History and Culture by Bicycle: points

Showing posts with label points. Show all posts

Tuesday, July 28, 2015

Search for the Best Loose Meat - Villager Family Restaurant

The Villager Family Restaurant is located in Storm Lake, Iowa. Along with a wide variety of menu items they serve loose meat or tavern sandwiches.

Two tavern sandwiches were taste tested. Over all they very good. The meat had the right amount of moisture with a very good blend of seasoning and spices. The meat also had another unexpected flavor. There was a bit of a sweet flavor to the meat. It is unclear what the sweet flavor is from but it did not over power the other flavors or the texture of the meat. The color of the meat at first might make one think they are eating a sloppy joe sandwich. The bun was the perfect size. The condiments and toppings included, cheese, pickle, mustard and ketchup were correctly proportioned.

When I first walked in I noticed the restaurant was very clean and tidy. The employee at the order counter patiently waited for my order to be placed. The Villager also has a drive through with employees dedicated to taking of drive through customers. For customers who dine in The Villager is a sit down type restaurant with a pleasant, open dining atmosphere. My ordered was filled in a very reasonable amount of time and one of the employees brought it to me.

The tavern sandwiches at the Villager Family Restaurant is awarded 92 points. This is mainly because of the color and the sweet flavor. I will enjoy eating these taverns in the future and recommend them for anyone else.

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 - A New Leader

Search for the Best Loose Meat - Hamilton Blvd Coney Island
Search for the Best Loose Meat - West Side Dairy Queen

Saturday, October 11, 2014

Search for the Best Loose Meat - West Side Dairy Queen

The west side Dairy Queen located at the intersection of West 4th Street and Hamilton Blvd in Sioux City, Iowa serves local menu items in addition to their normal menu as a franchise restaurant. One of these local menu items is taverns.

Two tavern sandwiches were taste tested. Over all they were OK. The meat was a bit over moist causing the bun to be a little mushy. Because of the excess moisture the flavor was a bit bland. The condiments, pickle, mustard and ketchup were correctly proportioned. The bun was a bit thick.

When I first walked in I noticed the restaurant was very clean and tidy. The employees were hard at work helping drive through customers as I was the only walk in customer at the time. I only had to wait but a moment when an employee assigned to the drive through noticed I was standing at the counter she called for help at the counter, but realized when no one was available she took my order rather than just walk back to the drive through area. My ordered was filled in a very reasonable amount of time and the employees continued to help others as necessary.

Because of the bland flavor, excess moisture, and thick bun I award 70 points to this Dairy Queen for their taverns.

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 - A New Leader

Search for the Best Loose Meat - Hamilton Blvd Coney Island

Saturday, June 7, 2014

Search for the Best Loose Meat - Hamilton Blvd Coney Island

The Coney Island on Hamilton Blvd is located in the Market Place Shopping Center. It was owned by the same people who own the downtown Coney Island, now it is under different ownership.

The people who own and operate it are nice and very friendly. The restaurant is clean and tidy.

However the loose meat sandwiches that were taste tested were awful. The bun on both sandwiches was very dry. The meat was very dark and was over cooked almost to the point of being burned. It was very dry and the texture was grainy. If there spices it was impossible to tell because it was so dry. The only thing that gave it any flavor at all was the condiments which included ketchup, mustard, pickle and onion.

The after affect of eating these sandwiches was not very pleasant. I had a very upset stomach and gastric distress from eating them. I almost could not them but decided to so the taste test would be fair.

The only reason the Hamilton Blvd Coney Island receives any points is because the restaurant was clean and the staff was very nice and friendly.

I was hoping to find this Coney Island uses a different recipe than the one downtown and comparing the two to see how close they are. But I'll never know because of how awful these sandwiches are. They were $3.25 each but they are not even worth $0.99 a piece.

With 25 total points I will not try the loose meat sandwiches again at Hamilton Blvd Coney Island. Not sure if I'll return for any of their other food items.

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 - A New Leader

Saturday, May 31, 2014

Search for the Best Loose Meat - A New Leader

The number of restaurants and the loose meat sandwiches has increased from four to a total of 8.

The four additional restaurants include: The Garden Cafe, Tastee Inn and Out, the downtown Coney Island and Bob Roe's Point After. With these four additional restaurants having been reviewed there is now a new leader.

Here are the new results from first to last:

With 98 points Tastee Inn and Out is now in the lead:
Search for the Best Loose Meat - Tastee Inn and Out

97 points Billy Boy Drive Thru puts Billy boy Drive Thru in second place:

Search for the best Loose Meat - Billy Boy Drive Thru

The downtown Coney Island has 96 points for third place:
Search for the Best Loose Meat - Downtown Coney Island

At 95 points Little Chicago Deli and Grill is moved to fourth:

Search for the best Loose Meat - Little Chicago Deli and Grill

The restaurant that occupies the building where the tavern sandwich was originally invented, The Garden Cafe has 94 points placing them fifth position:
Search for the Best Loose Meat - The Garden Cafe

Jitters is bumped into sixth position with 93 points:

Search for the best Loose Meat - Jitters

Second to last is Bob Roe's Point After with 75 points:
Search for the Best Loose Meat - Bob Roe's Point After

Dead last with no possible way to redeem themselves is Riverside Dairy Queen:

Search for the best Loose Meat - Riverside Dairy Queen

Search for the Best Loose Meat - Tastee Inn and Out

Search for the Best Loose Meat - Downtown Coney Island

Tuesday, May 6, 2014

Search for the best Loose Meat - Starting Over

The search for the best loose meat or tavern sandwich has changed again. It started with just searching in Sioux City then expanded to Siouxland and has now expanded to everywhere loose meat or tavern sandwiches are found.

The point system has also changed. It started as a star based award system, then changed to points with the overall score as the average of all the points added together from the different categories. As a result there are several ties for first, second and third place. That has changed to the following:

1. The establishment the sandwiches are served in. Is it clean, nice looking, is the staff friendly and professional, etc.? is there something unique about the establishment other places do not offer?
2. The overall appearance of the sandwich when it is served. If the sandwich is wrapped vs. served on a plate, it will be based on how it looks when the wrapper is opened. Does the sandwich look like it will fall apart? Is it put together with correct proportions of the ingredients it is made from?
3. Portability - how easy would it be to eat the loose meat sandwich in a moving car, or while standing without loosing most of the meat and without the sandwich falling apart?
4. Price - is the price of the loose meat fair for the sandwich served?

There is no expectation of 5 star dining with the finest cuisine made by celebrity chefs but the establishment shall be nice, clean, hospitable and the sandwich shall be made well and look good before it is consumed.

The remaining categories will be:
5. Meat - the spices blended in with the meat, the moisture content, the overall flavor, is there too much fat or not enough? is the meat too lean or to fatty? the overall texture. is there something unique other establishments do not do? is there something in the meat that does not belong? is there something in the meat that alters it from being tavern meat?
6. Condiments - what type of condiments are used? how well proportioned are they with other condiments? are the condiments fresh, good tasting? does one over power another? is there something unique about the condiments other establishments do not do?
7. Bun - the size of the bun in coordination with the amount of meat. is the bun too dry or too moist? is it to thick? type or style of the bun. is there something unique about the bun not used by other establishments?

The total possible points will be: 100

There will be no tie.

The sandwiches will be consumed as ordered with what they come with. Nothing will be added to dress up the sandwich and nothing will be left off the sandwich. They will be ordered with everything that is supposed to come on the sandwich based on how the establishment makes them.

The slate is wiped clean all establishments that have been tested in the past are starting at zero. May the best establishment win.

Thursday, September 5, 2013

Search for the Best Loose Meat Sandwich in Siouxland: Little Chicago Deli & Grill

Recently the tavern or loose meat sandwich served by Little Chicago Deli & Grill in Sioux City, Iowa was taste tested. Little Chicago Deli & Grill started out as just a local sub shop who recently expanded their menu to include hot food. They are the best place in Sioux City to have a sub or deli style sandwich and are a local favorite. Little Chicago Deli & Grill is located in downtown Sioux City, Iowa.

Here are the results:

The Little Chicago Deli & Grill Tavern comes with square shape bun, seasoned meat, cheese, pickle, onion, mustard and ketchup unless otherwise specified.

A total of 4 sandwiches were tested. 2 with mustard, 2 without.

Bun - Rating: 5 points. The bun is square and the perfect size for the amount of tavern meat and comdiments. Very soft as a tavern sandwich bun should be.

Meat - Rating: 5 points. The meat was perfect. The right amount of moisture. The texture was perfect. the meat was loose enough to be called a loose meat or tavern, but not so loose it completely fell out of the bun. The blend of seasoning was perfect. Not too much and not too little. The flavor was excellent. There was the natural flavor from the beef that could still be tasted through the blend of seasoning and spices. The seasoning does not overpower the flavor of the beef.

Condiments - Rating: 5 points. The condiments provided are: cheese, pickle, onion, ketchup and mustard. All of the listed condiments and toppings are included unless otherwise specified. The condiments provided are perfectly proportioned in the right amounts where one does not over power the other.

Total score: 15 points out of 15 possible. A perfect score.

This puts the tavern or loose meat sandwich at Little Chicago Deli & Grill tied for first place with Coney Island and Bob Roe's Point After. This is out of a total of 12 places tested, 2 are franchised, 10 are not. There is going to have to be a tie breaker between the top 3.

Tied for 1st Place - Coney Island, Bod Roe's Point After and Little Chicago Deli 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: Bob's Drive Inn with 11 points.
6th Place - Culver's with 9 points.
7th Place - Dairy Queen with 8 points.

Photo:

Previous articles on the search for the best loose meat:
Search for the Best Loose Meat in Siouxland: Bob's Drive Inn
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 Siouxland: Update Continued
Search for the Best Loose Meat in Siouxland: 10/6/2012
Search for the Best Loose Meat in Siouxland: Fall of 2012
Search for the Best Loose Meat in Siouxland: Tastee Inn and Out Recipe

Saturday, April 6, 2013

Search for the Best Loose Meat Sandwich in Siouxland: Bob's Drive Inn

Recently the tavern or loose meat sandwich served by Bob's Drive Inn in LeMars, Iowa was taste tested. Bob's Drive Inn is a LeMars, Iowa staple. It opened in 1949 and has been one of the places to eat in LeMars.

Here are the results:

Bun - Rating: 5 points. The bun is square and the perfect size for the amount of tavern meat and comdiments. Very soft as a tavern sandwich bun should be.

Meat - Rating: 2 points. The meat had too much moisture. So much the meat clumped together almost making it on solid hamburger pattie instead of loose meat. It should have not been as moist as it was. The feel or the texture on the tongue was confusing because of the excessive moisture.
The flavor taste of the meat is too bland. Were it not for the condiments there would almost be no flavor at all to the meat, except for the actual taste of the hamburger itself but because of the excessive moisture the hamburger flavor would have been affected.

Condiments - Rating: 4 points. The condiments provided are: opinion ketchup and mustard. Pickles are not included unless asked for, but should be. The condiments provided are pefectly proportioned in the right amounts where one does not over power the other. The onions were diced into square shapes. An interesting option vs minced or just chopped.

Total score: 11 points out of 15 possible.

This puts the tavern or loose meat sandwich at Bob's Drive Inn in 5th place over all out of 10 places tested and 7 places in the rankings. The only 2 that scored lower than Bob's Drive Inn are Culver's and Dairy Queen. For non-chain/non-franchise type establishments Bob's Drive Inn is in last place.

Over all rankings to date:

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: Bob's Drive Inn with 11 points.
6th Place - Culver's with 9 points.
7th Place - Dairy Queen with 8 points.

Photos: