Hugh Calloway

Some meals start with a table. This one starts with a parking spot and someone walking up to…

By Hugh Calloway · Jul 11

A great view can buy a restaurant a few extra points before the food even arrives. Iowa has…

By Hugh Calloway · Jul 11

Some Iowa stops are meant to take ten minutes. This one has other plans. You walk in thinking…

By Hugh Calloway · Jul 10

Iowa has plenty of food traditions, but the loose-meat sandwich might be the one that confuses first-timers the…

By Hugh Calloway · Jul 10

Rural Iowa has a funny way of testing your food assumptions. You roll past fields, quiet roads, and…

By Hugh Calloway · Jul 9

Iowa diners have a special talent for making a simple meal feel like the best idea you have…

By Hugh Calloway · Jul 9

A cheesecake chimichanga sounds like the kind of menu item someone invented after staring at a fryer and…

By Hugh Calloway · Jul 8

Some mornings deserve more ambition than whatever is easiest to grab while half-awake. Iowa brunch has a way…

By Hugh Calloway · Jul 8

Fabric shopping rarely stays a quick stop for long. You walk in with one project in mind, and…

By Hugh Calloway · Jul 7

Iowa restaurants have a funny way of humbling your expectations. You pull off the road thinking you are…

By Hugh Calloway · Jul 7

Some roadside stops wave politely for attention. This one stares at you from the side of a barn…

By Hugh Calloway · Jul 6

Gluten-free baking has spent enough time being underestimated. Iowa seems ready to correct that, one cookie, cupcake, loaf,…

By Hugh Calloway · Jul 6

At some point, even Iowa starts sounding too plugged in. More data centers, more construction talk, more people…

By Hugh Calloway · Jul 5

Breakfast gets more serious when the plate has borders to defend. One corner is for eggs. Another is…

By Hugh Calloway · Jul 5

Some Iowa restaurants do not make dinner feel casual. They make it feel like a small scheduling achievement.…

By Hugh Calloway · Jul 4

The house looks calm at first, almost too calm for the story it carries. It sits on Fuller…

By Hugh Calloway · Jul 4

Some summer places do not need much explaining. You see the lake, hear kids splashing somewhere near the…

By Hugh Calloway · Jul 3

A good farm stop always starts with a small lie you tell yourself. You are just going to…

By Hugh Calloway · Jul 3

Iowa may not be the first place your brain files under “serious ramen,” but that is exactly what…

By Hugh Calloway · Jul 2

Every good road trip needs at least one stop that makes everyone in the car say, “Wait, what…

By Hugh Calloway · Jul 2

A fried fish dinner does not usually ask for a road trip, but every so often the plate…

By Hugh Calloway · Jul 1

Can a quilt make you stop talking for a second? In Iowa, the answer is yes, and honestly,…

By Hugh Calloway · Jul 1

The road does not make a big announcement before the canyon shows up. That is part of the…

By Hugh Calloway · Jun 30

The funny thing about a lake town on the 4th of July is that it never really starts…

By Hugh Calloway · Jun 30

The chips arrive first, which is polite of them. They are also usually the first warning that dinner…

By Hugh Calloway · Jun 29

The first mistake is grabbing a small plate. That sounds responsible until the buffet line starts making its…

By Hugh Calloway · Jun 29

Give an Iowa flea market $40 and an empty trunk, and things can get dangerous in the best…

By Hugh Calloway · Jun 28

The smartest 4th of July move in Iowa might be outsourcing the picnic. Not the fun part. Just…

By Hugh Calloway · Jun 28

In Iowa, a waterfront table can turn dinner into a tiny vacation, assuming you can actually get one.…

By Hugh Calloway · Jun 28

The first clue is the kind of excitement that makes kids walk faster than their parents are emotionally…

By Hugh Calloway · Jun 27

The sign looks almost too normal for something that wants 169 steps out of your legs. A converted…

By Hugh Calloway · Jun 27

Iowa does not always announce its prettiest views from the highway. Sometimes you have to follow a country…

By Hugh Calloway · Jun 26

A good croissant flakes a little. A great one makes your shirt look like evidence. This Des Moines…

By Hugh Calloway · Jun 26

Push open the door in this quiet Iowa village, and the present day loosens its grip a little.…

By Hugh Calloway · Jun 25

Decorah can make a pizza craving feel very reasonable. You wander downtown, think about grabbing something simple, and…

By Hugh Calloway · Jun 24

The best Iowa meals do not always wait near the easiest exit. Sometimes the road gets rural before…

By Hugh Calloway · Jun 24

Some sandwiches arrive politely. Others show up looking like they need their own zip code. In Des Moines,…

By Hugh Calloway · Jun 23

In Iowa, the best dinner plan sometimes starts with the GPS looking a little confused. Is it ridiculous…

By Hugh Calloway · Jun 23

Some Iowa mornings still start the old-fashioned way. The coffee is hot. The grill is already working. A…

By Hugh Calloway · Jun 22