Roadfood_ Revised Edition - Jane Stern [158]
Yesterdog
1505 Wealthy St. SE
616–336–0746
Grand Rapids, MI
LD | $
Courteous service? No way. Comfortable, modern accommodations? Not here. Neat and tidy meals? Not a chance! Excellent snappy-skinned boiled hot dogs loaded into steamed soft buns and smothered with sloppy chili sauce, cheese, onions, mustard, pickles, sauerkraut, and just about any other condiment you can name? This is the place. Pick your condiments one by one or simply ask for an ultra, which is some of nearly everything.
Yesterdog has been around for decades and today it is a self-consciously old-timey sort of place with vintage advertising signs all about (sharing wall space with pictures of happy customers wearing Yesterdog T-shirts) and a pre-electric cash register for ringing up sales. It is almost always crowded, so much so that there is frequently a mob of people out on the sidewalk waiting to get in, and it doesn’t empty out until long after midnight. Tips are given to the staff by tossing coins into the bell flare of a tuba.
Zingerman’s Deli
422 Detroit St.
734–663–3354
Ann Arbor, MI
BLD | $
Here is a world-class deli that serves every kind of sandwich the human race has devised—from Italian salami subs to brisket-and-schmaltz on rye and a pile of hot pastrami parenthesized ’twixt two potato pancakes. We get dizzy thinking of Zingerman’s smoked whitefish salad, redolent of dill and red onion, piled on slices of freshly made onion-rye bread. The immense menu is an hour’s read, and ranges beyond sandwiches to such traditional specialties as noodle kugel (a sweet pudding), cheese blintzes (cheese-filled crêpes), and knishes (heavyweight dumplings). Or you can choose Thai noodle salad, Arkansas peppered ham, or ratatouille with polenta. Brash, crowded, and invariably delicious, this one-of-a-kind place is an essential stop for all traveling eaters.
Zingerman’s stocks a tremendous inventory of smoked fish, meats, breads, coffees, etc. for retail sale. It also features a full-service mail-order department, selling such specialties as rugelach cookies (the best!), babkas, poppy-seed cake, brownies and blondies, cheeses, oils, vinegars, and multiple-item gift baskets.
Minnesota
Al’s Breakfast
413 14th Ave. SE
612–331–9991
Minneapolis, MN
BL | $
Al’s is the mother lode for those of us who spend our lives in search of great diner breakfasts. It is smaller than small, wedged perpendicular to 14th Avenue among the shops of Dinkytown, near the University of Minnesota. Customers waiting for one of the fourteen stools at the counter stand hovering just above and behind those who are seated and eating. In the narrow space between the counter and the back bar, where Al’s hash slingers race to and fro with seasoned aplomb, décor consists of pictures of Elvis and Wayne Newton, foreign currency, and a sign that advises, “Tipping is not a city in China.”
Al’s makes a specialty of blueberry pancakes, poured from either a whole wheat or buttermilk batter, also available studded with walnuts or corn kernels. They have a barely sticky texture and a flavor that is a poised balance of sweet fruit and the faintly sour batter, a harmony well abetted by a drizzle of maple syrup. Get them as a short stack (2), regular stack (3), or long stack (4), and you can also have your waitress garnish them with sour cream and/or strawberries. Also of note: griddle-cooked corned beef hash with beautiful poached eggs on top.
The short-order chef up front spends his time poaching eggs, constructing omelets, and griddle-cooking corned beef hash and crisp hash browns. It is an old-fashioned pleasure to watch this guy work, handling about a dozen orders at a time, always snatching whatever he is frying, poaching, or grilling away from the heat at the peak of its perfection.
Bloedows Bakery
451 E. Broadway
507–452–3682
Winona, MN
B | $
Southwest Minnesota foodlore tells the story of the little, homegrown bakery (in business for some eighty years) that ran Krispy Kreme