Every issue, 365ink's Rich Belmont dons his napkin and digs into another great Tri-State dining venue. In a past few years Rich has sampled scores of delicious options and we've go pretty PDF versions of every one of those feature article here for your reference. WARNING: Do not read these reviews is you suffer from sever hunger, it could be dangerous! Recent Features includes George and Dales, Frank O'Dowd's Irish Pub, Rhody's Food & Spirits, The Shot Tower Inn and Star Restaurant! Click into the blog for a full list of linked PDF articles.

Argosy's Food For Thought 
by Rich Belmont

Do you think of New Year’s Eve as the end of year 2011 or as the beginning of 2012?  Either way you owe it to yourself to finish this year or begin the next one with an exceptionally delicious dinner!

L.May Eatery is just the place to help you celebrate “out with the old and in with the new”.  If you haven’t done so already its’ not too late to make your reservations for a delightful dinner chosen from a special New Year’s Eve menu served from 4 pm to 10 pm.

So Otto Sallman’s Restaurant has come full circle.  You probably don’t know who Otto was.  In 1899 he built a building on Bouthillier Street in Galena next to the railroad tracks right across the street from the Train Depot.  We know he intended to open a restaurant because the October 20, 1899 Galena Daily Gazette contained an article titled “Otto Sallman Restaurant Handsomely Equipped”.  Otto ran out of money, however, and never got to fulfill his dream.  In subsequent years his building served as a handmade basket store, home bakery, grocery store, pizza parlor, furniture store, antique shop and more recently a sandwich café. (by Rich Belmont)

by Rich Belmont
The Potosi Brewing Company is just 20 miles and a half hour’s drive from Dubuque. It is right there on Main Street in Potosi known to many as the Catfish Capital of Wisconsin.  Potosi’s claim to fame, though, doesn’t stop there.  This little sleepy town of 711 residents with two gas stations and no stop lights is fast gaining recognition as the home of a first class brewery and outstanding restaurant. (Many More photos and gallery links after the jump to the full article...)

It is not for nothing the writers of Martha Stewart Weddings selected Hotel Julien Dubuque as the Number One reception venue in Iowa in the magazine’s 2010 travel issue.  After all, over the last four years the Pfohl Family has invested over 32 million dollars restoring Dubuque’s majestic Hotel Julien Dubuque to its former glory.

My friend Curt Martin of Runde Auto Group fame suggested we go to Buddy's Clubhouse in Dubuque for dinner. He said this little restaurant with only ten tables was the North End's Little Secret. Indeed I had never heard of it and neither did Bryce Parks, the Publisher of 365ink and lifelong Dubuquer.