Left wanting at Lutz’

Lutz’ (pronounced “loots-iz”) is an oft-recommended bbq mainstay in Jefferson City. They won the sauce contest at American Royal a few years back. Historically, Lutz’ was housed in a gas station near the Lowe’s hardware store along Highway 50 until a fire gutted the facility, forcing the operation to be run out of their catering/festival trailer.

Now, any food sold from a trailer is already, at the very least, charming. But we still have to judge things by how they taste, and in that arena Lutz’ has failed to meet expectations.

4 quick notes

Cafe Berlin’s Stafford sandwich: Like a a savory french toast sandwich with ham and swiss inside. Nice.

Papa John’s: Just like Kostaki’s, but lacking the flavor, heat and speedy delivery.

International Cafe: Everyone knows it’s there but forgets to go. Too bad, because today their black bean soup kicked the cold weather in the pants.

Coffee Zone: Falafel wrap, officially underrated.

Take Two: Mississippi Fish Shack

Prejudices are bad. Convenient, but bad. Mississippi Fish Shack is a case in point. I find their blinding yellow facade garish and unappetizing. I held out for months before giving the place a shot. My first visit proved promising, even as they tested my patience. On my second trip my food came out within five minutes and was even better than the first…better catfish, I dare say, than Catfish Corner (not to mention the hush puppies). Crunchier and more aggressively-seasoned, the strips may not appeal to all. But it suited me well and is a worthy addition to our downtown food scene.

How great is it that each of the new restaurants downtown – MSF, Bleu, The Rome and Room 38 – are all, to varying degrees, good places to eat?

Heuer’s Cafe

I missed this note in the Tribune’s Street Talk space a couple of weeks ago:

Jamie Heuer said he is closing his Hallsville cafe so he can be a one-restaurant man and spend more quality time with his family.

Heuer’s Cafe and Catfish Corner

Heuer’s Cafe

This being Show Me Eats grand reopening, it only makes sense to focus on a pair of small, well-run, out of the way eateries. After all, that’s where most of the good stuff’s at. The honor of going first today falls to Heuer’s Cafe in Hallsville.

I stopped into Heuer’s last week on my way to pick up some pork from Crocker Farms, about five minutes outside Hallsville. The cafe is tucked into a nondescript, sheet-metal strip mall near what passes for downtown Hallsville. A tanning salon resides next door. Inside you’ve got smoking and non, this not being Columbia after all and a comfortable, homey feel. It’s schlocky Americana everywhere but hey, you’re at a cafe in Hallsville.

Off the Beaten Path: Los Cuates

Acting on a tip from someone over at the Trib’s food forum, I stopped in to Los Cuates today to try their tamales. Then I saw the “6 Tacos, 8 Dollars” option and forgot why I’d even come. Listed were azada, adovada, carnitas, cueritos, pollo, barbacoa and a couple of other choices. I’d never heard of cueritos before, but my waitress said they’re like chicharrones (yes, some Spanish ability and prior exposure to authentic Mexican food would help at Los Cuates). Me? I just knew chicharrones had something to do with pork skins. Anyway, I ordered one of each of the options listed above and most were outstanding. Only the dried out pollo was truly lackluster. The side of refried beans were above average (not saying much, but still); rice, the pointless standard around here.

The tortillas seemed homemade, so I asked the waitress about it. In broken English and Spanish I determined (I think) that they are made in town but not actually at the restaurant.

Mugs Up (or, “Wherein I commit heresy”)

Mugs Up is older than the Heidelberg, Harpos and virtually every other Columbia dining spot (can anyone name one that’s older?). They’ve been slinging their signature zips and chili dogs just off of Highway 40 (now Business Loop 70) since 1955. They are as true a Columbia institution as you can get. And here’s where I get off track: the sloppy joe “burgers” at Mugs Up? They’re really not my bag. And maybe I shouldn’t say this, but the root beer tastes a little watery. To me. I know, the ghost of Raymond Kewley is going to visit me in my dreams shortly and open up a can, bigtime. It’s just something I’m going to have to deal with.

No, the real reason I go to Mugs Up is for those chili cheese dogs. Sonic, with their absurd, soggy, warmed-over chili monstrosity, is a mess compared to Mugs Up’s neat, snappy little dogs. They’re fantastic, and I can’t eat fewer than two. For those not in the know Mugs Up is behind the Family Table restaurant and across from Parkade Plaza on Business Loop 70. But time’s running out to catch them this year; they’ll close down for the winter in another month or two.

Mugs Up
603 Orange St.
Columbia, MO
(573) 443-7238

Lonnie Ray’s BBQ

Lonnie Ray’s is a lot like Sutton’s in Columbia, just with an all-white clientele in place of the all-black crowd. A sociology grad student could delve into the deeper meaning of this, examining contemporary race relations through the prism of two fabulous bbq joints. But I am not that person. I’m just here for the ‘cue.

Inside Lonnie Ray’s, chrome-sided tables and blue chairs look freshly plucked from a 50s diner. Old photos on the wall tell a history of Harrisburg (pop. 184). And, just like at Sutton’s, a tv in the corner carries Paul Pepper’s creepy, geriatric show. Every adult in the place had an “I voted” sticker on their chest and the crowd is (elitist alert) surprisingly cosmopolitan; one brave guy is in shirt and tie and there’s only one trucker hat is in sight. A man in the kitchen seems to know everyone in the place and yells goodbyes to departing customers.

Columbia’s Best: Sutton’s Community Market and BBQ

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I just had lunch at Sutton’s and have the sauce on my pants to prove it (yes, really…feeling pretty good about myself here in my IT training on campus I can assure you). But it doesn’t matter. I have just had the best bbq I’ve had in Columbia in a long time. It was at Sutton’s. Even though it’s just two blocks north of Broadway (and McBaine and Ash), I’d never seen it before. It would be easy to miss as there’s no sign aside from the neon “open” in the window.

Inside the flapping screen door you feel like you’ve walked into someone’s house. A movie plays on the tv/VCR and people sit chatting at a handful of small tables. Three giant black men were at one, laughing and welcoming friends coming through the door. It was comfortable, homey. I ordered the three meat platter (choosing pork, ribs and burnt ends), fried okra and greens and sat down with a book I’d brought. Good thing too, because nothing at Sutton’s happens quickly.

Columbia’s Best: KoJaBa

If someone can dream up a drearier location for a restaurant than Parkade Center’s new Korean-Japanese hybrid KoJaBa, please let me know. The shiftless n’er-do-wells sitting on the sidewalk outside — waiting for a MoX ride? — stimulate a fight or flight response more than one’s appetite. But those who brave the distressed exterior enter an oasis of calm, soothing walls, friendly service and Columbia’s best Asian food, hands-down. For a restaurant to have achieved this level of excellence and refinement after having been open since November speaks to a steady hand in the kitchen and – one can hope – a bright future.

Ground Rules

Blogs and message boards practically drag our most snide and passive-aggressive tendencies out of us. It doesn’t have to be that way. We can engage in semi-anonymous banter without being jackasses. At least I think so. Passion and opinion is fine, but let’s keep the personal attacks, backstabbing and vitriol where it belongs. The workplace.

Also, for the sake of brevity the following shortcuts and categories will be employed, liberally and throughout (along with lots of semicolons).

Columbia’s Best: The tried and true, best places to eat in Columbia.

Off the Beaten Path: When I’m in the mood for something completely different. Like goat, for instance. Or McDonald’s.

Cheap Eats: Places to grab good food on the cheap.

Off the Beaten Path #1: Follow-up

Eating at the Jamaican Jerk Hut at Mojo’s is an exercise in patience. First, they’re only open Wednesday to Saturday. Second, it’s a scattershot scene over there. One minute my “Jamaican Beef Patti” is on it’s way out. Then it’s still cooking. Then, “Jim” didn’t know there was something in the oven and turned it off. So, after three backs and forth, no beef patti for me.

Nevermind, the rest of the meal was more than ample. The jerk wings are indeed a large as advertised. Tender and smothered in sauce, they’re satisfying but ultimately forgettable. Once you get past the sauce, the wings themselves have very little flavor.

And then onto the goat. Heaps of slow-stewed goatmeat and potatoes arrive on a bed of well-seasoned rice and you wonder, “Maybe I should have tried an appetizer portion.” Goat is an acquired taste. And though I could appreciate the dish being well-executed, it’s not one I’ve acquired myself. Alternately fatty and tender, strong and subtle, the goat is an assault on the senses. Throw in innumerable bone chips that kept popping up and you end up like me, with two-thirds of your meal staring back accusingly on your plate.

So, good to try, don’t need to do it again. I’ll definitely be back to try their hand at the other offerings, which include pork and chicken sandwiches, shrimp and other curries. It just won’t be for the goat.

Off the Beaten Path Item #1

The wife and I were at Mojo’s Friday night (where we saw the excellent King Thief) and I noticed something about the jerk trailer parked outside. “Curry Goat” it said was the Wednesday special. Seriously, anyone who’s got the onions to put curried goat on the menu will get a visit from me. Not because I’ve had it before, but because I haven’t.