population-we™: pop-we Dinner Club Reviews Beebeetown's The Twisted Tail

The Twisted Tail in Beebeetown, Iowa.

This is the tale of The Twisted Tail Steak House & Saloon, which was Rick's pick for this month's population-we (pop-we) Dinner Club. The tale starts here, when 12 of the club's foodies traveled across the Missouri River to Beebeetown, Iowa, for supper. Located just outside Logan, Iowa, from The Brown's house the trek is about 40 miles one way. My frugal husband decided not to fill the tank of our Chrysler Pacifica; since, gas is "usually" considerably cheaper in Iowa. We would find out later we were wrong.

We however got to drive a very scenic route from Elkhorn, Neb., to Beebeetown, Iowa. Along the way we crossed over the Missouri River with the help of the Mormon Bridge, zoomed by supple crops and acres of open prairie. As we rolled into town, we immediately came upon The Twisted Tail. We traveled down the gravel road in front of the restaurant and were greeted with our fellow pop-we Dinner Club foodies' waving us down. So, we parked on the other side of the gravel road.

As we entered the establishment we were immediately surprised with the rustic but very new naughty pine that adorned the walls throughout. If they were going for a saloon feel, as the sign said, they nailed it. This night it was extremely busy but was ample seating for the 12 of us. There even was a huge party shed out back. I sneaked away with Sue once we were seated to check it out. The shed area had concrete floors, a bar and even had a wall where patrons were invited to write their names.

Cheers from Beebeetown!

The Twisted Tail's menu is varied. It was a combo of down home recipes and bar food. See Randy's Steak & Potato dinner picture below. On this occasion, I decided to let my hair down and have a beer (see picture at right). To make the ambiance even better my beer came in a masonry jar. After the long drive we were famished and decided to get an appetizer, too. So, Jalapeno Poppers is was! They were tasty but typical prepackaged poppers. A couple of us ordered the Chicken Philly and for an additional charge made it Buffalo. The Buffalo sauce it was drenched in truly had a kick; and it paired nicely with my Bud Light. I had to eat it fast because I don't like soggy bread. Also, extra napkins are required for this sandwich because the sauce makes it messy. Sweet Potato Fries and a pickle rounded out my meal, too. The food was delicious but I have to slam the wait staff for service. Some how they forgot The Brown's meals, everyone in our club was finished eating before ours arrived. The manger even stopped by to ask how everything was--in which we said our food was out late--and he breezed by us. Luckily for him our waitress paid for our appetizer.

The train.

To make things worse, after dinner we found out there was no gas station in town. The closest was in Missouri Valley, Neb. So, immediately we took the windy back roads to find a gas station in Missouri Valley. Emerging from the road we had not met our destination yet. We could clearly see it--the gas station we so badly needed; however, a train was in our way. Yes, a train! This is a natural occurrence in these parts. But the gas light was blinking and thanks to Brian's quick thinking he turned off the engine as we waited for the train to pass. Because once the train passed; we literally coasted into the gas station on fumes. As you can tell from our tale, if anything, our time in Iowa for dinner club was a memorable one.

After compiling the surveys from the other foodies the pop-we Dinner Club gives The Twisted Tail a 3.6 star average on a scale of 1-5.

Steak & Baked Potato at Twisted Tail.

Atmosphere/Decor – 3.5

Cleanliness – 3.6

Wait Staff – 2.6

Menu – 3.8

Food Presentation – 3.66

Food Portions – 4.5

Food Taste – 4.16

Cost (was the cost worth meal?) – 3.16

Noise Level – 3

Overall Experience – 3.6

For more information regarding directions or The Twisted Tail menu, visit their website at http://www.twistedtailbbtown.com/.

Fellow population-we™ readers, if you've been to The Twisted Tail leave us a comment and tell us what you thought?

Want to do this yourself? To review how to start your own dinner club, visit our January post about doing just that. Remember it is a template; tweak it to fit you and your friends’ tastes. pop-we Dinner Club: good food…good friends…good times.