By
Jim Duncan
CVFDude@aol.com
Twitter.com/foodude
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Servings were super-sized at The Garden
Grill, 8385 Birchwood Court, Johnston,
278-5227. Hours are Monday through Thursday,
11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Friday and Saturday
from 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. and Sunday,
8 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. |
All four barbecues in the West Des Moines-Clive
area (The Q, BBQ2Die4, Shane’s, Bandera’s) closed
since summer. Obviously such a meat-intensive
genre has been hit hard by rising meat prices,
but something else is happening. During the
same time frame: Uncle Wendell’s, Jethro’s and
Woody’s all continued to thrive in the Ingersoll-Drake
area; Jethro’s much larger second Q stayed busy
in Altoona as did Claxon’s; Findlay’s Smokehouse
remained popular on the southside where Boss
Hawg’s parking lot filled up in its first summer;
and Smokey D’s expanded their Saylor township
barbecue, adding a 1,200-square-foot party room,
2,000 extra square feet to their kitchen, an
additional smoker capable of handling 250 racks
of ribs and 100 new parking spaces.
So, what is it about barbecue that doesn’t work
in West Des Moines? “Speaking just for us, the
problems were location, location and location.
There are some places where people just don’t
like getting their hands dirty,” explained The
Q owner Bob Conley.
I’ve heard that before. The owner of San Francisco’s
best Vietnamese restaurants told me she nearly
closed soon after expanding to Beverley Hills.
Then someone suggested that her two signature
dishes — whole drunken crab and garlic noodles
— were too messy for 90210 types. She cut crabmeat
and noodles up into bite-sized pieces, and customers
responded.
Is greater Des Moines becoming a confederation
of food ghettoes where people all pretty much
stick to the same menus? Johnston’s Birchwood
Crossing Business Park gives that impression.
I visited recently to try out The Garden Grill
(GG), which opened in October. That place is
surrounded by several restaurants that have
remarkably similar menus. It’s virtually next
door to both Okoboji Grill and Legends. Within
a couple blocks are Ruby Tuesday’s, Maid-Rite,
Village Inn, Texas Roadhouse, Culver’s and a
couple sports bars. It seems like it would be
a niche for something new or different.
GG definitely raises the seafood bar on 86th
Street. I found crab cakes, crab stuffed appetizers,
handmade lobster ravioli, scallop and shrimp
pasta, oatmeal breaded walleye (expertly paired
with red apple slaw), crab stuffed mahi mahi
in rich lobster butter, good tilapia tacos and
a variety of grilled fish offered as daily specials.
Fresh baked bread, served with cinnamon butter,
stood out, and salad dressings were all homemade.
Other than that, the menu was remarkably similar
to those at the aforementioned neighborhood
places — buffalo wings, nachos, onion rings,
artichoke dip, grilled steaks and chops, burgers,
a dozen pasta choices and half a dozen chicken
choices. Everything I tried was super sized,
well prepared and served with enthusiasm. Grillwork
was professional — meats and fish had good sears
and were not overcooked. Prices were in line
with the hood, too. Lunches ranged from $6 -
$15, sandwiches all cost $8 or $9, and dinners
ranged from $9 - $22. The bar specialized in
margaritas. The import beer list was rich with
Mexican brands. Two daily Happy Hours brought
half-priced appetizers, $2.50 imports and $3.49
margaritas.
Can this part of Johnston support yet another
like-minded restaurant? Early returns suggest
so. In a neighborhood where two distinctly original
restaurants — Torocco and Old Castle — failed
rather quickly, I counted 34 cars in GG’s parking
lot at an hour when there were also 35 at Okoboji,
34 at Legends, 40 at Ruby Tuesday’s and 31 at
Village Inn.
Bottom line — Some places, it’s better to fit
in than to stick out.
Side Dishes
Jim Beam Inc sent a team of top executives
to town last month to launch Iowa sales of Canadian
Club’s Classic 12, their deluxe new whisky which
is aged 12 years. In blind tasting tests at
Embassy Club West, it destroyed its main whisky
competitors. CV |
