Undiscovered IA BPTs?

In a couple of weeks I'm going to Des Moines and will probably have a few chances to stop along the way. Are there any BPT places in the eastern center of the state that are known to exist but have never or rarely been visited by anyone here? My routes vary but are almost always bordered by Dubuque and Waterloo to the north (US-20), Marshalltown and Des Moines to the west (US-65/IA-330), I-80 to the south, and the Quad Cities and Dubuque to the east. There's a very good chance that I'll be in the Colfax-Lambs Grove area, too. I thought about Gunder and St. Olaf but they're actually kind of out of my way, so they may have to wait for another time.

Brad

If I knew about them I would have been there and reported them.

If you are going to be near Waterloo you might want to drive west on US 20 to Wellsburg and try the 2006 IPPA winner at the Townhouse Supper Club. It was a deserving winner.

I'd like to know what that better tenderloin is in Gunder than St. Olaf. I know you would not be disappointed in St. Olaf and I hear the same about Gunder just 8 miles away.

The Suburban Restaurant in Gilbert 5 miles north of Ames was the 2004 IPPA winner and I haven't been there yet. However the photo on their web page is not all that inspiring.

http://www.suburbanrestaurant.com/2.html

Joensy's in Solon between Iowa City and Cedar Rapids has re-opened. The tenderloin is platter size and billed as the biggest but doesn't compare to St. Olaf and Townhouse Supper Club.

If by undiscovered, you mean places I have never visited and can't accurately vouch for whether the tenderloins are homemade, then here is a list for Iowa between I-80 and HWY 20 East of Des Moines/M-Town. I would call ahead for hours and to verify that they make tenderloins themselves before making plans.

Mid-Town Family Restaurant Iowa City
Rookies Sports Bar in North Liberty (an award winnner)
Flying Wienie (probably frozen tenderloin but still roadfood-worthy establishment) Cedar Rapids
Hamburg Inn Iowa City (pretty obvious choice)
Charlies 11 St. Precinct Bar & Grille Davenport (a mystery spot for me)
Highway 63 Diner Waterloo http://www.landaudiners.com/highway63.htm
Tic Toc Cedar Rapids http://www.takeoutnetwork.com/tictoc/
Slaby's near Davenport in Walcott
Bluegrass Cafe Tama
Kalme's in St. Donatus (its the luxemburger town, all 5 builings in it)

Niland Cafe in Colo has Roadfood written all over it, its a "one-stop" vintage gas staion, diner, and motel renovated with funds from locals and county redevelopment money. It has museum-style dioramas with Lincoln Highway artifacts inside.
http://brianbutko.wordpress.com/2008/01/26/restored-colo-motel-reopens-in-iowa/
http://showcase.netins.net/web/colo-iowa/nilands.html

The Iowa Pork producers has a contest every year for the best BPT in the state, I believe they started this in 2004, unfortunatly I cant find a list on their site of all the winners.

However this site lists a lot of options, http://www.allenbukoff.com/wildBPTiowa03

The winner for 2006 is the Townhouse Supper Club just west of Waterloo in the town of Wellsburg, here's a link to it with lots of other options thru out the state.

In Des Moines My favorite tenderloin is at Kelly's Lil Nipper, a small, neighborhood bar. Smitty's is listed on road food, but compared to Kelly's I think they are dry, I believe they bread them then freeze for future use.

Sorry forgot the link to the Townhouse, it's in the des loines blog http://des-loines.blogspot.com/search?q=townhouse

The IPPA breaded pork tenderloin sandwich awards started in 2003 with Darrell's Place in Hamlin, IA as the first winner. If there were any before that I can't find any record of it.

If I were to direct you to a place in your area that is difficult for most people to reach, its Kalme's in St. Donatus
I think I drove past St. Donatus after reading the words "Picutesque Luxemburger Village" on the Iowa map. It looks like the three old buildings in town are part of the same B&B/Hotel/Restaurant. It looks like the operator of Kalme's has his own steak seasoning for sale too. Its menu on the website looks good too.
http://www.gehlenhouse.com/

Kelly's in Des Moines is an awesome dive.

The Townhouse Supper Club website is http://townhousesupperclub.com/index.htm

Kalmes/St. Donatus looks promising...I suspect we'll hit Dubuque sometime between 8:30 and 9:30, just in time for either a late breakfast or an early lunch. I agree; that's a good-looking menu. Thanks!

Brad