Roadfood_ Revised Edition - Jane Stern [195]
The Dakota Burger turned out not to be a hamburger at all—at least if you define hamburger as a patty of ground beef—but rather, Tripp’s version of that upper Midwest pleasure, hot beef. Junellia Meisenhoelder, chef and proprietor at the Sports Bowl Café, didn’t tell us why the sandwich is known as a burger, but there is no point quibbling about labels; it is swell. Hot beef served with mashed potatoes and gravy is a frequent daily special at the Sports Bowl Café, and the Dakota Burger is a somewhat more wieldy variation on the theme: chunks of ultra-tender roast beef, warm enough to melt a slice of bright orange cheese placed atop them, piled into a grill-warmed bun. Simple and excellent!
Wyoming
Cafe Wyoming
106 E. Ramshorn St.
307–455–3828
Dubois, WY
LD | $$
“Very Wyoming” is how our California tipster described this log cabin adjoining a True Value hardware store parking lot overlooking Horse Creek. The note said that the chef made deluxe dinners every night for which reservations were advised. It sang of homemade soups and salad dressings, and a whole repertoire of house-smoked meats.
While the menu is broad, it’s ribs that made a deep impression on us. They are beautiful racks of bones heavy with smoke-infused meat and spiced and sauced with brio. A smoked pork chop was equally delicious, and the steaks that others around us were eating looked great. Sandwiches are served on homemade bread, and there are a BLT and a catfish sandwich in particular that are numbers one and two on our list to eat next time we visit.
Club El Toro
132 S. Main
307–332–4627
Hudson, WY
D | $$
Sixteen different cuts of beef are listed on El Toro’s menu, including a rib eye as big as its plate. The house specialty is prime rib, which is available in four sizes. The top-of-the-line Royal cut is a mesa of meat weighing well over two pounds. Heavy with juice and so tender that a butter knife glides through with ease, it has enough flavor to win over even those of us who generally prefer the more assertive character of steak. On the side comes a cup of dark juice for dipping. And of course you want potatoes: French fries or a foil-wrapped baker or, best of all, cowboy fries, which are what some know as jo-jo potatoes: spiced potato logs accompanied by ranch dressing as a dip.
Every dinner starts with a relish tray and a salad, then hot appetizers—individual plates with two spicy ravioli in tomato sauce and a small portion of sarma on each. Sarma is an unusual treat, a staple of the Serbian kitchen—and of Hudson’s two great steak houses (Svilar’s being the other one). It is a thick, boiled-tender leaf of pickled cabbage rolled around a tightly packed filling of ground pork and beef with onions.
Club El Toro is a spacious restaurant brimful of character. One large room is set up with a U-shaped banquet table and flags for meetings of the Marine Corps League. Adjacent to the bar is a room that is mostly dance floor, where Carl F. Baxter performs on keyboard weekend nights, occasionally joined by volunteer locals on sax or drums. Mr. Baxter’s repertoire of 554 selections is mimeographed and bound in clear plastic so patrons can choose their favorites, ranging from “Misery and Gin” and “Heartaches by the Number” to “Coca Cola Cowboy.”
Lisa’s
200 Greybull Ave.
307–765–4765
Greybull, WY
BLD (Breakfast served only in the summer) | $
As you cruise down west of the Big Horn Mountains—or prepare to head east into them—the town of Greybull offers all sorts of attractions. These include a sprawling Museum of Flight and Aerial