Resturant Review: Red's Alehouse

Red’s Alehouse

Finally made it to Red’s Alehouse and discovered what many have known for a long time, Red’s is a must stop in the Iowa City/Coralville and now North Liberty area. I would classify Red’s as a place that promotes their beer but delivers on their food. Red’s menu is dominated by flat bread pizzas and sandwiches but its surroundings and service are closer to a fine dining experience. When looking around its clear Red’s is the place to be. Our waitress was attentive, friendly and knowledgeable. Qualities that are harder and harder to find these days.  Buffalo chicken and ranch dressing are two things that I don’t particularly care for, but when I took a bite of my wife’s flat bread pizza I wasn’t sure I even wanted to try my meal. It was awesome and that’s taking into affect I went into it thinking I wouldn’t like it. The balance of flavors and heat was perfect. I would order this in a heartbeat.

 

 

My Daughter had a burger with feta and you can’t go wrong with that.

 

 

My choice for the evening was the The Braiser - pork belly, brussel sprout slaw,

aged white cheddar, smoked tomato BBQ. I mean come on, with that combination how can a guy go wrong. The brussel sprout slaw was a pleasant surprise and added a nice crisp freshness to the burger. Red’s take on coleslaw was also a pleasant surprise they use purple cabbage and a red wine vinaigrette that may not be for most but I found it a nice change to the common coleslaw.  

 

 

There are times when after a meal you just sit back and think to yourself; that is sitting just right. My trip to Red’s did just that.

 I have devised a new rating system for restaurants that I will unveil with Red’s that goes like this. I consider the meal and the experience and compare it to what it cost to what I would be willing to pay for it.   Just a word positive numbers may be rare and a 0 is not bad. I came up with this system at the last place I ate in which the entrée was $17 and I would have willing paid $10 for the meal so it earned a -7. Red’s earned a +4 on my initial visit.

 Red’s Alehouse

405 N Dubuque St, North Liberty, IA 52317
(319) 626-2100

 Price range: (everyday, a night out, a special occasion only) a night out

Overall rankings all based 1 to 5

Atmosphere:  4.5

Service:         5                                                        

Food:            5

Value:          5

Overall          5

 

Review: Ghurtie's Gourmet Frozen Yogurt Cafe

Ghurtie’s Gourmet Frozen Yogurt Café

 I believe this is my very first non restaurant review and Ghurtie’s is good enough to warrant this. I first was introduced to this type of concept in LA at Pinkberry the standard bearer in the froyo industry. With that said there are no Pinkberry’s even close to here. Over the years various copy cats have popped up in Iowa, all coming up very short, until I discovered Ghurtie’s this place is just as good and it not a chain. The toppings available are extremely fresh and plenty to choose from. The staff is friendly and the place is clean and inviting. It is a little out of the way for the average visitor to Iowa City but it is worth the trip. You have to check this place out. I’m even giving you directions!

 Hours & Location

Monday-Saturday
11:30am - 10:00pm
Sundays
12:30pm - 9:00pm
Location

Ghurtie's is located in Oakdale Park at the intersection of 12th Ave and Oakdale Blvd.

2180 Norcor Avenue, Coralville, IA 52241

Directions

From Hwy 965: Head East on Oakdale Blvd. (through the U of I Research Park). Take a right on 12th Avenue and then a quick left to reach the Ghurtie's parking lot.

From Hwy 6: Head North on 12th Avenue (the Applebee's intersection). Turn right into Oakdale Park (before reaching the12th Ave./ Oakdale Blvd. intersection).

For I - 80 Travelers take either Coralville exit:

1) Coral Ridge Mall exit will allow you to head North on Hwy 965 and then follow the 965 directions (above).

2) 1st Ave. exit will require you to head North on 1st Ave., follow Holiday Rd. as it circles West off of 1st Ave. Take a right at the 12th Ave. stop and head North to Oakdale Park and Ghurtie's.

 

Updated Resturant Review: Throttle Down

Throttle Down was a place that I promoted heavily when it first opened. I now have to take back all of the good things I said. Please don’t go there because of any of my past recommendations. Throttle Down has been on a consistent downhill spiral for some time now. It’s one thing to write a bad review after one bad visit but I’m up to three now and there won’t be a 4^th.  In my original review I said that they should concentrate on being a restaurant and not a bar because the food was that good. It is evident that after I believe was a change of ownership it’s all bar. Perhaps if one would drink enough the poor food and service would not be noticeable. I really pains me when a place that you loved becomes a place you can never go again.

The Blackstone revisited

 

This will be my first re-review of a restaurant. Over the week end I made my first return trip to the Blackstone in Iowa City, (one of the very few places to earn a perfect 5 on my grading scale. The atmosphere hadn’t changed which is good but the food and the service was even better than I remembered. After my fist trip I said I wanted to have an main entrée on my next so I was looking that one of the streaks. But they also had a Rueben special that looked wonderful (pictured below). I asked the waitress and without hesitation she said get the Rueben, you can get the steak anytime. Later I said to her you know I was impressed because the steak was about double the price and it would affect your tip. Her reply I just care about the customer and good food. Needless to say I tipped at the steak price. For me the Blackstone is the perfect combination of a fine dining experience at an affordable price. You should try it just not on the nights I want to go so I can get in. The best place to eat in all of Iowa City.

Kill it

Scripture passage Romans 8:13

For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

Section from the book

You seem to think that your sins will somehow die of old age. It’s as if you believe you can wait them out, and they will eventually grow weak and fail. But the truth is your sin ages more like an oak tree. If you aren’t chopping it down, its roots are growing deeper, and its branches are growing stronger.

In other words, your sin will not just go away. You are called to aggressively seek sin’s destruction—to kill it. But even when you understand this, it is more complicated than plotting its murder, for the act of killing sin is a slow, continuous process that runs the span of your life. And if you are not putting sin to death, then you will find that it is seeking your destruction. As John Owen said, “Be killing sin or it will be killing you.”

Killing sin isn’t merely the cutting of branches but a striking at the root. This means you need to do more than recognize your sin of impatience; you must seek to know how this branch of sin is connected to the root of pride. From there you can get to work. But the work of killing sin is not moral improvement or personal reformation. It is the Holy Spirit empowered spiritual war against all forms of corruption that would lead you away from the gospel. Sin and temptation lead you away from the gospel by telling you that you can find greater fulfillment and satisfaction in something other than Jesus. Your sinful actions always reflect the battle within you over your allegiance.

What this means is that the true nature of spiritual warfare is a fight against indwelling sin, and that the only success you can have in that fight is through the power of God’s Spirit. And how is it that you and the Spirit can work together? How is it that the Holy Spirit has come to dwell in you? The answer is found in the gospel. God justifies the sinner, gives him the Spirit, and sanctifies him in the truth by the Spirit. Your hope in this war against sin is outside of yourself in God. In the end, you are called to kill sin because it seeks to lead you away from the hope of the gospel, and you are able to kill sin because of the hope of the gospel.

 Simple thoughts

No reason to say anything more.  

Resturant Review: Monica's

Monica’s

When you walk into Monica’s your first impression is this is a very nice place, maybe even elegant. The once you sit down you notice a lack of cohesion in the décor. What first comes across as a very nice place is confused by all the TV’s. There are enough TV’s to make the place a sports bar (the place used to be Sluggers) and all the specialty pizzas are named after Hawkeye basketball players. There is nothing wrong with that in fact a former Hawkeye basketball player was working the night we were there. The space and the restaurant just does not quite know what it is yet. We were started with some fresh bread with some oil and some cinnamon butter. There was some argument at the table but it was 2 votes to 1 that this was better than Texas Road House butter. When it comes to the service this is hard to figure, what I would assume was the owner was there talking to as many people as he could I like that and our waitress was very friendly and attentive. But and there had to be a but. Some lady who I have no idea who she was possibly a manager delivered the food, not quite a personable if you know what I mean and then she was the one that brought our ticket that was just weird. If fact we said something then our regular waitress brought the ticket back. As for the food we had 3 dishes at our table the first was a new item on the menus gourmet mac and cheese. To be honest I get better mac and cheese as a side at most BBQ places. In fact more than half of it was left. We also tried a chicken and apple wood smoked bacon Panini it was very good. My dish is again a little difficult to review due to the fact that I had up until this point never been brave enough to try. It was the oven baked Ziti, which was penne pasta with chicken, shrimp, prosciutto served with a lobster cream sauce.  As far as I know this could have been the best Ziti in the world but I would have no idea. The chicken and the penne pasta were perfect. The lobster sauce I think made it rich but overall for something new I am glad I tried it.

Price range: (everyday, a night out, a special occasion only) A Night Out

Overall rankings all based 1 to 5

Atmosphere:  3

Service:         3.5

Food:            3

Value:           2

Overall          3

Monica’s

303 2nd Street Coralville, IA 52241

Resturant Review: Shorts Burger & Shine

Shorts Burgers and Shine

Iowa City Iowa

I do love a good burger and burgers are what Shorts is all about. The menu consists of 25 different burgers and 12 chicken sandwiches and that’s it. When you walk in the place it just screams old world charm, it’s kind of dark but it works. I am not a big fan of booths but the booths at Shorts are raised and very old, probably one of the most comfortable booths I can remember sitting in. I love the concept they have all of the beef is raised on one farm near Columbus Junction (near where I grew up) butchered in Riverside and delivered fresh to the restaurant. The buns are baked daily in town and when possible the veggies are bought at the farmers market. If you like beer their draft beers are all made in Iowa. Great concept and I’ll have to say it works. To start out Teresa had the raspberry iced tea and she said it was one of the best she has ever had. When the food arrived it was very pleasing to the eye.

Rachel had the Dundee it features sautéed mushrooms, bacon, garlic aioli, American cheese and a fried egg. Of course with Rachel there the mushrooms were left off. I didn’t get a taste because she had it gone so fast. Here is her Dundee.

Teresa had the Baxter it has blackened bacon, provolone and chipotle mayo. She liked hers as well but didn’t pick up the chipotle as much as she’d like.

Here is my burger the Germantown

It had kraut, Swiss, Thousand Island dressing on grilled marbled rye. All I can say is that it was darned good.

Now for the strange part of the experience, the fries. I'm a crispy fry guy and normally if I would get fries that are let’s say limp, I’d have a problem with that. At Shorts the fries are hand cut everyday and when served they are as limp as a dish rag, but somehow they make it work. The fries were actually very good. I can’t explain it and when I told the waitress she just looked at me like I was weird. That does not make her a bad waitress, just honest and the service was very good.

The problem with downtown Iowa City on a Friday night is of course parking so be prepared to walk. It was a beautiful evening and walking was a treat if you are into people watching because downtown Iowa City offers the best people watching in the state.

 Price range: (everyday, a night out, a special occasion only) everyday

Overall rankings all based 1 to 5

Atmosphere:  4

Service:         4

Food:            5

Value:           3

Overall          4.5

Short's Burger & ShineAddress: ‎

Not true?

Placement on map is approximate 18 South Clinton Street Iowa City, IA 52240 Get directions ‎ (319) 337-4678 shortsburgerandshine.com