October 17, 2007
 

Maid-Rite Redux

Who knew?  On August 29 this space was occupied with meanderings about the only in Iowa, or so I thought, Maid-Rite sandwich.  Now a normal Wednesday effort usually results in three or four folks taking advantage of the e-mail address at the bottom of the page to explain their take on the day’s subject.  Occasionally there’s a real trigger tripper, like giving senior discounts to the people who need them most, teen-agers, resulting in a dozen or so e-mails of disagreement. 

But never has a Milieu generated a response like the memories of a Maid-Rite.  Over one hundred readers offered their own particular Maid-Rite moment.  Herb Bacon called, and many others e-mailed, about the before my time Grand Junction Maid-Rite of the late fifties and early sixties.  Run by the Mendecelli’s, it was located on third where Thomas Hunn Jewelry is today. 

Most e-mails were Iowa memories like “driving from Indianola to Osceola to see my grandparents was not a complete trip without a stop for a Maid-Rite.” 

The consensus Maid-Rite Mecca seems to be Taylor’s in Marshalltown and a Palisade reader even sent pictures of this slice of Maid-Rite heaven where Jan and I dined just last week. 

But there were a multitude of non-Iowa recalls, “The best Maid-Rites are in Quincy, Illinois” or “Seems you’ve never been to Greenville, Ohio and tasted the Maid-Rites there.” 

Not that every respondent was taken with a Maid-Rite memory.  “I recall your distaste for Paris Hilton, but I have news for you” read an e-mail from a seeing evil everywhere individual. “I see no difference in some rich girl who prostitutes her body and an old man with questionable writing skills babbling on about how much he enjoys fast food and sports in the local section of a disreputable newspaper.”  Lady give me a break, we’re talking about a sandwich. 

In a Maid-Rite “coals to Newcastle” scenario, a nice lady from Ringsted, Iowa read the article online and asked for Dixie Burmeister’s recipe.  

Of course, Maid-Rite infidel Big Gear Bob wouldn’t let the moment pass.  “I do hold the folks in Iowa in high regard.” he wrote. “Their ability to stand discomfort and frustration is well known.  But the ingredients of a Maid-Rite sandwich make it ideal for use as home insulation.” 

A more typical response was, “our class reunions always include a trip to Maid-Rite where we ravenously devour the gastronomic delight.  Please remember in Iowa the four major food groups are pork, corn, malts and Maid-Rites.” 

With so many folks expressing a desire to again enjoy a Maid-Rite, without having to drive across Nebraska, it’s Brad Brehmer and the Blue Moon to the rescue.  This Friday’s luncheon menu on 7^th between Main and Rood features a “loose meat” sandwich, so called because of copyright laws.  Rest assured, the sandwich will be “made right”, cough-cough, wink-wink.  Hopefully, it will be wrapped in wax paper and served sans plate, unless you order fries, complete with a plastic spoon on top.  Also, according to the rules of Maid-Rite consumption, anyone requesting ketchup will be taken out back and shot. Or worse yet, be forced to watch hours of Bronco/Charger re-runs.  

Will I be there?  Absolutely, wearing my Maid-Rite t-shirt and John Deere ball cap.  And Big Gear Bob will be there too.  True, he doesn’t like Maid-Rites, but I owe him money.