Clear Lake Feedbag: Wig Wam

Okay, one more post, then I can get back to writing about food that I actually want to eat, rather than food I ate to keep me alive.

Somewhat (in)famous* around the Clear Lake area for its incredibly slow service, the Wig Wam aspires to Moxie's-level chain restaurant food, with a vaguely racist wood-panelled tee-pee theme to the interior. We sat on the giant, well-appointed patio, though (natch).

I had the turkey avocado burger, mainly because I'm currently obsessed with avocados. I fully expected (and received) a frozen, mostly tasteless turkey patty, but the fries were decent. What can I say? I'm starting to feel like a snobby jerk dumping all over these middling, uninspired, chain-esque restaurants. I am sure there MUST be decent meal to be had in Clear Lake; I just was on vacation, and with friends, and I went with the flow. Trust me, I'm much more insufferable on this blog than in person. Hopefully, anyway.

True to the word on the street, the service was indeed incredibly slow. I'm pretty sure about fifteen minutes elapsed between ordering drinks and mains, and it was in the neighbourhood of thirty minutes to receive our orders. We kept trying to figure out exactly why it was so slow; there seemed to be plenty of wait staff buzzing around. Inadequately staffed kitchen? Who knows? I'm done thinking about it...now.

Price tag: Most entrees around $12-17.

Website: Nuh-uh.

*I had originally written "famed" here, when I realized that "infamous" was probably the more accurate label to apply. Famous/infamous, but not famed/infamed? English is weird. /nerd

Clear Lake Feedbag: Mano's Pizza

Man, nothing makes me feel like more of a snob than going out for pizza with non-foody friends. (Not that I'm all that comfortable applying the "foody" label to myself. Maybe I need to get over it, already.)

I'm not sure if Anthony Bourdain coined the term "utility pizza", but I first encountered it coming out his mouth, and I love it. Sometimes you don't need fancy, artisanal pizza from a wood-fired oven; there's something to be said for the pleasures of a greasy slab of cheap pizza. But seriously, I would much rather eat fancy, artisanal pizza from a wood-fired oven, topped with quality ingredients.

Mano's is pretty middle of the road, as far as utility pizza goes: medium-thick crust, nicely crisp, a little over-loaded with low-ish quality toppings. While my friends were making yummy noises, I was noting the canned mushrooms and bargain-basement-quality cured meats. I had a piece of ham and pineapple, and the pineapple was also canned, but I'm not crazy enough to expect fresh pineapple on utility pizza. Give me some credit.

I've said more than once that the difference between fresh pineapple and canned pineapple is so pronounced, they're practically different foods. And really, so is the difference between utility pizza and (forgive the snobbery) real pizza. It's impossible to not note the difference. Mano's delivers a decent slice of utility pizza, which is what it aspires to.

The Wasagming Mano's location is pickup/delivery only, but they do have a few picnic tables parked out front, which did the job nicely on a sunny afternoon.


Price tag: Around $30 for a large loaded pizza.

Website: Nope.

Clear Lake Feedbag: Breakfast at The Gates

I recently stayed at the slightly grungey Southgate Motor Hotel in Onanole for a few nights and had breakfast once in the adjoining greasy spoon. This is only the second breakfast report on here, and I'm already beginning to question their worth. I might as well just write "I'm pretty sure they didn't spit in my food" and leave it at that. Not that I'm too good for the occasional greasy-spoon breakfast, it's just there's really not much to say. The yolks on my softly-poached eggs were runny, the hashbrowns decent, but not quite crispy as I like, the ham (this time) of passable quality. Sound familiar?

Price tag: $5.99 for your standard two eggs, hashbrowns, choice of meat and toast. This was a Saturday, not sure if they run a weekday breakfast special.

Website: Shyeah, right.