Weekend in Omaha/Council Bluffs

This may very well be bad timing, since it will be hard to compare to my buddy wanderingjew's sensational cheesesteak report. And it doesn't help that since I don't completely have my full appetite back from being sick, this wasn't my usual gorgefest. I typically "visit" a city the way Godzilla visited Tokyo! Well, at least if Godzilla had a fork in his hand/claw.

Friday April 4

Since my flight to Omaha didn't leave until after 8:00PM, I had time to eat dinner on the way to the airport. The most convenient place since I literally have to drive right past it is LoBello's Spaghetti House in Coraopolis.

I know people are undoubtedly sick of hearing me talk about this place. If not, here is the thread about the place:

http://www.roadfood.com/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=14827

Not wanting to overdo it and be uncomfortable for the flight, I ate lightly. Here is the homemade pasta e fagioli soup

and the small spaghetti with a meatball.


Needless to say, Rose spent a good portion of the time chatting with me, which is a major part of the charm of this place. But, I still love the food here, too.

Since I was flying on Midwest Airlines, I was connecting through Milwaukee. My flight from Milwaukee to Omaha ended up being almost three hours late, so I didn't get to my hotel just across the river in Council Bluffs, Iowa until almost 2:00AM, which would really hurt me the next day.

Much more to come.....

Hey Buffetbuster,

At least you're off to an excellent start.

I regret never making out to Lobello's when I was living in Pittsburgh. When I was living there, for Italian, I always hit Bado's for something casual or DeBlasio's for something a little nicer (but still casual) both in Mt Lebanon

I MUST get out more...so far so good!

Saturday April 5

After sleeping later than usual, I made the hour drive to my first stop, The Farmer's Kitchen in Atlantic, Iowa.

It is owned by Roadfooder blizzardstormus and the desire to support a fellow Roadfooder was a big part of my reason to eat here.

The inside has high ceilings and is quite comfortable.


The first thing I noticed on the menu is this list right on the front cover.

How could you not be impressed by that!

After sitting down at a booth, a man came over to take my drink order. I asked if he was the owner and he said he was. I introduced myself and he warmly greeted me and told me his name was Mark. Well, I felt like a visiting dignitary as Mark really did a wonderful job of making me feel welcome.

Even though it was still early (around 9:30AM, I'm thinking), I came there for the Pork Tenderloin, which they were happy to make for me.

I am far from a BPT expert, but this tenderloin was delicious. I also really liked the fact that they use such a high quality bun, which Mark said comes from a bakery in Omaha. I believe he told me it was a ciabbatta roll. Another item on that plate I really enjoyed were the homemade sweet pickles. I wish I had some of those right now! Unfortunately, I didn't get very far on the hashbrowns, because Mark went ahead and set down a slice of his mother's sour cream raisin pie and I attacked it immediately.


The meringue was incredibly light and airy and I easily devoured the pie. After seeing all the great looking pies in the case, I sure did wish I had room for a second piece.

Next time, I am going for either the apple or the coconut cream.

Mark also introduced me to his mother (I'm so sorry I forgot your name), who has her own cooking show on the local access tv station. He also brought out his head cook Neal from the kitchen to meet me. Neal, who uses the screenname justacook, hails from Fredricksburg, VA, so we talked Carl's Frozen Custard. It was a real pleasure meeting all the nice people at The Farmer's Kitchen! Thanks again for all the great food and hospitality, Mark. I will be back!

Much more to come.....

Buffetbuster, I am glad you made it to the Farmer's Kitchen after all. I knew you would like it.

Thanks for tipping me off to the place, Davydd!

that sour cream raisin meringue looks so good !!!!

I like their list of reasons to eat there.... espescially the one declaring that their food is homemade!!!

wow......Beautiful .....I fell in love with sour cream raisin pie last year when I took Michael Stern's advice and plunged into one of those beauties at Lange’s Café - Pipestone, MN .
It was my first piece of sour cream raisin pie and just like my first experience with sex you begin to wonder how something so innocent could make me feel so guilty when I ate the whole freekin pie............... I'll never forget what's her name and I'll never forget my first piece ---------- of sour cream raisin pie.

WOW - I'm sitting here stuffed from dinner and it still made my mouth water! Awesome.

sizz-

You ate the entire pie?!? Well done!

I sincerely wish I could have gotten a better photo of that slice of sour cream raisin pie, because the one I posted really doesn't show just how beautiful it was. This was only the second time I have had sour ceam raisin, the first being at Crystal Cafe in South Sioux City, Nebraska, but it is quickly becoming a favorite.

Interestingly, Mark's mother, who made the pie, told me she never eats it herself, because she doesn't like raisins!

Ellen-
While I was waiting for my food, I gave a closer look at the menu and one item that jumped out at me was the hot beef. I asked Mark about it and he told me they roast their own beef, make their own gravy from scratch and no mashed potatoes from a box. This is a place that really tries to do all the little things right. Next time I go back, I am getting the hot beef.....and two pieces of pie!

Saturday April 5 cont.

After leaving Atlantic, I took the backroads of Iowa southwest until I ended up in Sidney, home of Penn Drug.


Sidney is a much smaller town than Atlantic and I especially have been wanting to come here since the Sterns devoted a chapter of their Two for the Road book to this place and its people.

This is an old fashioned soda fountain that goes all the way back to 1863! I asked the young man waiting on me and he did tell me some of the items are still original, but he also sounded a bit unsure.

Here is a pic of the inside.

I ordered a Green River, which was a lovely color.

To eat, I got a Space Sundae,

which was just a chocolate sundae with some marshmallow on top. I asked and was told they use Blue Bunny ice cream.

This place was a nice little stop, but it sure doesn't have the charm of some other soda fountains I have visited, especially the Wilton Candy Kitchen on the other end of the state. Still, I was very glad I got to see the place.

Oh, and the cost for my drink and sundae? An astonishingly low $2.75!

Soon, I was starting to feel the effects of so little sleep the night before, so I returned to my hotel in Council Bluffs and took a 1 1/2 hour nap.

Much more to come.....

Great report! I look forward to more tips in that area. I tend to get up that way once or twice a year.

I noticed that you only commented on the lovely color of the Green River, not the taste. I have had a similar response to it:-)

Leotj

Here is another sour cream raisin pie from last October at the Farmer's Kitchen.

What is the flavor of Green River?I have noticed it in stores here lately..

Buffetbuster,

I've waited a few days before responding to your report on my restaurant, The Farmer's Kitchen. All I can say is "WOW!" & "Thanks!" It was fantastic meeting you. I envy both you & Davydd (who also was a great person to meet)who have found a way to truly delve into the world of Roadfood. To both of you and to every other Roadfooder out there, keep up the good work!

We hope to see you again to try out some of our other specialties such as the hot beef.

Mom's name is Charlene and yes, folks, she hates making our most popular pie because she hates raisins. That's one reason our bread pudding is sans raisins.

blizzardstormus-
Trust me Mark, the pleasure was all mine! Thanks again.

sfreader-
Good pick up! I meant to mention that the Green River wasn't very good, but forgot. I only drank about half of it.

annpeeples-
The Green River that I had at Penn Drug and that can be found at old fashioned soda fountains everywhere is simply carbonated soda water, phosphoric acid and lime syrup. I know that there is a bottled beverage called Green River, but I have never had it before.

I believe Green River originated in Chicago around 1920. I used to drink it at O'Hare Airport when I was in college in the early 1970s, enroute back home for winter and spring breaks. Although technically it contains some lime flavoring, I think it just tastes "green." Sort of like the Blue Moon ice cream that Lindner's ice cream shops in Indianapolis used to carry tasted "blue."

Saturday April 5 cont.

My original plan was to hit Stella's Hamburgers in Bellevue, but that was thrown out the window because of my much needed nap.

Wanting to do some sightseeing before dinner, I headed for the Durham Western Heritage Museum in downtown Omaha. Located in the city's former train station, it is a beautiful art deco building.


Truthfully, my photos don't even come close to doing the place justice. This is one of the most beautiful art deco buildings I have ever visited. They also have an old soda fountain

and I couldn't resist getting myself a small hot fudge sundae.

http://www.durhammuseum.org/

By the time the museum closed, I was plenty hungry for dinner, so I headed to South Omaha near where the stockyards used to be and Johnny's Cafe.


I had eaten here once before, in 2001 and was interested to see if it was like I remembered.

The first thing you notice when you walk in is this fun carpet design in the waiting room.

The steer head should definitely clue you in as to what to order here.

Being a lover of onion rings and seeing it listed on the menu as one of their signature items, I asked my waitress how big an order was. She said they would be happy to give me a half order, which was still huge beyond my appetite.

They looked kind of greasy, but they really weren't. They were quite good and even had a slight sweet taste to them.

The house dressing on the salad was a Polish vinaigrette, which was sweeter than the typical vinaigrette.


Which steak to order was a difficult decision. My instinct told me to get the Omaha strip steak, which my waitress told me was basically the KC strip steak. But since the 9oz. Native Filet Mignon was listed on the menu as being another signature item, I went with that.

The steak was very good and cooked perfectly, but I wish I had gone with a more flavorful cut, like the Omaha strip. Next time! By the way, those are potatoes au Gratin on the side.

Lots of different dessert choices, but being a mint lover, it was impossible for me to pass up the creme de menthe sundae.


Overall, a fine meal!

http://www.roadfood.com/Reviews/Writeup.aspx?ReviewID=338&RefID=338

I went back to my hotel to watch some of the NCAA Final Four.

More to come.....

Bottled Green Rivers (First for Thirst Since 1919) are available at the Corner Pharmacy in Leavenworth.



Keith

Keith-
I'm still kicking myself for not going to that place when I was so close just a few months ago. I won't make that mistake again!

Saturday April 5 cont.

After relaxing and watching basketball for a few hours, I went out in search of my final meal of the night, Surfside Club in Omaha. Now, the address might say Omaha, but this was quite a haul away from the city. Without my GPS, this would have been a real bear to find on my own. And if you go, watch for deer very closely on the last mile or two before you reach the place, because they are everywhere!

This is a Roadfood place recommended by Bruce & Sue, who I have learned to trust, since they have led me to some fantastic places, like O' Steen's in Florida and Woodside Farm Creamery in Delaware. Since it was after dark and also fairly early in the season, this place was not very crowded at all. In fact, all the outside lights were out, which meant I was relegated to eating inside. Sure do wish I could have seen the river.

The dinner choices here are chicken or catfish. The review recommended the catfish, so I went with that.

Generally, I am a fish frowner, but this was wonderful. It came out so hot, I had to wait for a few minutes for it to cool down. Excellent crunchy crust with flavorful, delicious meat. I also liked the sweet cole slaw.

But my favorite thing here was the corn fritters.

You get these in a big basket and with a little honey on top, they can be impossible to stop eating.

On the way out, the owner told me to keep an eye out for deer! Nice find Bruce & Sue! From there, I went back to the hotel for the night.

http://www.roadfood.com/Reviews/Writeup.aspx?ReviewID=3425&RefID=3476

More to come.....

The green river really brings back memories for me. When I was just a young punk in Louisville, the local drug store had a soda fountain and they had Green Rivers for $.10 a piece. I loved them. Especially when I saved up enough to get a Green River ice cream soda with a scoop of vanilla in it. That was heaven!

John

Surfside was open?! I'm glad you were able to eat there. Those corn fritters are out of this world! I tried duplicating them, but gave up. I guess I'm doing a road trip Saturday to Surfside.

The first time I ate at Surfside, I assumed they took credit cards. I didn't find out until after I ate that they don't. I had enough cash to pay for the meal, but not enough to tip the waitress who had given me such excellent service. When I sheepishly told her my predicament, the waitress smiled & said "no problem, we take out-of-town checks." I was embarrassed to inform her that I didn't have my checkbook.

"That's okay," she replied. "You can pay for your meal the next time you come in." I couldn't believe I had discovered small-town friendliness just outside a metropolitan area. Needless to say, I came back the next week, had another fantastic meal, & tipped the waitress a very good tip.

So far so great.... waiting with baited breath to see if you hit the place in Nebraska that I just narrowly missed on my last trip there in '06... I didn't know about it because it was posted here after my trip!

Another reason to get back...

Keep it coming!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We will be going to Niobrara State Park in Nebraska located at the confluence of the Niobrara River and the Missouri River on the South Dakota border in June. So we will be in the general area. I haven't planned the route yet.

Really nice pictures and food variety... makes me wanna get in my car and drive out there!!!!!!!!

blizzardstormus-
I was very happy to find out they were open, too. According to a sign near the bar, they open sometime in March. Apparently, few others in the area are aware they were open for the season, because the place was practically empty. My one regret was not going during the day, so I could get a river view. I figured they would have outside lights on, but they didn't.

I liked your story about the waitress' reaction when you didn't have enough money.

As always, great photos and pungent commentary.

Great report & Pic's BB. You're not doing bad for a diminished appetite. I have to tell you there is no way I would have left those hashbrown potatoes on the plate at The Farmers Kitchen.

All I can say is Man O Man!!