Brad Olson
TVWBB Platinum Member
Last month my wife and I were in Iowa for my annual visit. We were headed east on US-30 near Boone and the "Food - This Exit" sign for highway 17 had a marker for a place called Whatcha Smokin? BBQ and Brew, and since we were going to be going south on 17 we decided it would be a good stop for a late lunch.
The main building is long and low, and behind it is some outdoor seating as well as an auxiliary bar/event space. It wasn't a particularly pleasant day so we headed indoors.
No photo, but inside it's a big, open area with a high ceiling and lots of hard surfaces - can you say "echo chamber", boys and girls? I knew you could! Even though it was close to 2pm there were still a lot of people there, and the reverberations made it a little tough to carry on a conversation. But to be fair, my hearing's also nothing like it used to be.
Like usual, we decided a combo platter was the way to go and we ordered pork, brisket, and pork belly burnt ends with cheesy potatoes and campground beans on the side.
Good stuff! I'm pretty sure the pork had been allowed to rest awhile after it had been pulled, as the flavor was good all the way through. The brisket had great texture; I felt it could've used a little more smoke but then I usually feel that way about pretty much any restaurant brisket I encounter. The pork belly burnt ends were the Thursday special and were quite rich because, you know, pork belly.
The beans were solid if unspectacular. Made from scratch or doctored from the can? Beats me, but like most "barbecue" beans in this part of the country they had a strong baked bean vibe. Still, the pork, onion and other seasonings helped offset the sweetness and I had no problem finishing them off.
Now the cheesy potatoes, on the other hand, were absolutely spot-on. Just flat out excellent. We were going to a cookout a couple of days later and if I'd had my wits about me I would've thought to order a vat of them to go.
Absolutely worth the drive for anyone within a reasonable distance of Luther, which itself is not at all far from Ames (home of Moo U./Tractor Tech). And also well worth the time for anyone passing through; when we're in Des Moines next year there's a good chance we'll head north to check out more of the menu.
The main building is long and low, and behind it is some outdoor seating as well as an auxiliary bar/event space. It wasn't a particularly pleasant day so we headed indoors.
No photo, but inside it's a big, open area with a high ceiling and lots of hard surfaces - can you say "echo chamber", boys and girls? I knew you could! Even though it was close to 2pm there were still a lot of people there, and the reverberations made it a little tough to carry on a conversation. But to be fair, my hearing's also nothing like it used to be.
Like usual, we decided a combo platter was the way to go and we ordered pork, brisket, and pork belly burnt ends with cheesy potatoes and campground beans on the side.
Good stuff! I'm pretty sure the pork had been allowed to rest awhile after it had been pulled, as the flavor was good all the way through. The brisket had great texture; I felt it could've used a little more smoke but then I usually feel that way about pretty much any restaurant brisket I encounter. The pork belly burnt ends were the Thursday special and were quite rich because, you know, pork belly.
The beans were solid if unspectacular. Made from scratch or doctored from the can? Beats me, but like most "barbecue" beans in this part of the country they had a strong baked bean vibe. Still, the pork, onion and other seasonings helped offset the sweetness and I had no problem finishing them off.
Now the cheesy potatoes, on the other hand, were absolutely spot-on. Just flat out excellent. We were going to a cookout a couple of days later and if I'd had my wits about me I would've thought to order a vat of them to go.
Absolutely worth the drive for anyone within a reasonable distance of Luther, which itself is not at all far from Ames (home of Moo U./Tractor Tech). And also well worth the time for anyone passing through; when we're in Des Moines next year there's a good chance we'll head north to check out more of the menu.