Chef Mike’s

by Adrienne Wilson on

Catfish Friday is one of those things you stumble upon and think “My goodness it’s my lucky day!” Such is what happened when I entered the Community Cafe on the corner of 24th and Lake Street in Omaha, Nebraska. At the Community Cafe you can expect a few things; casual dining atmosphere (cafeteria style), affordable prices and enough food to keep you fueled for the entire day. And my plate, covered with a rather healthy size catfish, collard greens, spaghetti and cornbread did exactly that. Everything before me was delicious and had the kind of touch my own mother would have graced the plate with however; it is Chef Mike who does all the cooking and a fine job too.

Catfish isn’t the only thing to be found on Chef Mike’s menu. Head in on a Monday and taste the ‘Blues’ Cajun style or swing in on a Tuesday for some tantalizing tacos. (Have I had the tacos – no, but if the catfish is great I’m willing to bet the tacos are just as good if not better.) Don’t take my word for it, visit the Community Cafe in North Omaha or Chef Mike’s site to learn more about his catering business.

Ice Cream Capital of the World

by Adrienne Wilson on



One of the joys of a well constructed road trip is that it isn’t as well constructed as you would have liked to it to have been, but it is here where fluke accidents occur. Some may call it a glitch in the matrix, but I say it is ice cream heaven on Earth. We didn’t anticipate going there because we never knew of its existence, but along a long stretch of Iowa highway rests a small quiet kind of town named Le Mars which has been proclaimed ICE CREAM CAPITAL OF THE WORLD! I shouted at my pal to pump the brakes and hook a quick left into the parking lot. My senses went into hyper-active mode and my emotions felt tangled. I was beyond feeling overjoyed, but in slight panic that we could have missed this lotus land for ice cream lovers. Once inside I felt my feet lift from the ground as I whiffed and followed the sweet scents from the various ice creams, frozen yogurt and waffle cones. As much as I LOVE ice cream I’m a fairly boring person when it comes to flavors. My personal favorites being natural vanilla, French vanilla, butter pecan and strawberry, I tend to stray from anything too exotic or containing explosive peanut butter filled chocolate bunnies. But that’s just me.

I ordered a cup of the homemade vanilla which wasn’t too bad on the pocket book ($2.19) and my companion had a strawberry cheesecake frozen yogurt on a waffle cone. Considering how incredibly warm it was in Iowa at this time of year (86 degrees) we decided to take our delicious desserts outside to bask in the afternoon sun. We walked around the big white Blue Bunny truck and stole a peek inside the museum which was closing in five minutes. Had we known about the place we might have been able to plan ahead and take a tour of the place, but once we finished our cones we were back on the open road and ready for the next big little secret spot to jump out at us.

Wonder why Le Mars is considered the Ice Cream Capital of the World? I did too, so before hitting the gas I asked and was told Le Mars is known for housing the largest family-owned ice cream production in the world. Owned by the Well’s family who still resides in Le Mars, Iowa it has little to do with taste or varieties, although they do have 37 different flavors. Find out more about Le Mars from their Visitor Guide and plan your own trip into the town.

Sanford’s Grub & Pub – Rapid City, SD

by Adrienne Wilson on



Once departing Keystone, SD me and my travel pal found ourselves in Rapid City searching for something to do and more so something to eat. I stopped at a Best Western to see what recommendations their front desk staff had and they pointed out Deadwood, but it was in the opposite direction and I’m not a big gambler. I moved onto my second favorite subject: FOOD. “Where’s the best place to grab some lunch in town?” I asked. Without batting his eyes the hefty guy behind the counter whipped out a map and directed me to Sanford’s Grub & Pub. So Sanford’s it was!

We arrived right as lunch was beginning and in good time too. The parking lot was empty when we pulled up, but it only took minutes from the time we were seated to see the big lunch crowd pouring in. I could keep this real simple, short and sweet and just tell you that at Sanford’s – everything is good. That the service is good, the atmosphere is awesome, prices are mid-range and the food is fantastic, but that would keep me from babbling about everything else that’s finger-lickin’ cool about the place. Let’s start with my very first impression of the spot. Cluttered and decorated from ceiling to floor practically, the place certainly isn’t lacking character. There are license plates, parking meters, neon signs aglow and thing-a-ma-jigs everywhere. In the front near the bar you can take a seat in the palm of a hand as the entire area has seats that are hands or you can head further inside for something slightly traditional. (Stools and chairs.) I didn’t count to check for accuracy, but I’m told there are 300 some TV’s in the building with various programming to watch should it tickle your fancy. I didn’t watch TV and I didn’t watch my appetite – I watched my food.

Start with an appetizer if you’re super hungry. We ordered fried stuffed jalepeños with cream cheese and they were AMAZING! My friends said they were some of the best he had ever eaten and I agree, though I’d never had them before. I went on to order the Gas Kap sandwich which was a chicken breast cooked in cajun spices topped with strips of sirloin and a side of slaw. D-LICIOUS. I think you guys understand where I’m going here. Head to Sandford’s when in Rapid City. They’re off the meter!

Sanford’s Grub & Pub is located at 306 7th Street, Rapid City, SD 57701. Ph. 605.721.1463

GADLING’S TAKE FIVE: Week of October 1

by Adrienne Wilson on

Buckle down everyone and grab some hot cocoa. It’s time for another weekly dose of Gadling’s Take Five.

5. Shrink is Located in Terminal A:
Fear of flying? Get help and get over it! Iva brings a great piece from USA Today which talks of Buenos Aires response to those who are afraid to fly. You can now find a shrink in the terminal. Can someone say “hooray?”

4. America’s Best Restaurants:
Eating is one of our favorite past times and can be especially delightful while on the road. That is unless you are eating junk 24/7. Skip the ick food and swing into America’s 50 Best Restaurants as found in Gourmet Magazine.

3. Hidden Gems: Pamir Botanical Gardens:
Tour the world’s second highest botanical gardens found in Tajikistan or specifically in the Pamirs. Take a look at photos and my first hand experience traveling through parts of Central Asia where little is known.

2. Playboy Club Reopens:
I’m sure heels are clicking somewhere over this news provided by Neil. The new Playboy Club have reopened in Las Vegas’ Palms Hotel starting today. Fella’s beware of any women dressed as bunnies and remember always to behave.

1. Space Tourist Anousheh Ansari Blogs:
Envious – indeed we are! How I’d love to travel to space and I’m sure there are many folks who feel just the way I do. Until we can afford it, I mean, until we get our chance there are other outlets. In the meantime we can read the blogs of the most recent tourist to soar out of this world, Anousheh Ansari.

Restaurant Rant: Big Time Pizza – Keystone, SD

by Adrienne Wilson on

No one likes writing restaurant rants including myself, but when I encounter very bad service it then becomes my obligation to all potential travelers to make such piss poor service known. Sigh. Before I begin with my rant let me set up the scene in Keystone, SD around this time of year.

For starters it’s off-season in Keystone and what may be a bustling little place right outside of Mount Rushmore in summertime it feels quiet and deserted for fall and even more so for winter. Here and there a few businesses have closed up operation already and will reopen later next year and those that have yet to close either offer discounted rates on goods, limited goods or shorten business hours. All of which makes perfect sense if there aren’t any tourists around to generate a buck. Knowing this and that we were traveling in the area at such a point in the season my companion and I planned to eat dinner as early as we possibly could and remained aware and flexible towards business operation in town. However, business operation and hospitality/service are not entirely one of the same. Here’s my spill:

The first evening we found ourselves at Big Time Pizza it was about 8:30 PM. We stepped in to what appeared to be a humble, cozy kind of family-owned spot that claimed to make all other pizzas jealous. Having had pizza two nights before, we were really interested in just munching on a salad or a sub. On the menu you’ll find half a page listing a variety of subs and half with different pizza selections. On the back there were roughly three salads listed. I had decided on the chef salad and my pal was going for the 6 inch veggie sub. Our server was an older woman (also part-owner) who peered over her glasses and smiled as she made everything we requested sound like an inconvenience. When I requested a slice of lemon for my water she made it sound as if I were in luck that they just so happen to have sliced one. Huh? She said no one had ordered salad in weeks and she would have to see if they had everything needed to make the chef salad. She returned and reported that the lettuce they had wasn’t the normal iceberg type or spinach kind, but it was still good and good for me. I asked if they could kindly serve the salad without the green pepper or the onions and she said told me they came on the side and that I could take it off. (I asked assuming their salads were freshly made as they were and not pre-packaged like a McDonald’s salad.) Thankfully she gave me a napkin so when my salad arrived I could pick everything I did not want off and place it on the napkin. When my friend put in his sub order she had little to say other than there was only one chef in the back and that she would have to see if he could make the sub. Um, fair enough I suppose. Anyhow, our food arrived and we gobbled it down. Having realized how delicious his veggie sub was my friend politely ordered a second serving. Our server as nice as can be told us the chef couldn’t without even consulting him. He was only making pizza. While I thought all of what we experienced strange I kept telling myself we were travelers at the mercy of the off-season business blues. We paid our bill and left.

However, my poor service story continues.On the following day we had consumed a large portion of the day exploring Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Custer State Park, Needles Highway, and the whole shebang. The area was absolutely beautiful, but we were getting weary and concerned with time. We knew we had to get something to eat early before everything closed up. We returned to Big Time Pizza certainly not because of their great service, but because we didn’t know if anything else along the main drag was open and didn’t want to miss our chance at having dinner. On this second visit just a day after our first we found that Big Time Pizza was nothing other than a Big Time Let Down. We were seated by a cute little girl who had to have been around 8 or so and shortly afterwards greeted by our server from the previous day. Before we could put in our very same orders from the previous day she said there was no more salad and the chef was only making pizza. We left.

As we drove down the road in search of other restaurants we couldn’t help wondering if we had ordered a pizza if they would have had the kind we wanted? The thing that struck me most bizarre is everything on the veggie sub could be found on a pizza and much faster to fix than making pizza. Everything on the chef salad could be found on a pizza and faster to make as well. What was the issue? Even if it is off-season you’d think they’d go they extra-mile to make all the money possible before things really slow down, but obviously good service and making our money was unimportant.

We ended up having fantastic salads at the Ruby House though. If you’re ever in Keystone, SD go there first and don’t even deal with Big Time Pizza a.k.a Big Time Waste of Time. Note: Big Time Pizza is neither owned or operated by the Roosevelt Inn.

Big Time Pizza is located in the Roosevelt Inn on Highway 16A in Keystone and is open all year. Ph. 605.666.4443