Chicago to Denver trip--where do I eat???

we are driving from chicago to visit family soon in colorado. we'll take I80 one way, and I70 through kansas city the other. the notion of fast food, well, we just know that there's gotta be something better. in fact, we'd rather bring a cooler than do that. anybody know where we should eat?

thank you thank you thank you!!!!!

Stop in the Amana colonies on the I80 leg.

Stop in Kansas City on the I70 leg.

uhhh... any specific restaurant? thanks!

fonky1 wrote:uhhh... any specific restaurant? thanks!

Search is your friend. Here's a couple of threads about Kansas City.
http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=6822&highlight=
http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=322&highlight=
http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=12908#12908

Amana colonies I've heard even the food at the truck stop, owned by locals, is good. I've eaten at restaurants in the largest of the villages, but it's been so long I can't recall the name. Here's the food and drink page of their website:

http://www.amanacolonies.com/food/index.html

I'd stick with the German style stuff.

ok, this is a good start! we can have lunch on day 1 to CO at amana.
then, there's this big long stretch with nothing to eat...
then, on the way home, there's a huge long hungry stretch, and then lunch at probably arthur bryant's on day 2...


anyone else got any suggestions...??????

Are you doing this drive in 2 days? I've done this drive bunches of times, and I always insist on 2-1/2 days because unless you get off the interstate it's so monotonous. On the way out, for instance, you can make a short detour up through Broken Bow, NE, leaving I80 around Grand Island and returning at North Platte, or at Oglalla. If you get back on at North Platte you will skirt the edge of the sandhills, if you get back on at Oglalla you go through some of the sandhills. You're adding about 90 minutes with the shorter detour (as a highway department person who first recommended this route to me once said, you can really fly on the road to Broken Bow, but slow down coming into town, there's a state police station there:-)

Once off the road, you can look for decent independent eateries. Good small town cafe food, which can be surprisingly good.

In my experience, you've really got to get off the interstate to find something to eat (Amana colonies excepted). Your best bet might be in a town like Kearney, where you're liable to find a decent burger or something, but beware, it's a college town, so you might also find something where they're charging for atmosphere.

If you're doing it in two days, my sympathies. I would not be a fun person to visit with after that drive:-)

I can't help with the road trip, but there are two fabulous places (these are hole-in-the-wall types, not fine cuisine), that I recommend everybody who goes to Denver try.

For breakfast, Pete's Kitchen. Order a breakfast burrito smothered in green chili (or go really late and have a hot hamburger, also smothered in pork green chili).

Pete's Kitchen
962 E Colfax Ave

For some of the best pizza you'll ever eat, bring the family to Enzo's End. Why my favorite east-coast style pizza is located in Denver, I will never guess, but it is truly delicious. Just a perfect thin (but not cracker-Chicago-style-thin) crust. Delicious!

Enzo's End
3424 E Colfax Ave

p.s. Make sure you're heading straight home from Pete's Kitchen. Green chili is a little rough on the belly for the unitiated. But I promise, it'll be worth it. heh.

While I can't speak for the food, it's worth taking a few minutes to wander around The World's Largest Truck Stop: http://www.iowa80truckstop.com/.

annieb wrote:Are you doing this drive in 2 days?

I know I missed a lot of "culture" if that term fits Nebraska, but I always did that trip in one day without stopping (except for gas) 1,089 miles door to door.

My parents had a home in Colorado until last year and somehow I was always chosen to drive the car out there with all of the stuff in it.

I don't agree that the food scene in Nebraska is all that bleak. There are a number of GREAT places in Omaha that serve excellent grub. Bohemian Cafe serves great food - try their dumplings, and it is very inexpensive. If nothing else, HyVee, the grocery chain is perhaps second to Wegman's in the quality of their prepared foods.

Ole's Big Game Restaurant in Paxson, also serves up a darned good steak (in an interesting atmosphere).

Nebraska has at least a half dozen museums that are worth a stop along the way.

As for Kearney, I have yet to find great food there. As my friends live 40 miles north, we tend to eat at their house when we arrive.

jlawrence01 wrote:

"As for Kearney, I have yet to find great food there"

I meant Kearney as simply a larger town with more options, having never stopped in Kearney itself. Driving through Nebraska, my dad used to say that if I didn't do well in school I could go to Kearney State Teachers' College (yes, he's a snob).

Advice to those contemplating the detour through the sandhills--if you take the longer route out of Broken Bow, gas up first. When Himself and I first did this, we had a fine breakfast in Broken Bow on a Sunday morning, and only filled up the car because I wanted to stop and buy a bottle of water for the trip. We barely saw five cars on that leg of the road, much less a gas station.

I'm not so sure about Bryant's anymore, I'm really not. You might want to go there, have a little something, read all the press on the wall, and then go to L'il Jakes for your real bbq. Bryant's have been variable of late, and I'd really rather not have you disappointed with KC bbq bcz you went to Bryant's....

(Aaron D. are you listenin? Have you been to Bryant's recently??)

And I'll try to get a word on something to eat in western Kansas. Otherwise, it's a loooonnng stretch from Denver. But you might want to take a look at a couple of *very* cool sights along the way:

http://www.garden-of-eden-lucas-kansas.com/

http://www.kansastravel.org/cathedralofheplains.htm

In its own way, each of these is unbelievable, and very well worth the side trip.

Also, in Wamego, there's a pretty unusual Oz museum, in an old, exquisitely re-constructed late 19th C opera house:

http://www.ozmuseum.com/


But lemme see if I can find someplace for you to eat out west.

Geo

A recent trip from Denver to North Platte, Nebraska, yielded a few finds that may be of interest to hungry travelers on 1-80. In Fort Morgan, Colorado, we stopped at Stroh's Inn for a late lunch. Note the "Sands" Motel in background. Incongruous? Not really, since we were nearing the Sand Hills of Nebraska, home of the Sandhill Crane.


It's hard to believe that with a mother from Kansas I made it past my 50th birthday before I had my first chicken fried steak with cream gravy. Stroh's version, breaded to order, proved a satisfying initiation to the genre: crunchy, meaty, salty and tender with a rich sauce that actually tasted of cream. The scrambled eggs and hash browns ensured that upon my arrival in North Platte, (several hours to the east) I would still be full from lunch.




Had I kept a cooler head when ordering, I might have joined my daughter in the tender, though thoroughly cooked, house-made prime rib sandwich. The waitress told us this was their most popular item. She seemed to think that the cheese bread it's served on is a big draw. While the bread was indeed fresh, I would have preferred something simpler, but that's just a quibble, since this was a very nice sandwich. Later this week in our travels, I determined that the prime rib sandwich is part of a "greatest hits" menu lineup in the valley of the North Platte River.


That might be because lots of cattle and corn are raised here. The view from our hotel window moved my city girl to explore the area just beyond the parking lot:



She was not tempted by the field corn, but we did end up picking about a pint of large mulberries for breakfast the next day. We were further rewarded by a Sandhill Crane sighting -- or was it a Heron?


That evening we scoured the Internet for recommendations on local food. Reluctant to do any more driving, we missed out on Ole's Big Game in Paxson, jlawrence01's recommendation. Instead, we hit Merrick's Ranch House, the kind of family restaurant where one would expect to see Hank, Peggy, and Bobby Hill having dinner on a Friday night. This was the best fried chicken in recent memory, cooked to order and very lightly floured. Best of all, I could have all dark meat. Hash browns had the tang of freshly grated potatoes.
It's probably best not to venture too far away from the chicken, as my daughter discovered, upon ordering a Chef's Salad that came with a flood of ranch dressing over rather wilted iceberg.


On the way back to Denver, we located another good lunch stop in Sterling, Colorado, using nothing but chow-dar. Had it been a bad meal, I would still be proud to have eaten at this place, if only because of the name.

My mother rolled her eyes in protest, but fortunately, none of the chain options in Sterling appealed to her. Alongside the pig announcing the county fair was this:

Inside, the place was welcoming, and a lively family (the guys in cowboy hats) was celebrating a birthday.


We ordered the daily special, a turkey dinner with dressing. This was good, but given the mulitude of desserts offered, we decided to save room. The blackberry cobbler, baked, but not made in-house, was outstanding, as was the brown-sugarry pecan pie.

For the curious out there, TJ Bummer's Family Restaurant is not named for a family, but rather for a dog named Bummer.

Stroh's Inn
901 W. Platte
Fort Morgan, CO
(970)867-6654

Merrick's
219 S. Dewey
North Platte, NE
(308)532-4729

TJ Bummer's
203 Broadway
Sterling, CO
(970) 522-8397

I'm doing this road trip (to Steamboat Springs, not Denver) for the first time at the end of the month and I fully it expect it to be a two day bore-a-thon, most of it on the interstate unfortunately. I'm slightly embarrassed to admit that I am a fan of Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers and they have some locations in Omaha and Lincoln along the way. At this time that is one place I intend to stop at, but as for anything this, we shall see. I also have to admit that the kid in me still loves fast food chains (or local mom and pop fast food joints) that are not near home so I have no problem going to them. While the explorer in me wouldn't mind a Sandhills detour, we just don't have the time.

Ram4--

If you like local chains, the you MUST stop at Runza sandwich shoppe in either Omaha or Lincoln. You MUST.

Geo

Geo wrote:Ram4--

If you like local chains, the you MUST stop at Runza sandwich shoppe in either Omaha or Lincoln. You MUST.

Geo

I've heard of Runza. It's supposed to give you the... 's. Honestly I knew about it, but all I've heard from most is avoid at all costs. Thanks for the heads up. I'll see how it goes when out on the plains.

Now understand I'm not saying it's *good food*! I'm just saying that it's an enormously successful local product, one that the locals take some pride in.

It's pretty bland, but *could* be interesting, if you knew how to deal with it!

Geo

Geo wrote:Now understand I'm not saying it's *good food*! I'm just saying that it's an enormously successful local product, one that the locals take some pride in.

It's pretty bland, but *could* be interesting, if you knew how to deal with it!

Geo

I TOTALLY know where you are coming from and why you said I have to check it out.

Geo wrote:Ram4--

If you like local chains, the you MUST stop at Runza sandwich shoppe in either Omaha or Lincoln. You MUST.

Geo

Never heard of that chain before, but it sounds similar to a maid-rite.

Wish I had read this thread before a Chicago-Denver road trip in September 2013. We stopped at Oklahoma Joe's on the way there, but the only food I remember eating on the way back was at a Maid-Rite near Amana. It had a store next door with some touristy kitsch and other items, but I do remember picking up two nice steel knives that were affordable.

To be honest, if I'm anywhere near the Amana Colonies, I'd prefer to eat in Oxford, Iowa at Augusta Restaurant. It's not very Iowan, but it is unusually good.

Augusta Restaurant
101 S Augusta Ave
Oxford, IA 52322
http://www.augustarestaurant.net

And next weekend is the Iowa Mennonite Relief Sale at the Johnson County Fairgrounds, outside of Iowa City -- lots to eat there:
http://iamccreliefsale.org

Dixie Quicks in Council Bluffs, Iowa is very good, and they make a nice change from the most of the food available right off of I-80 in Iowa (definitely non-Iowan levels of spice!). Very friendly atmosphere, too.

Dixie Quicks
157 W. Broadway
Council Bluffs, IA 51503

Geo wrote:Now understand I'm not saying it's *good food*! I'm just saying that it's an enormously successful local product, one that the locals take some pride in.

It's pretty bland, but *could* be interesting, if you knew how to deal with it!

Geo

I have to say that the Runza has not impressed me at all and I have tried it twice. It truly reminds me of a Hot Pockets and that is NOT a compliment.

At least the Maid Rites serve a pretty good pork tenderloin sandwich. I also do not like their signature sandwich.

I will be the first to say that if I am heading across Iowa and Nebraska, I am more than happy to stop in the local HyVee grocery for any meal over any fast food restaurant in the state. In general, the food is better prepared, it is cheaper, and you have a much wider variety - usually five stations to choose from.

I can verify the HyVee recce, Joe. We've got one in Kansas City, and it's an excellent all-round store, including in-house prep.

Geo

Geo wrote:I can verify the HyVee recce, Joe. We've got one in Kansas City, and it's an excellent all-round store, including in-house prep.

Geo

If they could just steal the recipe to Wegman's submarine sandwiches, they would be perfect.


The only good prepared food find in AZ is the Winco deli sandwiches. Pre-made for only $1.99 but using excellent breads and meats.

Uneventful food wise as expected, though the drive was not boring to me. Instead of swinging southwest to Denver past Ogallala, we went through western Nebraska, past Cheyenne through Laramie, and then down into Colorado. The only local thing we had was a sports bar in Kearney, NE calling Cunningham's Journal Pub and Eatery. We got to see the Blackhawks beat the Ducks in Game 7. We had pretzel cheese curds which were pretty good. I also tried a steak bites app the server was raving about - it was just little cubes of steak cut up and marinated. Not bad. My girlfriend had fish and chips which were... you guessed - fair. Pretty much what was expected there. Along the way I had Taco Johns which is just one of the many taco chains out there. It was about the same as Taco Bell to me. I did get my Raising Cane's chicken fingers in Lincoln which I really like. Love their dipping sauce. Also had Perkins for breakfast in Kearney. Super friendly, decent breakfast. I know they are a chain, but that location didn't feel like one.

I'm not going to list any location info here as they were not LTH worthy, but you can easily find them if you need to.

needed a quick lunch not to far off I80 on the roll back east from Denver yesterday(had a high time in Denver, might post about it if I get the time/motivation) .

Dinker's Bar and Grill - located in the Sheely Town section of Omaha's - since 1965 - figured one of their burgers would straighten me out:

classico':


To me not much beats a classic shot and beer tavern that slings burgers - Dinker's is from central casting - cash only - Touted as having Omaha's best burger - it was pretty good for a the thick burger style

if you are a fan of the burger at Bristol Tap you might like this one. - like $5 for a cheeseburger - a little more for bacon or some other basic toppings -

Haystack - ham, cheese, egg.


bacon cheeseburger -



Didnt have time for a drink - still had some miles left to get home last night by 6pm, but Dinkers was a solid lunch spot and a place to stretch the legs. Rolled in around 1130 - by 1230 the joint was getting full.

Dinker's Bar & Grill
2368 S. 29th Street
Omaha, NE.

http://www.dinkersbar.com/

Done the drive to Denver twice now in the last couple months - not a bad one at all if you split it up.

Last trip we stopped in Lincoln for the night on the way there, but did the tough drive straight through on the way back - 17 hours is too long

This trip we stopped in Council Bluffs/Omaha area on the way to Denver, and on the way back only made it to North Platte, NE. and did the remaining balance of 11 hours home the 2nd day.

jimswside wrote:Done the drive to Denver twice now in the last couple months - not a bad one at all if you split it up.

Last trip we stopped in Lincoln for the night on the way there, but did the tough drive straight through on the way back - 17 hours is too long

This trip we stopped in Council Bluffs/Omaha area on the way to Denver, and on the way back only made it to North Platte, NE. and did the remaining balance of 11 hours home the 2nd day.

On my recent trip to Steamboat Springs, we stopped in Kearney on the way there, but only because of the Hawks game. Probably would have gone as far as Cheyenne if it was a regular day. We were taking 80 to Laramie, and down to Colorado. On the way back, I wanted to get my National Park fix, so we detoured to Scotts Bluff National Monument and Chimney Rock before stopping in York for the night. Had I gone straight through, I might have tried to get to Omaha or even Des Moines. On a two day trip that long, I'd rather get the majority out of the way the first day, get to sleep in the next day, and have much less to drive for the final part.

Taco John's not LTH worthy? But its the Summer of Tacos, with walking tacos as the current lto.

One more thing as I have been driving through Iowa, Missouri, and Nebraska a lot recently.

Things start closing down very EARLY on weekday nights. I would say that most restaurants, other then the chains, start to close down around 8 pm. I remember drive g through Grinnell, IA a couple years back looking for any restaurant and settling for Mexican food near the campus as it was the only non fast food option.

jlawrence01 wrote:One more thing as I have been driving through Iowa, Missouri, and Nebraska a lot recently.

Things start closing down very EARLY on weekday nights. I would say that most restaurants, other then the chains, start to close down around 8 pm. I remember drive g through Grinnell, IA a couple years back looking for any restaurant and settling for Mexican food near the campus as it was the only non fast food option.

For those who may find themselves in Grinnell (the downtown is only about 4 miles off I-80), I'd recommend Relish. They have a small, but interesting, Middle-Eastern inflected menu and are located in a converted house. They know how to use local products well. The chef and his wife (owners) are from Chicago; their son is the main bartender. They do probably close on the early side, but they are worth the stop.

Relish
834 Park St.
Grinnell, IA 50112
(641) 236-3657
http://www.relishgrinnell.com/