Help for Rolla MO

I just found out I'm going to be in Rolla MO for work next week. I'll be actually working in Belle, but Belle is small enough as to not have a motel so I'll be traveling back and forth between Belle and Rolla. Any suggestions LTHers? I've done some online research, but I'm not coming up with much besides chains and steakhouses that don't look promising.

Man, looking at Google maps shows that you are literally in the middle of nowhere. Sorry I don't have any tips on Rolla, but I'd recommend a stop in St. Louis on the way down an/or back. Maybe drop a line to Josephine for some recommendations or dinner companionship.

Yeah Steve, there's nothing online that I can see that looks interesting, I'll just have see what the locals recommend besides the usual chains. Sadly, the way the timing works means no St. Louis stop this time.

mbh wrote:Yeah Steve, there's nothing online that I can see that looks interesting, I'll just have see what the locals recommend besides the usual chains. Sadly, the way the timing works means no St. Louis stop this time.

Please report back. You never know, there could be a killer cafe or local tavern serving great food.

I haven't been in Rolla in years, but it IS a college town so I'd say find the campus and scout around.

On a Rt 66 trip We once ate at the Hickory Pit BBQ at 201 W Hwy 72 in Rolla.
I remember it as being pretty good, and a far sight better than fast food.
This is from my trip report on Roadfood.com
http://www.roadfood.com/Forums/tm.aspx? ... h=route+66
We were lured in by the promise of Burnt Ends on their sign.
We had a sampler plate with the promised Burnt Ends, some regular brisket, and some ribs.
The Beef was good, very smoky, but kind of dry- The ribs were actually better, smoky and quite good.
They also had a really nice salad bar, and were kind of family-oriented type place- I'd recommend it -it was a bit off the beaten path 201 W. Hwy 72-
I forgot to even try and photograph any of the food- I was kind of crabby and frustrated and really hungry by the time we stopped
(I know this has never happened to any of you...)

Ahhh, Rolla: Beyond the End of the Earth. Not just a college town, but a Technical University college town. Your only hope is to go up I-44 a few miles to St. James, which has a few decent restos. Also there is a wine shoppe with some very good wines: St. James Winery. Their Nortons and Norton-blends are excellent. Another place, which has a bistro, is Meramec Vineyards. They make some decent wines--Norton, again, and several in their Euro-style line are worth trying, and Vignolles, a sweetish white, has been well received--plus lots of old-fashioned sweet welchy-flavored stuff.

Good luck!

Geo

Meramec Caverns are also a really cool and fun touristy detour-
not for food, but for fun.

irisarbor wrote:On a Rt 66 trip We once ate at the Hickory Pit BBQ at 201 W Hwy 72 in Rolla.
I remember it as being pretty good, and a far sight better than fast food.
This is from my trip report on Roadfood.com
http://www.roadfood.com/Forums/tm.aspx? ... h=route+66

Thanks, at least it's a place to start and it's not a chain.

Geo wrote:Ahhh, Rolla: Beyond the End of the Earth. Not just a college town, but a Technical University college town.

Sigh, that's what I was afraid of, but thanks for other suggestions.

I have just one pushpin in the Rolla area, and it's 30 miles away, but it's a cool one:

The Cave Restaurant and Resort
26880 Rochester Rd
Richland, MO 65556
573-765-4554
Summer 7 days 11:30-8:30
Winter closed MT, Wed-Fri 4-8:30, Sat Sun 11:30-8:30

http://www.thecaverestaurantandresort.com/

And yes, the restaurant really is inside a cave. Known for steaks. My brother stumbled upon it (or rather, into it?) and told me about it. If I were as close as Rolla, I'd go.

Our parents took us to see the Meramec Caverns when we were young. Stalagmites! Stalactites! I can still picture them. I'd go there again too if I had a chance.

Well, if nothing else work out, there are several Waffle Houses in the vicinity.

Rolla might be in the middle of nowhere, BUT it is the home of the Missouri University of Science and Technology and close to Fort Leonard Wood so there are dozens of restaurants available. Geo has probably been to MUST in Rolla a few times.

Yeah Joe, been to MUST (or UM-Rolla up until a few years ago!), and that's why I recommended St. James (upthread a bit) be visited.

Geo

I was on campus at Mo-Rolla years ago and ended up at a Greek run pizza place called Alex's. It's no Vito & Nick's but wasn't too bad.

Alex's Pizza Place
http://alexspizza.com/index.html

Geo wrote:Ahhh, Rolla: Beyond the End of the Earth. Not just a college town, but a Technical University college town. Your only hope is to go up I-44 a few miles to St. James, which has a few decent restos. Also there is a wine shoppe with some very good wines: St. James Winery. Their Nortons and Norton-blends are excellent. Another place, which has a bistro, is Meramec Vineyards. They make some decent wines--Norton, again, and several in their Euro-style line are worth trying, and Vignolles, a sweetish white, has been well received--plus lots of old-fashioned sweet welchy-flavored stuff.

Good luck!

Geo

What he said.

I checked my usual St. Louis food media sources, and the bistro at Meramac seems to be the only thing that comes up. I've driven by El Maguey on 44 several times with curiosity. I believe it is part of a small chain- a spinoff actually. If you order carefully, it could be OK. Please report back if you do eat there.

Also, there is a BBQ place called Randy's Roadkill BBQ. Randy seems to have a feud going with one of his neighbors, based on the urbanspoon reviews, bit at least it's not a chain.

As promised I'm here to report back from the wilds of Rolla, MO. You were right there's not a lot of non-chain options to choose from from here, but I did find a few things worthy of sharing. First is Donut King, it took me a couple of mornings to find this place, but when I saw it, I stopped and bought a couple of dozen to our job site. This is one of the best carmel doughnuts I've ever had and the apple fritter is right up there. Just don't get the coffee, it takes a lot for me to throw out something I paid for, but this went after 2 sips, McDonalds was better.

On election night a few crew people gathered to watch the results, I had bought along some Knob Creek and homemade cherries for manhattans and we ordered take out chicken from Lee's, a small chain. The chicken was very good and the cole slaw was great, but the biscuits were awful. They weren't eaten until about an hour after we got them, but they made Brown's look gourmet.

Being a college town, I assumed there'd be somewhere for craft beer and I was right, Public House Brewery in the old downtown was started by some locals. The seasonal vanilla porter was good, they let you bring food in and they have a limited menu, also on Friday's a local fast food place, Ray J's Chicago Taste Authority, comes in and grills. I didn't get to taste the food so I leave that to others to explore.

Alex's pizza was a good suggestion, we ordered in one night and it was pretty good. Not a place you'd go out of your way for, but a lot better than any chain option.

I had a couple of good lunches in Belle and Bland, Mo. In Belle, the Dinner Belle is the local diner only open until 3pm, it's the kind of place where the waitress calls you "hon" and they make their own chicken soup with dumplings. I also had a nice hand formed hamburger and my coworkers had a spicy buffalo chicken sandwich and a good polish sausage and sauerkraut lunch special. Christina's Kitchen, in Bland MO, is also a local watering hole where all conversation stopped when we entered. Again, the food was all cooked to order and most from scratch. I had a very good pork tenderloin sandwich and some amazing fried green tomato's. The rest of the crew had a hamburger, a fried catfish lunch plate and a cheesesteak style sandwich. You'd wouldn't drive out of your way for either, but it was nice to eat in non chain restaurants.

On the way home we stopped in St. Louis at Pappy's Smokehouse per request from a couple of crew guys from CA. This turned out to be a great pick, Josephine have you been here? There was quite a line when we arrived on a Sunday about noon and I was worried about them getting to the airport, but the wait proved to be 45 minutes as quoted and we were out in time for the boys to catch their plane. The ribs were just terrific, there was a nice smoke ring and it clung to the bone for just enough chew, the pulled pork was also really good, they served it in chunks and I watched people use their forks to pull it apart and add sauce if they so desired. I'm going back on my next St. Louis trip. The sides were nothing memorable, but the bbq I tasted was first rate.




Donut King
1809 North Bishop Avenue
Rolla, MO 65401
(573) 341-3995

Lee's Famous Chicken
1902 North Bishop
Rolla, Missouri 65401
(573) 364-9330

Public House Brewery
600 North Rolla Street
Suite B
Rolla, MO 65401
(573) 426-2337

Alex's Pizza Palace
122 W 8th St
Rolla MO, 65401
(573) 364-2669

The Dinner Belle
311 South Alvarado Avenue
Belle, MO 65013
(573) 859-6889

Christina's Kitchen
307 Missouri 28
Bland, MO 65014
(573) 646-3053

Pappy's Smoke House
3106 Olive Street
Saint Louis MO 63103
(314)-535-4340

How far is it from Columbia, MO?

Columbia has some good restaurants, including:

Sycomore
Trey's Bistro
Broadway Brewery
Chim's Thai (I think there is also a Chim's in Jefferson City, MO)

There is an excellent BBQ place called Lonnie Ray's in Harrisburg, MO and it's some of the best BBQ ribs I've ever eaten.
A few others spots in mid-Missouri including Abigail's in Rocheport, MO and Emmits in Fayette.

Schad wrote:How far is it from Columbia, MO?

Columbia has some good restaurants, including:

.

About 95 miles. - a four hour round trip.

Anything new and worthwhile pop up in Rolla in the last year?

Number Two son has taken a job posting there and we'll be down to haul the rest of this meager belongings over the Labor Day weekend. From what he's reporting, coupled with this thread...looks like a long weekend.