Eating Normal
  • Home
  • Support Us
  • Recipes
  • Restaurant Reviews
  • Writing
  • Cookbook of the Month
  • Archive

Cozy Up to the Bar At Plank Road Pub and Grill

10/18/2022

0 Comments

 
I used to regularly drive along the frontage road where Plank Road Pub and Grill sits alongside the highway to Appleton. For years, I’ve driven by and wondered what brought the crowd to it’s large parking lot, and yet, I never made the attempt to cross town from my old living space to give it a visit. Shortly into October, I moved to the west side of the Green Bay Metro Area, and I decided to satisfy my curiosity with my soon-to-be ex-husband.

A friendly dinner after a day of moving at a location neither of us had ever visited before harkened us back to easier times. He often sat across the table from me when I dined for articles like these. Fortunately for us and the other patrons of the restaurant that night, there was little different on this night than any other. We ordered our drinks, and I did what I always do.

Plank Road Pub and Grill has a menu familiar to me in any bar-restaurant setting. I would never personally call it original. Every bar-restaurant has a spinach and artichoke dip, mixed french fry platters, etc. A compact burger menu positioned beside a sandwich menu is precisely what you can expect from a place like this when you drive up. It was a friday in Wisconsin, so of course there was a fish fry menu.
Picture
The best part of this somewhat predictable menu is knowing precisely what you want even as a first timer. As a spinach and artichoke dip connoisseur myself, I ordered it for the table to share with my ‘new’ friend. The least predictable element of the common bar appetizer was its arrival with both pita chips and toasted baguette. I often see only one or the other. A blanket of bubbly mozzarella shielded the dip itself from the dipping bread, but with effort, we enjoyed a rather traditional bar dip.​

​It kept us thirsty for a second round of drinks while we waited on our entrees. The staff were attentive to us and the other tables surrounding us. The crowd at the bar appeared to also be well taken care of. Empty glasses were not common. Low light provided by the decorative Edison bulbs throughout the restaurant gave it a warm, welcoming feeling. Families had their children with them at the table. All are good signs at a place like this.

Picture

When our entrees arrived, I was pleased with my choice of a perch sandwich on a fish fry evening. At nearly half the price of their perch platter, it proved to be a good way to gauge the quality of the fry and the fish itself without committing too much on my first night out at Plank Road Pub and Grill. The single plank of perch among a well toasted bun and common sandwich accoutrement such as lettuce and red onion was somewhat lost flavorwise. However, looking at the fish and tasting it separately, it was clear to me the perch is well cared for and cooked here.

Picture
The accompanying tartar sauce and trio of fries served here satisfied me well. There are few things that make me happier than a variety of fry options, and Plank Road serves a mixture of traditional french fries, waffle fries, and sidewinders on every burger and sandwich platter. Sidewinder fries are especially comforting to me with a strong association to a favorite restaurant in Iowa,
​
I left Plank Road with a ticket of around thirty bucks despite ordering two drinks, the appetizer, and my entree. A strong tip for the attentive staff pushed me into the forty range, and despite the concerns I have of going out on my own into the world for the first time, I didn’t regret a cent. Plank Road is a comfortable location for friendly dinners, and with reasonable price, it is much more accessible than some of its restaurant genre compatriots in town.

Plank Road is accessible via the Scheuring Road exit off of highway 41, and their daily specials offer an opportunity to try much of their menu at reduced costs. Their frequent live music acts are announced on their facebook page. Thank you to the staff for a delicious, comforting meal after a hard day of moving!
0 Comments

Finding Comfort at Sticky Fingers Cafe - Kaukauna

10/13/2022

0 Comments

 
The first true Fall morning of September, I bravely got in my car to drive down to Kaukauna to enjoy the Produce with Purpose Open House. I turned away from the Green Bay Farmer’s Market early in the morning when I had a strong sense of purpose. That sense of purpose didn’t last long. I hate driving. I have several chronic health issues that sometimes make me scared to leave town on my own.

It scared me so much I spent the entire drive to Kaukauna having a panic attack, and I pulled into the downtown area in search of a nice breakfast to help me come down. I stumbled upon Sticky Fingers Cafe, open early enough for someone like me just trying to find a comforting meal and a safe place to relax. When I found them, two other people were on their way out with coffee in hand. 

Read More
0 Comments

McKayla Marie Sweets Opens in Ashwaubenon

10/2/2022

0 Comments

 
I first met the mastermind behind the sweets at a June event in the Revolution Market and found something special in the crisp shells of her miniature macarons. I checked on her facebook page once a week waiting for that final announcement of opening day. It came almost a month later than her original estimate.

A crisp fall morning in Ashwaubenon rose over the grand opening of McKayla Marie Sweets, a much anticipated event by yours truly. I arrived nearly thirty minutes early to discover that a line had already formed outside of the door, bisecting the parking lot. I had to park along the road. I waited patiently alongside other connoisseurs of the baker’s goodies, listening as they talked about their plans for the rest of the day after this. ​
Picture
No one was ignorant of what they were about to eat. McKayla Marie Sweets attended several events in town, spreading the anticipation over the summer– and it worked. I’ve attended many openings like this since I started writing for this blog, but I can’t recall this level of anticipation in a crowd. It spoke highly of the mind behind the product.

Read More
0 Comments

Taco Tones Returns

8/24/2022

0 Comments

 
Green Bay has a blessing that is sorely lacking in many other cities in our country: access to Native Frybread prepared by natives themselves. Indigenous cuisine in the states has long been an under-represented area of our culinary history. At Taco Tones food truck, the frybread is the base upon which more familiar dishes and flavors are built as an introduction to the under-represented cuisine.

And, let’s face it, it’s just plain tasty. From a frybread taco to a ribeye sandwich to a burger, you don’t have to be a food history weirdo like me to appreciate what they’re doing. We tried them once during the winter while the proprietor ran deliveries when unable to do business in the Green Bay Streets. At the time, I tried their native nachos and their frybread burger. I remembered it so fondly that when I heard they were involved in an accident that rendered their food truck inoperable early in the season, I was crushed.

Picture
Picture

Thankfully, it was not a goodbye when they shut down their original facebook page– just a see you later. Taco Tones is back, and we had our first chance to get their flatbread taco right out of the fryer at the Washington Street Block Party this past weekend. Under the warm sun with a cold beer, the slight crust on the exterior of the pillowy interior of the frybread worked hard to contain an overflow of delicious taco meat and the usual suspects. The small slices of tomato on top went down particularly refreshing with the heaviness of the overall experience. It was a perfect food truck meal.​

As early as I arrived at the event, the line was not long. The staff moved through those that did stop in immediately for their meal quickly, which is a good sign for their setup on the interior of the truck. For the hour and some that I stayed at the block party, it appeared that the quick service I got continued. Every frybread taco that I saw go by looked as good as mine. There’s something special going on in there. Don’t let the unassuming exterior of the truck fool you.

You can follow Taco Tones on facebook to keep track of their schedule, or you can check our own facebook page off and on as well. We do our best to repost when we see many of our area food trucks announcing their openings outside of regular events in town. Tell them Eating Normal sent you. I’m so glad to see them out on the streets again to share a unique food truck experience with the city. ​
0 Comments

Destination Dining at The Shed- Santa Fe, NM

7/26/2022

0 Comments

 
Not far from the Palace of the Governors in downtown Santa Fe hides a 2003 James Beard award winning restaurant recommended to us by my brother-in-law. We spent our second day in Santa Fe operating on midwestern hours in a mountain time city, and we arrived ahead of the crowd to be seated with our party of four without any trouble. While we sat with our drinks and meals, the line grew so long outside it spilled into the mercado. I have never been so happy to get so hungry early.

We were seated toward the back of the restaurant’s interior, and I ordered my first margarita of the trip made with a Herradura Anejo tequila. There are few better liquors on the planet than a well aged tequila, and this was one of them. The Shed’s margaritas lean toward the tart end of the spectrum, just how I like them. ​
Picture

Read More
0 Comments

Rustique Pizzeria Slinging Slices on Broadway

7/5/2022

0 Comments

 
The first Wednesday Night Market on Broadway was a wash out. Vendors showed, sure, but compared to the sight of a full street up and down the block this past Wednesday, it was nothing. That week, we passed Rustique Pizzeria’s mobile pizza oven filled with desire for a good slice. The rain convinced us to keep moving. Not this Wednesday, no sir. We gladly stood in line and watched slices be passed down to those in front of us.

If you’re in a hurry for something to eat during the market, I cannot recommend getting in line at Rustique more. The extreme temperature of their mobile oven cooks their thin crust pizzas in a flash, and most of those ahead of us didn’t have to wait at all once they paid for their orders. Take out boats of pesto fries appeared on the block the second they were ordered. The pizza slices soon followed.

​
Waiting on a pizza to cook appeared to be a rarity, one that we experienced ourselves when my husband and I ordered a slice of their Margherita pizza and some pesto fries to start our food truck experience on Broadway for the night. A new pie for the Margherita had just gone in. We took our pesto fries to a nearby concrete planter to enjoy them while we waited for our slice. The amount of time it took for us to eat our appetizer timed perfectly with the prep time of the awaited pizza.​
Longtime readers know that I have a soft spot for pesto fries from nearly all of Green Bay’s eateries that try their hand at the potato based appetizer. The combination of balsamic drizzle, basil pesto, and parmesan on top of fries creates an umami bomb that’s hard to screw up. I can’t get enough of it. This little boat of fries, prepared so quickly that I didn’t even have all of my cash handed over to the woman taking our order, supported that hypothesis. You can’t screw up a pesto fry easily. ​
Picture

My husband ate the very last fry, and the folks at Rustique called my name to announce that our slice was ready. We abandoned our seat at the planter to pick up our slice and then returned to eat. The twists that Rustique applied to the traditional Margherita toppings made it a perfect slice for me and my tomato hating husband. He ate around the large slices of tomato. I ate them.​
Picture
The thin crust maintained its crunch under the melted mozz and the release of juices from the large tomatoes. Pesto rather than whole basil leaves dotted the slice and provided a bright pop to each bite while the balsamic drizzle came in from time to time to provide additional acidity to fight the fattiness of the cheese. It’s hard to find this quality in most pizza places, let alone from a mobile station set up by one.

​
As a person who doesn’t make it out to Suamico very often, this mobile station provided the opportunity to test the product from a pizzeria in the region that I’ve watched from a distance longingly on facebook for years. I no longer need convincing that the visit would be worth the drive. Until then, however, I can always find their mobile station on Wednesday nights not far from Pho Coma’s physical location.
Pay them a visit this week and let them know Eating Normal sent you. ​
0 Comments

Zesty's Makes Fast Food Local -- and Tasty

6/29/2022

0 Comments

 
Zesty’s dots the Green Bay landscape with locations at almost all four corners. Their iconic frozen custards are the biggest draw, but when my mother came up to town for the first time this year, we wanted a quick lunch at a local location that we trusted. The Allouez Zesty’s has been a stop for my husband and I with several previous visitors for the custards. It was time to try their food menu.

The interior screams of an old fashioned diner, and after ordering at the front, we made ourselves comfortable in one of the pleather booths with our self-serve drinks. It’s a familiar feeling recreated all over the midwest in similar establishments. My husband and I were reminded of Dairy King in southern Illinois once the food arrived.
I ordered a single patty cheeseburger with ketchup, onion, and pickle and a side of fries. Right at the top of the menu, it was the first thing I thought to choose. You can learn a lot about a kitchen like this one from their burgers and fries. The meal arrived on a classic plastic tray wrapped in wax paper, and the burger was cut in half inside the paper. Split it open, and you look down into a patty still slightly pink in the center– juicy and cheesy and ketchupy. Just how I like it.
Picture
The fries appear to be lightly battered which helps with the crunch, as always. They provided a much needed relief from the softer textures of the old fashioned burgers being served up out of the kitchen. Because I didn’t order a deluxe, there was little in the way of crunch within the burger to be served up by the classic garden toppings. The diced onion helped some– but their traditional crunch was lost through slight cooking underneath the warm patty. 

Not that that took away from the burger itself. Zesty’s burgers are a fast food hamburger being made in a locally owned kitchen, and that alone makes them special. Thin patties slung quickly from their kitchen to feed people like us looking for a cheaper, quicker option than sitting down at a restaurant for the afternoon have their merits.
Picture
Their frozen custard is, of course, the greatest draw. There wasn’t enough time in the day or room in the stomach for it during this visit. We We encourage you to give that a try. Ordering ahead of time via their online app can take away the short waiting period during prime hours. We have included some old pictures of our custards from previous visits so you can get an idea of how tasty those can be!

​No matter what side of Green Bay you're on, it's a short drive to find a Zesty's location. Visit their facebook page for more information and tell them Eating Normal sent you.
0 Comments

Fire & Hops in Santa Fe Brings the Heat

6/13/2022

0 Comments

 
Picture
One’s first meal in Santa Fe, New Mexico should probably come from any of the taco stands and southwestern restaurants all over the historical town center, but ours came at the Fire and Hops gastropub not far from where we would be staying for our vacation. I saw it on the map while looking up where we would be for the weekend, and after a look at the menu, I couldn’t resist.


Dishes that come from disparate inspirations come together to form the Fire and Hops Menu. It’s unusual for any part of the world. My husband sat down without having looked at it an expressed some concern that we wouldn’t be getting much of a southwestern experience at the establishment, but there are some hidden places that the flavors of the region come into play– most notably in their dessert section. But that’s for later.
We began our meal with a bowl of their buffalo chipotle organic popcorn and a side of fries to jump start our appetites after a day of travel. The popcorn fulfilled its purpose and arrived to the table hot and fresh, but most importantly, the level of spice delivered by the combination of buffalo and chipotle did not overwhelm the midwestern palette. It kept us thirsty for beer, and the three beers that we finished each by the time the meal was over spoke for themselves.

​The fries arrived shortly thereafter and were accompanied by a simple garlic aioli and ketchup. The cool aioli served the hot and crunchy fries well by bringing down the temperature and adding flavor. Even in the southwest, a good bowl of fries tells me a lot about a place. They cared about those fries.

Picture

Read More
0 Comments

Faith in Sushi Restored at Nakashima of Japan

6/2/2022

0 Comments

 
Holmgren Way is home to several of Green Bay’s greatest sports bars, but it’s also home to Nakashima of Japan– a sushi bar and hibachi location hiding between tall apartments and a hotel. The building is easily identifiable when you’re driving along in the daylight. My husband and I went after a Packers game once pre-pandemic to wait out the traffic. We enjoyed ourselves, but we hadn’t been back since then.

My mother was in town. She’s also a big sushi person. Living in rural central Illinois limits her sushi options, however, so we brought her to Nakashima originally to experience their hibachi. We didn’t make a reservation. The wait would have been an hour. This is to be expected with hibachi, especially so when the restaurant expresses problems with being short staffed in a small sign at the door when you arrive.

I was too hungry to wait an hour for an open table, so we decided to go to their sushi room for dinner. The restaurant has largely converted to a QR code menu, but paper menus are available for those that aren’t accustomed to QR menus such as my mother. Nakashima has a sister restaurant in Appleton that allows for a Yakiniku experience– that isn’t available at the Green Bay location.

Read More
0 Comments

Blue Suede Foods at Noble Roots

5/19/2022

0 Comments

 
The first weekend of 70 degree weather in Green Bay is a sacred one. If you waste it in your home, you’ve let the world pass you by. My husband and I couldn’t do that. We spent very little of our time at home last Saturday, and we found ourselves at Blue Suede Foods’ truck outside of Noble Roots Brewing Co. on our first visit to either business. There are few better ways to enjoy a warm afternoon.

Noble Roots has been around since 2016. I’ve sampled some of their beers at local bars since I first moved to Green Bay, but I never made the effort to take myself to the far eastern side of town and see their facility. Anything east of where I live somehow seems very far off. The closer to the college, the less it registers on my radar. Blue Suede Foods convinced us to make the trek, however, after watching their journey from sitting outside a bar just a few blocks from us night after night to making near weekly trips to breweries outside of town to serve.
So we went. The start of a true food truck season loomed for the first time really since we moved into town. COVID guidelines and precautions extending into last summer changed the way we might interact with a food truck culture in town, and let’s face it. Our food trucks have faced some hard regulations trying to do business in our downtown area. Supporting them through brewery stops is the best way to do it right now.
​

We pulled up to Noble Roots and saw a full parking lot and yard. Extra tables had been put out to support visitors for the food truck, and there were even some folks that showed up with their own fold out chairs and picnic blankets to get cozy and have a beer or two in the overcast, warm weather we were having. My husband and I had to park a ways down a residential road not far from the brewery due to the amount of visitors they had at Blue Suede’s open.

​​
Picture
Event Special Burger celebrating the new stout release
The menu is stand out on its own. There are several dishes that employ the fusion of different cultural techniques to create something wild and new in Green Bay’s food truck scene. They’re also among the first I’ve been to that employ a beeper system so that you can return to the truck for your meal once its ready rather than wait around outside for the cooks to yell at you. This method let my husband and I sit and enjoy a whole beer in the meantime. Nearly every table surrounding us also had these beepers, so we didn’t mind the wait.
Picture
Wisconsin Rolls served with Beer Cheese
Our food finished after a leisurely beer on the lawn, and when I opened up that styrofoam container, I looked down upon crunchy fries and Wisconsin Rolls. The Wisconsin Roll is one of their standout items on their menu as far as I’m concerned- an eggroll skin stuffed with grilled chicken, brats, cheese and bacon. They serve it with a cup of beer cheese for dipping, and I’ll be honest– I didn’t need it. The fat content in most of the fillings served to keep things moist and tasty. The chicken balanced it out.

A good french fry is a hallmark of a good cook to me, and these fries are among some of the best I’ve ever eaten from a food truck. A light batter helps keep the crunch even after a little time in a styrofoam container. I finished all of my fries before we left. They’re salty and crunchy enough to get you through a second beer.

​

Blue Suede regularly opens for delivery via Eatstreet if you can’t make it out to their events that they announce on facebook. Keep an eye on their page to know exactly where they are and when they’re open, and you too can enjoy their innovative Wisconsin focused menu for yourself. My husband and I greatly enjoyed eating with them on one of the first nice days of the year, and we will be doing so more and more as food truck season ramps up properly.
0 Comments
<<Previous

    Archives

    February 2023
    January 2023
    October 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020

    Categories

    All
    2021
    2022
    2023
    Bar Food
    Breakfast
    Brew Pub
    Burgers
    Cleveland
    Coffee
    De Pere
    Farmer's Market
    Food Trucks
    Green Bay
    Hmong Cuisine
    IL
    NM
    OH
    Pizza
    Pop Ups
    Restaurant Week 2021
    Seafood
    Steakhouse
    Sushi
    Sweets
    Tacos
    Titletown
    Travel
    Vendor Highlights
    WI

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Home
  • Support Us
  • Recipes
  • Restaurant Reviews
  • Writing
  • Cookbook of the Month
  • Archive