Caruso’s in Angola, IN

Caruso’s
carusos-restaurant.com
2435 North 200 West
Angola, IN 46703-9147
(260) 833-261

Starving Auctioneers Rating: 3 1/2 Gavels out of 5

Northeast Indiana is not known for its culinary scene. It is however known for corn fields and a crippling economic depression brought on by the collapse of the Recreational Vehicle (RV) market. Who would have ever guessed that bottomless well of money would dry up. On the way back from the first ever joint Michigan State Auctioneers Association and Indiana Auctioneers Association Summer Conference which happened in the truly amazingly named town of Michigan City, Indiana, Tim Kruse and Peter Gehres surveyed the complete economic devastation and decided to stop for dinner and help the area out. Tim knew just the place. The only issue was that he also knew this eatery often closed early in response to Northeast Indiana’s increasing zombie, vampire and undead population. A call was made and through Tim’s vast network of political and business connections the fine folks at Caruso’s Italian and American Restaurant agreed to serve two truly Starving Auctioneers if they were seated by 8:45 PM. With a deadline to meet Peter put his mighty truck into high gear and the pair raced due east toward a date with destiny or at least butter soaked breadsticks.

Sliding into their booth just at 8:45 PM they were served by one of the lovely and talented Maggie who was also a Caruso family member and a talented musician on a musical sabbatical of some sort. She was very kind in that she tolerated all manner of inane questions and comments on the menu. A mighty feast of heavily Americanized Italian food was ordered and a frank discussion of all things auctioneering began. However much like the World War Two era poster, “Loose Lips Sink Ships,” the Staving Auctioneers were not alone in their conversation. The gentleman in the next booth could not help but overhear talk of auctions and as he finished his meal he politely interrupted the vigorous conversation to offer his classic automobile transport services. He shared the features, advantages and benefits of his service to transport autos from coast to coast. His information is located at the bottom of this review should you be in need of such services.

Dinner concluded with deserts and more frank though still irrelevant conversation on the state of politics, morality and Fort Wayne, Indiana media personalities. However it was at that very moment that a large party was seated exposing the vial corruption of ‘we stop serving at 8:45 story.’ The management was clearing looking for any excuse not to serve us. Given the cost of bread sticks that might have been a pretty wise move on their part.

Classic Car Mov'n by Jim Beam (419) 466-6063 - Tell him the Staving Auctioneers sent you!

Mi Tierra Cafe & Bakery in San Antonio, TX

Mi Tierra Cafe & Bakery
mitierracafe.com
218 Produce Row
San Antonio, TX 78207-4554
(210) 225-1262

Starving Auctioneers Rating: 4 Gavels out of 5

(Note: This review was submitted by an original Starving Auctioneer, Tim Kruse)

On a rare, cold morning in San Antonio, Texas, two auctioneers and food connoisseurs found themselves deciding where to dine for breakfast before a long day of auction work. Tim Kruse was a foreigner of the two, and was driven by John Aguilard of Worldwide Auctioneers to get a taste of his native San Antonio's history and of course breakfast.

John's choice was Mi Tierra Cafe, a staple San Antonio restaurant which prides itself in never closing down. Literally. They never close. 24/7, 365. Inside, Mi Tierra offered an eclectic mixture of architecture and Mexican culture. From the stately barroom area reserved for night life, to the colorful breakfast room that reminded me of a morning cafe joint in the Midwest (except for the year-round Christmas lights). The whole place had a spirit of down-home distinction.

Founded in 1941 by the Cortez family, John regaled Tim with nostalgic stories from years ago of after school dance parties when the cafe was just a one room hole in the wall. If the old walls and shimmering streamers could tell tale after tale of memories and friendships made.

The menu was simple but comprehensive with “regular” breakfast choices as well as original Mexican morning dishes. Tim ordered the Mexican plate—the Chilaquiles Famosos covered in ranchero sauce with thick, crispy bacon and refried beans on the side. Chilaquiles is simply scrambled eggs with tortilla chips mixed in for a yummy, crunchy combination. John opted for the Mi Tierra Special with over-medium eggs and shredded carne de puerco (pork). John suggested that breakfast would not be complete without a also having a Barbacoa Taco—and he was right. The sweet, juicy, steamed beef had great flavor and melted like a chocolate bar in my mouth. Tim indulged in a cup of Mexican Chocolate. Drinking the classic Mi Tierra beverage gave a nice, warm finish to rather large breakfast.

Back-room Deals

Apparently, the place is infamous as a hang out for local politicians. While getting a tour by John, the point was proven when we walked into the back meeting room and found ourselves interrupting an important looking meeting of important looking people. Before leaving the room, though, I got a good look at the giant murals of Selena, Santana and other famous people covering the walls.

The Bakery

Following the scrumptious feast, things had only just begun... We made our way back out to the lobby area where a twenty-foot long, glass showcase displayed a wide array of Mexican pastries, cookies, breads, desserts, and doughnuts that would make any auctioneer(even a full one) salivate. So with the excuse of feeding the office staff we bought a giant box filled to the rim with delectable goodies, plus an extra bag for my giant Creme Puff which made a great post auction snack!

The next time you're in the Alamo City stop by Mi Tierra(meaning My Land). It's a tourist hot spot and a fantastic place to have a fun, tasty and unique eating experience any time day or night all year through... oh yeah, the auction went well, too.

Irish Lion in Bloomington, IN

Irish Lion – Map
irishlion.com
212 West Kirkwood Avenue
Bloomington, IN 47404
(812) 336-9076

Starving Auctioneers Rating: 5 Gavels out of 5 - TOP TEN

The Certified Auctioneers Institute (CAI) is many things to many people. Of great interest to Starving Auctioneers is that CAI presents many opportunities to eat at new and interesting restaurants with old and bloviating auctioneers. One highlight of the Bloomington, Indiana restaurant scene from last year’s CAI was the Irish Lion. It was one of the must attend places at this year’s gathering. The Irish Lion is a small Irish or British pub style restaurant that is only about four Starving Auctioneers wide and located just off the courthouse square in downtown Bloomington (If Bloomington can be said to have a ‘downtown’)

CAI dinners are more like the Battle of Waterloo than a pleasant, civil culinary experience. Typically a literal herd of balding, out of shape auctioneers will descend on an eating establishment like a Biblical plague and demand as many tables as are available and then attempt to negotiate with the unsuspecting wait staff for free dessert. What follows is consumption on a near epic scale. Such was the state of affairs when a group of Starving Auctioneers showed up at the Irish Lion on Tuesday evening. The group included (L to R in picture) Paul Grist, Brian Braun, your humble blogger, Tim Kruse, Bryan Knox, Michael Nance, Em Barran, David Helmer, and Jeffrey Oberling. A frightening gang with amazingly bad hair to be sure and not a group you want to cross when they are hungry or smell a motivated seller.

This wasn’t the first trip to the Irish Lion for most of the group; it wasn’t even the first trip that week! Dinners included roast duck, fried fish, mutton pie and lamb chops. Dinner was followed by dessert which was OUTSTANDING and far above the fare one normally finds at a Starving Auctioneers' hang out. Try the Irish Apple Walnut Cake…do it. For the second year the Irish Lion was the unofficial Starving Auctioneers' HQ and it should be your first stop whenever you are in Bloomington.

The stories and drinks flowed freely for over two hours of dinning and dialog. Topics included appropriate shirt length, the spelling of waitress’ names, deer meat processing, bid calling and auction fish tales and of course the auction that got away. David Helmer even told some scary ghost stories and tales of the glories of Christmases long, long ago.

Nook in St. Paul, MN

Nook - Map
http://www.crnook.com/
492 Hamline Ave South
Saint Paul, MN 55116
(651) 698-4347

Starving Auctioneers Rating: 4 1/2 Gavels out of 5

Minnesota in January is a very cold place to be but when you have a gracious and generous host like auctioneer Col. Kurt Johnson you hardly notice. Peter was in the “funny talking state” to speak to Minnesota State Auctioneers Association in Duluth. Before heading north however, Kurt wanted to show both Peter & Tim Kruse around his adopted hometown of St. Paul. Of interest to regular readers of this blog Tim was ‘persuaded’ to come to the snowy upper Midwest over lunch at the Town Tavern. After some St Paul sightseeing Kurt took Peter and Tim to The Nook.

The Nook is the quintessential dive for starving auctioneers. First it is a local hole in the wall, second it is cheap and fast and you don’t need a menu. The Nook has already been reviewed by far more talent then you will find here. We speak of none other than he who wears his sun glasses on backwards: Guy Ferrari. By beating us to the punch there was nothing left to see except what all the hype was about.

The Juicy Nookie Burger was a must and it was GREAT. Hot meat surrounding a melted cheesy center. Is there anything better? Kurt learned about this crazy thing we do in Ohio: vinegar on French fries; he was not a fan. The Nook was great. If Guy Ferrari and Peter Gehres liked it, that’s really all you need.

UPDATE: Upon returning to the “the Cities” from Duluth Kurt, Peter, and Kurt’s wife Connie grabbed lunch at the Shamrock's(Nook’s sister restaurant)before Peter hopped a flight to Columbus. Same great food and the atmosphere was electric as the bar was full of Minnesota Vikings fans watching the playoff ‘beat down’ of the Cowboys.

Kutters Bar & Grill in Quincy, IL

Kutters Bar & Grill - Map
236 North Front Street
Quincy, IL 62301
(217) 223-5888

Starving Auctioneers Rating: 3 1/2 Gavels out of 5

There are business trips and family trips; Shopping trips and wasted trips. Then there are ROAD TRIPS. The definition of a great road trip is when arriving at the destination is almost forgotten when one recounts the events that proceed it. Such was the case on an epic road trip untaken by David Helmer and Peter Gehres one December week. The trip began with a simple premise: collect a number of items David had purchased from Sullivan Auctioneers. Over time it morphed in to a five state romp visiting auctioneers, buyers, sellers in the heart of the auctioneering world: The Midwest. The best visual would be General Sherman’s march to the sea if he had a minivan.

First stop was for Peter and was to an auction customer in Illinois to deliver some items purchased from a recent Belhorn Pottery Auction. Then it was on to meet the Sullivan Auctioneers. There we collected David’s purchases, a very retro but very cool auction company calendar and some spiffy new Sullivan Auctioneer hats. We took a brief self guided tour of their impressive facility before asking for the best local food. We were directed to Kutters Bar & Grill in nearby Quincy, Illinois. After a wrong turn took us to Iowa and Missouri which offered few food choices but a couple of crossings over the Mississippi we stopped at a transmission shop to ask for directions. It was a bit embarrassing given we had a GPS on board. It was just before Christmas and the journey brought us in touch with the story of the Three Kings. Although we were just starving and would have likely only brought a doggie bag of French fries had we been in charge all those years ago.

Kutters is located as close the Mississippi as one can comfortably get and stay dry. We arrived after the lunch rush and had the place to ourselves and the stag (see picture). We ordered the nachos and the fish platter and were impressed with both. On hindsight though the nachos may have been overrated given it was the only thing we had to eat since dinner the night before. Throughout the meal David attempted to sound like a local and insisted on referring the river outside as the “mighty Mississip” and the effort understandably impressed no one. The service was good and the one could imagine the bar and grill hoping at lunch or dinner.

The next day our trip took us back to a Starving Auctioneers favorite: The Town Tavern in Auburn, Indiana for a power lunch with the Brothers Kruse. Along the way home be visited some potential clients, tractor dealerships in search of rare toys and enjoyed some local pizza while watching Monday Night Football. In the end it was a perfect trip that won’t likely ever be repeated and is one of those events in your life that is a collection of normal activities that lead to extraordinary memories.

Town Tavern in Auburn, IN

Auburn's Town Tavern - Map
1343 South Main Street
Auburn, IN 46706
(260) 925-0555

Strarving Auctioneers Rating: 4 Gavels out of 5

On a cold Monday in December there is not much going on in Auburn, Indiana. The crops are off and the locals are getting ready for Christmas. However on this December morning the 220nd class of the Reppert School of Auctioneering was in session and Peter was presenting Ohio Auction Law and a discussion of Auction Technology to a classroom full of auctioneering students from across the country, Canada and South Africa. As you might expect after a morning of talking and often talking fast Peter developed a mighty appetite. Tim Kruse, Vice President of Reppert (and friend from CAI) knew just the place: Auburn’s Town Tavern.

The Town Tavern is as local as local gets. Looking like a converted home The Town Tavern is a continuous tread that often binds small communities together. An institution in Auburn there really was only once choice for lunch and that was the fried fish with mashed potatoes. That is what we all ordered. Sometimes local joints survive on a lack of competition. This place survives on fried fish and tartar sauce and lightening fast service. I could have gone for seconds but that is never cool on a business lunch. The company was of course great, a mix of auction school students, Tim, his brother Daniel and an intuition at Reppert’s Ron Chaffee the Dean of Instruction. Our table looked like a bunch of Lumber jacks eating the first meal after clearing half a forest rather than a bunch of guys who had just spent the morning talking auctions. I was surprised the waitress was able to keep the drink glasses full without getting bitten.

The students and Ron had to leave in order to be back in time for the afternoon session and that left Peter and the brothers Kruse to enjoy peanut butter pie and catch the opening segment of The Young and Restless coming on in a TV in the corner.

UPDATE (December 2009): David Helmer, the Kruse Brothers and Peter found themselves eating at The Town Tavern again just over a week later when David and Peter concluded their Rampage Road Trip 2009 with a visit to Auburn and Kruse Auction Park to pick up items purchased at an auction there over the weekend. We are happy to report the same great food, service and soap operas.

UPDATE (July 2010): Starving Auctioneers returned yet again to the Town Tavern for another great meal. On hand were Tim Kruse, Jack Christy, Ron Chaffee, Peter D. Gehres, Dennis Kruse and students from the lastest class of the Reppert School of Auctioneering. The Tavern is fast becoming the go to place.