MY FAVORITE RESTAURANTS IN AMES

[RICK YOUNG]

No kickbacks to me. Mentioning my name might get you the heave-ho : ).

Here are some of my favorites.

* Hickory Park An Ames Tradition! | Hickory Park Restaurant Co.

Has smoked (not barbecue) pork, beef, chicken,turkey, desserts, quick service, locally owned . Meat is smoked on site with native hickory wood.

* Aunt Maudes Aunt Maudes - Ames, Iowa - Restaurant

Fine dining as good as it gets. The duck flambe with orange marmalade sauce is out of this world . The best bloody marys.

* The Open Flame The Open Flame – Grill your own Steak House & Lounge – Main Street, Gilbert, Iowa

In the little town of Gilbert on the North edge of Ames. Family owned Husband, wife and 2 daughters. Very casual. Great steaks. grill your own or they will cook it for you. Very reasonable. This is the one place you can mention my name, nice people.

* Ames area has most chains Red Lobster , Applebees etc. Not a big fan of those.

* Lots of great Pizza places. My favorite recently closed.

The best carryout is Casey's General Store Casey's General Stores, Inc

( convenience store) it is awesome.

[Bill Stoneberg]

My favorite restaurant in Ames...

Olde Main Brewing Co.

[RICK YOUNG]

The best Pizza in Central Iowa is 20 minutes south of Ames.

check here

Wig and Pen East - Iowa City, IA

60 miles north in Ft Dodge is equally the best. Just the right amount of grease

check here

Community Pizza - Fort Dodge | Urbanspoon

never mind the Domino's ad

[old-tank]

My favorite restaurant in Ames...

Olde Main Brewing Co.

Site of the unofficial membership meeting---if you don't come we'll be talking about you....bwaahahahaha...

[Thriller]

* Aunt Maudes Aunt Maudes - Ames, Iowa - Restaurant

Fine dining as good as it gets. The duck flambe with orange marmalade sauce is out of this world . The best bloody marys.

And the site of free wine....

[Dave@Moon]

I did 3 years in grad school in Ames in the 1980s, so as you can imagine I didn't exactly have a lot of restaurant money lying around. I did make it to Auntie Maudes once when my future wife took me there. (She had a job!) Had the best piece of sea bass I ever had, even from places years later that should've been better.

One place that's VERY out of the way, but is worth looking for is a little dive (or at least it was little in 1983) called Zeke's Place in a tiny town called Breda, Ia. It's about 10 miles north of Carroll, IA, which is about 50 miles west of Ames on U.S. 30.

Zeke's is a steak place that (when I went there) served only beef from the farms in the area, I think only from one farm. I remember being served a perfect piece of prime rib that hung off both sides of an oval plate that I didn't need a knife for! That meal with a potato and salad cost me about $7. That kind of beef isn't available in most of the country for any price.

A lot can change in 30 years, but Zeke's is still there. When I was there it was about as "local color" as you could get. If you're coming to Ames from the west, or want to go for a drive while you're there, it's worth checking out.

Zeke's Place Breda, IA, 51436 - YELLOWPAGES.COM

[RICK YOUNG]

I believe It's still there.

[Barney Eaton]

How about a list of breakfast places..........

free breakfast at the hotel is ok but we will probably be eating only two meals a day, so a bigger, better breakfast may be in order.

[RICK YOUNG]

Well it's the ol stand by's . Perkins or Villiage Inn. Don't know of any local places.

Also don't know about free breakfast at the Hotel. If there is, it's continental at best.

I'm a chocolate chip cookie guy in the morning.

[Guest wildcat465]

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[Thriller]

Paul - I was thinking more along the lines of "you are what you eat". ;)