Pork Tenderloin Sandwich Blog

Iowa’s Best Pork Tenderloin Sandwiches

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 21:31:42 -0500

Iowans take their breaded pork tenderloin sandwiches seriously. They have a fervor equaled only by Indiana but Iowans have their act together in promoting them. Every year the Iowa Pork Producer's Association holds a judging contest to determine who has the best breaded pork tenderloin sandwich. They put out a call for nominations then narrow the field down to the successful restaurants that have multiple nominations. Then the tasting begins. Their contest just concluded its sixth year.

To digress, I have now done my own sampling of all the winners and some of the runner-ups. It has been a fun pursuit in our Class B conversion van motorhome and I feel this Minnesotan expatriate Hoosier may know more about the state of Iowa now than most Iowans and maybe Obama. I've covered the whole state in pursuit and camped in many of its parks. So let's review.

Starting in 2003 Darrell's Place in tiny Hamlin was the winner. I stopped there last year and sat down at the counter unknowingly at the time next to Jeff Munch, the owner. Jeff explained how he made his tenderloin by slicing a 4 ounce cut by experience, not weight, making his sandwich the smallest of all the winners but equal in taste. Jeff admitted that you could go to any small town cafe and get just as good of a sandwich. I suspect Darrell's Place felt lucky in that regard to be chosen the first. That might be a true assessment in seeing over 6 years there has been no repeats in winners or runner-ups. Let's say Iowa has depth.

Earlier this past spring I finally sampled the last to date the 2004 winner in the Suburban Restaurant in Gilbert a few miles north of Ames. The Suburban tenderloin proved to be a worthy winner. I felt at the time they had just the right combination for their sandwich. It resembled to me to be the closest match to the Nick's Kitchen tenderloin in Huntington, IN where the sandwich reputably started.

The day before I sampled the 2005 winner, the Dairy Sweet in Dunlap. Again an impressive winner. It was a big thick sandwich, the kind to impress anyone trying one for the first time. Like all the restaurants the Dairy Sweet was very proud of its accomplishment and advertised it well in the restaurant.

2006 brought us another tiny town in Wellsburg just west of Waterloo off US 20. We made a special trip last year in the spring to sample the Townhouse Supper Club sandwich. The name left me a vision of a tony place before I got there but it proved to be a small cafe typical of small towns with NASCAR racing memorabilia as decoration - my kind of place. The name came from the owner, Terry Town. They too were proud of their sandwich and kept an updated count on a sign outside.

Last fall I made a special trip sampling several pork tenderloin sandwiches throughout Iowa including the Suzie-Q Cafe in Mason City and the Farmer's Kitchen in Atlantic. The primary goal was Larsen's Pub in Elk Horn, the 2007 winner. Larsen's Pub and Catering competes with the Danish influence, the restored Danish windmill and a Danish restaurant down the street. I imagine it was overlooked by tourists until they won.

With a completed sampling of all the year's winners I could now concentrate on the newest winner. We had been on the road camping for 18 straight days in the southwest. We learned of the newest winner on the road so planned our return to Minnesota accordingly. We drove the old Sante Fe Trail through the pan handle of Oklahoma into Kansas and stopped at a KOA campground near Salina, KS. I gave Missouri one more chance to announce their best breaded pork tenderloin sandwich they promised in October in trying emulate Iowa. No such luck, That left Iowa's winner to concentrate on and we set out for it with about a 150 mile detour from heading directly home.

Once we crossed into Iowa on I-35 we stopped at the first rest stop and info center. Iowa rest stops have free WiFi. I was able to get the phone number of the restaurant and my GPS, though 175 miles away, said we would arrive about 5:18 PM. So I allowed for another rest stop and called the Augustana Restaurant in Oxford, IA to make a reservation for 5:30 PM. They said they couldn't take reservations because of the BPT winning publicity and that they were swamped. I explained I was coming from 500 miles away for this sandwich and needed assurance. Actually I was concerned with finding a campsite before sundown. That did not cut it with them. So I reluctantly pulled out my hole card and told them I was the porktenderloinsandwich.com website owner. I don't normally pre-announce my visits. They evidently were well aware of my website. That changed the tone. When we arrived, despite the place being swamped with bikers, there was a table waiting for us conveniently next to the window when we arrived at 5:29 PM. You gotta love those GPSes.

The Augustana Restaurant is owned by Jeri and Ben Halperin, former New Orleans residents driven out by Hurricane Katrina. It was Iowa's gain. The Iowa Pork Producer's Association got this one right this year. Their pork tenderloin sandwich is the best of the best of all the previous Iowa winners. The BPT was actually an anomaly on the menu. The menu was strongly New Orleans Cajun influenced. So we started off with a crawfish beignet appetizer.

We followed with the IPPA 2008 best breaded pork tenderloin sandwich accompanied with homemade sweet potato chips.

Minnetonka Drive In Back to the 50’s

Fri, 22 Jun 2007 19:38:03 -0500

When I started my pursuit of breaded pork tenderloins little did I know that just up the road from my house the Minnetonka Drive In had them. Not only did they have them but they have one of the best I have sampled to date in Minnesota. On their menu it is way under played in fine print as the last listing under “Try Something Different”. Compared to all the drive ins with larger reputations that I have been to so far such as the Mug N’ Bun in Speedway, IN, Porky’s in St. Paul, MN and The Peppermint Twist in Delano, MN, the Minnetonka Drive In’s pork tenderloin sandwich is the best of that lot. Also, the Minnetonka Drive In is a true old-fashioned drive in back to the 50’s style complete with ordering from your car, car hops and deliveries on trays. Many so called drive ins have long abandoned that method and require you to step up to a counter to order and carry out. What’s not to like? Maybe you have had to been an American Graffiti kid to appreciate this.

If you have been following my photo gallery you will have noticed that I have posted several tastings from the Minnetonka Drive In with visits in 2005, 2006 and now. What brought me back this time was a news report that classic car owners and aficionados congregated at the drive in on Thursday nights. Since the annual Back to the 50’s classic auto show was scheduled this weekend at the Minnesota State Fair Grounds in St. Paul I figured there might be a good representation of classic cars since there will be over 11,000 of them in town. I was not disappointed. Even so, the crowd seemed local. Many had their hoods up so others could walk around, look and mingle. Maybe I’ll join them in the future but I have been informed by Nancy that I would first have to remodel the kitchen, fix up the house and yard and maybe sell the boat before I could have a toy. :) I pine for my first car - a 1949 Volkswagen Beetle.

Consistency has been a hallmark of their pork tenderloin sandwich. As you can see little has changed from 2005 to 2007 at this seasonal March to October drive in.

2005

2007

Their onion rings and root beer are top notch complements to the sandwich. In 2005 the sandwich was $3.79. Today, with inflation, it is still an affordable $4.19. The sandwich is not overly huge but it is a true tenderloin fried to perfection and not a fritter at that price. If you are in Minnesota I highly recommend stopping and if you can make it on a Thursday night all the better. If you care not to sit in your car and spill in your lap they have picnic tables about and they also have a drive up window for take out.

The drive in is called the Minnetonka Drive In because of its proximity to the 14,000 acre Lake Minnetonka that sprawls across the western suburbs of Minneapolis over 12 miles in length. It is located in Spring Park, not Minnetonka, between Mound and Navarre (Orono) on Shoreline Drive (County Rd 15). Driving along the shoreline to get there is a pleasure in itself.

Minnetonka Drive-In Restaurant
4658 Shoreline Drive
Spring Park, MN 55384
952-471-7212
Closed over the winter.
One of the best in Minnesota with the old fashioned drive-in experience.

Bourbon Street Distillery, Indianapolis, IN

Wed, 23 May 2007 20:03:53 -0500

The Bourbon Street Distillery has received positive reviews by the online community so we decided to pay them a visit this Indy 500 Race week in our continuing pursuit of the breaded pork tenderloin sandwich. The Bourbon Street Distillery is located in the northwest quadrant of downtown Indianapolis on the corner of Vermont Street and Indiana Avenue. It is a two level bar with outdoor seating on the sidewalk and on an upper balcony. On this weekday Wednesday night you can see it is quite busy drawing in both young and old people from the Canal District, IUPUI, and other environs. This was not the Indiana Avenue of my youth.

The sandwiches passing by us looked great. Hamburgers were huge. The pulled pork looked intriguing. The BLT was gigantic. But we were there for the breaded pork tenderloin sandwich. The menu advertised a half pound Hoosier tenderloin complete with lettuce, onion, tomato, pickle and mayo, cole slaw, along with choice of French fries or hot chips for $7.95. The tenderloin lived up to its description. It was indeed huge, thick and tender. However, a tenderloin as thick as it is is difficult to fry well. The tenderloin was overly greasy to the point the breading was falling off. In my opinion the breading should be firm and dry and not give you a greasy after taste, which unfortunately this one had. Maybe it was an off night. They should deserve another chance but unfortunately we have come 600 miles by a roundabout 2,500 miles and there are many more tenderloins to pursue.

Under those fries I found the lettuce, tomato, onion and sliced pickle condiments for the sandwich but not until after I took the first bite did I find them. The bun was excellent. I cannot say not to go there but the greasiness was just too much to give the sandwich more than a rating of 3 piggies despite the fact all the elements for a great sandwich were in place.

The Bourbon Street Distillery
501 Indiana Avenue
Indianapolis, IN 46202
(317) 636-3166
http://www.bourbonstreetdistillery.com/

Rating

This will satisfy you. Recommended. It could have rated four piggies had it not been too greasy.

Dominion Restaurant, McLean, Virginia

Mon, 21 May 2007 21:23:08 -0500

Dominion Restaurant previously known as Corkie’s Grille when we visited in McLean, Virginia may be the only place serving a true Heartland breaded pork tenderloin sandwich on the eastern seaboard. We learned about this place from a Washington Post newspaper article our daughter sent us last November. Usually when you hear of a restaurant serving breaded pork tenderloin sandwiches outside the Heartland you find that the owner has Heartland roots. This turned out not to be the case. The owner, Rohit Kapoor, has been in the restaurant business in the greater Washington, DC area for over 10 years. He bought the longtime established Corkie’s last year with the intent of making it a neighborhood spot for regulars. On a road trip west he stopped in St. Louis and ordered a tenderloin. Not ever having one before he was surprised but recognized this kind of sandwich could be a signature sandwich to attract regular patrons.

The sandwich is a faithful replica of the Midwest standard. The consensus of the four of us eating them was it was worthy. Our son-in-law said he would bring his father to Corkie’s when he visits the next time. The sandwich was served with lettuce, tomato and onion with mayo and mustard on the side. Fries also accompanied it for $9.99 at dinner time. Kapoor uses Panko breading. He says Panko doesn’t burn like other breading when you fry it.

Rohit Kapoor

The breaded pork tenderloin sandwich

The restaurant is located in a small strip center in the older part of McLean. Kapoor said the restaurant may soon be undergoing a name change and we will keep you posted if that happens. As of this editing it happened in March 2008. Hopefully, this signature sandwich will continue on. We recommend trying this sandwich.

Dominion Restaurant (formerly Corkie’s Grille)
6238 Old Dominion Drive
McLean, VA 22101
(703) 533-5880

Recommended, above average and a go back.

Nick’s Kitchen Redux, Huntington, Indiana

Tue, 15 May 2007 20:02:28 -0500

We returned to Nick’s Kitchen for an encore visit. Our last two Excellent tenderloins at the Townhouse Supper Club and the Rockwell Inn left us with wondering if our initial judgment was right about Nick’s Kitchen being the best breaded pork tenderloin sandwich. Iowa’s best in 2006 and a worthy contender from Illinois’ Rockwell Inn had given us pause. We had just recently tasted some great tenderloins. There was no better time to go back.

The bottom line answer is it was. Nick’s Kitchen’s breaded pork tenderloin is still the best in our opinion. “Our” means my wife, Nancy. She has a keener taste and opinion than I. It is the tenderloin that truly stands up to the name tender. It practically melts in your mouth. No other tenderloin we have tasted has matched it. The Owner of Nick’s Kitchen, Jean Anne Bailey, has never kept her method a secret. It is just that no one to my knowledge has taken the “tender loving” care to duplicate it.

We were on our way to the Raccoon Holler, NC campground for the Fourth Annual RV,net B Camper Van Rally. This rally was to be our first. I let it be known on RV.net that we would be at Nick’s Kitchen for lunch this day and we were joined by two other parties making their way to Raccoon Holler, Highland Travelers and qjane (RV.net user names). As you can guess, by the photo, we all ordered the breaded pork tenderloin sandwich.

qjane talking to Nancy outside Nick’s Kitchen with HighlandTravelers in their Leisure Travel Van.

An encore closeup of that wonderful tenderloin

Nick’s Kitchen
506 North Jefferson
Huntington, IN 46750
(260) 356-6618
Owner - Jean Anne Bailey
http://www.nickskitchen.net/contact.htm

Unique and top tier recommendation. This is a must destination.