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News & ArtsThursday, January 5, 2012
Chow / At Large Burgers of Des Moines
Posted by Paul Constant on Thu, Jan 5, 2012 at 2:43 PM
(Part one in a two-part series.)
This order of burger and fries is from the Maid-Rite franchise in the middle of a food court in the Des Moines Skywalk. I'd never eaten at a Maid-Rite before; it's apparently a chain out here, and their gimmick is that they don't shape the ground beef into patties. Instead, it's just loose crumbled ground beef, a sloppy joe without the, um, slop, served on a Wonder Bread bun. I guess as far as fast food burgers go, it was pretty good, although I'd choose Dick's any day.
1
Ugh, I don't know which is worse - that gawdawful excuse for a burger, or the clearly mass-produced pre-frozen "crinkle-cut" fries.
Seriously, this looks like a junior high school cafeteria hot lunch from about 1974...
Seriously, this looks like a junior high school cafeteria hot lunch from about 1974...
3
A comment I made on a seattle newspaper's article about Hooters considering moving into Capitol Hill was pulled because I said that Capitol Hill residents preferred Dick's. Was I wrong in stating that locals kept Dick's Drive-In Burgers' Broadway location busy? There is a Dick's on Broadway and there are always people lining up to give orders when I pass by.
5
I had no idea what the term loose meat sandwich meant until I saw a re-run of Rosanne and looked it up. She's a waitress in a loose meat diner in later seasons. They're all over the mid west apparently. Ugh it looks as unappetizing as the name implies...
8
@5: There is no way I want my mouth near anything called 'a loose meat sandwich'. That is all kinds of wrong.
9
@8: it's also called the Tavern sandwich, if that helps you wrap your mouth around it! Also, anyone else catch that awesome bridge and tunnel hair in the corner? Haven't seen that shade of red since Lucille Ball's tragic turn as Mame.
10
Is it just me, or is that not a burger? Do they call it a burger? You say "gimme a burger" and this is what you get? I don't think this is a burger.
12
@1 - I'll answer that rhetorical question with this: the burger is worse— though crinkle-cut fries should live only in our nightmares, freezing is an important step in creating a properly delicious fast-food fry, mass production be damned.
14
Ok, I can see someone wanting to sell a burger that wasn't formed into a burger.
And I can see someone wanting to name a place "Maid-Rite".
But I can't see a place named Maid-Rite serving a burger that is clearly Made Wrong.
It's one or the other.
Someone has to choose.
15
People, that's not a burger. It's a Maid-Rite. It's not called a burger on their menu, please stop calling it that!
16
Paul, you have no idea what you may have just started. Taverns can be a touchy subject for Iowans.
17
Maid-Rites are one of the culinary delites of Iowa along with the pork terderlion sandwich. Other places do things a little differently people, and thank goodness they do. Many folks would not want Dick's, they would not. Eating a Maid-Rite is not compulsory and if you have never had one don't hate simple mind.
19
I have lived in various parts of the midwest nearly my whole life, and I have never encountered this dreaded loose meat sandwich. It must be a rural/Iowa production.
21
It's loose meat w/ onions done in a slow cooker w/ a shit ton of salt.
Put it on a cheap bun with pickles, mustard and a slice of american cheese.
Put it on a cheap bun with pickles, mustard and a slice of american cheese.
25
I assume the anti-crinkle-cut fry stance being taken by some commenters here is meant to apply only to the rather stale-looking variety in the pic, and not to crinkle-cut in general, which totally rock. Takes ketchup better than the boring straight cuts, and they remind me of Puyallup (and other) Fair food from my youth.
The burger, however, I agree on. Very nasty.
The burger, however, I agree on. Very nasty.
26
Paul, your fascination with Iowa food will not be satisfied until you check out the Iowa State Fair. I'd also recommend doing RAGBRAI (Register's Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa) for a true appreciation of the land, people, and food. For the record, Minnesota and Wisconsin eat much grosser shit. Hot dish anyone?
27
Comparing Maid Rite to Dick's is like comparing apples to oranges. It is a regional specialty, and although it is a franchise, Maid Rite is one of the very few owner operated non-corporate chains still around in what's left of the very sad Midwest.
(I could also say, as a past California resident, that In-and-Out is a shit ton better than Dick's, which is pretty much tolerable, if you ask me)
(I could also say, as a past California resident, that In-and-Out is a shit ton better than Dick's, which is pretty much tolerable, if you ask me)
29
@5 Roseanne /owned and operated/ (along with her mother who bailed her out of foreclosure---and later on Martin Mull's character's took over) a loose meat sandwich diner in the later seasons of Roseanne.
Get yr Roseanne straight, son.
Get yr Roseanne straight, son.
33
The pork tenderloin sandwichs at Maid-Rite's were delicious, as I recall. We had a Maid-Rite in Iowa City and considered it a regional delicacy...
34
I used to eat those all the time when I lived in Lanford, IL. They used to have this really hot waitress.
40
My first job when I was 15 was at a Maid-Rite in Bismarck, ND.They are not burgers, nor are they called that on the menu.They are delicious.On top of that it's a cool locally owned chain.The one I worked at was owned by a super nice old lady who came in at 6 every morning to make the Maid-Rite meat in a slow-cooker.By time I brought home the leftovers at 6pm it was perfection.I lived off of those for a year.That and the donuts.This location was also a bakery.
41
@27 - Dick's is almost like In-n-Out's sleazy sibling from up North, in a good way.
I've never had a bad burger at In-n-Out, but their fries are an abomination. It doesn't stop me from visiting, but I die a little inside each time I bite into their chalky, hollow, cold sticks of sadness... I mean, more than the regular amount I'm dying a little from eating at these places in general.
Super Duper is my favorite current fast-food burger chain. Plus they serve beer. Plus they are awesome.
I've never had a bad burger at In-n-Out, but their fries are an abomination. It doesn't stop me from visiting, but I die a little inside each time I bite into their chalky, hollow, cold sticks of sadness... I mean, more than the regular amount I'm dying a little from eating at these places in general.
Super Duper is my favorite current fast-food burger chain. Plus they serve beer. Plus they are awesome.
42
You simply have to check out the link @28 posted - http://maidrite.com/send_maid-rite.html - just to see how much more disgusting it looks on the Maid Rite than in Paul's picture.
44
If it's not a hamburger, then why does the web site state:
"Cliff Taylor purchased the 1928 franchise for the sum of $300. Cliff and his family operated Taylor's Maid-Rite Hamburger Shop baking pies at home, slicing whole pickles from Marshall Vinegar Works and buns from Strand's Bakery." ?
Or is this another one of those regional things (like the Philly Cheese steak thread from last year), where even the locals can't agree on the basic facts?
"Cliff Taylor purchased the 1928 franchise for the sum of $300. Cliff and his family operated Taylor's Maid-Rite Hamburger Shop baking pies at home, slicing whole pickles from Marshall Vinegar Works and buns from Strand's Bakery." ?
Or is this another one of those regional things (like the Philly Cheese steak thread from last year), where even the locals can't agree on the basic facts?
45
If you are not a Seattle local, and did not have your first sexual experience following a late-night pilgrimage to Dick's, you would realize that their burgers suck. Barely above McDonald's quality. It's purely hometown sentimental bullshit.
46
My Wayne, Neb. Catholic elementary school had Runza deliver the school lunch every Thursday.
Really though, this thread is about tavern sandwiches. It's not a burger and the maid-rite is just one mediocre variety of the tavern sandwich.
Also, Dicks really is horrible.
Really though, this thread is about tavern sandwiches. It's not a burger and the maid-rite is just one mediocre variety of the tavern sandwich.
Also, Dicks really is horrible.
47
My partner lived in Iowa for a while, and waxes nostalgic about the "loose meat sandwiches." He also says the meat should be steamed to be ideal. I've compromised with him to the extent that we eat sloppy joes on occasion. Sorry, but I'm not in favor of steamed hamburger meat on a bun.
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