Last year was a hectic travel season for work, with me being gone on average two weeks a month trying to get a new media start-up company off the ground.
And while that presented its own challenges for us here at home, I did get a chance to see a lot of the country that I never would have seen otherwise, and I got to try a ton of new restaurants to broaden my food experiences. I considered that valuable experience for this blog, and to help teach me to learn to enjoy the eating experience.
In previous years, when I was on the road, eating was a time proposition to me. The quicker I could get the food, the quicker I could get back to the hotel to work or study or call home. I didn't worry about what I was eating or even if it was good.
Then a couple years ago when Shelley and I started to think more about our food experiences, and thus I realized that when I was on the road, I was throwing away a golden opportunity to enjoy new eating experiences. And so I developed the policy that when on the road, I would never eat at another chain restaurant if I had a choice. ... And man, it's been a good ride the last year or so.
And while I've had some truly world-class meals in places like Houston, Fort Worth, Denver, Savannah and Chicago in the past year, there's been some surprisingly good foodie experiences at places I would have never expected as well.
Take for instance Dickinson, N.D.
Now, Dickinson is way out west here in North Dakota, and if you're traveling by car you'd better plan for a six-hour drive. Thankfully, the last few times that I've had to travel there for work I was able to catch a ride on our company's plane, with then makes it a very tolerable 45-minute trip.
On a recent, quick overnight work trip to Dickinson, N.D., I got to take in a couple of good restaurants, a locally owned brewery and a funky barbecue shack that is kind of a cross between Nashville BBQ joint and a seaside tiki bar.
I'll start with JD's BBQ, which describes itself this way: "Fun atmosphere with a full bar and great service! Featuring 30 beers on tap to go along with the best BBQ, steaks, burgers, pastas, wraps and so much more!"
First off, you have to like a joint that gives you a basket full of shelled peanuts as you walk in before you even sit down. They even allow you to throw the shells on the floor if that's how you roll, but after growing up a waitress' son, there was no way I could do that to the staff.
And second, the first thing you see when you walk in to its folksy decorated is its chalkboard that contains a new pithy message that changes daily. On the day that I visited with a work colleague, it read: "All you need is love and BBQ."
I admit that JD's does seem to suffer a sort of identity crisis, as it tries to simultaneously be a sports bar, neighborhood bar, BBQ joint and a little bit Caribbean islandish. But however disjointed the design scheme and vibe are, the locals don't seem to mind, as this place was packed at lunch time.
JDs does sport an impressive beer list, with 30 on tap at the time of this writing, everything from macro brewed American staples such as Pabst Blue Ribbon and Busch Light, to a handful of regional craft brews, popular national craft brews and some really interesting varieties such as the Aloha Sour that is produced at the local brewery across town Phat Fish Brewing.
I'd like to share a menu with you, but there doesn't seem to be one posted on their Facebook page, and they don't have a website. But they do boast a big barbecue selection and they seem to pride themselves on their wings. I sampled both. We ordered an appetizer that had three different wing flavors, all of which were fine. Nothing spectacular, and it didn't seem that the flavors were original. But the wings had a crispy texture and were cooked to perfection.
And I ordered a three meat sampler that included brisket, pulled pork and barbecue ribs. JD's cooks the meat and then brings you a four-pack of barbecue sauces, a Carolina style sweet barbecue, a Nashville barbecue that brings the heat, a Texas barbecue that was smoky and an inventive white barbecue sauce that is a bit hard to describe.
This may sound like hyperbole, but the meat was out of this world good, as good as any barbecue that I've had anywhere, including a memorable trip to a Fort Worth Stockyards barbecue joint. All three were fall-off-the-bone tender, and tasted exactly what brisket, pulled pork and barbecue ribs should taste like. The meat was so good, in fact, that I could have eaten it without the sauces. But, I did. Tried everyone one of them, and liked them all. ... Well, with the exception of that white barbecue invention. I just didn't get the hang of that one.
And I should note that you receive plenty of sides with your order, and I thought their coleslaw and baked beans were both good. ... Top notch in fact, and they complimented the meal well.
I don't know how often you might find yourself in Dickinson, N.D., but if you do, I would highly recommend you give JD's a try. I think you'll thank me later.
It seems that every town that's larger than a village has its own local brewery nowadays. They are sprouting up quicker than a crop of dandelions. But some seem to stand out. Phat Fish Brewing is one of those.
That night, after a successful marketing blitz campaign throughout town, a group of us gathered for dinner at Phat Fish, where they make their own pizza and their own beer. Phat Fish was created in a large industrial space that previously was empty, formerly a North Dakota Department of Transportation site, which is a story that is pretty common all over these breweries pop up.
"We're trying to keep as much of the patina as we can that came from 1909, when this side of the building was created," owner Keilli Scharf said in an interview in the local paper, The Dickinson Press. "Really trying to keep a lot of the exposed brick and do the clean up and make it look nice, but keep the originality of Dickinson here."
Phat Fish boasts a solid menu of appetizers, salads and specialty pizzas, in addition to allowing you to build your own pizza variation. The owners pride themselves so much on their pizza, that Scharf even attended a pizza-making school before opening the business. She owns it with her husband Tony.
Our group of eight ordered two orders of the mozzarella sticks appetizer and six specialty pizzas and we ate just fine. No one left hungry. We ordered the Badlands (pepperoni & Italian sausage with a mozzarella cheese blend topped with our house red sauce and creamy ricotta cheese), Garlic Margherita (roasted garlic base with mozzarella cheese blend, tomatoes, and Parmesan cheese, topped with dried basil. Balsamic vinaigrette glaze on the side), Spicy Rig Hand (pepperoni & Italian sausage on house red sauce with a blend of pepper jack & mozzarella cheeses topped with jalapenos, garlic spread and red pepper flakes), Bakken Taco (taco meat topped with cheddar cheese, chips, lettuce, onions, black olives, tomatoes and sour cream with a side of salsa), the BBQ Hawaiian (shredded chicken, Canadian bacon, red onions & pineapple on house red sauce with mozzarella blend cheese, finished with BBQ) and the Meatatarian (Pepperoni, Italian sausage, Canadian bacon, ground beef and shredded chicken on house red sauce topped with mozzarella cheese blend).
Every pizza was delicious. Interesting flavors, fresh ingredients and every sauce was different. The crusts were hand tossed and thin. So you enjoyed the toppings without being interrupted by a doughy crust.
I have to say that I wasn't wild about the Garlic Margherita, but that was a personal thing. The others at the table who like margherita pizza said it was delicious as well.
I tried two beers at dinner: the first being the Roughrider Razz Raspberry Wheat (IBUs: 18 ABV: 5.6%), which they describe as, "A full-bodied yet easy drinking wheat beer brewed with German hops and a touch of sweetness that plays well against the flavor or ripe raspberries."
And the second was the Lost Bridge Lager (IBUs: 18 ABV: 6.0%), which they describe as, "made in the Euro-style, malty, yet refreshing. A great choice as an introduction to craft beer!"
The first, the Roughrider, tasted just as it sounds, a wheat beer with a slight raspberry hint. I like wheat beers and so it was not a surprise that I enjoyed the Roughrider, but I'm not one usually that likes a fruity taste in beers. But this time, they got it right.
The second, the Lost Bridge Lager, was your average craft brew lager. It's a fine drinking beer and will remind many of their traditional macro brewed American lagers. I wouldn't disparage it, but if you're looking fore something special, then I would advise you try another of their offerings.
I have to comment on the space itself. It was tremendously well designed, and it seemed cavernous. They had a huge outdoor space which we didn't get to enjoy being it was winter, a massive bar/restaurant area and they weren't even using half of their tank room space yet.
And all of it was very industrial modern in style: Lots of refinished wood and metal and extremely well lit. This was built to be trendy, and knowing what I do about Dickinson, it must be one of the trendiest places in town.
I'd highly recommend that you give it a try. Who can resist the combination of locally produced pizza and beer?
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