Does Taco John's Have A Secret Menu Item?

I'm not a unique guy. I'm also not a fancy guy. I'm from the Midwest, and like a lot of people raised here I enjoy loose meat sandwiches. Call them what you want: Taverns, Sloppy Joes, Maid-Rites, Charlie Boys, Souper Burgers. Canteens... the list goes on and on. But basically, if you put hamburger meat on a bun, I'm interested. 

That's why I like to go to our local Taco John's. They have their own version of a loose meat sandwich - the Taco Burger.

The foodie website, The Takeout, ran an article a few years ago entitled, "Bring Back Taco Bell's 1962 Immediately." The subheading read, "Now is the perfect time to reintroduce Taco Bell's spin on a burger". Breanna Wellen's feature article is all about the discontinued Bell Beefer. It was Taco Bell's version of a loose meat sandwich. Apparently people have even staged protests and created Facebook pages demanding the return of the Bell Beefer. 

I looked the Bell Beefer up, and here's a picture of it from the Taco Bell Wiki:

When I saw the Bell Beefer I thought, What's the big deal? Taco John's sells Taco Burgers. Just go there.

To make sure, I checked our local Taco John's website, and the Taco Burger was listed as the only item under "Local Favorites." It looks a lot like the Bell Beefer to me. I think the biggest difference is the Taco Burger lacks the Beefer's chopped onions.

Here's the full description: "Our signature Seasoned Ground Beef, Mild Sauce, Lettuce and Cheddar Cheese on a nice warm Bun." All that love and a nice warm bun, too? Let's go get one!

My local Taco John's had updated their menu boards since my last visit, and I didn't see the Taco Burger listed anywhere. I became mildly worried. When the guy behind the counter asked what I wanted, I hesitantly replied,"Can I get a Taco Burger?"

"Yeah," he nodded his head, "Anything else?"

"Just a cup for water."

He handed me my receipt and a cup and said, "It'll be right out."

Why isn't the Taco Burger listed on the physical menu? Obviously there was a button on cashier's screen for a Taco Burger because it's listed right on the receipt.

This is what I got when I unwrapped my burger. I'm not a food photographer, but you get the idea. 

I'm also not a food writer. I don't even know how to pronounce umami. But I can tell you that the Taco Burger appeals to me on many levels. I like the beef that TJ's puts in their tacos, and it feels like they pile on about three times more of the same beef on the burger. I also like the consistency of the meat to sauce ratio. This isn't as messy as a sloppy joe, but the amount of beef will cause some of it to squeeze out the back. That's not the warm bun's fault, though. The bread is sturdy enough to support whatever amount of meat they put on it. (Come to think of it, I bet I could ask to switch the beef out for some other meat like chicken with lime sauce. Worth an ask.)

So, yeah, the Taco Burger is a version of a loose meat sandwich that I can get behind. I'm not alone. I mentioned this burger at school a few days ago, and one teacher exclaimed, "Taco John's Taco Burgers? I love them! Even if I order a meal, I get a burger on the side!" That's a pretty good endorsement.

When I went back to double check the Taco John's website menu for this post, and the "Local Favorites" category was gone. What?! Where did it go? Turns out, the Taco Burger was now listed under the "Tacos" heading, which makes sense. Whew. For a second there I thought this might become an "in memory of" post.

There is a problem, though. Not all Taco John's menus are created equal. 

In some Iowa locations the Taco Burger is listed as an option:

In other Iowan locations, it's not:

In some cities you can order the Taco Burger online:

In others, you can't:

I'm sure availability is based on demand. Why waste warm buns if they're not selling?

If online menus can be trusted, over half of the Taco John's in Iowa offer Taco Burgers, and about a third of the restaurants in South Dakota and Nebraska have them as well. Minnesota has three Taco Burger-friendly locations. Of the other 19 states that have a Taco John's, only the folks in Olathe, Kansas get a shot at loose meat goodness:

I suppose this is a Midwest thing.

Does all of this mean that Taco John's has a secret menu item? I don't know. It all depends on your definition and your destination. What I do know is where I'm going for lunch today. 

I think I'll add chopped onions.

Back in the Saddle

 *The blogger pokes his head into the pocket and looks around. Hmmm. Looks like no one else is here. "Helllooo?" he mutters quietly and then pauses to listen. There is only silence and dust floating in the air. It feels safe, so he hesitantly begins to type for the first time in many months...*

I know I said I was done blogging about my daughter. But I had the idea that I could try to blog without putting the spotlight on Charlotte. 

Why not? When it comes to hobbies, the only rules you have to follow are your own. If you want to bend those rules, who's going call you on it? Yourself? Probably not. You're the one who grabbed the rule book and twisted it in the first place. 

So, here we go...

Our Summer Trip

This might be my favorite picture from the trip we took last June. I took the picture in our Portland, Oregon hotel room after we ran inside to escape the rain.

The reason I like this picture of beef shawarma so much is because it looks so bad. It just makes me laugh. I snapped this picture, reviewed it on my phone, and then showed my phone's screen to Daphne. She made a face, and I giggled, "That's just not very appetizing is it?"

"No, it's not," Daphne agreed with a smile.

"It just kinda looks like a picture of a food log. And I don't think 'food log' is actually a thing."

"Please put your phone down, and let's eat. I'm starving." 

I nodded in agreement, and we dug in by passing the shawarma back and forth to one another. Other than its picture, the beef shawarma was quite good. 

We got this afternoon snack from Abu Omar's Gyros & Shawarma food cart. 

In Portland, food carts are like food trucks that don't move. These carts gather in groups called pods, and you can find various food cart pods located all over the city. 

The Hawthorne Asylum food cart pod was a surprise. We were trying to get to Pine Street Biscuits, but our bus didn't arrive. We tried to walk there, but it became obvious we would be too late. We happened upon the Asylum while on our way to another bus stop. 

The early June weather was cool and rainy. So, it was neat that this food cart pod had fire pits to sit by while you enjoyed your lunch. Locals kept telling us, "This is the wettest spring we've had in 80 years." 

And yeah, it rained everyday, but the rain was more of a mist than a heavy shower. Still, the weather kept us from spending a day at Cannon Beach. We took a waterfall tour instead. Might as well. We were wet already.

Our tour guide was entertaining and informative. He drove us in a van to six different waterfalls and gave us about 30 minutes at each stop to enjoy the sights.

Do you see that bridge? You can walk across it.

It's just a .2 mile scenic walk to get there.

Here's a video of the waterfall from the view on the bridge.

Char did a nice job using the rule of thirds when taking this pic.

Our tour guide took us "off path" to get as close as we could to the last waterfall. This is not the best picture, but the people standing on the left provide scale to how big the waterfall is.

Waterfalls might not be unique to Portland, but this video store is. Movie Madness is a nonprofit video rental store that is known for its vast collection of films and film props. Here's a video clip that explains it better than I can -----> link

I had read that they were going to have a free screening of The Pagemaster on the Sunday, so I called ahead and reserved us three seats in their Miniplex. 

We arrived late because our new bus driver had accidentally driven "off route," but they let us in anyway. The Miniplex was really nice, and it was fun seeing one of Char's "childhood favorites" on a big screen. When we reminisce about that day, Charlotte mostly talks about the M&Ms Daphne bought her...

I got a kick out seeing the prop knife that was used in "Scream."

We did make it to Pine Street Biscuits, and we agreed it was worth the trek. I ordered "The Reggie" sandwich which consists of fried chicken, bacon, cheese, and gravy. This was as close to a sandwich served at Seattle's Serious Biscuit that we could hope for.

Another popular food stop for us was "Pip's Original Doughnuts and Chai." Yes, we knew that everyone is supposed to try Voodoo Doughnuts when they are in Portland, but lines there were long, and we had been to a Voodoo Doughnuts twice when we were in Florida.

Pip's small doughnuts are made fresh when you order, and their size make you feel a little better about yourself when you inhale three in about a minute.

Yes, you do.

As you might guess, it didn't stop raining until the afternoon of the day we were leaving. We did have a great lunch at PDX Sliders, though. 

Look, blue skies!

Charlotte agreed this was a great place to eat, "These sliders are sooo good!"

Daphne found a park nearby after lunch, and the highlight was the huge trees that Char enjoyed climbing. Then a couple of hours later we were in an airport waiting for a plane to arrive on time... which it did.

We did a lot of other things in Portland, but I'm leaving the pictures and videos of those events on my phone. Char is front and center in those. These events included a three-hour bike tour of the city, dinner in a haunted pizzeria, shopping at Powell's Books, touring a rose garden, hiking on a path in the woods, eating at a farmers' market, buying a designer dress, and riding the Aerial Tram. 

It was a weird trip, though. Things didn't really go as planned, but it all worked out in the end. 

For example, we thad planned to take a train from the airport to our hotel, but we had to get off mid-way because the train bridge was temporarily closed. We were directed onto a bus that was taking us to God knew where, and Daphne's phone wouldn't open Google Maps. But a nice teenager reassured us that we would be close to our hotel when we got off, and she was right. We only had to run three blocks in a downpour before we found our hotel. We were soaked, but we laughed as we ran through the hotel's entrance.

All-in-all, I'd say the Portland trip was like my shawarma picture. It wasn't what we expected, but it all made me laugh, and we still had a good time. 

Favorite Strip Joints

Strip Mall - "A long, usually one-story building or group of buildings housing several adjacent retail stores or service establishments." - Merriam-Webster

In a recent episode of Samantha Brown's Places to Love, Samantha said, "Whenever I travel in the United States, I always seek out and want to eat at a strip mall restaurant.  I love them. Even though the strip mall themselves, the appearance of, leave a lot to be desired, the restaurants that are usually in them are exceptional. They are unique. They are family-owned, and they make the best home cooking."

I questioned that idea at first, but then I quickly realized that Samatha is right. Some of our favorite places to eat are in strip malls. I just hadn't thought of it that way. 

Both the Wisco Grub and Pub and Louie's Wine Dive are located next to a grocery store.

 Tasty Tacos and Flame the Taqueria are both next to a chiropractic office.

The La Mie Bakery is next to a tattoo parlor. 

ShortE's BBQ is next to a martial arts school, and Monterrey Mexican Restaurant also near one. 

The Waterfront Seafood Market is next to a beauty supply store. On the other side is the Ohana Steakhouse.

Daphne remined me that Tsing Tsao West, Palmer's and Hurts Donut Co. are also in strip malls. 

These businesses take a lot pride in the food they serve. I overheard an owner at Wisco proudly tell a new customer, "We put a lot of love into our food."  

The service can also be more personal. When Tally's was open (sandwiched between a Beaverdale music store and a yoga studio), a year-and-a-half-old Charlotte got really fussy, and a waitress went out to her car to get a few of her son's toys for Char to play with. That's not going to happen at an Applebee's.

Daphne and I hope to do some traveling in 2022. I'll still research the "Best Of" lists for the cities we visit, but I'll be checking out their strip malls, too. 

Fill In the Blanks fo the "First Roadtrip of 2021"

Let's write a blogpost together. Consider this the blog equivalent of a madlib.

First we need an introduction: ________________________________________________________

Where we are: ____________________________________________________________________

Explain the expression: _______________________________________________________

Explain this close-up: __________________________________________________________

Describe what Char has:________________________________________________________

What and where: _____________________________________________________________

Comment on Daphne's sweatshirt: _______________________________________________

Explain: ____________________________________________________________________

Describe the reaction: _________________________________________________________

Describe the meal: ____________________________________________________________

Make a comparison: __________________________________________________________

 Mic drop comment: __________________________________________________________

You did it! Great job. Now you're a blogger, too!

Scenes From 2020

I wrote this in January of 2021, but I didn't post it because it didn't feel right. Now, I can see that it isn't bragging to say that you are lucky that you can count your blessings. 

I can't say that 2020 was worth celebrating, but I don't want to forget some of the things that we were able to do.

We started the year off with a bang at Universal's Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

We now know how lucky we were to have gone to Florida right after Christmas. If we had waited to go during spring break, then the trip would not have happened.

Planning for our June trip to Nova Scotia began in February. Thematically, we ate breakfast poutine at the BeerStyles Taproom while we booked houses through Airbnb. 

We were lucky that all the places we booked refunded our deposit money when the border to Canada closed. 

Charlotte attended her first piano festival in March. Here a nervous pianist gets some support from Mom. 

It was lucky that the festival was on the 7th. Things began to shut down a few days later.

Charlotte made this Easter wreath for our front door in April. 

We were lucky that she was able to roll with the punches and not just sit around and complaining all day about missing her friends.

We brought Ellie home in May. Our two girls bonded quickly, and they are now best friends.

We were lucky to get a dog with such nice disposition. 

We enjoy walking down to the Johnston library during the summer, and we were pumped when we discovered that you could pick a private browsing time. We did this more than once for books and movies. 

I don't think you can book a browsing time now, so it was lucky we got in when we could.

We lost power for 18 hours, but other than that, we weren't really affected by the derecho in August. But in mid-July, we believe a small funnel cloud ripped through our neighborhood. 

Quite a few trees were left with a "V"-shaped bite taken out of them. 

You can see another tree like that standing behind the wood-chipper.

We were thankful that no one was hurt, and we were lucky and grateful that our house and property were okay.

On August 25, Urbandale schools opened their buildings in a hybrid model, and Char was able to return to class in person.

She had to wear a mask, and only half of her class attends on "J-Hawk" days, but Char was just as excited and nervous as she was on the other first-days-of-school.  I asked her when she got home, "How did it go today?"

 

Charlotte quickly replied, "It was great! We... and then we... our teacher... then we played... Ha! I love school!" 

Daphne and I gave each other a high-five. We had been telling Char, "No, we can't do that," all summer long. We kept reminding her that our major goal was to keep ourselves as healthy as we could so she could go back to Karen Acres and see her friends again. We were lucky that it worked out for her for almost three months.

I was almost as excited when Flix Brewhouse reopened two days later. We were only going to stop by for some takeout on a Saturday afternoon, but the rest of the tables were empty, and the precautions Flix had taken were well thought out. 

When they brought us our boxed lunch, we surprised ourselves by sitting down and eating there. 

We only removed our masks to eat (and read).

The menu was limited, but I had them add tomatoes to their meat lovers pizza to approximate a supreme.

They did have Daphne's favorite salad. 

Daphne and I each took our first bites and then looked at each other. I don't know who teared-up first, but it was Daphne who said, "This is how life is supposed to be." It was the first time we had eaten outside of our car or home in 165 days. I suppose it isn't too surprising that we got a little emotional.

I felt so lucky to be able to enjoy the atmosphere at Flix again. We went back for lunch several more times. The deal was if the dining area was busy, we'd get takeout. If the area was empty, we'd stay. 

Sadly for Flix, it was almost always empty. The Urbandale Schools District moved to online learning the same week in November that Flix was forced to close their theaters again. 

We are now back in our school buildings, so I am hopeful Flix can also reopen again sometime in 2021.

We reopened up the garage theater during Thanksgiving break. It was cool out there, but we were lucky to have Grandpa's propane heater to warm the space up before the movie started.

Here's where I taught school while UHS was confined to online learning only. I didn't enjoy working with students this way, but we did okay. I never thought I would get out of bed in the morning and walk past my school desk on the way to the bathroom.

We were lucky our internet held out, and we had enough data for three computers running Zoom all day.

We had a small gathering at Christmas, and Char was exited with her gifts.

It's lucky she likes to read so much. That will serve her well in the years to come.

For New Year's Eve, Char invited us to her movie party. Her goal was to stay up until midnight. She wanted to be there when 2020 finally said goodbye.

It's lucky we made it until 12:00. I mean that in more ways than one. 

In this post I used the word "lucky" 13 times. That isn't because I do not have a thesaurus. Lucky is the word I have used all year to keep my spirits up. 

I had to keep reminding myself that we were lucky to stay healthy. Not everybody did. We were lucky to have each other. Not everybody did. We were lucky to alway have food on the table. Not everyone did. We are lucky we stayed together. Not everyone did.

I know it's too early to celebrate the end of the pandemic, but it's never too early to count my blessings.