Des Moines, Iowa for the Triple D Meet and Eat and Taylors Maid Rite!

I have become the admin for two Triple D Facebook fan sites.  A while back a guy named Gene in Iowa suggested that we have a get together for fans and was wondering if there was interest and I said there was but no one wanted to organize anything so Gene decided he would!  He planned what he would call the "Triple D Meet and Eat" at a Triple D place in the Des Moines area.  I wasn't sure if I would be able to go but as the date got closer I decided to try and make it.  Guy visited 6 places in the Des Moines area plus there was a non Triple D place about an hours drive from Des Moines that I have always wanted to try. 

As I looked at flights it didn't look too good.  Flights into Des Moines always seem to be full.  I looked at buying a ticket the price was pretty expensive.  It looked like I would have to fly to Chicago and make the 5 hour drive, which I didn't look forward to.  I was almost out  ideas when I checked out Google Maps and saw that I could fly into Kansas City, which is about a 3 hour drive.  I bought a very inexpensive ticket and got an unbelievably inexpensive car rental.  I couldn't figure out why the hotels were so expensive and many were totally sold out and then I found out that the World Pork Festival was scheduled for the same weekend!

The trip didn't start out the way I wanted, the flight ended up being delayed over an hour waiting for one of the flight attendants to arrive.  I was getting pretty upset because I had planned to drive to a place that was only open until 230p and with the delay and the 3 hour drive that would not be possible.  It actually was a blessing in disguise as I could take my time and not rush.  The drive from Kansas City to Des Moines is pretty fast on I-35.  I stopped at the Iowa Welcome Center, which doubles as an Amish store.

Welcome to Iowa

I arrived at my hotel near the Des Moines Airport.  I had made plans to meet Gene at a Triple D place around 7p so after getting settled in I headed out to try one place before meeting Gene. 

I headed out in record setting heat and humidity, mid 90's temperatures and heat indexes near 100, thank God for AC!  My first stop was at "Mi Patria Ecuadorian Restaurant" in a strip mall in West Des Moines.  The walls are filled with photos and paintings from Ecuador.  I decided to try two of their popular appetizers.  Beef Empanadas and a plantain based dish called Tortilla de Verde con Ensalada Criolla.

Mi Patria in West Des Moines

Both dishes were excellent!  The Empanada's were different from any I had ever had before.  They were fried rather than baked with a much thinner crust.  The Tortilla de Verde con Ensalada Criolla was a plantain based dish with the plantains smashed into a smooth patty stuffed with beef and vegetables and topped with a very tasty salad called Ensalada Criolla.  I think that the salad was the real star, crisp, fresh and tasty.

Beef Empanadas

Tortilla de Verde con Ensalada Criolla

Before leaving I was able to meet the Chef and owner to get him to sign my book and we talked for a few minutes about Ecuadorian cooking and the dishes I had tried.  He told me that in Ecuador they fry their empanadas and that is unique to Ecuador.  He also told me that the plantain patties are also pretty unique to Ecuador. They are prepared in the same way that they make Mofungo in Puerto Rico.  He told me that these are the only two countries that cook them in this way.  Mi Patria is a very unique for Iowa!

Befroer leaving for Des Moines I made plans to meet Gene, the guy who organized the Meet and Eat, for dinner on my first night.  We decided to meet at about 7p at "Flying Mango" a Cajun, Caribbean and Barbecue inspired restaurant in the Beaverdale area of Des Moines.  Shortly after 7p I met Gene and Terri nd we were seating in a small booth at the back of the restaurant.  I was great to finally meet Gene, I have followed his Triple D travels.  As you enter the first thing you see is the large pen kitchen and the aroma hits you immediately.

Flying Mango in Des Moines

The place is known for it's 24 hour smoked brisket, why 24 hours, the menu asks?  "Because 23 is just not enough! "  The rest of the menu is pretty awesome.  On the show they made the brisket, catfish patties (which were not on the menu this night) and the smoked catfish dinner.  I decided to try the Shrimp and Grits.  Gene went for the Catfish dinner and Terri chose the chicken platter.  While we waited we talked with our server and told her about our Triple D travels and she told me that the owner, Mike, was in and that he would be stopping by to sign my book.  The meals came out in fairly short order and the meal sizes were pretty large.  Terri's was served half a chicken and it looked perfectly barbecued!  Gene's Catfish looked delicious and my Shrimp and Grits was unbelievably good, the best Shrimp and Grits I have ever had!  Usually the shrimp sauce makes the grits a bit runny, not these!  I don't what they did but they were thick and creamy!  The shrimp were huge and the sauce was a bit salty but delicious.

Terri's Chicken Platter

Gene's Catfish platter

My Shrimp and Grits

While we were eating Mike, the owner of Flying Mango, came over and sat with us for aboutn10 minutes, he signed my book and then we discussed the restaurant and Guy's visit in 2014 for their part of "Diner's, Drive-ins, and Dives".  He is a really nice guy and we had a wonderful conversation.  I would highly recommend Flying Mango if you are in the area, you won't be disappointed!

Dining at Flying Mango - Gene, Terri, me and Mike (Flying Mango owner)

It had been a very full and tiring day so getting back to the hotel was a nice ending to a great day.

I had a full day ahead hoping t get to a number of places.  The heat was back and it would be in the upper 90's, again thank you AC!  My first stop was in Marshalltown, about an hour's drive north east of Des Moines.  Filmmaker Rick Sebak made a show in the early 2000s called "Sandwiches That You Will Like" for PBS.  It has become a favorite of mine and features different sandwich places throughout the USA.  One of the places featured was "Taylor's Maid-Rite" in Marshalltown.  I have wanted to get there ever since and this was my opportunity!  Maid Rite is an Iowa based chain featuring their signature Maid Rite Sandwich.  It is sort of like a sloppy joe sandwich with no sauce, loose ground beef served on a roll.  I arrived and as I sat at the counter (the place is one large square counter).  As soon as your seated you are given a small glass of ice water and a spoon, which seems a bit odd, but when you get your sandwich you'll see why and also they have been doing it at Taylor's since 1927! 

Taylor's Maid-Rite in Marshalltown, Iowa

Their home since the early 1950s

I finally made it to Taylor's!

I ordered the special, a Maid Rite sandwich with a bag of chips and a soft drink.  I remembered on the show that it was almost blasphemy to even ask for ketchup, in fact they said that the staff didn't even need to say anything your fellow diners will!  Times have changed!  Ketchup is now on the counter, but you must add it yourself.  I asked for mine with mustard and chopped onions.  They make it right at the counter and as you open the wrapping about half of the meat from the over stuffed sandwich falls on to the wrapping, hence the spoon!  The sandwich was delicious!  It looked small but very filling.  As I was enjoying my meal, a number of locals came in, they do a very big carry out business and I could tell that Taylor's is very important to the community, any of the customers were on a first name basis with the staff.

Your place setting at Taylor's as soon as you sit down

My meal, he over loaded Maid Rite (why you need the spoon) and local Dutch brand chips

I was so glad that I was able to get to Taylor's, it was a place I had wanted to get to and it exceeded my large expectations!  I headed out and back into the Des Moines area.  The drive was along rolling hills and a lot of farm land.  I would call Des Moines a pretty small city, it reminded me of Ottawa, Canada with a small area of large buildings and a lot of farm land around it.  It is also the capital of Iowa and the state capital building is just outside the main area of buildings so it really stands out with it's shiny gold dome.

State Capital Building - Des Moines, Iowa

Shiny Gold Dome

AWESOME!

I arrived at my next place "Patton's Restaurant and Catering".  Patton's is a Southern Soul Food restaurant.  As I walked towards the restaurant I took a picture of the restaurant and when Pam Patton, the owner saw me and saw my book, she opened the door and said, "You must be a fan of Guy!"  I told her I was and about my travels and we immediately took some pictures with her and her husband Stan.  She told me that they now operate as a buffet and that it was fish day.  On the buffet was Southern Fried Catfish, Salad, Mac and Cheese, their signature Red Beans and Rice, Corn and Corn Bread and Rolls. 

Patton's Restaurant and Catering in Des Moines

I tried a little bit of everything and it was all good!  I was a bit wary since Pam and Stan are from Louisiana that the food would be very spicy and it was not.  The fish and the Red Beans and Rice had a small spice bite to them but not too much and there were two or three types of hot sauce to try if you wanted to kick it up.  The mac and cheese was really good, too.  They make small batches for the buffet which sometimes meant you had to wait for a dish but it came out hot and fresh.  Patton's is very popular and was busy throughout my visit! 

Trying a little bit of everything offered at Patton's

Patton's signature Red Beans and Rice

Corn Brad and Butter

As I was finishing Pam came over to check on me and signed my book.  Both Pam and Stan made sure everyone was taken care of and spent time just chatting with everyone, almost like you were guests in their home. 

Pam and Stan Patton and me in front of their Guy wall

I really enjoyed Patton's both for the food and the hospitality of Pam and Stan. 

After  few hours off the road and out of the heat I headed out to another place in the downtown area of Des Moines.  "Tacopocalypse" is in the East Village area of Des Moines where there are a number of restaurants and bars.  This new area is made for older buildings and has both commercial and residential buildings.  They feature Mexican fare with a number of tacos and burritos featured.  I decided to try something called a Bacon Parfait.  While waiting I met the owner and he signed my book.  He told me he had been based at Fort Belvoir near where I grew up.  The server was really friendly and told me all about the East Village area and the Des Moines area in general.  She told me that the area was a great place to live and the cost of living was really low, that as a server she could afford toe live there but if she went to Minneapolis it would almost be impossible. 

Tacopocalypse in the East Village area of Des Moines

The Bacon Parfait was presented in a tumbler glass with the bacon mix on the bottom with a spicy cream sauce topped with sour cream and was presented with house made chips and a purple slaw.  The server told me the slaw was spicy but it wasn't spicy at all and was very tasty.  The chips were thick and tasty and the parfait was pretty good.  The bacon mix was tasty and the cream was pretty spicy but cooled down by the sour cream. 

Bacon Parfait

Bacon scooped up

Before heading back t the hotel there was a place I wanted to check out that had I had read about on the internet and had been on another food based show.  Near the baseball stadium that house the Triple A team for the Chicago Cubs called the Iowa Cubs is a big building that houses two popular but different bars.  On one side is the High Life Lounge, that caters to an older clientele and feature classic American beers with leather booths.  "This I the place to get a mug or pitcher of Hamm's" I was told.  The other half of the building is a place called The El Bait Shop.  I went to the El Bait Shop where they have probably the World's Largest selection of beers on draft.  Over 180 draft choices, in fact hey have a booklet that is updated weekly to keep up with the ever changing beer choices.   There are tow or three rows of taps and the bar tenders seemed to be experts on what they offered to help the patrons make the right choice.  The patrons at El Bait was a much younger 20 something crowd as the High Life seemed to be more middle age.  I chose a Pear Cider from Oregon and it was pretty good, not overly sweet but very refreshing and I am not a big drinker but it hit the spot!  After leaving I headed back for a small break before heading out to my last place of the day to meet another fellow Triple D fan for dinner.

I headed out to meet Ryan and Jane, two Triple D friends from Ohio that I had met once before when they visited the DC area.  We planned to meet at an old time Des Moines place called "George The Chili King".  This place has a small seating area, mostly at a counter and also has a drive in area where the car hops look for the drivers to flash their lights for service.

Classic Des Moines Drive-in

I met Ryan and Jane and we took three seats at the counter.  They are known for their chili, so I wanted to try a bowl and also try the tenderloin sandwich.  The chili was served with onions and cheddar cheese on top and oyster crackers on the side.  I have never had chili like this before, it was very thick and pretty filling and I really liked it!  The tenderloin was pretty good and very big, it was about twice the size of the bun!  This place can be described as both a drive-in and a greasy spoon.  They use both fresh tenderloins and frozen.  They told us that each Monday their supply of fresh cut and breaded tenderloins are prepared and they use them until they are done then use the frozen tenderloins.  I liked mine so I wonder ho much of a taste difference there is between the two?

George The Chili King's Chili Bowl

The Tenderloin sandwich

I said my good byes to Ryan and Jane for the night as we would meet the next day at the Triple D Meet and Eat.

I awoke to cooler temperatures as some heavy thunderstorms hit the area during the early morning hours.  The heat would come back but it did cool the area down to the lower 90s.  I spent the morning relaxing and resting s we were not going to meet until 3p.

I left the hotel and arrived for the first ever Triple D Meet and Eat at "Smokey D's BBQ" in the northern area of Des Moines near the city of Ankeny.  I could smell the BBQ as soon as I got out of the car.  I entered the place and had to walk around to find where were meeting.  They had us in a small room on the side of the restaurant and when I entered Gene and Terri had arrived and I met Jim and Marcia who had travelled in from Michigan.  Soon Ryan ad Jan arrived and we had our group of 7 Triple D fans!  We spent about a half hour just talking about our travels and places we wanted to get to.  The others had been to between 20 and 50 or 60 places so all of us had been to places the other hadn't s we could trade stories, it was a lot f fun.  Before we went to order the manager came and places a hot plate of Apple Dumplings compliments of Smokey D's for us to enjoy as dessert.  We went to order at the cashier line and I chose the Chopped Chicken and Ribs Plate with Baked Beans and Potato Casserole and Garlic Bread.  Everyone got different items and Gene got an order of the Asian Wings, that they made on Triple D to share with all of us, they were pretty good and had a bit of a spice bite.  My meal was really good, the ribs were very tasty and although they had three or 4 different types of sauces on the table they were not needed, that to me is a good rib!

Smokey D's BBQ in Des Moines

My Ribs and Chopped Chicken meal

Everyone really enjoyed the time together and the dessert was fabulous.  I haven't really had Apple Dumplings very much, but it s great crisp apple with a soft crust and sweet sauce. 

Our pan of Apple Dumplings

Apple Dumpling

The goodness inside the dumpling

While we were finishing up then co-owner came by and spent about 15 minutes telling us all about the place and all of the awards they had won in the BBQ competitions.  They are one of the winningest BBQ competition restaurants.  The wall are filled with their awards and the display case filled with the trophies.  After signing my book the group went to Smokey D's Guy Fieri Wall to get some photos before we had to all be on our way.

Triple D Meet and Eat attendees - Jane, Ryan, Gene, Jim, Marcia, me and Terri

Jim and I

Me and Guy!

I said my good byes to everyone and headed out for the 3 hour drive to Kansas City.  I had an early flight back home and would fly back with my Triple D count at 511!  I really want to thank everyone who attended but a special thanks to Gene for dong all the planning for the event and Smokey 's for hosting us.