No Bad Meals Here

   C and I are enjoying another vacation in Door County. We got here last Friday and have been having a good time and a restful time. We always do.
   There's a lot of things we like about this area. I think I've written about most of them. One thing I have not written about is the food.  There is a lot of good food here.
  One thing I like about Door County is that there are no chain restaurants here. None. No chains of any kind really, unless you count the Shopko near Sister Bay. That means that a lot of good chefs start reaturants here and do not have to worry about competition  from cheap places like McDonalds. This makes for a lot of nice places that are run by real folks who are interested in making good food and giving thier customers a good experience. I'd like to mention a few of our favourites and what we like to eat there. These are in no particular order.
  The first one is Wilson's in Ephraim. It's an old soda fountain type restaraunt. There's a big counter where you can order a large scoop of ice cream to take outside to eat and booths where you can eat a hamburger and french fries along with the biggest mug of root beer I've ever seen in my life. (It's also the only root beer I'll drink.) When it's working you can also  put a quarter in the jukebox and listen to your  song. It may be one of , if not the oldest, restaurant on the Peninsula. It opened in 1906 and has been running continuously since that time. C likes to get a big mug of root beer. He drinks about half of it with his meal. Then he orders two scoops of vanilla ice cream. He puts this in the remaining root beer and enjoys a root beer float for dessert.
  We like The Cookery in Fish Creek. It is another restaurant that has been around for a long time. It was a homey place that had good comforting food. A few years ago it was totally destroyed by a fire. The owners rebuilt it and updated it. They painted the walls in bright colours and put a wine bar upstairs. The place is fresh,light and airy. My favourite dish is the whitefish chowder. It's made with the locally caught whitefish and fresh vegetables. They also have a turkey, cherry chutney and cream cheese sandwich which is quite tasty and a black bean burger that is also good.  I like that fact that they have a good selection of vegetarian and gluten free foods on the menu. I know that this makes life a lot easier for those who choose to be meat free and are gluten intolerant.
   I've written about the pizza at the Bayside Tavern which is just down the street from The Cookery. They don't serve pizza on Friday, that's fish fry night. ( We are in Wisconsin after all.) The fish fry is very good. They have lake perch which is my second favourite freshwater fish. Don't go there when the Packers are playing, you'll never get a seat.
   Near the entrance to Peninsula State Park is Julie's Park Cafe. They have a varied menu and serve breakfast all day. My favourite dish is the Santa Fe eggs. It is hash browns with refired back beans, eggs (any way you want them) topped with salsa and sour cream. Yum. They also have many choices that are gluten free and vegetarian. The staff is friendly, the bread is fresh and the have an amazing locally made rubarb strawberry jam that you can buy to take home if they haven't run out. (They usually do though...)
   Alexander's is near where we stay when we come here. We eat there once a visit, because it's kind of fancy and sort of expensive. It's beautifully decorated and has a lovely well stocked bar for those who drink. The wait staff comes from all over the world. C enjoys a steak there. I sometimes have steak, but have also eaten chicken and pasta. I don't think you can go wrong with anything on the menu.
   We like to eat at The English Inn the night before we leave. The decor is old English Castle and there are two armor clad knight statues holding torches in front of the door. Inside it is warm and a bit dark with large heavy looking chandeliers. I like to sit at a window seat the overlooks a small pond outside. I've had all kinds of things there. The one thing I remember is that they have clam chowder. They also have Beef Wellington although I've never ordered it. If you don't want a potato you can have rice pilaf. If you go there go hungry. They give you a lot of food.
   When we can we like to go to The Good Egg for breakfast. They serve a huge burrito with eggs and whatever you want inside. I don't get to eat there often because I tend to eat breakfast at the B&B where we stay.
  Tomorrow we are going to have breakfast at The Village Cafe. I've never been there before, but C says it is the best. We have to go early because it gets pretty crowded. I'm looking forward to it.