Archie's Waeside - Le Mars, IA

Posted By Michael Stern on September 26, 2002 2:51 AM

We won’t beat around the bush. Archie’s Waeside serves splendid steak, some of the best in the Midwest, some of the best anywhere in America. The meat is choice and prime; it is hung and dry-aged in a back room of the restaurant. Steaks are grilled so they get a little crusty on the outside. They are overwhelmingly juicy and exude the full, resonating character of corn-fed beef. Even the filet mignon, usually a tender cut that is low on flavor, virtually sings with the succulent authority of blue-ribbon protein. A bone-in ribeye we recently enjoyed was deliriously succulent. And at the suggestion of a tipster in the know, we ordered an off-the-menu item, the Benny Weiker, named for a good customer of years ago who used to be a cattle buyer in the Sioux City stockyards. This is an eighteen-ounce, center-cut, 21-day dry-aged filet mignon that was simply the most handsome piece of meat we have ever seen presented on a plate.

Jack L. Holmes, the Iowa fine bouche who clued us in to Archie’s, said that we would be shocked not only by the quality of the steak, but by its low price. He was right. Relatively speaking, in the realm of high-quality beef, Archie’s is an incredible bargain. We ate supper for three – the Benny Weiker, the ribeye, and a plate with a pair of immense Iowa pork chops (perhaps a pound-and-a-half of pork, total), plus onion rings, Mexican cheeseballs, and all the fixins – for a grand total of $75 plus tip.

And by the way, in the above paragraph, where we mention all the fixins, we need to say that the things that come before and during the beef course are pretty special at Archie’s. Along with the salad you get a relish tray and a plate of cured-here corned beef: super-lean, high-flavored, beautiful to look at. The waitress suggested we do like regular customers do and shred the spicy beef on our salads. Available companions for meat include a well-browned patty of hash brown potatoes and a trio of substantial corn fritters.

A steak-eaters’ destination since Archie Jackson started it in 1949, Archie’s is now co-owned by Bob Rand, who is a fanatic for excellence. Bob is an oenophile who regularly travels to Napa Valley to build the restaurant’s wine list; but if you really want to see his passions rise, get him talking about what exactly makes a great steak. He loves to describe the dry-aging process – how the meat sheds moisture but absorbs the flavors of the marbling – and he will tell you that he believes in cooking a steak at a fairly low temperature (450 degrees), which runs counter to conventional wisdom that says 1000 degrees is what you need to sear it and seal in its juices. All we know is that Archie’s steaks burst with juice when severed with a knife.

Archie’s is a big, happy restaurant with capacious booths and hordes of happy customers who come from miles around to enjoy what is a Siouxland prize.

Overall Rating

Benny Weiker filet mignon

bone-in rib-eye

Archie's Special Sirloin Steak

pork chops

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Posted By Mike Coan on September 10, 2005 10:29 PM

Since hearing about Archie's a couple years ago on Splendid Table, I've wanted to get to this place. Today I left work early for a late summer drive from Sioux Falls down the Big Sioux River, 96 miles to Archie's Waeside. Hostess and wait-persons were all cheerily friendly, and said they were glad to have me (a single >hungry< man) show up before the real crowds begin at 6PM.

No appetizer, beyond a bottle of iced Sam Adams, promply followed by a quart-sized bowl of very fresh salad (about 1/4 head of iceburg lettuce, with diced onion, sliced red cabbage, and julienned carrot), accompanied by a slice of corned beef (dutifully crumbled into the bowl), a separate side dish of crispy dill pickles, two cubes of mild cheddar cheese, two stalks of celery, at least one complete carrot cut in sticks, and a roll and cracker basket, with a separate dish of real butter.

Main course was a thick sirloin/shrimp combo: this turned out to be three lightly battered, skillfully fried, tempura-like butterfly-cut king prawns (much more than just another "deepfried" Iowa shrimp - each one made four mouthfuls!) with an ample amount of cocktail sauce. The sirloin was a good inch-and-a-quarter. I asked for it cooked medium and what I got was maybe medium-well to well. The meat had a lightly charred exterior and a delicious freshly grilled flavor, with absolutely no fat or gristle. No need for Heinz 57 or A-1. A large foil-wrapped baked potato came in a bowl. I put the butter left over from the fresh roll on the steaming potato, and went to work. Unpretentious, exceptionally tasty American food. I ate every bite...

Finished and paid by 6:00PM. Total was $30. By then the place was packed with groups of oldsters escorted to their favorite tables, young couples with kids, and apparently everybody else in town. The line started to head out the door and the parking lot was full. I'm not a small town type person, but this place almost made me wish I lived here.

Would I go again? Yes! I have to see how their T-bones compare to those at the Tea Steakhouse.

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Posted By Jerry Karbeling on July 30, 2003 12:31 AM

We were so interested after the Roadfood review that we did a spur-of-the-moment road trip to Le Mars and checked out Arachie's Waeside. The 100 mile criteria was way too low---we would, and did drive 205 miles for the dinner. The steaks were outstanding--the flavor exploded in my mouth, and the sauteed muchrooms were really special. The salad and relish tray was adequate--not special, but the corn fritters were just great. And they should be commended for the excellent wine list. Some times small town supper clubs are a bit weak on the wine list but I was embarassed that I even asked about a corkage charge if I brought my own wine---they truly understand building a solid wine list at reasonable prices, too.

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