Bump's Burgers - Iron River, MI

 

D and I hopped in the car and made an impromptu trip to Michigan. Pretty much spontaneous and last-minute. We needed some cabin/non-people time and also we wanted to surprise our friend Chef Greg who opened up a sort of second-shift family restaurant in Iron River, Michigan. Chef Greg is a wizard in the kitchen and we knew his place was going to be top-notch. People think that the Upper Peninsula (UP) or Michigan is super far away, but it's really only about 5 hours to Bump's!

 

Boy, was he surprised when we walked back to the window that looks into the kitchen!!

 

Chef Greg took an interesting approach to opening up his place. There were already good pizza places in town, and already good breakfast places in town, and a handful of other good spots for food and drink during normal hours. He saw that Iron River needed a burger place with a little “extra” and also thought the town needed something open different hours than the rest of the establishments. Bump’s Burgers is right downtown and open Thursday through Saturday from 4pm until midnight. Absolutely NAILED IT with the time slot!

 

I won’t go into ALL the details of the menu at Bump’s Burgers, but it’s really more than just burgers. In fact, there’s only one burger on the menu, but it has a ton of topping options, so you can customize it however you want. But there’s a bunch of other sandwiches that you need to try. We went a little overboard and ordered a cheeseburger, a chopped & cheese beef sandwich, and the BBQ pulled pork sammie. The sides are also super creative and elevated way beyond any food you deserve to eat, but we ordered the firecracker corn, grandma’s casserole, and the corn bread with honey butter. And because we’re insane, we also ordered the oreo pudding dessert supreme and the golden caramel pudding surprise. 

[Note: Bump's doesn't have fries. But the number of people that ask about it is really impressive. The staff at Bump's are masters of recommending the right side for you, though, so don't be alarmed. You're going to get a side that's even better than fries. Promise.]

Cheeseburger - I mean you pretty much HAVE to get this when you're here. It's so juicy and delicious. I knew it would be good, but I didn't know it would be this good. And the bacon always helps, too. 

 

BBQ Pulled Pork Sammie – killer flavor and plenty of meat. The bun is nice and moist and stands up to the sauce. We got it with some pickles and extra sauce, as well. Perfection.

 

The Chopped & Cheese Beef Sandwich – one of the best sandwiches I can remember. I got a little gluttonous on this one and ordered it with a fried egg and some roasted peppers. And some garlic aioli, as well. This thing is loaded with meat and covered in a nice layer of cheese. I was bummed when this one ended. 

 

Grandma’s casserole was like a delicious potato-ey cream of something concoction that sticks to your ribs and not too salty or peppery. Just right. It's like a nod to tater tot hot dish, but sort of a soup/stew.

The firecracker corn is sort of like elotes (Mexican street corn), but has some seasoning in it that makes it taste good, but won’t blow you away with heat.

The cornbread is a super solid showing – and my family is from the south, so we’re crazy picky about it. 

 

The desserts were in the surprisingly-simple-but-perfectly-executed category. Both are pudding based and both are just what the doctor ordered. Sort of a cookie surprise built into a pudding structure with whipped cream. Not crazy sweet, but just what you need to fill in any cracks left in your stomach when you’re done with the mains and sides. 

 
We got leftovers and might have accidentally gotten some Jambalaya to take back to our place if we got hungry in the night. hahaha. No pictures of that, though. But it was equally incredible, if that helps.

I know that we’re a little bit biased, but we love this guy and think he deserves all kinds of gold medals. He helps his community, he helps his friends, he helps his family, and is truly one amazing human. He can cook the pants and shirt off of anyone that’s hungry and makes you feel like family. There aren’t a ton of places I’d drive out of my way to go to for food, but Bump’s Burgers is definitely one of those places. It’s a small town with a ton of heart. And now they’ve got some delicious homemade sandwiches to warm that heart. 

 

Cheers, brother! You continue to make magic wherever you go. We’ll be back!

 

www.bumpsburgers.com

Bump’s Burgers

119 Genesee St.

Iron River, Michigan. 49935

Melt Pizza - Hudson, WI

 

Melt Pizza is sort of a pop-up Detroit-style pizza restaurant that shows up at various places we have been to. We finally showed up hungry to Oliphant Brewing and Melt Pizza was there slinging pizzas from the back room. We were with friends, so we ordered two things: Melt Sticks and also the Dream Team. 

 

We were drinking plenty of beer, so we have no idea how long it took, but it didn’t seem unreasonable, nor did it matter. These pizzas were fantastic. Detroit style, for those that aren’t familiar, is pizza cooked in a pan with toppings pushed against the side so they get all caramelized and crispy. 

 

The Melt Sticks are cheesy and garlicy slices with no sauce underneath. But these do come with a couple dipping sauces, but the only I remember is the vodka red sauce. I think the other two were their house made red sauce. But the flavor of these cheese strips was truly great. Crusty pieces of cheese on each slice where it got burned up against the pan. Just awesome.

 

The Dream Team has red sauce, three-cheese coverage, pepperoni, ricotta, hot honey, and basil. Again, the caramelized cheese against the edges is what makes this, but the hot honey and ricotta really made this pizza pop, as well. So glad we got this one, despite the one we had originally tried to order being sold out right before we got there. 

 

If you see Melt Pizza show up at any of your favorite drinking establishments, you should go there and order a couple of these. They know what they’re doing in the pizza world and I’ll definitely keep an eye on them. 

CrunCheesse Korean Hot Dog – Minneapolis, MN (Dinkytown)

 

A friend of mine recommended this place, but had described it in such a way that I thought I may have imagined it or made it up in some dream I had. But sure enough, this place actually exists (and it sounds like they’re trying to make a franchise go of it, since the original one is in Las Vegas – where other crazy dream-like scenarios happen). Note: I also just looked and have discovered that CrunCheese in Las Vegas is a block away from one of my favorite tiki bars – The Golden Tiki – so I’ll have to make that combo the next time I’m in Sin City.

 

What is a Korean hot dog, you might ask? Well, it’s actually a corn dog (known as a gamja hot dog), so it’s a standard-type hot dog in a batter. So, yes, Americans would call it a corn dog. The batter is dairy free – at least at CrunCheese – and you can get it with a variety of toppings and sauces. That’s the basic explanation, just so we’re all on the same page. You know how when you get Korean chicken wings at a restaurant, they’re like chicken wings you’re used to and then they’re fried like 30 seconds longer to make sure they’re EXTRA crispy? Yeah, these corndogs are like this. But the variations are pretty slick. 

 

You can get a plain corn dog, sure. But why would you when you can get one that’s got some pizzazz? You can get them half hot dog and half cheese stick (mozzarella or cheddar) – keep in mind this half and half version is like top-half cheese and bottom-half hot dog, so you won’t get both flavors in one bite. Or entirely cheese on the inside. Or you can get them with sausage. Or with a squid ink batter. Or with a premium hot dog – likely pandering to American’s refined palate hahaha. Or with a rice cake instead of a hot dog.

 

Once you get the insides figured out, then you have to determine what’s on the outside. You can get the entire thing rolled in cubed potatoes or cubed sweet potatoes (for an upcharge that’s totally worth it). Think of it like you’re at the state fair or some street market in Korea. You want the full experience, so get the add-on. Then, while they’re frying up your magical corn dog, you can stand and stare at the list of sauces they have available to slather your crispy corn dog in. I should have taken a photo of them, so you could see them all. It’s an impressive list. Yes, they do have ketchup and mustard and even honey mustard, but go right past those. Consider cheese mustard, hot sauce, sweet chili, or garlic parmesan. Then you can continue the adventure by adding different dry seasonings to that – parmesan cheese powder, cheddar cheese dust, or honey butter seasoning. Probably a few that I’m missing. 

 

I went with a mozzarella and sausage covered hot dog, rolled in potato cubes, and then covered with sweet chili sauce. And it was truly the right choice. And, like I assumed earlier, like a dream I had, but this was real life. Super crunchy potatoes and batter, cooked perfectly. The hot dog is pretty much a hot dog, so I’m not going to wax poetic on flavor profiles and nuances of textures. I’ve never had chili sauce on a corndog before but now I’m a convert. It’s just really amazingly good. I’m looking forward to going back and trying some of the other combinations. 

 

I wrote way too long about this corndog, but I really wanted you all to pick up what I’m throwing down on this one. You’re going to want to go to Dinkytown (or better yet, LAS VEGAS) and pick up a couple of these for your family. One was plenty for one person, even me, once you get all the attachments and accoutrements. So, keep that in mind. But, you won’t be sorry, no matter you get there. It’s a super small and efficient shop – order at the counter, go outside and wait until they call your number, go inside and tell the cashier how you want your corn dog finished off, and then pay the person. Easy.

Pro-Choice Potluck at Hai Hai - Minneapolis, MN

I don’t always post “reviews” (I use that term very loosely) for once in a lifetime experiences that you’ll never get to duplicate, because sometimes it comes off as bragging or something. But, in this case, I’m going to rave about an event that we went to that was pretty amazing.

After Roe v Wade was overturned recently, Hai Hai decided to host an event to raise money for reproductive rights and awareness. They called their closest chef friends and asked then to whip up a potluck-style dish that would bring some folks in for a fundraiser. They has so much interest that they needed to host two separate dates. Both of these dates sold out in under a day and we were lucky enough to buy some tickets.

The putluck brunches were both held at Hai Hai on July 31^st and also August 14. Some chefs made food for both dates, but it was a difficult decision on which date to pick because some of our favorite chefs were only cooking at one of the days. The events raised over $50,000 for Just the Pill and Whole Woman’s Health Alliance. There was also a raffle with multiple really cool prizes from local businesses that also support reproductive rights. Also, great work by DJ Keezy, who really nailed the songlist and got many people up from their chairs and dancing.

 

We started with some fancy cocktails that were also in partnership with some local restaurants like Hai Hai, Hola Arepa, and Meteor. There were also some N/A cocktails from Tres Leches and Hi-Lo Diner, but we were in the mood for some full-alcohol coctails. 

 

When you read this food list, though, you’re going to be very mad that you weren’t there enjoying these delicious dishes. 

 

·      MEKONG SALAD I Chef Christina Nguyen I Hai Hai

Lao sausage, tom yum coconut milk dressing, herbs, peanuts

·      BRAISED CORN I Chef Alex Roberts I Alma

on the cob with whole spice coconut sauce

·      JAHPCHAE I Chef Ann Kim I Pizzeria Lola

sesame-soy dressed sweet potato noodles with marinated vegetables

·      EMPANADAS DE HUMITA I Chef Daniel Del Prado I Martina

creamed corn & provolone with chimichurri

·      BUDIN AZTECA I Chef Gustavo Romero I Nixta

Mexican lasagna with layered corn tortillas, chicken tinga, queso chihuahua, nopales salad

·      SMOKED CHICKEN LARB I Chef James Winberg I Travail

with sweet rice, shiso vinaigrette, herbs

·      SPICY SPINACH PANEER I Chef Janene Holig | Hot Indian Foods

coconut rice, mint-cucumber raita

·      BIRRIA ENCHILADAS I Chef Jon Wipfli I Animales BBQ Co

Braised beef, adobo, cheese, salsa, corn tortillas

·      ALBONDIGAS I Chef Jorge Guzman | Petite Leon

en mole poblano with sesame seeds

·      BORICUA “ARROZ CON POLLO" I Chef Nettie Colon I Red Hen Gastrolab

Puerto Rican rice with chicken, Longaniza sausage & pigeon peas

·      CHICKEN SKEWERS I Chefs Nikki & Brian Podgorski I The Salsa Collaborative

mojo marinated chicken thighs with deep fried plantain

·      PAN-FRIED DUMPLING | Chef Peter Bian | Saturday Dumpling Club

with brisket, carrot & onion, Chinese vinegar chili crisp sauce

·      MINI PRETZEL DOG I Chef Sun Cowles | Create Catering

with kimchi scallion ranch

·      SAVORY DOUGHSCUIT I Chef Tim Niver | Muccis

with tomato tartare and chèvre vinaigrette

·      STRAWBERRY PANNA COTTA | Chef Katie Elsing | Lynhall

with roasted plum & salted white chocolate crumb

·      PASSION FRUIT DIVA CAKE I Chef Zoè Francois | Zoe Bakes

almond jaconde cake, passionfruit buttercream, blackberry, ganache & toasted meringue

 

In the food line, I didn’t tell a single chef “no thank you” – just put them anywhere on my plate that you can find room. It ended up being a really impressive display of food. I felt like it would be MORE rude to tell someone you didn’t want the one thing that they brought to the potluck. Plus, I REALLY love to eat and I didn’t want to miss anything stellar.

It’s basically impossible to rank these in order of my favorite, since I’ve changed my mind about 20 times on what was the best. Just know that ZERO of these dishes were bad. In fact, none of them were even ho-hum or average. They were all fantastic. I can probably narrow it down to the best five dishes that I can determine as of me sitting on my couch right now writing this. So, in no particular order, I’ll list five of my above-and-beyond favorites:

·      Mekong Salad

·      Albondigas

·      Spicy Spinach Paneer

·      Savory Doughscuit

·      Strawberry Panna Cotta

·      (And yes, I’ve already gone back and edited this list – DAMMMIT! They were all so good!)

 

We didn’t end up winning anything in the raffle, but honestly, this was one of the best ways to kick off a Sunday that we’ve had in quite some time. I know the pandemic isn’t over, but it really is nice to ease into social events like this again. Of course, now the bar is set really high and we’ll never be able to assemble quite a lineup like this again, unless it’s at some spectacular event like this one. All the people working the event were having a good time; all the chefs and food servers were having a good time; all the people eating and drinking were having a good time. It just made you feel good!

 

Click on the links for the sponsors above and send them some dollars. It really makes a difference!

Burger Dive @ Bay Street – St. Paul, MN

I’m not going to try to explain Burger Dive’s business model in detail, but I’ll explain it as well as I can. There’s a couple of guys that love burgers and they’ve set up some sort of burger operation in the kitchens of multiple dive bars. They’ve got one in Potluck in the Rosedale Mall and they’ve got another in Bay Street in St. Paul. I don’t know the ins and outs, but I do know they know their way around a burger. 

D and SalsaSandwich were having a sister day, so they invited me to come along and have a burger with them, since SalsaSandwich loves a monumental burger. The choices on the menu were challenging, so some decisions had to be made. To buy us some time, we ordered some jalapeno cheese curds, which ended up being the right call. Plenty of jalapenos on top, and potentially inside the curds, as well. Hard to tell since it was dark in the dive bar that is the lovely Bay Street Bar. These folks clearly know their way around a deep fryer, as well, so we had high hopes for the burgers.

 

Once I had decided, the server came back and told me about the special of the month – a grilled cheese burger. Well that ruined everything since now all I could think about was the burger he described to me. I caved and had to go with the special, mainly because any of the other burgers, I could just come back and get them whenever I wanted to. I made my decision and had to stick with it.

 

The grilled cheese burger is two smashed patties on buttered toast with American cheese, cheddar cheese, cheddar aioli, and sliced tomato. All of this served with a little cup of tomato soup to dip it in. This thing was killer. Crispy edges on the burger patties and the right amount of cheese – not even a sloppy amount – just nailed it. The soup was really quite delicious to dip the burger into and the whole thing really came together even better than I expected it to. If they ever offer this burger again, I’ll be the first in line to get one. Super good. 

My apologies for not taking any other pics of burgers, since as soon as they hit the table, they were smashed directly into faces (we were a little hungry this particular day). But the fact that SalsaSandwich ate absolutely every bite of burger and every french fry and didn’t bring anything home was a testament to how good these monstrous burgers were. We’ll be back!

Top 5 things about Burger Dive at Bay Street

1. Grilled Cheese Burger

2. Very robust menu

3. Jalapeno Cheese Curds

4. They have pull tabs!

5. Outside seating area for the warmer days

 

Bottom 5 things

1. It’s hard to explain that it’s a restaurant inside a dive bar, that’s called something different

2. It’s a dive bar, so set your expectations accordingly (it’s perfectly safe to go there, I promise)

3. There’s really not anything bad about this place, honestly

4. 

5.

 

www.burgerdivemn.com

2019 Minnesota State Fair – St. Paul, MN

This year’s adventure was a little different from 2018, 2017, 2015, and a bunch of previous years. This year, I went on opening day with a handful of my co-workers as sort of a culinary tour guide. I’m not sure I was any good at it, but I’ll let you know what they say when we get back to work.  Thanks for hanging out with me all day, Sherri, Lisa, Hannah, Tami, Vicki, and Jim (and his family)!

I started at one of my favorite breakfast places – The Blue Barn. They’re always known for some creative stuff, and this year was no different. 

I tried the Breakfast Potato Skins – deep-fried potato skin filled with scrambled eggs and peppers. It is topped with a blackened beef chislic – a South Dakota bar food staple – and drizzled with béarnaise. The meat has an unusual texture, which makes me wonder about South Dakotans (hahaha kidding!), but was actually very flavorful. It’s sort of like a kafta kebop (lamb skewers). I thought the béarnaise on top was a nice touch. An unusual dish for breakfast, but still good.

I also tried the Blue Cheese Corn Fritz – these are deep fried blue cheese and corn fritters with chimichurri sauce. The had a good fry on them, but the cheese didn’t really shine through. I was hoping for more bite on them. The chimichurri sauce was fantastic, though. If you had just called them corn fritters and gave me the sauce, I wouldn’t have even needed to know there was cheese there.

The best thing I tried at the Blue Barn was the Nashville Hot Chicken on a Stick – it was a large flattened chicken strip coated with cereal (Special K, if I’m not mistaken) for a breading, and then sweet-heat butter glaze. There was also a great hot sauce drizzled over them and served with some pickles. Really a good and simple snack, for breakfast or anytime.

We stopped at Lulu’s Public House for some adult beverages. It’s never too early to double-fist beers at the State Fair! The Berry Go Round  by Schell’s Brewing was pretty darn good and a great way to start off the day. It’s a lemon-y beer with raspberries, strawberries, blackberries, and blueberries. Nice and tart/sour. Loved it.

The Onesie Twosie Lulu Lucky from Surly was also excellent. It’s a delicious IPA worth checking out. It isn’t going to change the IPA game, but I enjoyed it.

Next was the Turkish Pizza at the Blue Moon Diner. Way better than I thought, actually. It’s a flatbread naan topped with spicy minced beef, onion, tomato, lettuce, cucumber salad, herbs, and lemon juice – you can have it rolled up like a cone or like a pizza. I do wish they toasted the naan a little bit. As it is, it’s super floppy and soft and it’s very messy to eat, since they don’t have a lot of plastic knives at the state fair, I’ve noticed. Get it rolled for easier eating, I suppose (or they can cut it if you’re going to share it). Not mind-blowing, but it was extremely good, in my opinion.

We headed to the Coliseum for a Deep-Fried Dilly Dog from Swine and Spuds. This place has a pretty good track record for creativity. This monstrosity takes the cake for me. It’s a bratwurst, shoved inside a fat pickle, then battered and deep-fried. Oh, and it’s on a stick. I’m not even sure what kind of sauces you’re supposed to put on this thing, but I didn’t even use any. It’s like the best corndog you’ve ever had. I’ll be talking about this for a while. Also, my co-workers were impressed I could get my mouth around it. (I’m sure everyone is going to focus on that last phrase for the next year or two…)

We walked over to Mancini’s for a beer and another dog. This time it was the No Bologna Coney – it’s an Italian mortadella pork sausage flavored with pistachios and peppers, covered with  a muffaletta salad and served on a split-top bun. This thing was pretty good, especially the muffaletta. I wish the sausage had a touch more pistachio, but it was still really good (and messy).

The beer was Funnel Cloud F2 Ale from Bad Weather Brewing. I thought it was middle of the road and nothing special. I tasted neither funnel cakes nor caramel nor vanilla. Might have just had my expectation set to high – it was just an ok ale.  

Off to Dino’s Gyros for more delicious beers – they always have a great selection there. I went with the new Surly Mango Medusa, which was pretty good. Not my favorite mango beer, but it was really good.  The winner of the entire day was the Berry Manilow by Utepils. It was lemonade and raspberry, but not at all chemically. Just fantastically light and fun for the summer. I’m hoping they throw this in cans or bottles for me to stockpile in my house. Great work on this beer.

At Dino’s I also tried the Feta Bites, another new item. They had less flavor than I expected, but the dipping sauce that came with them did help – it was a creamy olive tapenade that was pretty rad.

I really wanted to try the Shrimp and Grits Fritters from Funky Grits in the Food Building. I’m a grits fan, cheesy or otherwise. These were a little dried out, sadly. The dip was ok. They were mainly just overly-fried dough balls served with an aioli. I had higher hopes for these.

There aren’t very many repeats for me at the state fair, but Mouth Trap cheese curds usually make an appearance. They definitely do if I have other friends to share them with. They’re so good and I love them.

Sometimes, O’Gara’s has delicious-sounding items and sometimes they follow through on it. I was a little disappointed with the Irish Whiskey Boneless Wings, though. They seemed like just regular wings and had no whiskey taste at all. The sauce that was on them was a little flacvorless, to be honest, although the fry on the outside of the chicken was excellent and the chicken inside was also excellent. I think they just missed some flavor powder with the whiskey sauce. Not terrible, and great if you just want some boneless wings, but not rave-worthy. (Go with the Rueben bites instead)

You can’t do wings without beers (well, I suppose you could, by it seems pointless), so I got a MN Haze from Lakes and Legends Brewing. It was a decent beer. No complaints and I’d drink it again. I also tried Castle Danger’s Peaches and Cream Ale. It was one of the better beers at the fair. Lots of flavor and very smooth. 

I’m a cookie dough fiend, so I had to check out the Deep Fried Cookie Dough at Kora’s Cookie Dough. It was cookie dough wrapped up in a wonton skin and deep fried. It was greasy but decent. I’m glad they added the chocolate drizzle and powdered sugar – both of them helped. It just feels texturally funny to eat warm cookie dough. Maybe that’s just me, though.

We popped over to The Hanger for the Wingwalker donut holes (I know there was some controversy over the original plan to have injectable syringes for what is now dipping sauces). The donuts themselves ended up being sadly boring, but the lingonberry sauce, the Bavarian cream, and chocolate dipping sauces were really great. I even shared mine with some strangers sitting next to me on the bench outside, and they concurred. Dips yes. Donuts meh.

I was starting to wind down, but I kept hearing about these Carnitas Taco Cones. It was honestly good, but was pretty much just a standard taco when it all comes down to it. The filling was great and a good amount. And the shell was perfectly fried into a cone. Note: This item got the most comments from passers-by out of anything I ate at the fair. It’s visually impressive.

I had to make sure I got at least one 1919 root beer. It’s my favorite at the state fair and I normally drink a gallon of it. I kept it to a low roar this year, but I still love it so much.

I ended up skipping the cheesy sriracha funnel cake, even though it was on the list. I just wasn’t’ feeling it towards the end of the day. I’m not always a funnel cake fan, so it doesn’t surprise me. But, if you find out I should have gotten it, please let me know. I’m curious about it!

On the way out of the fair, I had to make one last stop to get the Hot Hen from RC BBQ. It’s BBQ potato chips covered in buffalo chicken, blue cheese fondue, pickled jalapenos, and blue cheese crumbles. The topping was really good, but I wasn’t impressed by the BBQ chips. If you’re going to lay down a foundation, give it a little something, so it isn’t plain. I basically ate all the toppings off the top and powered through as many potato chips as I could. 

Overall, it was another great day at the Minnesota State Fair. I didn’t have a lot of mind-blowing new items, but a few definitely stuck out. Same for beers. I’m not disappointed at all. I had a great time hanging with my co-workers and running into a few friends that I have missed terribly. Let me know if you try anything I missed or if you disagree with any of my comments. I love a good food argument!

Top 5 (food) things at the 2019 Minnesota State Fair

1. Deep Fried Dilly Dog
2. Nashville Hot Chicken on a Stick
3. No Bologna Coney
4. Turkish Pizza
5. Carnitas Taco Cone

Lazy Moose Grille and Coffee House – Moose Lake, MN

We’re always up for an adventure when we head up to northern Minnesota, and we came across reviews for this small-town diner called the Lazy Moose. We knew we needed to check it out. The staff was absolutely lovely when we walked in and made sure we were taken care of. There’s a lot of younger staff working there, but someone had trained them well, or they were just genuinely nice people – kudos to you, either way.

It was lunch time and I was in need of a burger. I went with a Sriracha Ranch Burger, and D.Rough went with a Patty Melt. I also up-charged and went with the onion rings – I don’t mess around. We didn’t wait long before the food came out and it looked impressive. 

The burgers here are half-pounders. That’s big for a restaurant. Also, they had a perfect sear on the outside of them that was really impressive. My burger had melted blue cheese on it, a tomato, and sriracha ranch sauce. It was fantastic. The burger itself was extremely juicy, but crispy on the outside and the toppings were generous without making the whole thing a sloppy mess. The housemade pickles were exceptionally good, as well. And, I’m an onion ring snob, but these were some of the best I’ve had. The seasoning in the breading was excellent and they were nice and big slices onion. Great work on this!

D.Rough was pretty pleased with her patty melt, as well. It was the same half-pound burger and had lots of onions on it. It had cheddar and swiss on it, as well. And the rye flavor of the bread really came through on this thing. Pro-tip: get the wild rice soup here. It's sooooo good. Another winner!

We’re glad we stopped here. The reviews check out and, if anything, they don’t do this place justice. It’s a cute little restaurant in a small town, but they’re knocking it out of the park here. 

www.lazygrills.com

QC Pizza – Mahtomedi, MN

I can’t believe it’s taken me a year to get to this place that claims they make a Quad City-style pizza here in the Twin Cities. (The Quad Cities are two cities in Illinois and two cities in Iowa – depending on who you ask)(if you ask people from East Moline, they’ll say they are one of the Quad Cities, but it’s a lie)(The Quad Cities are my home – the Illinois side – if you didn’t know.) I’ve read the articles and seen it on FoodBeast, but I had to try it myself. 

They’re also known for this dill pickle pizza called the Kinda Big Dill Pizza, which had my curiosity piqued.

D.Rough and I popped in there tonight and couldn’t decide which pizza to get, so we got a medium dill pickle pizza and a medium taco pizza. We got the taco pizza so I could give a full comparison to the actual Quad City version that I grew up eating pretty much weekly. We were told there would be an hour wait, which to me means that this place is doing killer business. Thankfully, they steered us to the bar next door to have a beer or two while we waited for our order. They would text us when our pizzas were ready and we could head back next door and eat them in the pizza shop. We went next door and had our beers and came back around the hour point to check it out. We walked in and our pizzas were ready. 

Then, the owner noticed I had a 309 area code on my phone number I left and came out to ask why I had a Quad City area code and we chatted a bit. REALLY good guy and proud of his work. He IS doing killer business here, which is great, and I’m thrilled to hear it since all of my QC friends and family need to check it out.

What is Quad City style pizza? There are multiple places in the Quad Cities with this style – Harris Pizza, Frank’s Pizza, and The Pizza Joynt. The main thing is that it’s cut into strips. D.Rough refers to this as “you forgot to complete the Minnesota grid”-style slices. It also has a very specific mozzarella cheese blend. It also has a very distinct crumbled sausage mixed with a lot of fennel. Those are the main points, but I’m sure there are also some finer points with the crust and such, but I won’t go into that here. Let’s talk food. 

The taco pizza is just like home. It’s a sausagey pizza turned sort of into taco meat, covered with cheese and lettuce, and then covered with dorito-style tortilla chips on top. You have to ask for small packets of Heinz taco sauce to go with it, as well. That’s crucial. And yes, QC Pizza does have the taco sauce packets by request. It’s so good and messy. Be forewarned: the QC strips are floppy and you’ll lose all of your toppings until you figure out the proper grip – one hand on the end crust and one hand supporting the impending flop. That’s just how we eat them, deal with it. If NY pizza can be eaten a certain way – with a fold – then QC-style pizza can be eaten a certain way, as well. 

The dill pickle pizza was even better than I expected. It’s got a garlic sauce on it instead of the traditional red sauce and the pickle slices are covering this thing. There’s also some ham in there, so think of this like a pickle roll-up pizza or a Cubano pizza (minus the mustard – but now I wonder if they have mustard, which would be brilliant). There’s lots of dill sprinkled on the top as a seasoning. The whole thing is amazing and a fantastic idea. I’m glad we tried it! I would highly recommend it and we will for sure get it again. 

Note, QC Pizza isn’t cheap like Little Caesars or Domino’s. You’re getting a hand-tossed and crafted pizza with some unique flair. A few bites into these pies and you’ll forget about the price and your face hole will be extremely happy. 

I also loved that all the photos on the wall are of Quad City landmarks. Tugged at my heart strings a little, to be honest.

The verdict is a resounding YES, that it does accurately represent Quad City pizza legends and is, in fact, just as good as those places I grew up with. Dennis, thank you for bringing the taste of home back to Minnesota with you. I really appreciate you saving me a six hour drive every time I need a taste of home. Great job on these pizzas!!!

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