the recipe.. they refused saying it sounded gross and wouldn't go over here in town...
They don't know what they are missing...
Mark Observed
Dave, when I am out of town I would like to have a horseshoe now and then. So, I must confess that I was talking to the cook in an Irish pub in Phoenix and told him about the horseshoe and D'arcy's Pint. He was going to try it. I have not been back to see if he added it to the menu though.
denmac
L-town: Too bad you don't allow room in your life for a little fun. Get a grip!
JDR
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at least tow pubs in Bloomington, Il have one and one restaurant near Sanible, Fl
cubbiefan2
Everyone knows the Simpsons are from Springfield IL, too.
SuperFan
Funny stuff Dave. Most on here got it, some, oh well. Actually, I have been kinda surprised over the years that our beloved 386 point feast hasn't spread. Maybe because it is far more appetizing than it sounds and ''foreign'' restaurant proprietors are reluctant to give it a try. Or maybe it's that 386 point thingy...lol
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