The Virtues of a Great Draft Root Beer




When I found out that I would be working here in Iowa, I contacted all the people I knew who had either lived in or worked in Iowa. I naturally wanted to know what I might expect once I arrived. One friend who grew up here preached the virtues of Gib's A&W Restaurant in Indianola.

When I found out that I would be working here in Iowa, I contacted all the people I knew who had either lived in or worked in Iowa. I naturally wanted to know what I might expect once I arrived. One friend who grew up here preached the virtues of Gib's A&W Restaurant in Indianola. When we arrived in January, the restaurant was closed for vacation. I drove by it every day and looked longingly into the darkened windows, wondering when I would get an opportunity to try one of their root beer floats.

The wait for it to open finally ended a couple of weeks ago, and Brian and I decided to give it a shot on Sunday night. For the uninitiated, the A&W is a drive-in restaurant. Not a drive-thru, mind you, but a place where you park your car next to a speaker, order, and then somebody comes out with your order. It's the kind of thing I had only seen in movies like Grease or heard about from my parents and others in their generation. Brian and I decided to go into the restaurant, rather than sit in the car amidst the freezing rain.

The interior of the restaurant looks a little like Friendly's, but with genuine local flavor. A signed basketball from the Indianola High School State Championship team sits prominently across from the ordering station. A portrait of Gib, the man who opened the place decades ago, and his family smiles out onto diners from the west wall. Each booth is equipped with a telephone, which is used to call in your order:


"Hello? I'd like to place an order..."

The fare is exactly what you would expect: burgers, sandwiches, fries, onion rings, and the like. Brian and I opted for Double Bacon Cheeseburgers with french fries, and after admiring the pictures in the menu, chose to split an order of the fried cheese curds. The word "curd" I have always found to be slightly unappetizing, and yet cheese curds (whether in Iowa or Quebec) are always delicious. The burgers were well-prepared, comparable to a fresher and more homemade-tasting version of a Burger King Whopper. The fries were crisp and not greasy.

The star of the menu, of course, is the namesake product of the restaurant. The restaurant proudly proclaims that they brew their root beer fresh daily, and upon one sip, there's no doubt that it's true. I think it was the first time I had ever really had a root beer draft, as was the case with Brian. As he so aptly put it upon lifting the straw to his lips, "I think I'm in love." So frothy and rich is the brew that, even without a scoop of ice cream on top of it to make it a float, it tastes like a sumptuous dessert. I cannot overemphasize how different it is from a root beer you get out of a can. There's absolutely no comparison. The thickness, the consistency, the smoothness...it eludes description.

When we return to Indianola, we'll have to sample the "diet" version of their fresh root beer. Brian resolved to stop there every day for a root beer, much as one might stop for a daily cup of coffee. A new love affair is apparently on tap. Culinary gratification is always great, but even better (and less dangerous) when it doesn't include multiple plates and the words "All You Can Eat."

Posted: Mon - February 14, 2005 at 03:57 PM      

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