As always, I checked out roadfood.com before leaving on this vacation. I learned that western Iowa is known for “loose meat” sandwiches — ground beef cooked in such a way that the grease drains off. The meat isn’t formed into patties, but served like a Sloppy Joe without the sauce.
The sandwich was probably created by the Maid-Rite chain which still operates around the state, but roadfood.com recommended Tastee Inn & Out. After we checked into our hotel in South Dakota, we drove back across the Missouri River into Sioux City, Iowa and searched for our supper. After taking a wrong turn into Nebraska, we found our spot.
The building has no inside eating area. There are two picnic tables under a canopy in the parking lot.
The menu is simple. The specialties are the Tastee (loose meat) sandwich and onion chips with creamy dipping sauce. We ordered two Tastees with cheese and split an order of chips.
Both were very good. My wife liked the sandwich enough to want to find the recipe. If there was a downside to the onion chips, it was the puddle (yes, puddle) of grease in the bottom of the container.
When I ordered at the walk-up counter, I told the lady with no teeth that we’d driven all the way from Chicago just to try their food. She didn’t respond in any way, just stared at me and waited for me to order. We sat at one of the picnic tables wedged between the parking lot and the busy street and enjoyed our food. At the other table, there was a father giving his son his first experience at Tastee. He asked if he’d heard that we were from Chicago, and we struck up a conversation that lasted, off and on, for most of the meal. I asked him about the “Washington Monument-looking structure” we’d seen along the highway on the way into town. His enthusiastic response lead us to the subject of my next post.