Ames Restaurants
- Thread starter Vinniemac
- Start date
People who dis Hickory Park because its BBQ isn't as good as some BBQ place, don't understand that Hickory Park isn't a BBQ restaurant. It is a restaurant that has BBQ and a lot of other options. I can't say that I have ever had anything there that I couldn't name someplace that had a better version of it. But I also can't say that I have had anything there that was bad. HP has a bunch of options so most anyone can find something they will be happy with and it comes with good service and reasonable prices. If you are looking for truffle oil and micro greens, it ain't your place. If you are looking for competition winning BBQ, it ain't your place. If you are looking for good comfort food and BBQ that is a step above Chili's without having to come to a consensus on what everyone in the group is hungry for, it's hard to go wrong with HP. The ice cream follows the same formula, lots of choices, pretty good but not great.
And Angie is dead on with Downtown Deli, love the place.
And Angie is dead on with Downtown Deli, love the place.
You nailed the description of Hickory Park. It's sort of like Ames' Applebees (but obviously better quality). Safe, known choices that are varied enough that everyone should be able to eat something. It's rarely going to be the BEST version of something you ate - but it won't ever be the worst.
DTD is #1! And everyone is so friendly who works there.
Flame&Skewer while not much on atmosphere, but Mo knows ISU athletics. Engage him in a conversation. He caters athletics and he knows players and coaches, an avid fan. Not so much lately, but you could run into basketball players off season eating at Mo’s.
Q39 wings for an appetizer............. oh man. Some of the best I've ever had.
You nailed it. Mo is SUPER-nice. When I worked at the mall, he knew basically everyone in the whole place, and there were always players there. He's a great guy, and knows his way around some schwarma.
I've driven by that a few times and wondered about it. My son likes BWW for all the tvs and the novelty of it. It's good enough and serves its purpose but not my favorite by any stretch. How does the MC Boulder Taphouse compare to BWW as far as food, beer selection and the sports bar feel? TIA.
I think the food is pretty similar, just more burger-oriented? My husband and both kids all got burgers and enjoyed them - they have turkey burgers and regular burgers, and you can get a variety of different cheeses on them. I got the garlic parmesan wings (I think it was?), and they were good. If you want wings, I'd still likely go to BWW, but if you want a burger, it's a similar setup.
There are a crap-ton of beers on-tap, and I think they have more in bottles (but I can't be positive). There's definitely a sports bar vibe - now, when we went to the MC one, there weren't any sporting events going on, so a few of the TVs were on sports while the rest were on videos of the songs playing over the speakers. The ones at the bar all seemed to be on sports, though.
I've been to BWW maybe 5 times and Boulder once so far, BWW food is fine, but I have never even one time had good service there. Boulder was fast, the waitress was friendly and competent, and the food was IMO better. As far as sports bar vibe BWW probably still wins though.
I'd probably take that trade as long as there are a few tvs on sports. It's not like I can watch 18 different things at once anyway. I don't consider B-dub's wings to be anything great and I've never had anything else there that wows me so I'm willing to give Boulder a shot, especially if I can get a good burger there. Thanks.
Boulder does have about 100 TVs it seemed like, so it's definitely not that they aren't a sports bar, maybe it's because it's new it feels a little different, I'm not sure. There weren't really any major sporting events going on when we went to Boulder, I imagine it'd be a great place to watch a Cyclones game.
Provisions (in the ISU Research Park) has a great Sunday breakfast/brunch menu. Was very impressed with what our table ordered a few weeks back. Nice atmosphere.
