Road Tripping in the Middle America

By Lu

Sausage Gravy and Biscuits at Bob Evans. I didn't order this!

I've been a busy girl. Other than starting to write my first novel, writing for this blog, cooking and baking, I also have been working a lot and doing a lot of business trips road-tripping to many of the neighboring states. This week alone I was in three different states: Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. There were a lot of hours of staring at the windshield for sure. This is part of my professional world - traveling by car to visit my customers. I think it's fun to drive places. At times it is faster than flying. At least I wouldn't have to deal with airport security and delays. I usually just get in the driving mood, wear something comfortable, get the coffee ready at hand, and jam with my ipod and rock on for the next five hours. By the time I would get to my destination, my voice would be so hoarse and raspy from singing out loud like if I were Adele.

The best part about going to the field was other than servicing the customers, I also get to hang out with our field team members who live locally. I love these guys. We've known each other for years by now that we're like families, if not good friends. Some I see more often than others. Some are very familiar with me and my interests while some didn't really know. Yet, I have discovered some great places to eat along the way thanks to my colleagues.

I was in Cincinnati, Ohio for the first time two days ago. I didn't get to see Mike very often at all, and definitely not in his local domain. He asked me to meet at Panera Bread before we went to the customer location so that we could have lunch and talked about our plan at the customer site. Mh, obviously, Mike wasn't familiar with my demand. He was waiting for me inside the restaurant. When he saw me, he smiled and asked me, "Now, have you ever eaten here at Panera?" I wanted to laugh out loud. Instead, I was being nice and just nodded. Yeah, I have.

I always tell my colleagues in the field to take me somewhere memorable and preferably a local favorite. I just want something unique. If I were in Louisville, Kentucky I wouldn't want to eat at Subway, Chipotle, or Panera that I could also easily go to in Chicago. It's an opportunity for me to just try what the local people have to offer. My colleague, O'Brien, had suggested Panera in the past. So had Jerry except that Scott was smart to know that I wouldn't go for it. If I did, it would be very reluctantly. What is it with Panera? Everybody seems to love the place.

Since then, I have trained O'Brien, Scott, Jerry, Joe, and Jeff pretty well in this lunching business. No cookie cutter generic restaurants, no national chains, and no fast foods. My old boss, Paulie, is also like me. When he came back from a trip, he would tell me local places that he had dined in. Some made me jealous, and some I just laughed at. Paulie at times pronounces things funny when he's not familiar with it. When he said he ate at McCrud or Mr. Crunch Chicken Shack it would be hard for me to feel envious about.

Anyway, here are some of the highlights of my lunches with the guys:

Jerry/Scott
Jerry loves the typical American food establishments like Cracker Barrel, Bob Evans, and Tim Horton's. I've never had Tim Horton's, or Timmy Ho we call it, before Jerry introduced me to it five years ago in Toledo, Ohio. It's just like a Dunkin Donut but Jerry swore it has the best coffee. My sister and I also love Cracker Barrel. We're road warriors on our own. In the past, we played a game in every road trip counting how many Cracker Barrel we saw along the highway and we screamed obnoxiously, "Cracker Barrrreeellllll!!" At times, when I drove alone, I would stop and text my sister "Cracker Barrelll." She would reply - "you must be bored."

After several trips, Jerry varied it up a bit from the Cracker Barrels and Coney Dog places he would usually take me. Last couple of trips, Scott and Jerry took me to a pie place called Rykse's in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The place was quite quaint and they served the regular menu items like in a family restaurant. When you came in, you're welcomed with a big bakery case filled with pies and it smelled home made. I enjoyed my sandwich and soup. The pie, I think I make better. The crust was hard as a rock. However, I think both Scott and I enjoyed the pecan pie filling.  Anyway - the bottom line is: it's not Cracker Barrel (though we had it the night before).

Scott took me to a good breakfast place in Grand Rapids, Michigan called Real Food Cafe. The place was small and very homey. We had breakfast obviously and it was fine. It was more of the ambiance that I liked. I was so relaxed there drinking my coffee and chatting with Scott about things in life. It was very very pleasant and a great way to start our day.

This last trip, Jerry had to make his mandatory stops at Timmy Ho and Bob Evans. He warned me that these two were nearby the hotel. I told him Timmy and Bob could fight it out. However, we went to both places. For dinner, it was so funny that he was yelping finding ethnic food places for me. I did tell his boss, Scott, for review feedback, that Jerry's one of the best in his field. The only thing he could improve would be his taste in food and he's definitely trying! I was so tickled watching him suggesting Mediterranean food to me and he wasn't afraid of words like Baba Ganoush! We ended up eating Chinese Food. Anyway - the bottom line is: It's not Cracker Barrel!

Hot Roast Beef Sandwich at Tony Packo's

He also took me to a local Toledonian favorite called Tony Packo's. I was a little worried at first because I thought it would be a fusion place. I remember a restaurant in Schaumburg, Illinois from a long time ago called Carlos Murphy which was a Mexican Irish place. Mh...yeaaaaaah, I didn't (and still don't) believe in such places. Neither did the masses as the place is out of business. But Jerry assured me that Tony Packo's would be great and right up my alley if I wanted to try something local. So I did. The place was a fusion alright. It wasn't a sit down, and wasn't fast food. They served coney dogs, German/Hungarian food, and just a definitely eclectic menu. I ordered the hot roast beef sandwich. Jerry got the stuffed cabbage and German Potato Salad. It was great! My meat was so tender and I loved the rye bread soaked in gravy. I din't even have to chew. If I grew old and lost all my teeth, I would move to Toledo to retire so I could eat this sandwich daily. Thanks, Jerry. Now, this is what I'm talking about. This one is definitely blog worthy.

We would be eating at  a Cracker Barrel and Jerry would ask me - are you going to blog about it? No, Jerry. However, now he has given me something worth writing!

Mike
Well, Mike took me to Panera. It wasn't all that bad considering he would want to eat lunch. I have a couple colleagues who are so preoccupied with work they would skip lunch. If Mike's boss was there, we would probably be hungry as the guy only eats once a day. However, when I was in Cincinnati, I took the opportunity to try Skyline Chili. Jerry was the one who reminded me about it. I have never tried it though I knew of it. Lo and behold there's one by the hotel. I went and got carry-out of the three way Skyline Chili which was Spaghetti, Chili, and Cheese. You can also do it four way which would be those three, plus beans. Five way would be those four plus onion. I'm glad I tried it but frankly it really required an acquired taste and I didn't acquire the taste.

Cincinnati's Skyline Chili 3 way

I love the regular Chili con Carne or the Texas style Chili with no beans. I like Wendy's Chili as well so I'm not a snob when it comes to Chili. I also make my own which I think is pretty damn good. This Chili was not a regular Chili I knew for sure. It was a cross between a ragout of Bolognese Sauce and Chili Con Carne with addition of a LOT of Cinnamon. I also thought I tasted Star Annis and Clove but this Chili was definitely very aromatic with those flavorings. I couldn't get pass the Cinnamon taste in this super savory dish. They also gave me two plastic bags that have been blown with air and they were filled with finely shredded cheddar cheese. I couldn't get pass the idea that somebody blowing air onto those bags to make them puffy like that. Germs! But I didn't really know the method they used to inject air into the bags. I also didn't know the reasoning. However, now I can say I've tried it!

O'Brien
I yelped about the sandwich place O'Brien took me in Minnetonka, Minneapolis called, "Ham Sandwich Shop." It was such a small place and I usually am not too fond of sandwiches. However, he had me at "Hole in the wall." I yelped it right away because it was so good. Here's the link to my yelp review. I don't feel like writing about the place twice. It's really good and I can't wait to go back!!
 

Jeff

I got Jeff trained pretty well too by now. He took me to a super wonderful place in Louisville. Another pie shop called "Pie Kitchen." It was super super yummy. The pie blew  the pie shop in Kalamazoo. I had another Pecan Pie which is one of my favorite pies of all time. This one was made with Kentucky Bourbon, like a Derby Pie with chocolate chips. OMG - it was just superb. Scott also loves Pecan Pie and wish he could taste this one. To die for. I had some pictures taken with my little Lumix camera. However, I recently lost that camera. I just couldn't find it and I have searched high and low. I had been switching to taking pictures with iphone lately because it's easy and I always have it with me. The 4s takes unbelievable pics and I am not ashamed to tell people now that I'm an iphonographer. My nice Leica is collecting dust and I didn't even know what happened to my pocket Lumix. In the Lumix, I had some nice pictures of the pie shop. Too bad. When I find it, I will post some pictures. For now, please go to their website by clicking on the name of the restaurant above (in bold) and take a look at their super wonderful pies as depicted in their copyrighted pictures.

Yesterday, Jeff took me to a local chain Mexican place in Columbus called "El Vaquero". The place was pretty good. I have never seen bigger chips served in their chips and salsa basket. Those chips were like half of a regular hard shell tortilla. They were humongous. They served the smallest chimichanga for lunch. It was so cute but it was plenty enough for lunch.

That's all for now. I'm sure I will come across new and better places to dine in through my business trips. It's always fun to try the local casual and quick service restaurants at times. Nobody can always eat at fine dining without appreciating the regular food people eat. I still enjoy my occasional Panera stops or Wendy's Chili. However, how great it is for me to have opportunities to try places like Tony Packo's and Real Food Cafe. There are several in the horizon already that I can't wait to come back to town and try. I heard all kinds of crazy thing about the Electric Cheetah in Grand Rapids. With that type of name - I'll go just to say I have been. Another place that I can't wait and hopefully my colleagues, Jim and Bill, will take me there next is Pappy's BBQ in St. Louis and Oklahoma Joe in Kansas City. Greatness! Yum!

I heard people making fun of the Midwest Cuisine all the time. I know food and there's nothing to poke fun of about Midwest Cuisine. It's not just fat, meat and potatoes all the time. Considering the best restaurant in the US is located in Chicago, you can bet your bottom dollar that there are plenty of good eating to be had in Middle America. I've experienced it firsthand and I wasn't disappointed in the least.