Maverick Grill
3825 121st St., Urbandale,
253-9283
Mon. - Thurs. 11 a.m. -
10 p.m.
Fri - Sat. 11 a.m. - 11
p.m.
Sun. 10 a.m. - 10 p.m.
Live music on weekends. |
Maverick
Grill
Decked out in something old,
something new, something borrowed
and something blue, Maverick Grill
could make a lovely bride. The
old part is local legend — the
father of this bride is Miller
Ream, a notable financier and
bon vivant from Northern California
who never forgot his Iowa roots.
Ream was also the proud daddy
of The Rusty Scupper, an upscale
chain (only one still exists,
in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor) that
dazzled 1970s Des Moines with
its restaurant on Grand Avenue.
The Scupper was Iowa’s first million
dollar restaurant property, and
it introduced Des Moines to bartenders
in formal attire, surcharges for
side dishes and perfect prime
rib. Scupper menus were written
on boat oars, one of which has
been borrowed and embedded in
Maverick’s entryway reminding
us that not too long ago, $9 (a
bottle) Chateau Neuf de Pape was
the top of the wine line, and
fresh abalone was not only sold
in Des Moines, it was cheaper
than crab.
Most everything else about Maverick
is new. The restaurant’s name
refers to Mavericks, a legendary
point break surf near Half Moon
Bay, Calif. Murals detail passions
of Miller Ream, his family farm
and the deep blue seascapes of
coastal California. Restaurant
trappings are splendid — solid
nautical wood paneling and furniture,
polished brass, fine marble tables,
a heat resistant glass bar wall,
a stylish open kitchen with bar
seating, etc. Yet prices were
surprisingly moderate. Lunch offered
soup, sandwich and salad combos
for $5 to $8. A panko-crusted
cod was best man among sandwiches.
A well seared Maverick burger
was more than most people can
eat for less than $10, but the
beef in a similarly priced French
dip was scant as a bridesmaid’s
garter. Each sandwich included
a choice of side dishes. Both
cioppino and bouillabase, the
grand dames of seafood stews,
delivered plenty of fish and crustacean
flesh in flavorful stocks for
just $16. A cream corn pasta with
blackened scallops cost even less
and was my favorite dish. Lasagna
in house-made marinara was exactly
what one expects in this Italian
restaurant town.
Crab cakes had a nice crust
and good crab flavor but no lumps
of crabmeat. Fish & chips
were less successful. Halibut
seemed like a strange choice as
its price has skyrocketed this
year. Maybe that’s why it was
parsed out and hidden in heavy
breading. One expects more flesh
in fish sticks, let alone fish
& chips.
The biggest disappointment was
prime rib. After requesting something
quite different, I was served
an end cut. That would have been
OK if it had the flavorful crust
one expects from a prime rib related
to the Rusty Scupper’s. Alas,
this one was light gray and bland.
Desserts ($5-$6) were basic
as fudge cake, cheesecake, Snicker
bar pie and flan. A well chosen
wine list ranged between $27 to
$48, with one $75 champagne splurge.
A unique cocktail menu priced
its specialties around $8.
This place is new, and service
was understandably inconsistent.
Some specific orders were not
communicated to the kitchen or
the bar, but apologies were profuse
and sincere. In one instance,
we were told that an order for
a “gin” martini had confounded
the system. In the Scupper’s day,
before vodka conquered the cocktail
world, all martinis were made
with just two ingredients — gin
and vermouth. Our bill added a
surcharge for the vermouth.
Side dishes
Prairie Meadows’ Easter brunch
will include prime rib, smoked
ham, roast leg of lamb, short
ribs, ginger soy baked salmon,
baked chicken, pork loin with
plum sauce and a few dozen other
items — for $17.95. Out of 36
Easter buffets on Chicago’s opentable.com,
the least expensive one cost twice
that much. … A “Celebrity Food
Wine Expo” will visit the Iowa
Events Center in November with
tickets priced $30 to $60. Bisquick
goddess Sandra Lee, Home Shopping
Network designer “Chef Jamie”
(Gwen) and Aussie Curtis Stone,
of People magazine’s “sexiest
men” feature, will headline. CV
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