Baseball Roadtrip 2009: Kansas City, Omaha, Des Moines

Re:Baseball Roadtrip 2009: Kansas City, Omaha, Des Moines (trzhotel)

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 10:24:13 GMT

I think its clear that in order to get a good slice of pie or tenderloin from the Farmer's Kitchen you can either wait until the Replicator from Star Trek TNG hits the market,

or just drive to Atlantic on your way to Omaha.

Re:Baseball Roadtrip 2009: Kansas City, Omaha, Des Moines (Nancypalooza)

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 09:38:09 GMT

I keep telling a friend of mine I'm gonna fax her some brownies, so I'll let you know when I work that out with the Scientists. ;)

Re:Baseball Roadtrip 2009: Kansas City, Omaha, Des Moines (Pigiron)

Tue, 28 Jul 2009 21:44:20 GMT

blizzardstormus

Pigiron,
Every business owner needs to understand that the customer MUST come first.
I would love to send you a shirt.What's your e-mail?

Sent you a private message. Please let me know if it doesn't reach you.

Re:Baseball Roadtrip 2009: Kansas City, Omaha, Des Moines (Inthewater)

Tue, 28 Jul 2009 16:31:46 GMT

I was planning onmaking a trip out that way sometime soon, but your remarks here have made me decide to tell the wifey that we need to head over to the Zoo sometime this late summer. :)

Tasty foods, here I come.

;)

Re:Baseball Roadtrip 2009: Kansas City, Omaha, Des Moines (blizzardstormus)

Tue, 28 Jul 2009 16:27:47 GMT

Pigiron,
Every business owner needs to understand that the customer MUST come first.
I would love to send you a shirt.What's your e-mail?

We are working on how to send pies, but, IntheWater is right. It's probably going to be expensive.

Re:Baseball Roadtrip 2009: Kansas City, Omaha, Des Moines (Inthewater)

Tue, 28 Jul 2009 15:15:30 GMT

I am sure it could be done, but I don't think it would be cheap.

:D

Re:Baseball Roadtrip 2009: Kansas City, Omaha, Des Moines (Pigiron)

Tue, 28 Jul 2009 14:29:19 GMT

blizzardstormus

Pigiron,
It never fails. The owner takes time off and the staff make up their own rules. I apologize that you weren't able to order breakfast at the Farmer's Kitchen. As far as I'm concerned, if my kitchen can make it, we will.

Thank you for giving us a second chance and ordering the Skillet. And a second thank you for telling about your experience, both negative and positive. We restaurateurs NEED feedback like this in order to take care of our customers better.

The @#$%^ breakfast rule is not a Midwestern rule. I blame it on McDonald's and their strict 10:30 AM breakfast cutoff.

The cashier that day was my younger brother who moved from Seattle to help us out while I am dealing with some health issues. Ironically, he's my breakfast cook.

I've reviewed my breakfast menu and instructed my staff that breakfast IS available at any time. The only exceptions are pancakes (the pancakes are cooked on the same side of the grill as the burgers and they turn out horrible.)

Wow, thanks for responding, Blizzard. I have to say that I don't think I've ever had a proprietor respond to a comment of mine before. It's nice to see a business owner that actually cares enough to address his/her customers. I'm officially keeping The Farmer's Kitchen of Atlantic, IA as a permanent bookmark on my GPI, and if I'm ever around that way again, I will definitely stop in.

Do you have any Farmer's Kitchen tee-shirts for sale? If you do, send me a private email and I would love to purchase one. Same goes for that ASTOUNDING sour cream raisin pie, if I thought it would survive a trip through the mail.

Re:Baseball Roadtrip 2009: Kansas City, Omaha, Des Moines (Inthewater)

Mon, 27 Jul 2009 09:09:29 GMT

Nice to see you chime in. Also nice to see you not really make any excuses. That is refreshing to see, these days.

Re:Baseball Roadtrip 2009: Kansas City, Omaha, Des Moines (blizzardstormus)

Wed, 22 Jul 2009 18:07:14 GMT

Pigiron,
   It never fails. The owner takes time off and the staff make up their own rules. I apologize that you weren't able to order breakfast at the Farmer's Kitchen. As far as I'm concerned, if my kitchen can make it, we will.

   Thank you for giving us a second chance and ordering the Skillet. And a second thank you for telling about your experience, both negative and positive. We restaurateurs NEED feedback like this in order to take care of our customers better.

   The @#$%^ breakfast rule is not a Midwestern rule. I blame it on McDonald's and their strict 10:30 AM breakfast cutoff.

   The cashier that day was my younger brother who moved from Seattle to help us out while I am dealing with some health issues. Ironically, he's my breakfast cook.

   I've reviewed my breakfast menu and instructed my staff that breakfast IS available at any time. The only exceptions are pancakes (the pancakes are cooked on the same side of the grill as the burgers and they turn out horrible.)

Re:Baseball Roadtrip 2009: Kansas City, Omaha, Des Moines (mr chips)

Mon, 13 Jul 2009 00:34:09 GMT

Great report. Enjoyed tagging along and have enjoyed the intelligent comments in this thread.

Re:Baseball Roadtrip 2009: Kansas City, Omaha, Des Moines (quijote)

Sat, 11 Jul 2009 21:40:50 GMT

Enjoyable report, and that runza looks particularly good. I'm hoping to make a trip out that way next year, so your faves will go on my list.

And I'm glad to see Snookie's in your report. What's not to like about that place?

Re:Baseball Roadtrip 2009: Kansas City, Omaha, Des Moines (Inthewater)

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 17:33:11 GMT

Gotta agree there. Nice steak, chicken or pork on the grill with simple flavorings usually takes the cake.

About the most intense we get at our home is a little tequila / lime / cilantro marinade. :D

Which, oddly enough, tastes good on just about every type of meat I have used it on.

/endthreadderail

Re:Baseball Roadtrip 2009: Kansas City, Omaha, Des Moines (Howard Baratz)

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 17:28:33 GMT

I second Rumaki's thought that Stroud's chicken tastes like.......wait for it........ chicken, which is exactly what I want my chicken to taste like. Too much cooking today obliterates the real flavor of fine ingredients in the interest of over-salting, over-spicing and over-flavoring everything to the point that the actual star of the meal can't be tasted. To me, there's nothing better than a great steak grilled with just a little salt and pepper and Stroud's treats their beautifully fried chicken with the same respect.

Of course to each his own, so if more flavor is your thing a bit of Stroud's amazing gravy should certainly do the trick.

Re:Baseball Roadtrip 2009: Kansas City, Omaha, Des Moines (Inthewater)

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 15:43:33 GMT

Jesse's Embers is my recommendation for a good chop, or just good food in general. It is one of those "stuck in 1972" kind of places like Pigiron went to in Omaha. Old school, and great. It is close to downtown, and very cozy. :)

The chop is just grilled, but it is good. Not too bad of a price, either. The steaks there are outstanding. Old supper club / steakhouse sort of place.

Let me know if you check it out.

Re:Baseball Roadtrip 2009: Kansas City, Omaha, Des Moines (Inthewater)

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 15:27:57 GMT

Yeah, I even said the chops used to be good, and probably still are. The rest of the restaurant and some of the other dishes (according to Pigiron) are not what they used to be, but the Chops are likely still just fine.

El Bait Shop is cool, and has some decent food, but its more for the 150 beers on tap that I love it. :) (Something like 150, may be 125)

The food is really better (and more Roadfood like) at the High Life Lounge, which a good thing because they are connected and in the same building. :) Great old comfort food there. Much of it is scratch made, but some is frozen / fried, i would assume. the chicken tenders and such. The chicken pot pie there is a favorite of mine.

Hmm...a good chop. Lots of places to get chops in town. Let me think on it, there may very well be a place closer and better.

I will try to let you know.

Re:Baseball Roadtrip 2009: Kansas City, Omaha, Des Moines (wanderingjew)

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 14:40:32 GMT

Niagara

Inthewater

Yeah, The Mango is good stuff. Kind of "fancy" but not so much that a nice t-shirt and shorts looks way out of place in the summer. They have great smoked meat there. Gad you had one good experience, anyway.

I tried to warn you guys about the Machine Shed, but NooOooOoo...no one wanted to hear me. :D

Some of their food is still good, but it just screams "tourist trap". It was good, even great, about 20+ years ago when it was 3-4 places and called the Iowa Machine Shed only.

@Niagara - I think you will have a great time on your trip. The river is looking good, so you should be above the water-line for your concert. :)

So, if the Machine Shed sucks, where would you go for a good pork chop there? My wife loves pork chops, and I thought we'd have that before the concert.

I'm thinking El Bait Shop for dinner before the ball game.

Who says their pork chop sucks? I'll admit it has been 6 years, but it was the best pork chop I ever had.

Re:Baseball Roadtrip 2009: Kansas City, Omaha, Des Moines (Niagara)

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 13:51:05 GMT

Inthewater

Yeah, The Mango is good stuff. Kind of "fancy" but not so much that a nice t-shirt and shorts looks way out of place in the summer. They have great smoked meat there. Gad you had one good experience, anyway.

I tried to warn you guys about the Machine Shed, but NooOooOoo...no one wanted to hear me. :D

Some of their food is still good, but it just screams "tourist trap". It was good, even great, about 20+ years ago when it was 3-4 places and called the Iowa Machine Shed only.

@Niagara - I think you will have a great time on your trip. The river is looking good, so you should be above the water-line for your concert. :)

So, if the Machine Shed sucks, where would you go for a good pork chop there? My wife loves pork chops, and I thought we'd have that before the concert.

I'm thinking El Bait Shop for dinner before the ball game.

Re:Baseball Roadtrip 2009: Kansas City, Omaha, Des Moines (Inthewater)

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 12:01:37 GMT

The cinnamon roll is good. I was surprised that your breakfast was so bad, Pigiron, that used to be the go too meal out there.

I think they still smoke their own meats, or they say they do. The chops and pork dishes used to be freakin top-notch.

If I can convince my wife to go out there, I will try one and let you know if they are still good.

The cinnamon rolls are the size of a lunch box and used to be fantastic. :D

Re:Baseball Roadtrip 2009: Kansas City, Omaha, Des Moines (wanderingjew)

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 11:52:49 GMT

Inthewater

Yeah, The Mango is good stuff. Kind of "fancy" but not so much that a nice t-shirt and shorts looks way out of place in the summer. They have great smoked meat there. Gad you had one good experience, anyway.

I tried to warn you guys about the Machine Shed, but NooOooOoo...no one wanted to hear me. :D

Some of their food is still good, but it just screams "tourist trap". It was good, even great, about 20+ years ago when it was 3-4 places and called the Iowa Machine Shed only.

@Niagara - I think you will have a great time on your trip. The river is looking good, so you should be above the water-line for your concert. :)

Tourist trap or not, I still love, love loved the stuffed Iowa Chop, although it has been 6 years since I was there last. The only one that was better was the chop at the sorely missed White Way Cafe in Durant IA. I'm gonna say their cinammon roll looks amazing too. I'm gonna stop there next year and at least try that- just the cinammon roll and nothing else.

Re:Baseball Roadtrip 2009: Kansas City, Omaha, Des Moines (Inthewater)

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 11:41:34 GMT

Yeah, The Mango is good stuff. Kind of "fancy" but not so much that a nice t-shirt and shorts looks way out of place in the summer. They have great smoked meat there. Gad you had one good experience, anyway.

I tried to warn you guys about the Machine Shed, but NooOooOoo...no one wanted to hear me. :D

Some of their food is still good, but it just screams "tourist trap". It was good, even great, about 20+ years ago when it was 3-4 places and called the Iowa Machine Shed only.

@Niagara - I think you will have a great time on your trip. The river is looking good, so you should be above the water-line for your concert. :)

Re:Baseball Roadtrip 2009: Kansas City, Omaha, Des Moines (Pigiron)

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 11:25:38 GMT

@WJ: Yeah, Dallas BBQ is still there ~~(although I think they're all just called "BBQ" now).~~ (edit: I stand corrected, I walked by the one on 23rd and 8th today, and indeed, it's stll called "Dallas BBQ") They're packed every night. Cheap food sells, I guess. My last visit there was about 8 years ago and it was pure garbage. I never at there as a kid. Generally, the only times I ate in the city as a young kid was when we made family excursions to Chinatown or the Lower East Side (usually Sammy's). When I moved into the city around 1990, my freinds and I ate at BBQ very often. The food sucked but you could get a huge meal for $5. Oh yeah, they served bucket-sized "maragritas" out of a slurpee machine. In a lot of ways, life was much simpler back when I wasn't so picky about where I ate!

Regarding the liquid lunch, I can assure you, that's still the policy for a large group of folks at that certain organization. In a lot of ways, it's still 1962 at that place.

@Inthwater: I really intended on hitting at least a few places that you recommended, but there was simply no time. Too bad, because I've still never had a decent BPT in my life. Have you been to The Flying Mango? It's right in your neigborhood, so I'm sure you know about it. I was very impressed with it.

Re:Baseball Roadtrip 2009: Kansas City, Omaha, Des Moines (rumaki)

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 11:21:58 GMT

A fine report.

I love Stroud's fried chicken, although I recall the chicken at the late-lamented Mrs. Peters' in Kansas City, Kansas, as just as good.

I'm originally from Indianapolis. My family never went to Dodd's -- we were strictly Hollyhock Hill denizens. (Hollyhock Hill was about a 5-minute drive from our house, which I'm sure was part of the reason for that.) Hollyhock Hill and Stroud's chicken are similar, in that it is seasoned with salt and pepper only. And they're both great, I think!

Last year Saveur magazine published an article that included a lot of coverage of Hollyhock Hill, including its fried chicken recipe. I remember someone posted on this site that it "sounded awfully plain" (or maybe it was "bland") because it was breaded in just flour, salt and pepper (fried in lard). Personally, I think that if the chicken is flavorful (and not all chicken is, these days), that's all you need. I've never been excited about chicken that's soaked in buttermilk, jazzed up with cayenne, etc. (I went to law school in Nashville, but never had "hot chicken." I went to the Loveless in its heyday a lot, though. The chicken was good, but the fried chicken livers, and the biscuits, were my reasons for going there.)

But I digress. I recognize there's a big following for spicy fried chicken. I'm just not part of that group.

Re:Baseball Roadtrip 2009: Kansas City, Omaha, Des Moines (Inthewater)

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 11:00:13 GMT

Just because.....

you were doggin my stadium. ;)

Just kidding, but as you can see, the State Capitol is right in the middle of the outfield, which I think was planned, and the Des Moines River is right out beyond the outfield wall. The stadium is at the intersection of the Raccoon river and the Des Moines river, which led to some awesome flooding in 1993 and 2008. :(

Anyway, though the outside of the stadium is ho-hum, the fans and the team are awesome. Great place to watch a game. :D

Re:Baseball Roadtrip 2009: Kansas City, Omaha, Des Moines (Niagara)

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 10:28:04 GMT

Nice report - we're going up to Des Moines next week to see Umphery's McGee at the Estes outdoor amphitheater on Wednesday night and the Iowa Cubs on Thursday night. I'm looking foreward to trying some of the places that have been mentioned.

We ate at Johnny's Cafe a couple of years ago when we went up to Omaha to see Eric Clapton ay the Qwest Center - my wife loved it and still talks about etaing there.

Re:Baseball Roadtrip 2009: Kansas City, Omaha, Des Moines (wanderingjew)

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 21:59:30 GMT

Pigiron

@NYPizzanut- Burnt ends are a new thing for me too. In fact, for the first 30 years of my life, BBQ only had one definition: burgers and hot dogs cooked out-of-doors. The only ribs I ever had growing up was Bobby Rubino's (which I LOVED as a kid) Even when I started touring the country in search of baseball and great food in 1993, I never heard of burn ends until about 2 years ago. Now they seem to be a big seller at every BBQ place in the country.

Pigiron, you never went to Dallas BBQ in the Village? That was a regular stop for me 20 years ago, I'm sure it's gone and probably was alot nastier than I recall, but what did I know back then? Oh, wow, I just went on line and its still there!

@TravellinMan: The big fella at Farmer's Kitchen was on the young side with a goatee. Was that the guy? I never saw that poster's name before, but I haven't really looked at this site since my son was born in October. But don't be mistaken, I received WONDERFUL service at Farmer's Ktchen, they just wouldn't serve me breakfast! I refuse to believe the presence of WanderingJew would have changed their mind. I believe I dined with him in corporate cafeteria once upon a time, and I don't recall any exceptional service from the hash-slingers back then. But then again, that was (gasp) twenty years ago. When did we all get so old?

Hey, if I recall, didn't everyone "drink" their lunch back in those days?

@WJ: I really did like the chicken at Stroud's, but it just lacked seasoning. I definitely am a fan of pan-frying, and they really did cook the chicken perfectly. It just wasn't anywhere near the best I've ever had. And Dodd's (R.I.P.) was miles ahead of Stroud's.

Hey, I miss Dodd's just as much as you, but I still think Strouds had it over Dodds (just a little though!)

Re:Baseball Roadtrip 2009: Kansas City, Omaha, Des Moines (Nancypalooza)

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 13:23:12 GMT

Wonderful report pigiron, and wonderful pictures too. And you get a star sticker for the 'vulcanized sheen' on the pancake. I would have made the same mistake about burnt ends as you--here I don't think I've ever seen that term on a menu, but then I really only know one place around here that does beef at all.

Re:Baseball Roadtrip 2009: Kansas City, Omaha, Des Moines (Tdybr27)

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 13:06:34 GMT

Great write up, now I'm hungry (as I read this at noon)

To kind of clear up the whole MCI/KCI thing... when it was first built it was called Mid Continent International airport and the FAA gave it the 3 letter code MCI. Well the name has been changed to Kansas City International but since the FAA already had MCI, that had to stay. Clear as mud?

Re:Baseball Roadtrip 2009: Kansas City, Omaha, Des Moines (ann peeples)

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 11:52:21 GMT

L.C.'s burnt ends look absolutely delightful. Thanks for the report-sorry you were a bit disappointed but found some good eating!

Re:Baseball Roadtrip 2009: Kansas City, Omaha, Des Moines (Beef&Fries)

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 11:06:31 GMT

bummer about Byrants, I've heard that from too many people lately, had lunch there yesterday and it was great, but their consistancy is lacking.

That's the problem I have w/LC's, often great bbq but sometimes just crap, fatty beef, place you went to is original and better than the the new one in Lenexa, KS.

I could have told you avoid Machine Shed, just like Cracker Barrel I think, garbage corporate highway food.

I agree w/ Johnny's in Omaha, great steak but worthless sides, hash browns are the smart choice, at least their fresh. My wife's family loves Joe Tess but I just don't get it.

Nieces is just great I agree, glad you had an nice trip, I might suggest a road trip of Class A baseball stadiums in midwest sometime, Iowa, Ill, Wis all have lots of small towns w/teams and some classic little stadiums and food.

Re:Baseball Roadtrip 2009: Kansas City, Omaha, Des Moines (susanll)

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 09:59:32 GMT

Great report!. You lost me with the carp dinner, though. Yuck.