Category Archives: Dining
Fantastic news – (Bridges of) Madison County’s famous Northside Cafe in Winterset Iowa revived
Great news totally out of the blue today that the former owners of what was once my favorite Des Moines restaurant, Chat Noir, until it closed in 2004, are taking over the 136-year-old Northside Cafe, the classic small town greasy … Continue reading
Filed under Des Moines, Dining, Iowa
New italian food (and hotdogs?) old church in Northwest Iowa
La Chiesa in downtown Spencer, Iowa is a new Italian restaurant in an old Episcopal church, so you can eat pasta and pizza in a former sanctuary, complete with stained glass windows, arched wood beams and a big cross. So … Continue reading
Leo’s/Royal Oak and Lou Malnati’s in Chicago
Made it home without a hitch yesterday after a 5.5 hour drive from Chicago which started with some very stormy weather. Didn’t have much time to explore the city since we were just passing through but did get a take … Continue reading
Filed under chicago, detroit, Dining, Uncategorized
Check out restaurant week in Des Moines for great deals – late August
This year I’m finally going to try to take advantage of “Restaurant Week in Des Moines” – where top restaurants in the city offer great discounts on lunch and dinner during ten days between Aug. 19-28 that would otherwise be … Continue reading
Filed under Des Moines, Dining, Iowa
A visit to the Swamp Fox in Knoxville, Iowa
After touring a reconstructed prairie in 100 degree heat (which was lovely except for some very irritating little flies with a nasty bite), we stopped by the Peace Tree Brewery in nearby Knoxville, which is in an airy old brown … Continue reading
Filed under Dining, Iowa, Uncategorized
Odds and ends from West Central Wisconsin
In Sparta, we ate at Angelini’s – a nothing fancy but good old-fashioned Italian restaurant downtown that was packed on a Saturday night and makes a good tomato meat sauce and has good thin crust pizza. One minor quibble – … Continue reading
Staying on campus at U of Iowa – Iowa City
The Iowa House Hotel, located in the Iowa Memorial Union, on the UI campus in Iowa City couldn’t have been more convenient during my daughter’s two-day orientation last week. Most of the orientation stuff for parents took place at the … Continue reading
Fest in Andersonville
We weren’t thrilled to discover there was a festival going on in the Chicago neighborhood of Andersonville today but we braved the crowds and visited some fun shops (Transitor, FourSquare) and got to watch some fun male line dancers dressed … Continue reading
BBQ in Chicago
As usual, my family doesn’t know what we’re doing in Chicago during our upcoming visit except where we are eating – or want to eat. One place my Chicago-based stepdaughter wants to try: a newish BBQ place Lillie Qs: http://www.lilliesq.com/. Supposed … Continue reading
Filed under chicago, Dining, Uncategorized
