Last week we were riding fully loaded touring bikes with a 15mph headwind in 103 degree weather as we made our way back to Ankeny from Jefferson along the Raccoon River Valley Trail.
We found ourselves hungry, thirsty and tired as we rode through Panora, so we were ready to get some real food and refreshments in some ice-cold air conditioning out of the heat.
We first tried a little Mexican place called Carmen's right near the trailhead. We has eaten breakfast there a couple years earlier, but is was closed. It was 12:35pm and they closed at noon on Sundays.
We decided to roll up Main Street and see what Panora had to offer.
- We passed Breadeaux Pizza - Neither of us wanted pizza or pasta.
- We passed PJ's Drive-In - which is a very bicycle-friendly restaurant, but we wanted something else.
- We passed Subway - We wanted a couple of beers too.
- We passed Chann's Thai & Chinese Cuisine which sounded good, but not the meal we wanted when we still had 60+ miles on the bike that day.
- We passed the Owl's Nest - It looked kinda like a biker-bar with a couple of harleys outside. We knew they'd have beer but didn't feel like a frozen pizza.
We came to the end of the Main street businesses and stopped to admire a cool steel framed Municipal building int he midst of construction.
It was decision time - We decided to roll up to the Owl's Nest and have a closer look. We parked in front of the windows and got off our "Steel Steeds" and felt all eyes inside turn to look at the incoming "Bikers".
At this time, I was sweatin' more than Meatloaf and just wanted something to drink. We walked in, sat down and the bartendress immediately asked us what we wanted to drink.
We each ordered a Lemonade, an ice water and a beer. I immediately downed the ice water and Lemonade to which the bartendress had two more glasses full before I even had to ask.
Menus were brought to us and Hey, they had lots more food choices than just frozen pizzas.
As we looked around, the place was probably more of a boater, golfer, biker bar and restaurant. The air was cold (the beer was too) the place was clean. It kind of reminded me of an Okoboji Bar and Grill or a Legends without the "chain restaurant" feel.
I decided on the Buffalo Chicken sandwich with Fries (yeah, I earned 'em) and Julie got an Oriental Chicken Salad.
We had drank our beer and a couple more Lemonades when the food came. My sandwich was topped off with curled up BACON. Nice touch! I got a side of the hot-wing sauce to dip my fries in. Good stuff. I mean the whole meal tasted great!
Julie's said he salad was tasty too.. It was too much for her to finish. I ate all mine easily!
The waitress brought the bill, and filled our 4 water bottles before we headed out the door... but nor before we thanked them and left a nice tip.
OWL'S NEST
124 W. Main Street
Panora, IA 50216
MAP
641-755-2473
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We highly recommend the place.
5 stars for Service, Food Quality, Cleanliness,and Cold Beer!
We will be back.