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.

Evergreen Chinese Buffet in Washington, PA

Evergreen Chinese Buffet - Map
125 Murtland Ave
Washington, PA 15301
(724) 299-7008

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

Nothing says Belhorn Auction Service Road Trip like a steaming cauldron of unnaturally bright red sweet and sour sauce. When Greg Belhorn is at the wheel of the magical mystery pottery mobile (an unmarked, white E-250 van) and the dinner bell rings it is time to stop at the nearest Chinese buffet. Greg and Peter were returning from a pick up in New Jersey and not even the lack luster reviews online could discourage their mighty hunger. As aside all the reviews they found could describe almost any Chinese Buffet and they were not going to let online negatively dissuade them. The large polished sign out front beckoned as they exited I-70 in Washington, PA.

Arriving after the lunch rush most of the staff was eerily engrossed in watching Texas vs TCU in College World Series Super Regional. It was pretty entertaining to watch a group of young Asian waitresses watch the Texas pitcher work his way out of a jam. It was true moment of Americana. Immigrants watching college baseball live in a buffet in Western Pennsylvania. What a country!

As unbelievable as it may seem each Chinese Buffet is different. Greg, being an expert on really only two things: American Art Pottery and Chinese Buffets, clarified what made this buffet different from all the rest. This buffet he explained had an unusually large selection of appetizer items and relatively few true entrées. Greg then went off into a diatribe on how this reflected the socio-economic differences between Washington, PA and other towns that have fallen victim to this review. You were fortunate to have missed it.

An anthropological aside to the dining experience was when your two reviews exited off the interstate at Belle Vernon, PA fifteen minutes earlier in search of what turned out to be a nonexistent Chinese Buffet (thanks Garmin!) and found a most unusual occurrence. There crossing the street appeared to be two primordial dwarfs. Having seen a number of TLC specials on the subject it very interesting to see someone with this condition in person and to see them crossing the street in town that the worlds seems to have forgotten was even more amazing. One would hope that TLC doesn’t catch wind of this blog and start following your reviewer around.

Don’s Pomeroy House in Strongsville, OH

Don’s Pomeroy House - Map
donspomeroy.com

13664 Pearl Road,
Strongsville, OH 44149
(440) 572-1111

Starving Auctioneers Rating: 5 Gavels out of 5

Fine dining is not something that Starving Auctioneers do nearly enough. There are number of reasons for this including past restraining orders, lack of class and capital and most of all the simple lack of time. It is hard to fit in a multiple course meal when you are running from one auction to another and even harder to stop talking long enough to eat it.

Mike Brandly, Peter Gehres and their partners in both business and life, Lisa Mantle and Paige Gehres respectively, stopped auctioning long enough to dine at the legendary Pomeroy House in Strongsville, Ohio. Lisa and Paige are extraordinary auction clerks besides being extraordinary people and are the power behind the legends (legends used very lightly here). It is no ordinary clerk that can understand the pure gibberish that Mike and Peter spout each auction and turn that into something the normal people can read and thus pay for when it comes time to settle up. Both women were over due for a good meal. They typically have to settle for hot dogs and nacho’s from the food truck at the auctions.

Don’s Pomeroy House is set in a very old building and serves tried and true meals in an upclass format. Everything at the Don's Pomeroy House was excellent and there is little chance to go wrong on the menu. Of special note was the Chip and Dip appetizer. It does not sound like much but it was outstanding and you are making a big mistake to pass it up.

Desert was a different story however. After a finely prepared and served dinner an equally fine desert is in order… that is except for Mike. Mike has this issue with Vanilla Ice Cream. The issue is he eats mountains of it. Mike’s dietary food pyramid sports a good quarter for Vanilla Ice Cream. Of course at a place like the Pomeroy House they have such a thing but why would you order that given the other outstanding options…why? Well Mike did and the waitress felt the need to repeatedly reassure Mike that it was really good and that he would not disappointed … because it was the LAMEST thing on the menu and he would most certainly have desert envy.

Despite poor desert choices on the part of some Don’s Pomeroy House is always a good choice and it should be your choice if you find yourself starving south of Cleveland.

Casa de Kruse in Lewis Center, OH

Casa de Kruse
Somewhere in Suburbia
Lewis Center, OH

Starving Auctioneers Rating: 5 Gavels out of 5

There are a number of reasons to attend your state auctioneer’s association gatherings. Networking, education, speakers, competitions, the list goes on. However under pain of torture most auctioneers will admit their attendance is really to have dinner with their fellow auctioneers and see whom they can impress the most with the amount of business they are doing or claim to be doing and to show off their shiny new Auctioneer Championship jewelry.

Robert Mayo graced the Ohio Auctioneers Association's Summer Seminar with his wit and wisdom last week and it would have been improper to not treat him to some Columbus hospitality (which means I-270 traffic jams, road construction and suburban sprawl). Peter magnanimously volunteered Rich Kruse to do all the cooking and hosting. Michael Hoffman offered his services as a valet and social secretary which left Peter with little to do but talk and eat which happens to be right in his wheel house.

Rich Kruse has never appeared in this review before and it is unlikely he will do so regularly. He does not appear to eat or at least consume calories in a fashion that is of this Earth. Rather he relies on a concoction of confrontation and coffee to fuel his Martian power cells. Peter has been working with Rich since the first of the year and in all their travels and auctions Rich has yet to offer to stop long enough to eat or even get a bottle of water. In many ways Rich is either the best Starving Auctioneer or worst…everyone around him is always starving.

Dinner at the Kruse’s suburban paradise consisted of a plate stacked with grilled steaks sufficient to feed most of the 4th Infantry Division, portabella mushrooms with crab cakes and some potato concoction prepared by Rich’s smarter, more attractive and all around better half, Melissa Kruse. Melissa knows well that potatoes are ALWAYS enhanced by generous amounts of cheese, heat and Campbell’s soup.

The conversation was tougher to follow then a chicken on LSD and thus attempting to recount it here would be a challenge. Every attempt was made to avoid talking about politics or religion or the third rail of auctioneer talk: ONLINE AUCTIONS. In that regard the dinner was a total failure. The only respite was Robert’s tales of a young capitalist in Las Vegas or Peter’s quasi lecture on the Amish as a truly modern society. Suffice to say everyone agreed that Robert Mayo needs to visit the Buckeye state more often.

Arlene's Truck Stop in Battle Creek, MI

Arlene's Truck Stop‎ - Map
4647 West Columbia Avenue
Battle Creek, MI 49015-8643
(269) 964-8908

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

Auctioneers often work together which is widely understood. What is not so often mentioned is that as auctioneers we often consign items in each other’s auctions. There are number of reasons for this but often the reason is as simple as we want something to go away and will gladly pay our fellow auctioneer to solve the problem. Such was the case when Peter consigned two tractors to an upcoming auction held by Scott Vander Kolk’s Golden Gavel Auction Service.

We each have our own specialty in the auction business. Among Scott’s specialties is breathing life (and money) in old and often abandon tractors and farm implements. He does this through a combination of black magic, a farmer nicknamed Navajo and a mysterious and shady figure they call ‘the Tractor Whisper.’ All this means that what was once heap of junk is turned into cash…a skill many auctioneers have and Scott has in spades.

Thanks to Scott's considerable skill the only question Peter had when Scott picked up the tractors was where they were going to have lunch. Towing a large trailer the drive-thru was out of the question. Arlene’s Truck Stop in Battle Creek, Michigan was the answer.

As far as truck stops go the food at Arlene’s was pretty good. One would image the creepy velvet picture of the long pasted Arlene hanging in the joint helped keep the staff motivated for fear the spirit of the late proprietor might come alive. Our waitress was friendly and everything far exceeded the relatively low expectations. Being truck stop fair it was priced as low as possible. Despite a lively late lunch conversation we never got to the bottom of why a strapping farm boy from western Michigan has the nickname Navajo or if Scott was going to get his picture done in velvet as a surprise anniversary present to his long suffering auction widow wife.

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.

Florentine in Columbus, OH

Florentine - Map
florentinerestaurant.com
907 West Broad St.
Columbus, OH 43222
(614) 228-2262

Starving Auctioneers Rating: 4 Gavels out of 5

The most frustrating table to wait on in the food service world is one with two auctioneers when neither has an auction in morning. They just talk and talk and talk and don’t order dessert. To add insult to injury you have to wonder if two people so poorly dressed could possibly be good tippers. Such was the case when Peter and Mike Brandly, CAI, AARE had dinner last week at a Columbus institution, Florentine. The Florentine is a family owned American/Italian restaurant that has had the same menu and sign out front since the Eisenhower Administration.

A short walk from downtown Columbus, the Florentine has been serving Americanized Italian food long before the Olive Garden made unlimited bread sticks cool and pushing cheap house wine the industry standard. The Florentine is the perfect Starving Auctioneers hang out: local, fast, reasonably cheap, and a working class joint. Dinner at the Florentine won’t change your life but it will fill your belly.

Both men had to stop talking long enough to give some serious attention to the menu, after that the orders came out quickly. Mike ordered the fish and Peter the veal. Peter often orders veal as a test of his dinner companions, Mike passed the test in that he did not recoil in disgust, as many often do, and he got a sticker for his decorum. Dinner started at 7 PM and they closed the place down a little after 10 PM. They sat in their booth so long the first waitress gave up and went home and the manager had to call up a new arm from the bullpen. Despite their appearance they tipped well.

This is first review with Mike Brandly but won’t be the last. Mike is a restaurant connoisseur and has assembled a list of future restaurants for review that covers most of Ohio. Mike’s specializes in two simple things: Absolute auctions and finding places to eat in between absolute auctions. In fact his dedication to these two missions often comes at the cost of any type of modern hair care or even simple combing.

Red Pig Bar-B-Q and Deli in Johnson City, TN

Red Pig Bar-B-Q and Deli - Map
2201 Ferguson Road
Johnson City, TN 37604
(423) 282-6586

Starving Auctioneers Rating: 4 Gavels out of 5

It is always special when you are afforded the opportunity to fellowship with a great auctioneer and good friend on his home turf. Such was the occasion last month when Peter called on Travis Royston, CAI, CES, GPPA of Johnson City, Tennessee. Travis is a block of man. The legend says he is 7 foot tall and once killed a wild bear with the carcass of coyote while saving a bus full of red headed orphan children from a runaway locomotive. Truth be told not all those kids were orphans.

Travis is a model Starving Auctioneer: hard worker, champion bid caller, big eater and marginal dresser. Peter was in Travis’ home town delivering a collection of antique water pumps and water rams. If you don’t know what those are and why someone would collect them you can join the club. Travis bought’em, Peter delivered’em that is all you need to know for this blog. Peter dropped the pumps off on his way to Asheville, North Carolina and Grove Park Inn Arts and Crafts Convention (pottery pick up). Having sold cars in the morning and driving all afternoon and evening Peter and his wife (Paige Gehres) and friends, Brian & Annalisa Henslee were ready for some BBQ.

Being a fire fighter (honest) and a Starving Auctioneer, Travis knew just the place: Red Pig Bar-B-Q and Deli. Like most local BBQ this was a homespun place where the owner shakes your hand when you enter and the simple menu has a few items ‘everyone’ had to get.

Everyone ordered a BBQ pork sandwich and a much ballyhooed twice baked potato. Peter also ordered the salad which had more toppings then it had lettuce. This was perfect because, as has previously been mentioned on this blog, a Starving Auctioneer salad is more an excuse for eating dressing and fix’ins then an exercise in eating healthy. We arrived near closing time and thus had our run of the place and sat at a large round table in the corner that Travis said was on permanent reserve for the local politicians and power brokers, that is of course why WE sat there.

The food was good but the stories were better. Travis regaled his dinner companions with tales of auctions, family and friends. The most memorable was the story of Travis’ friend who wished to get into the chicken and egg business on a small scale. After setting up the coop and equipment this friend purchased 50 laying hens and 50 roosters for those hens to mate with, the friend knew were eggs came from at least. After a few rough nights in the chicken coop he called Travis concerned, Travis advised his city folk friend that it is not ‘religious with chickens’ and they don’t mate for life and one rooster can do the deed. Heathen chickens…

UPDATE: Starving Auctioneers fans can expect more of Travis’ stories as he is planning to make a family trip to Ohio’s Amish Country this summer and his travels to the Starving Auctioneer’s home state will surely generate some much needed blog content.