My lovely parents traveled the two hour trek from Janesville, Wisconsin to Dubuque to visit me on Friday. Usually we enjoy our lunch at one of our fabulous local restaurants in Dubuque. This time we drove about 45 minutes to McOTTO's Family Restaurant in Anamosa, Iowa to have some lunch prepared for us in the Marinade Express' big sister which is a larger, commercial version. McOTTO's has had the vacuum tumbler unit for many years, only they have a much bigger unit than I use in my kitchen. When we arrived my Dad explained that McOTTO's had one of the commercial-sized Marinade Express units for years; tragically McOTTO's had a fire. Once they rebuilt the restaurant they purchased another commercial unit to continue to prep their chicken in it.
The restaurant has a wonderful family style atmosphere. It is welcoming, airy, and colorful with clean-cut woodwork and old movie pictures. Their menu has a variety of choices from sandwiches, salads, Mexican, "Oodles of Noodles", burgers, chicken, and Happy Joe's Pizza. Since my dad was certain that they used the commercial-sized vacuum tumbler to prep their chicken, all three of us ordered chicken dishes. I got the Chicken Tortilla Wrap, my mom the Cajun Chicken, and my dad the Chicken Cordon Bleu Sandwich. In my family we all order different dishes so each of us can sample a variety of everything. All three of the chicken dishes were exceptionally delicious. The chicken was moist, tender, and plump. We could tell that the chicken had been processed in the vacuum tumbler.
After we ate our lunch my Dad asked our waitress if we could see the manager. The manager was delighted to find out that we weren't making a customer complaint, but a compliment on their chicken. We asked if we could see the tumbler unit in the kitchen, explaining that we were the manufacturers. She took us to the kitchen while telling us how much they love working with the vacuum tumbler. "It really makes a difference in our chicken; we get compliments from customers all of the time," she explained. I enjoyed the opportunity to see one of my dad's machines in the setting of a commercial kitchen. It was nice to see that it was being used in such a clean, nice restaurant where people notice the difference it makes in the food they eat.
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| One of the Chefs Checking the Gauge |
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| The Commercial-Sized Unit |
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| The Pump that Draws the Vacuum |
Nestled in the small town of Anamosa, Iowa, McOTTO's is a popular, versatile restaurant that is using the larger, commercial version of the Marinade Express to help prepare their delicious dishes. The staff is welcoming; the prices are reasonable. I would recommend that you check out McOTTO's. You'll love the food, especially the chicken!
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