Episode 048 - Top Motorcycle Restaurants for Illinois, Missouri & Iowa

===

Bottom Line

---

tom: The bottom line is there are some great local places to eat in Illinois, Missouri, and Iowa, and it's not hard to find them.

Todd: Yeah. And they're, we're talking about the ones that are on the motorcycle roads. Yes! Oh,

tom: right. Totally. So we're in a two part series. This is our second episode. Now we're going to talk about the top motorcycle restaurants for Illinois, Missouri, and Iowa.

s is just over the border of [: 00:01:00

tom: Mm hmm. ~Um, ~and one of the coolest things that they used to have now, it doesn't, they took it down, but it was a bridge that you crossed over and it was the metal graded bridge. So that was people kind of had a little panic attack when they would go over that. But then there's a, there's a cool causeway when on the Iowa side when you go to it too.

tom: So it's just a kind of a very unique little ride. It's a great ride. Yeah. And so when you get into Savannah on the south side, there's a place called Poopy's Pub and Grub. And I, I'm not sure that you can actually get a tattoo anymore, because I think they made it illegal, but, to get tattoos and eat, like, so far.

tom: But, what's really amazing, when I first went there, it was really kind of a dive. And they've built this up into a really nice place. I mean, they have, Big venue in the back for,~ um,~ for, uh, live music, live music. They've got,~ um,~ motorcycle repair and like, you know, tuning. ~Um, ~so they have bunches of stuff there and clothing and it, it's a, it's a big place now.

ite things about it is, is I [: 00:02:00

tom: They have, they have camping on site. Nice. Jeeps, a lot of jeep stuff there too. So it's quite a place. It is really cool. ~Um, ~it's just a fun, fun location. Big. Yeah. It's a large place. Yeah. ~Um, ~so yeah, it's a really good, good place. So I was surprised when we talked about you hadn't been there. I still haven't been to Poopy's.

tom: I can't believe it.

Todd: Yeah. I've been to Savannah and been to like the, what is Iron Horse Social Club. And

tom: there's another, and that's just a bar on the main street. And it's cool though. Like they have all historic motorcycles kind of up in the. Yeah. They've got a couple levels too, I think. And

Todd: uh, yeah, they've got.

Todd: Things on display up above and that's a

c value. Yeah, just way cool [: 00:03:00

tom: It's population of one. Oh, yeah, so Helen is the, the person that now owns the Moonshine Store. ~Um, ~wow, what a place. So I first learned about Moonshine Store when I was riding like more of the long distance rides. So it used to be,~ um,~ kind of the opening spring LD like place to be in April. I think it's the second or third week of April.

tom: There's the Moonshine Ride. And there was a guy that was a big part of that community that had a farm and everyone would come out and camp. And then the next morning you'd go to moonshine and they had a big, big, uh, fest that day. So a lot of times, so on normal days you go there and their motto is, is you can't come too early, but you can come too late.

tom: They close at noon and [: 00:04:00

tom: And it is a very old general store and they don't really do the general store thing anymore. It's just kind of a lunch breakfast and lunch spot. And so it's fun. But on the big days, when they have big events, then they bring in cookers outside and they have, I mean, they just have huge cookers going with them.

tom: I mean, just hundreds and hundreds of,~ um,~ and then you can go on the right day. The Amish who live nearby will start bringing pie and homemade ice cream. Oh my gosh. Yeah. You can't, can't miss that. If you see the Amish there, definitely stop. Yeah. So this is literally a four corners in the, in the middle of nowheresville.

n is Casey, which is spelled [: 00:05:00

tom: So is

Todd: this town of one, she runs the place and does the cooking? Yeah, I mean, she,

tom: I think there's some people that help. But yeah, she, they used him, her and her husband used to live, they lived on the second floor. Oh my gosh. It was amazing. And it's a one building town,

Todd: so she's the mayor and everything.

Todd: Right. Everything post postmaster .

tom: So yeah, I love that. It's quite a place and that's cool. You'll miss it. You can blink and miss it. But yeah, we've been down a few times and I've even stopped with driving through with the kids in the car. 'cause I talk about it so much and that was, they love it. What, what's the route?

t one is a place that's just [: 00:06:00

tom: I don't know if you've heard these stories before but I've heard that the best barbecue comes from gas stations. Mm hmm. And this was amazing. We had a great time there and it was literally like, I mean, we're talking the old static, uh, booths where the table and the chairs don't move, you know, everything's attached and no kidding.

tom: The day we were there, there was one guy running it all. Yeah, sorry guys. The other employee didn't come in. So, you know, you just were waiting patiently and it was just, it was awesome. So, ~um, ~just a neat experience. Kind of an experience, but the barbecue was really, really good. Yeah, that's

Todd: Hannibal? In Hannibal, yep.

tom: It's literally on the main drag in Hannibal, like, maybe the Avenue of the Saints that goes down to St. Louis. Yeah, I've

Todd: always heard that, that the barbecue places, like, just hit the gas stations. They've got the best stuff. It's the craziest

, because there was only one [: 00:07:00

tom: Oh, true, true, true. Hahahahaha. The other favorite place, I guess it is definitely, it's not an official restaurant, but it's great food. The Bixby Country Store, and that is in Bixby, Missouri, Highway 49. We were just there this last spring, and hands down the best breakfast sandwich ever had. Texas toast, bacon, eggs, unbelievable, like unbelievable, like And I was almost not even going to get it, but Chris got a sandwich.

piece of Americana. ~Um, ~in: 1906

tom: So. It's a general store, eatery, post office, and just general hang around spot, I think, uh, for the most part. And it's just quite the place.

Todd: And the tables are kind of in the back, aren't they? Like you kind of walk through it?

ery back. And then they also [: 00:08:00

tom: It's like big, just a big table and everybody sits together and you just chat.

Todd: Yeah, it's a great place. I remember just lots of nostalgia there. It really is. I mean, it's kind of

tom: You know, it's one of these things that's kind of sad because you can see it's not going to be there forever, but man, I just wish you could somehow preserve it, but you can't preserve everything.

tom: Put it in timecaps. Yeah. So you have one that we've visited before in Cuba.

Todd: Right. It's called the Missouri Hick Barbecue in Cuba, Missouri. ~Um, ~it's on route, uh, Route 66. Okay. So, great motorcycle road. ~Um, ~and it's, it's right next to one of our favorite places to stay. The, the Wagon Wheel Motel. Uh, the Wagon Wheel has been there for like, I don't know, 88 years or more.

Todd: It's completely restored. It's,~ um,~ These little stone cottages.

tom: Yeah, it's like little cabins that were made of stone. Yeah, and they're just little quaint little places

love that place old gas pump [: 00:09:00

Todd: It's, it's all, uh, the meats are all smoked overnight, 12 hours. ~Um, ~they've got excellent beer choices and, uh, And make sure you save room for the cobbler because it's, it's also fantastic. But yeah, it's, these places that have been around forever, they just really know how to do it right. They have an amazing,~ um,~ you know, smoke chef there and they, they just

tom: really, really do it right.

tom: It's just fun to go places that people are interested in, in doing that too.

Todd: Yeah. I mean,

tom: yeah.

Todd: Plenty of parking.

tom: ~Um, ~

Todd: good place.

k to I I don't even think we [: 00:10:00

tom: This is ozark, missouri And, it was just one of those things where, classic, where you said, Hey, let's go have a couple beers, we'll get some dinner, let's get an Uber. So we took an Uber to an Italian place, which was wonderful. And then, by the time it's all over, you know, We're having lemon cellos with the owner.

tom: We gotta explain why though. I don't even remember why. I know

Todd: why. Because we went in there, and you know, there's, I don't know, five or six of us or whatever, Got at this table, and We all went around and ordered and then, uh, the wait person went away and then she came back and came to you and said, I'm sorry, we don't have that.

ree times to you, where she, [: 00:11:00

Todd: So. It's the funniest

tom: thing though, because it seems to happen every time we go somewhere. And it's not like I'm ordering something crazy. No, no, no. You're ordering off the menu. In fact, I don't even know if I've told you this, but, Mark and I were riding out, you know, west and we, we were out there one night and we, we ended up, there was a Chili's right next door.

tom: Yeah. Chili's.

Todd: Okay.

tom: Right. So we're like fine, you know, it's like walkable we did we were writing all day Yeah, so I go over there and I'll think I'll take the ribs right Chili's baby back ribs. We're out of ribs I'm like what like you literally have a song that's I want my baby So like whatever it is like about these trips that I do with you guys every time and it's like It's the

Todd: craziest thing.

ngs and we didn't have them. [: 00:12:00

Todd: It was so good. And it was fun talking to him. Oh my God. We got her laughing and. Yeah, it was that was a lot of fun, but

tom: then the best part of the story is so then we're like, okay Time to go home like oh There's no more ubers. The ubers had closed down for the night. They all went to bed. It was like 830 Yeah, I'll have a ride home so we ended up getting a ride home in this woman's minivan that I Don't know.

tom: She was

Todd: one of the waitstaff. Yeah.

you just, just try something [: 00:13:00

tom: I mean, I just, I don't know.

Todd: Yeah. The other thing I remember about that too, is she, she felt so bad about not having the food and you know, we gave her a hard time the whole night, you know, At the end of the night, I think we tipped her couple hundred bucks. Oh yeah. I mean, for sure. Everybody threw in a whole bunch of money for her and she needed it.

Todd: Yeah. You know, she needed it. Agreed. Because we used her van on the way home. And she needed a new van. She needed a van. If I had a van, I probably should send that down . But it was, it was in rough shape.

tom: But I always, these are the stories and the fun that happens. I think, and this is why you and I have talked about this before, but we do what we're doing with these trips.

tom: Mm-hmm . It's not about the motorcycling trip or anything else. It's just about doing something fun and just kinda getting out. Yeah,

Todd: meeting people.

tom: Yeah. So that leaves us to Iowa, Todd. The last of the six on our list. ~Um, ~I've got a couple that I know of for sure. I'm not sure you've been to either one of them.

ades, so think uh, Northeast [: 00:14:00

tom: It's a fourth. I mean, it's really, Oh yeah. So that is a great, great place. Like you can order a half tenderloin. You can order, It's totally good. So a lot of great bike rides go through there in the summertime and it's, it's on paved road. It's cool. It's, you know, it's that area. You got to go a little further to get some better riding roads, but it's, it's on the way and it's a, it's a good stop for sure.

Todd: St. Olaf, Iowa, St. Olaf Tavern.

tom: Right. St. Olaf Tavern. It's St. Olaf Tavern. Yeah. Okay. Okay. And I mean, St. Olaf is probably two churches and 16 houses. So. Okay. Yeah. I've never.

Todd: Haven't even heard of it.

n the way other side over by [: 00:15:00

tom: And the sign that's outside, and I have a picture of it, is BB Town. ~Um, ~but technically the address, when I looked it up for this, is Check out things with Logan, Iowa But so 80 goes west out of Iowa almost all the way due east and west until you get to about six seven miles outside of Council Bluffs, which is On the opposite side of Omaha.

tom: And if you keep going kind of due west on 80, it turns into 680. And we were riding kind of, uh, we're kind of riding a circle of tour around Iowa a little bit this one particular year. And so we pull off on the 680, we take a right. And we pull into BB town and here's this place. And it's just like your When you think of a saloon, that's what it is.

here. And I'm sure that it's [: 00:16:00

tom: I mean, there's no town there. BB town must have been a long town ago, but yeah, just a neat place. Neat, neat, neat, just kind of a neat, neat place to stop. And it's just perfect. Again, one of those places where you could see a whole bunch of bikes packed in there on the weekends or something. Awesome. ~Um, ~yeah, just a great place.

tom: One more place that's like that is also,~ um,~ is a, it's a very popular,~ um,~ like biker bar restaurant called Gunder Roadhouse. Now it used to be called,~ um,~ The Irish Shanty, I think. Right. Yes. And it was re bought and now called Gunder Roadhouse up by Elgin, Iowa. And their claim to fame is they have a one pound burger.

tom: Have you been?

Todd: Oh, yeah. Yeah. I did. I didn't order it. Everybody else ordered it, but I did. It was really good.

tom: Yeah,

Todd: it was ginormous. It's

kind of out in the middle of [: 00:17:00

tom: It is out in the middle of nowhere And that's what's sad about some of these places you see why they kind of end up closing at times because they're out in the middle Nowhere. Yeah.

This is a section we call the toolkit. We share motorcycle gear, gear review, and other riding tips.

Toolkit

---

tom: I Thought one thing we could put in the toolkit today and that was Pepto Bismol Todd They come in liquid and tablets.

tom: And after you had a Gunder burger, you might need some, but like we had mentioned in the last episode, you know, connect with local writer groups, either online or offline, ask people about places they've been in these areas. People love to share and you'll find these little hidden gems. I mean, there is no way you'd find the Gunder Roadhouse.

tom: If you didn't ask somebody or find out where it was or St. Olaf Tap. I mean, you got to take a couple of wrong turns before you get there. So. Yeah, I mean,

Todd: I, I agree. Let's, you know, no chains, right?

tom: Right. Yeah. We, we didn't mention that, but we should talk about

Todd: that. I love [: 00:18:00

tom: gosh. So I interviewed a guy a while back on the, on the podcast, or actually it was on our interviews.

tom: And so if you haven't, If you've made it this far, you probably don't get too annoyed with us, right? So, we're getting to the end of the episode. But,~ um,~ on YouTube, we actually have some extra interviews once in a while, too. And one of the people,~ um,~ That I interviewed was John and they do us. They're like almost a similar group to us a little more diligent about the way they ride But but John talked about when they go they call it their no chain rides and I was like no chain rides What is that?

tom: I was

Todd: thinking bike bikes right chains. Like what are we like?

tom: Oh, you're getting there But what he meant was, and it's kind of a thing we've not had a good name for, and that we're going to adopt it now. Yeah, now we're

Todd: adopting it.

tom: The name, that is just, don't go to chain restaurants. Don't go to chain hotels if you can.

mean, ~um, ~it's part of the [: 00:19:00

tom: So yeah, it's just another opportunity.

Todd: Yeah.

tom: If you like the podcast today, please like subscribe and sign up for our BMR rider alerts. It's our way of keeping you in the loop. We promise no spam,

Todd: keep the spirit of adventure alive and remember bikes, friends, and endless roads.

Todd: The stories ride forever. Take care.

Share Episode

Shownotes

Transcripts

Follow

Links

Chapters

Video

More from YouTube