Iowa City has several good places.

Just west of Iowa City is Oxford. Augusta Restaurant is great.
http://augustarestaurant.net

For an overnight stop we like West Des Moines. There is a fun grill your own steak place "Rube's" four miles west of there.

Nebraska is a long state one interesting stop is Paxton.
Ole's Big Game Steakhouse olesbiggame.com

Rawlins, WY is a good place for chow. Rose's Lariat is a great Mexican diner. The is also a very nice place "Aspen House" and a very good Thai place "Anong's"

Cattleman's Club

cattlemansclubsteakhouse.com

Very reasonable and great steaks, outside of town overlooking the river.

Nile is very good. http://www.nile-restaurant.com/ It's about 4 miles away. You may be able to get the hotel shuttle to take you.

For coffee/bakery there is also Daube's Down Under in the "subway". Wi-fi works very well underground now since they are working on installing a new Google maps system that will give directions through the wifi signal.

Rochester is very light on vegetarian, but a couple of the options are pretty good. Nile Ethiopian Restaurant is highly recommended and we are trying it next week. I'll post some comments. Nupa has some nice falafel type plates.

There are two Indian and a Thai place on Broadway (Within a couple miles of the Kahler) that offer some good choices. There are three coffee/bakery choices within walking distance. In the Kahler is Starbucks. In the Kahler Suites (about a block away) is a Caribou Coffee. There is a Barnes & Noble bookstore (with a Starbucks) a block the other way.

Under your hotel and a good portion of that area of town is an underground subway. There are walkways to most of the buildings with shops and food places. I'm not sure about the Wi-Fi down there. Rochester recently got 4g coverage, but I haven't tried it underground yet. I will on Tuesday.

I've done the trip many times including 4 moving loads. I know what you are looking for and it is really tough to find on I80.

Outside West Des Moines is a fun steak place where you grill your own Rube's. There are some nice motels not too far away.

Omaha and Lincoln NE have good places. The best place in Sidney is Dude's.

Ole's Steak House in Paxton, NE is very good.

Cheyenne is only fair for food but you may want to try 10 miles south of I80. Terry Bison Ranch. They may be the closest to what you are asking for.

Rawlings has a nice Thai place, Anongs.

Salt Lake City has good places.

Winnemucca, NV has a good Basque place.

I go to Gunder often. It's good. I've only been in LaX once so I'm not much help.

Yes, it's changed hands several time and now it's in a new location. It's small but they are nice and adding stuff. The meat plant is up and running, word is they are expanding the beef line.

There is a small, unmarked Kosher market in Postville, IA (about 65 miles). It's a pretty drive. They have had them before. I can check for you within the next few days if you wish.

About 30 miles NW of Joplin is Pittsburgh, KS. Two of the great chicken joints in this country are there. Chicken Mary and Chicken Annie.

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Chicken Marys
1133 E 600th Ave, Pittsburg, KS 66762

If done the route from Chicago several ways. I'd head north to Madison out of Chicago. Great food town. Going west to Iowa I can lead you to a couple of Amish bakeries and a Lefse place.

There should be some corn harvesting starting next week and it's very interesting to watch that for a bit.

I90 would take you through South Dakota and Upper Wyoming. If you like beef Sioux Falls has my favorite meat market,

I'm not sure of the means of travel; or your budget, but there are some ranch stay places that are fun.

Maybe grab a nice coffee in the Gonda building. There is a grand piano in the center of the place and usually someone/small group is performing during the lunch break. The atmosphere is quite amazing. It's a nice place to give some gratitude to everything you have.

If it's cold you'll want to walk on that level anyway.

Don't miss the Dale Chihuly sculpture. It's the large hanging glass sculpture on the route to the parking structures.

Zzest is closed Sun/Mon so it's out. Jaspers is open Monday night and right around the corner. Chesters and Pescara may be good other choices.

If the weather is nice just walk around the Mayo area Monday at lunch time and people watch. Sometimes a sandwich while listening to music on the ground floor of the Gonda building is a treat.

It's not all bad. In fact there is some really nice places now. 2 dinners and lunch is easy. I'd appreciate knowing more about your tastes and if you're dinning alone or having tests that require fasting etc. I've eaten out at least 100 times in Rochester in the past three years so I know several of the emotions.

To help figure out you're palate, Why do you dislike Indian?

Very Romantic walking distance from your hotel for dinner is:

Jaspers Alsatian Bistro

Chesters for lunch and dinner is nice (1/2 mile away)

ZZest is a fun place. Very Foodie.

Rochester also has great BBQ, but Q is usually guy food.

The Shady Grove in Ellsworth, Wi (15 miles away) is nice

www.shadygroverestaurant.com

You may want to try Kari's Scandinavian Restaurant

karisinlanesboro.com

If you are traveling from the south

Quarter/quarter in Harmony is also very good.

It's been a few years, but they have the same food concession. It was good, but not the best meal of my life. There are very few other choices around. If you are driving there from the East, I can give you a couple of good steak recommendations.

They serve Bison, elk and pheasant at the lodge in the State Park. State Game Lodge.

http://www.custerresorts.com

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State Game Lodge
13389 US Highway 16A, Custer, SD 57730

The old Edgewood Restaurant space, 6 miles south of Cannon Falls is now called the River Flame Restaurant. We ate there a couple of weeks ago and it was pretty good. For the vegetarian they had a nice Greek salad.

Did you mean I80? I90 is quite a bit out of the way. And what kind of place would make you happy?

“I don't understand why people keep discussing 'fancy' restaurants. How about the Rochester hole in the wall places?”

You bring up a very valid point but, Rochester is somewhat unique. Two million of us spend time at Mayo each year vs. a community of 100K. Not all visitors are indigenous to the Upper Midwest and we find most food kind of bland, but we seem to be a minority.

We are facing life threatening health issues, we want to go out and have a romantic dinner prior to those butchers getting their hands on your loved one.

I go to Cheap Charlie’s and really like it, especially after several days of hotel breakfast buffets. My primary concern is feeding a loved one in a healthy way that also get’s her excited. Many patients need to fast for procedures a couple times during the week making that after fast meal really important.

Through some very tough times and way too many meals out in Rochester, I’ve found what works for me. I’ve spent those really lonely Saturday nights around Mayo. My first Saturday night alone in Rochester was surely influential in my hopes. If you are hanging out alone you probably have a loved one with something serious in the Hospital. I hope to see some restaurants with community tables to help comfort them. They could even put us in the subway so we would not ruin the other parties.

We went from a survival prognosis of 5% survival to being around a few more decades. I’m not an expert, but I’ve learned a few tricks to make things easier. I’m here so share.

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Cheap Charlie's
11 5th St NW, Rochester, MN 55901

Iowa City, IA – Lots of good places

Oxford, IA (a few miles west of Iowa City) Augusta

Des Moines, IA – Plenty of good food, but I kinda prefer going about 20 minutes west to Rube’s Steak.

Omaha, NE – Plenty of good places, but I haven’t stopped there in several years.

Lincoln, NE – The Oven, Good Indian food and brewpub. The whole neighborhood is full of decent places.

Kearney, NE Thunderhead Brewing

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Thunderhead Brewing
18 E 21st St, Kearney, NE 68847

Your likes and dislikes may help.

Salt Lake City has lots of choices. Great ethnic places.

Aspen House, Anong's Thai and Rose's Lariat in Rawlings, WY are all good. Rose's is a great Mexican lunch counter type of place and usually full.

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Rose's Lariat
410 E Cedar St, Rawlins, WY 82301

Aspen House Restaurant
318 5th St, Rawlins, WY 82301

We did the trip a few years ago going west to east. There wasn't enough time to get off and have a fine meal. We did keep a mini cooler filled with charcuterie and cheeses in the our sleeping room. You can bring some wines aboard also. We had a great time and hope to do it again soon.

I believe you are thinking of Drew's Chocolates in Dexter, Iowa

I haven't been to Zzest yet. It was closed twice when we tried to go on probably a Monday.

I like Jasper's for a romantic dinner.

China Star had good take out. (they have tables there also) Many of our trip have involved fasting prior to a procedure, where broth is allowed. Won ton broth can be the most tasty thing when nothing else is allowed.

What kind of places do you like?

I agree the Rainbow Cafe is very good, but sometimes a day in Rochester (Mayo) can be draining and you don't feel like driving.

New in the past year or so are two other great ones:

Nupa Express www.nupaexpress.com

Very casual and well prepared Mediterranean

And Clay Oven, our current favorite.

www.clayovenrochester.com

I certainly agree with you on Jaspers. I've had several great meals there.

Outside of downtown a new place opened up this year. On our last trip I ate there three meals in a row. Clay Oven http://www.clayovenrochester.com/

It is Indian Fusion (Hakka) and it is outstanding. Let the chef know how much spice you like and get ready for some flavors that the Midwest doesn't provide normally.

Rawling, Wy has three good places:

Aspen House Restaurant‎- nice upscale
Anong's Thai Cusine- very good Thai
Rose's Lariat- home-style Mexican diner

Kearney, NE
Thunderhead Brewing-brewpub

The Tulsa route takes you close to Chicken Mary's and Chicken Annie's near Pittsburg, KS.

Here is a story about them:

http://www.ckt.net/zagspage/cag/histo...

Boot Hill Saloon in Vega, Texas can be a good stop.

http://www.boothillvega.com/