Back in the 1980's a chef from New Orleans started a culinary sensation by taking Cajun cooking out of Louisiana and sharing his mouth watering recipes with the rest of the nation. His style of cooking by using a super hot iron skillet to "Blacken" fish and meat would soon be attempted by many of us as Cajun recipes became the rage. This style of cooking actually caused a shortage of red snapper in the U.S. and most restaurants had to stop selling that type fish for a while due to supply shortages. During the early stages of this craze a local chef named Steve Cupp opened a little restaurant on the Southwest end of Business Loop 70 offering Cajun dishes and some of his own creations. I don't know where the name of Glenn's Cafe came from, I guess it was there before Mr. Cupp opened his restaurant, but that name is still famous today in its latest incarnation located in Boonville.
Glenn's Cafe was small compared to most restaurants and you had to arrive early to get a good seat. Sometimes you would find yourself sharing a table with a stranger as they tried to seat as many customers as they could. My friends and I always to get there before the lunch or supper ush and would watch as the place filled up around us. We tried almost every item on the menu during our many visits there and found it all wonderful, except for this stuff called "pot liquor" which I guess was a broth made from boiled vegetables for stock. (It had a weird taste, almost like dishwater mixed with vegetable soup.) The owner watched all of us as we bought a round and drank it down. He and the waitress just smiled and moved on while we all tried to put on brave faces after drinking that muck. But the food was heaven; I loved the corn bread which was sweet and almost creamy when biting into it. The shrimp creole was awesomely spiced and the blackened pork chop was my favorite, but everyone loved the seafood gumbo and the bread pudding. At this time in history we were able to eat fresh, raw oysters from the Gulf Coast without catching some life threatening disease so we ate our fill.
Glenn's Cafe moved to a larger location on 9th St. with a varied menu mixed with Cajun and Southwestern dishes. The food was still awesome but more expensive. The place was always filled but did not have the same feeling as the older location as it looked so new and all. Since it grew out of our price range we ate there less, except for special occasions. Eventually it closed for reasons unknown to me and finally opened up recently at a hotel in downtown Boonville. I wish I could remember the time line but the dates are vague. I do plan on trying Steve Cupp's new location sometime in the future and who knows, if they are available I might slide a few raw oysters down for old times sake.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Memories of the 63 Diner
I really regret not eating at the 63 Diner as much as I should have. The food was great and it was always an experience since I never seemed to have enough room for my elbows. I always went with small groups and the waitress would stuff us together in a small booth. Every one's food would be delivered covering the small tabletop enticing you to grab a bite from someones plate. And the joy of eating shoulder to shoulder reminded me of a Army Mess Hall where you had little room to spread out.
One of the charms of the Diner was the size, it was small which meant you had to wait in a line for a table. I remember going there at 3PM and having to wait for a table. But if the restaurant had been any larger it would have lost it's charm. It was full of 1950's decor and was a feast for the eyes as well as the stomach. I would notice something different each time I ate there, a poster or hub cap or an advertisement sign from the past. My main regret is not trying something different from the menu. I always ordered a cheeseburger and fries which I thought was excellent so why should I change. To this day when I go to a restaurant I will order something different from the menu because you never know how long they will be in business.
The 63 Diner closed recently making the local news. The new owners could not get out of debt even with all the business they had. It was said by those in the know the group of people who bought the place paid way too much for it and partner after partner tried to get out of their share of the business. There is still hope that the 63 Diner may reopen with new owners but I think that may be too late. If it does reopen I will definitely order something other than the classic cheeseburger and fries.
One of the charms of the Diner was the size, it was small which meant you had to wait in a line for a table. I remember going there at 3PM and having to wait for a table. But if the restaurant had been any larger it would have lost it's charm. It was full of 1950's decor and was a feast for the eyes as well as the stomach. I would notice something different each time I ate there, a poster or hub cap or an advertisement sign from the past. My main regret is not trying something different from the menu. I always ordered a cheeseburger and fries which I thought was excellent so why should I change. To this day when I go to a restaurant I will order something different from the menu because you never know how long they will be in business.
The 63 Diner closed recently making the local news. The new owners could not get out of debt even with all the business they had. It was said by those in the know the group of people who bought the place paid way too much for it and partner after partner tried to get out of their share of the business. There is still hope that the 63 Diner may reopen with new owners but I think that may be too late. If it does reopen I will definitely order something other than the classic cheeseburger and fries.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Memories of Perkin's
Next to Ryan's was a nice, little chain restaurant called Perkin's which specialised in bakery items and a standard sit down restaurant menu. It started out great with baked chicken, roast beef and roast turkey entrees that were all first rate and you could get a selection of vegetable sides with your meal which made it more popular with us than the burger joints. The kids loved Perkin's creamed spinach and wanted to go there just for that. We went there several times and then just quit going to Perkin's for a while for reasons I can't remember at this time. What a surprise we had the next time we ate their.
The last time we went to Perkin's was a fiasco. There were few customers there and I guess the restaurant was training a new waiter who had no idea what he was doing. I had to get up and remind him we were waiting to order. All the time we were there we smelled a sewer odor which came from the back. I noticed that the manager and cashier were joking around and did not seem to help the poor guy trying to wait on us. Of course they did not have the creamed spinach the kids wanted so we substituted with some tasteless carrots. The food took a long time to come out and it was almost cold but the waiter did not have a clue what was going on so we went ahead and ate. When I paid for the meal the manager didn't even ask how the food was, probably noticing my demeanor at the register. It was one of the few times I did not leave a tip because we did not plan on coming back.
Some time later I read in the Tribune that the Health Department closed Perkin's for seventeen violations, one being sewer problems that backed up in the kitchen. The manager was quoted in saying they were going to get everything fixed and reopen as soon as possible. I do not know if they ever did. Soon after that we were visiting Disney World in Florida and needed to eat. We were tired of double cheeseburgers from McDonalds so we decide to take a chance on the local Perkin's. We were seated promptly in a very clean dining room. The food came out hot and the kids had their creamed spinach. It was a good experience from and old, lost friend. I have heard good things about the Jefferson City Perkin's but never wanted to drive up there to check it out, even for there creamed spinach.
The last time we went to Perkin's was a fiasco. There were few customers there and I guess the restaurant was training a new waiter who had no idea what he was doing. I had to get up and remind him we were waiting to order. All the time we were there we smelled a sewer odor which came from the back. I noticed that the manager and cashier were joking around and did not seem to help the poor guy trying to wait on us. Of course they did not have the creamed spinach the kids wanted so we substituted with some tasteless carrots. The food took a long time to come out and it was almost cold but the waiter did not have a clue what was going on so we went ahead and ate. When I paid for the meal the manager didn't even ask how the food was, probably noticing my demeanor at the register. It was one of the few times I did not leave a tip because we did not plan on coming back.
Some time later I read in the Tribune that the Health Department closed Perkin's for seventeen violations, one being sewer problems that backed up in the kitchen. The manager was quoted in saying they were going to get everything fixed and reopen as soon as possible. I do not know if they ever did. Soon after that we were visiting Disney World in Florida and needed to eat. We were tired of double cheeseburgers from McDonalds so we decide to take a chance on the local Perkin's. We were seated promptly in a very clean dining room. The food came out hot and the kids had their creamed spinach. It was a good experience from and old, lost friend. I have heard good things about the Jefferson City Perkin's but never wanted to drive up there to check it out, even for there creamed spinach.
Memories of Ryan's
After several weeks dealing with repairs on my computer I thought I would write about several broken restaurants that started off good then went bust. Ryan's was a steakhouse/buffet on West I-70 Drive which was one of those restaurants with a good start. Their buffet was large and the quality was better than most with their hot rolls taking center stage. I guess if you ate a lot of these good tasting rolls you would eat less food, thus Ryan's would make more profit. Our family went there several times a month through the few years Ryan's was opened and we noticed it going down hill towards the end. First the quality of the food went down such as more inedible stems in the green beans, the rolls became tasteless and dried out food was served that seemed to be too old for serving. There were staffing changes where they were less attentive to your needs and fewer wait staff in number. And the cleanliness of the restaurant changed drastically towards the end with dirty floors and piled up dishes sharing some empty tables. We just quit going because the quality was not there for the price of four people eating from the buffet.
Several interesting things happened at Ryan's worth noting. There was a Harley Davidson convention somewhere, it might of been in that town in South Dakota, but when we arrived the restaurant was full of rough and rowdy looking bikers dressed in their leather and tie dyed garb. I liked it because compared to them I was the skinniest guy there. These guys were huge, not just fat but huge, like from a bad biker movie of the 1960's. Even their women were large. All of them were well behaved and noticeably courteous so there were not any fights or other things expected of Hell's Angels. And on our last visit to Ryan's we had the pleasure of sitting next to a family who had a sick child. This kid whined and the parents talked loudly trying to please him. This kid finally threw up all over the table with the parents once again talking loudly to him. The wait staff did not seem to know what needed to be done and the parents did clean up the table. We were lucky because there was little odor, because the putrid food smell was coming from the buffet table, I believe it was a steamed fish dish. After throwing up the kid was fine and started eating. The parents, except for the little time it took to clean up the vomit, quieted down and continued eating. It was a fitting end for us and we never came back.
Several interesting things happened at Ryan's worth noting. There was a Harley Davidson convention somewhere, it might of been in that town in South Dakota, but when we arrived the restaurant was full of rough and rowdy looking bikers dressed in their leather and tie dyed garb. I liked it because compared to them I was the skinniest guy there. These guys were huge, not just fat but huge, like from a bad biker movie of the 1960's. Even their women were large. All of them were well behaved and noticeably courteous so there were not any fights or other things expected of Hell's Angels. And on our last visit to Ryan's we had the pleasure of sitting next to a family who had a sick child. This kid whined and the parents talked loudly trying to please him. This kid finally threw up all over the table with the parents once again talking loudly to him. The wait staff did not seem to know what needed to be done and the parents did clean up the table. We were lucky because there was little odor, because the putrid food smell was coming from the buffet table, I believe it was a steamed fish dish. After throwing up the kid was fine and started eating. The parents, except for the little time it took to clean up the vomit, quieted down and continued eating. It was a fitting end for us and we never came back.
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