morningside munchies

For the final meal of our may term course, Eating Siouxland, we ate at Minerva’s.  Minerva’s shares a parking lot with the Hy-veen on Hamilton Blvd.  There is another Minerva’s in Okoboji which is near my hometown, so I have experienced the deliciousness that it has to offer.  It is definitely a bit more upscale, like Bev’s, if not more upscale of a restaurant.  When you walk up the steps to the front entrance you even get the feeling that it is a classy place.  The lighting is dim inside to create a relaxing atmosphere for the guests and soft music played in the background to add to the effect.

We came together and ate as the whole class since it was our meal. The hostess seated us at a large table near the back of the restaurant in the middle dining area.  We had a beautiful waitress come take of us and got our drinks ordered right away.  I forgot my driver’s license, so I was not able to get an alcoholic drink.  I opted for the strawberry lemonade and that may have been more enjoyable than an alcoholic drink anyways.  It came out in a large glass with sugar coated around the rim of it.  It was the perfect mixture of sweet and sour. Next, it was time to order some appetizers. Because it was our last meal, we ate like it was literally our last meal on earth.  We ordered almost every appetizer on the menu including quesadillas, coconut shrimp, and onion rings.  It didn’t take long for them all to come out and they tasted delicious.  The sauces that came out with each item just made them even better and I was full before my main course even came out!  I knew I would be full, but I wanted to end the course with  a great meal, so I ordered my all-time favorite meal.  I got the steak with mashed potatoes, with an Italian house salad. 

The presentation of the steak and potatoes was superb.  The potatoes looked like a flower from the top view and the feta cheese was sprinkled perfectly over the steak.  The chef separated the peppers and onions strategically around the potatoes and placed a grape on the plate as a nice garnish.  It was a colorful, yet beautiful plate.  I was beyond full by the time my plate got to me, but it would be such a waste of steak to not eat it immediately.  I manned up and began eating.  Before you know it, I had eaten everything off my plate. 

I could have easily tossed in the napkin and gotten out of the restaurant, but I had to have one last dessert and the tin roof sundae sounded like it would be the best thing for me. 

 The ice cream came out in a mason jar with peanuts, chocolate, caramel and whipped cream covering it. To top it all off, two slices of sugar-coated bacon were stuck in the top of it.  I died and went to heaven. Although I was stuffed, this sundae hit the spot and ended the course better than ever.

I couldn’t imagine this course ending better than it did. The atmosphere, service, and food at Minerva’s was top notch.  The waitresses was kind, helpful, and funny, while also doing an excellent job keeping our large group pleased.  The food was absolutely amazing and left me uncomfortably full, but I was fine with it.  The prices at Minerva’s are way too high for my college budget, but if you are looking for a fancy place to go with great service and food, Minerva’s is definitely the best restaurant to go to in Sioux City.

We ended our may term by eating at a couple restaurants that were more of a casual fine dining.  The first place we went was Bev’s on the River.  It is located next to the Hilton Garden Inn on the river just a couple minutes from the Tyson Events Center, so it would be the perfect place to go eat dinner before a show at the Tyson.  I have seen commercials for this restaurant and have been intrigued to go, but thought that it would be a little out of my price range to eat there.

The atmosphere was great as we walked in.  We were once again the first ones there, which seemed to be the common theme for this course.  It was nice being early at this restaurant because it gave me a chance to walk around and check out the view of the river that it had to offer.  The entire south wall of the restaurant was glass, so the building was both well-lit but had great scenery as well.  We were seated at a big table to seat us all together and our water was brought out in nice blue wine glasses.  After our group had all arrived, our waitress came out to take our appetizer order.  Looking at even the appetizer menu it was clear to me that this restaurant was indeed out of my price range, but the lunch entrees weren’t too expensive.  Our table kind of went nuts on ordering the appetizers as we ordered all but one item on the list.  Near me was the steak strips and the onion rings.  Both of those appetizers were delicious and the sauces for them were great, so I would definitely recommend getting an appetizer when visiting this restaurant.

There were a lot of great choices on the lunch menu, but the pork tenderloin sandwich sounded pretty good to me.  It came with a side, so I chose the steak fries to go along with it.

We were all too busy conversing and eating our many appetizers to notice how long it took for our food to come out, but I don’t think it took that long at all.  My food was presented to me well and looked awesome.  The pork tenderloin couldn’t be contained by the bun, and the bun wasn’t even a small one.  I scarfed down the steak fries right away and they tasted great with the ketchup.  Because of the appetizers and how delicious the dessert looked on the menu, I didn’t eat very much of my sandwich, but instead decided to save most of it for later.  From what I did eat, I can say that the pork tenderloin is a great choice on the lunch menu at Bev’s.  The reason for this decision was because the creme brûlée sounded amazing, so that it was I ordered for dessert.

Not only, was the presentation great, but it tasted as good at is looked.  It was nice and crispy on top, but underneath that layer was a creamy inside that did taste amazing.

I was pleased with our meal at Bev’s on the River.  The atmosphere was great with the view of the river and the restaurant itself was very nice. The waitress was kind and helpful with filling our drinks and getting what we asked.  The food was delicious and to no surprise I left this restaurant both full and satisfied.  Well done Bev’s.

We finally had the opportunity to go to an authentic Mexican restaurant.  We went to El Tapatio and it is located directly across from the Hy-vee on Gordon Drive.  I have driven past this restaurant hundreds of times, but have never gone their to eat for no specific reason. As of late, I have been hearing about their $1 draft beer special on Wednesday’s, which was luckily the day Dr. Elder chose for us to go to El Tapatio.

Walking in, I immediately knew it was a Mexican restaurant.  The walls and decor not only gave you the feel that you were in Mexico, but the music playing in the background did as well. We were the first ones in the restaurant for the lunch hour and soon after we were seated, more and more people began filling the place. The menu was very similar to most restaurants like it in the area and had a large list of lunch specials.  I first ordered a strawberry margarita to quench my first on the hot Wednesday, and then placed my order for a steak fajita.

My margarita came out in a timely manner and was nice and large.  Although I didn’t taste much tequila in it, the strawberry flavoring was delicious, so I wasn’t too disappointed.  There were chips and salsa on our table, so we got an order of cheese dip to go along with.  The queso was warm and was a nice addition to the chips and salsa appetizer.  The place was busy for lunch, so our waitress wasn’t able to refill our basket of chips for awhile, but that was fine because then we couldn’t get too full before our meals came out.

I could hear my fajita still sizzling on a hot plate as it was being carried from the kitchen to my table.  I barely had any room on the table to put the hot plate, the plate of rice and beans, and the plate of tortillas. Steam was still rising from my plate, so it was also visually pretty hot.

There was only one thing for me to do, dig in. I started grabbing my tortillas and first put beans in rice inside, followed by the peppers, onions, and steak strips.  The meat was cooked well and the combination of all the foods together in a shell was delicious.  I poured  salsa on my fajitas to give them some spice and that was a good decision.  It was a good thing my margarita had some size to it, because the hotness of the fajitas mixed with the salsa made me finish the margarita pretty quickly, so I had to try out the $1 beer special.  The drinks were filling enough, but I also ate most of my food, so there was no way I was going to be able to eat any dessert this time.

I enjoyed my lunch at El Tapatio.  The atmosphere was fitting for the restaurant and set the tone for the rest of my lunch.  The waitress could have been a little more helpful, but I doubt they were expecting as large of a crowd as they got at 11:00 am on a Wednesday, so I wasn’t mad at her.  They did a great job making my drinks and food, and I left the restaurant both full and satisfied.  I will be coming back to get more margaritas and food soon.

Today we entered our last week of class and we started it off right! Located on 4^th Street a block south from the Promenade Cinema is a place called Indigo Palette.  It is mainly known for being an art gallery, but offers a coffee shop and dining area as well.

The weather was beautiful at 11:00 this morning, so the sun shining through the front windows brightened the dining area in the rear of the building.  Artwork covered every inch of the walls and it was all very impressive.  Immediately after being seated, two friendly waitresses came over to take our drink order. Because this was also a coffee shop, I ordered a specialty coffee drink that had white chocolate and caramel in it, both of which are ingredients I love.

I looked over the menu to decide what I wanted to eat, but this time I was only looking for a hamburger to eat because it is National Hamburger Day. Wouldn’t you know, the Indigo Palette has a specialty burger called, “The Indigo Burger.” This burger is ½ pound of meat stuffed with your choice of cheeses. I chose the pepper jack and sharp cheddar cheeses for my burger and the balsamic vinaigrette salad for my side.

The menu warns that the burger will take 15-20 minutes, and it did take awhile since we also had a larger number of people, but the waitresses handled it well and we were understandable.  First, the salad came out and the dressing tasted just as I hoped it would.  It didn’t take long after finishing the salad for the burger to arrive and the presentation of it was great. The vegetables were placed on the side and the bun was taken off exposing the huge, cheese stuffed burger. I finally putting the toppings on it, I took as big of a bite as I could and I was in love.  The burger was perfectly cooked and the cheese on the inside made it even better.  The pepper jack cheese added a kick to the burger and I was very pleased.

Even after eating the monstrous burger, I saved room for the turtle cheesecake.  The presentation was fantastic the way the caramel and chocolate was drizzled over the top.  Every bite of it went so smooth down my throat.  I managed to finish it all and that filled my stomach completely.
I am glad I got the chance to eat at the Indigo Palette.  From the moment I walked in to the moment I walked out, I was happy and enjoying my experience.  The atmosphere provided art for me to look at while I waited for my food and that sped up the process of waiting.  The waitresses were friendly to us and worked hard to keep up with our orders.  The menu provided numerous options that I would like and the prices were affordable.  I couldn’t possibly have any complaints with the food because I couldn’t even put it down until it was all gone.  It would be a fun time to visit this place again with some live entertainment.