Ames restaurant you miss most?

[swarthmoreCY]

There has been a couple times I have wondered what happened to Garden Cafe. I was fairly young, and all I can remember is that the wait always took a long time. It seems like it came on out of nowhere, and disappeared just as fast.
There were two restaurants on far west Lincoln Way. I want to say the Boiler and Elmo's or something like that. The latter had pretty good Sunday brunch.

Slightly off-topic, but does anyone remember the indoor go-kart place, in what was the old Sav-U-More building? It is where the new Wal-Mart is now.

 

[CrossCyed]

quiznos for sure....bring it back

There's one on Lincoln Way, unless you were looking for a specific Quizno's.

 

[baller21]

O'Malleys
the campustown Pancheros, el gordo burrito was the bomb
the old Estas

 

[bigsag]

Tork's pub. Ate many a liquid lunch and dinner at that place.

Also miss Tony's Little Italy. Food was pretty good. But atmosphere was great for taking a date (out to eat) back when I didn't have much money.

 

[Steve]

There has been a couple times I have wondered what happened to Garden Cafe. I was fairly young, and all I can remember is that the wait always took a long time. It seems like it came on out of nowhere, and disappeared just as fast.
There were two restaurants on far west Lincoln Way. I want to say the Boiler and Elmo's or something like that. The latter had pretty good Sunday brunch.

I assume that the Garden Cafe in Ames was part of the chain started in Omaha by a partnership led by Ron Popp. He based many of the recipes on family favorites that he enjoyed while growing up in Dow City. The original restaurant is still in operation in the Rockbrook shopping center in Omaha. It has slipped in quality and popularity after Popp was forced out in a rather ugly ownership dispute. I think that most of the other locations closed in reaction to the ownership squabble. Popp has resurfaced as owner of several Wheatfields restaurants in the Omaha area. They are a step up compared to the old Garden Cafe both in terms of bakery and menu selections.

 

[baller21]

Indigo Joes big beers and chile cheese fries.

 

[Angie]

Slightly off-topic, but does anyone remember the indoor go-kart place, in what was the old Sav-U-More building? It is where the new Wal-Mart is now.

Yeah, the building was a savings-style grocery store previously (it wasn't a Cub Foods, I don't think - Sav-U-Mor, maybe?), and then the go-kart place moved in a few years after it closed. I'm not sure if the Wal-Mart is what made them go out of business, or if they already were?

 

[ISUKyro]

Diamond Daves for their progressive captain and cokes!

 

[kkise]

Definitely DaVincis.

 

[isufan1000]

There's one on Lincoln Way, unless you were looking for a specific Quizno's.

its gone

 

[cyclonenum1]

Wok Inn

 

[cycoticfan]

dugan's deli and minsky's; whiskey river in the 80's was great; Lee, Mike and some of us other reprobates played broomball on a rec team after we were out of school. We had a legacy on the team who was the only student. Kamikazis from 9-12 and then hit the ice. We won the league. What a sham.............:biglaugh::biglaugh:

 

[ajk4st8]

Diamond Daves

 

[TheCaptain]

Little Italy was great back in the day.I'm glad someone mentioned it.
Most of you probaly never heard of it.

So DaVinci's is gone? wow...I had no idea.

 

[Frak]

What old Ames restaurants that have since been closed do you miss most?

I'm going to guess we'll get a lot of Davinci's in here - their chicken phillies were awesome.

I also really liked that place that used to be across the street to the south from Aunt Maude's, probably 15 years ago - I just don't remember the name. I want to say it was called Garden Cafe, or Market Garden, or Salad Garden, or something like that? Does anyone else remember it?

I gotta say O'Malley McGees. That place had really good fajitas. A close second for me would be Da'Vinci's. Really good cheese steaks and good pizza. I also miss Home Team Pizza, but probably just the memories of it and not the actual food. Any time I ate it, it was after a night of drinking.

Garden Cafe is what you are talking about. The place was based in Omaha and pretty much went out of business when the owner went through a divorce. He started a new place in Omaha called the Farmhouse Cafe quite some time ago. Awesome food...potatoe casseroles, huge muffins, good old country food.

 

[TheCaptain]

 

[isu_oak]

Bali Satay House

 

[Angie]

So DaVinci's is gone? wow...I had no idea.

It is. :sad: I think about four years now - I want to say they got in trouble for selling alcohol to minors, but I could be totally wrong. It's too bad - they just had the best of everything. I miss their alfredo pizza, in addition to the chicken phillies.

 

[Cyfan1843]

I will forever miss the scalloped potatoes and ham lunch special at Tradewinds.

Tradewinds noon time specials were awsome. I will miss them forever particularly when I was hung over and needed something to stick to my ribs and pick me back up.

 

[Cyfan1843]

There was a philly cheese steak place in west Ames kind of by a landry mat and wendy's It was ran by and english professor from philly. They were the bomb.