Search for the Best Loose Meat - Bob Roe's Point After

Established in 1982 and in its current location since 1991 Bob Roe's Point After has attracted such patrons as Woody Harrelson, Terry Bradshaw, and President Barrack Obama. It is a very nice, friendly and clean sports bar and restaurant with traditional American food. Bob Roe's has plenty of dining room space with tables and booths and they offer carry out.

One of the items they serve on the lunch menu is tavern sandwiches. The day these were taste tested Bob Roe's had a special of a cheese tavern with potato salad. The normal tavern sandwiches come with chips as a meal. What was ordered was the cheese tavern and potato salad special and one extra single tavern with no cheese and without the chips. What was provided was the cheese tavern special and the regular tavern meal with chips. The waitress did never explained if just a single tavern sandwich with no chips could be ordered at a lower price. She just assumed both meals were being ordered despite how the order was placed.

Right away it was noticed there is way too much moisture in the meat. This affected both the flavor and the texture. If there were spices blended in it was impossible to tell because of the amount of liquid beef fat or grease that leaked out of the meat. the moisture also soaked into the bun so much it was difficult to eat because the bun turned to mush from so much moisture. The bun heal literally started falling apart as the sandwiches were being consumed. With the amount of moisture in the meat there was confusion no the tongue and at one point it seemed like a hamburger patty was being consumed, not a loose meat sandwich. The pickles came on the side and were not crunchy at all. Pickles are supposed to be a bit cold and crunchy when bitten into even on a warm sandwich. A fork, not a spoon was provided to help eat the loose meat that fell out of the bun. A spoon should not have to be asked for when a loose meat sandwich is served in a professional restaurant. The taverns were way over priced for what they really are.

The dinner ware had a bit to be desired too. The drink cups were plastic and disposable and the plates were styrofoam, not ceramic or a non-disposable hard material. Bob Roe's is not a fast food restaurant like McDonald s or Burger King. It is a lot nicer and looks a lot more professional than a place where food is ordered and the containers it comes in are as disposable as possible.

With a total score of 75 points I will not have the tavern sandwiches again and might return for something else.

Previous Articles:

Search for the best Loose Meat - Starting Over
Search for the best Loose Meat - How a Tavern Shall be Made
Search for the best Loose Meat - History
Search for the best Loose Meat - Billy Boy Drive Thru
Search for the best Loose Meat - Jitters
Search for the best Loose Meat - Riverside Dairy Queen
Search for the best Loose Meat - Little Chicago Deli and Grill
Search for the best Loose Meat - Who's in First?
Search for the Best Loose Meat - The Garden Cafe

Search for the Best Loose Meat - Tastee Inn and Out

Search for the Best Loose Meat - Downtown Coney Island

Search for the Best Loose Meat Sandwich in Siouxland: Fall of 2012

Three more places that serve loose meat sandwiches have been discovered in late October and early November. After taste testing 2 sandwiches from each establishment here are the results:

HyVee Kitchen
HyVee is a grocery food store on Hamilton Blvd in Sioux City. HyVee has a kitchen that sells prepared food as meals to customers. Every so often they serve tavern or loose meat sandwiches.

Results of HyVee's tavern sandwich taste test:
Bun - Rating: 4 points. The bun was a bit dry.

Meat - Rating:  3 points. The meat had very good moisture. But was too salty. there was a hint of other spices in the meat but it was very subtle due to the salt content. The salt content needs to be reduced or the amount of the other spices increased.

Condiments/Toppings - Rating: 5 points. The proportion of ketchup, mustard and pickles were perfect

Total score: 12 points out of 15 possible.

The Garden Cafe
The Garden Cafe is what Gus's Family Restaurant used to be. Gus's closed and The Garden Cafe opened. It is in the same building where the tavern or loose meat sandwich was first created. The original restaurant was called Ye Old Tavern and the sandwich was named Ye Old Tavern Tavern. The proprietor of the Garden Cafe claims the original recipe used by the person who invented the original tavern sandwich is being used to make their tavern sandwiches. There is currently no proof to back this claim up. Proof of the original authentic recipe from the creator of the original tavern sandwich would have to be something that is authored and signed by that person. But the Garden Cafe's tavern sandwich did make it into a magazine called Food Network Magazine as the best in all of Iowa.

Results of The Garden Cafe's tavern sandwich taste test:
Bun - Rating: 5 points. The bun is perfect size for the amount of meat and is toasted.

Meat - Rating:  4 points. The meat had a perfect blend of spices and great flavor. But it was a little too dry.

Condiments/Toppings - Rating: 5 points. The proportion of ketchup, mustard and pickles were perfect. An interesting option that was not used was mayo. on the side.

Total score: 14 points out of 15 possible.

Bob Roe's Point After
Bob Roe's Point After, or The Point After as it is most often called was founded in 1982 and opened at its current location in 1991. During the lunch hour she service tavern sandwiches.

Results of Bob Roe's Point After tavern sandwich taste test:
Bun - Rating: 5 points. The bun is perfect size for the amount of meat.

Meat - Rating:  5 points. The meat had a perfect blend of spices and great flavor. It also has chopped onion mixed in.

Condiments/Toppings - Rating: 5 points. The proportion of ketchup, mustard and pickles were perfect.

Total score: Perfect score of 15 points!

Note: for these 3 tavern sandwich taste tests the ketchup and mustard was added by the tester.

To Date rankings of all loose meat or tavern sandwiches tested:

Tied for 1st Place - Coney Island and Bod Roe's Point After with a perfect score of 15 points.
Tied for 2nd Place - Billy Boy, Miles Inn and the Garden Cafe with 14 points.
Tied for 3rd Place - Tastee Inn and Out and Ali's Good Time Grill with 13 points.
4th Place: HyVee Kitchen on Hamilton Blvd with 12 points.
5th Place -  Culver's with 9 points.
6th Place - Dairy Queen with 8 points.

Previous articles:
Search for the Best Loose Meat in Sioux City
Search for the Best Loose Meat in Sioux City: Update
History of the Loose Meat or Tavern Sandwich
Search for the Best Loose Meat in Sioux City: Update Continued
Search for the Best Loose Meat in Siouxland: 10/6/2012