A Mountain of Food - the Wobbly Boots Sampler!

There is an enormous amount of delicious food to choose from on the menu at our Des Moines BBQ restaurant. Sometimes it can be very difficult to decide which dish you want to order. One menu item that allows you to get a taste of not one, but four of our amazing food choices, is the Wobbly Boots Sampler.

It may be listed in the appetizer section, but if you tackle this plate on your own, it's more than enough for a full meal! It's also a great choice if you'll be sharing with a few friends. Here's a little more about each of the mouthwatering treats you get when you order the Wobbly Boots Sampler. 

Wobbly Wings
Wings are quite possibly one of the most popular items on our entire menu, and with the Wobbly Boots Sampler, you get 4 of them to try. One thing that makes them so very tasty is the fact that they are smoked rather than fried. 

First, we take jumbo chicken wings and then we coat them in our house dry rub. Next, they are slow-roasted over hickory, ensuring only the most flavorful, juiciest wings possible. The flavor is incredible, even if the wings are served plain, but if you are in the mood for sauce, you can pick from these: 

• BBQ
• Jamaican Jerk
• Dijon Hot
• Jalapeno Garlic
• Chipotle Buffalo
• Habanero BBQ

Baby Back Ribs
When you dine at a BBQ joint, you really should give their ribs a try. Here at Wobbly Boots Roadhouse, you'll certainly be glad when you do! The 4 Baby Back Ribs on our sampler are very likely to make you crave an entire dinner featuring this incredible hickory-smoked meat! 

We prepare them for the smoker by adding our special dry rub. Once they're done in there, they are lightly grilled and basted in our house recipe BBQ sauce before being added to the plate. They are tender, mouthwatering, and the very best in ribs!

Bacon Wrapped Shrimp
Another extremely popular item from our appetizer menu is our Bacon Wrapped Shrimp. They are small treats with a great big flavor! 4 jumbo shrimp are each individually wrapped in our hickory-smoked bacon. Once that is done, they are grilled to perfection and served with a side of our own Jamaican jerk sauce. Delish! 

Famous Onion Rings
This dish normally comes on a plate as a full or half-order appetizer, or sometimes people upgrade their side dish for dinner to include these crispy treats. On the Wobbly Boots Sampler, you will get 4 of our amazing onion rings made from thick-cut yellow onions. We bathe them in buttermilk, then hand-bread each in our seasoned flour and fry them to a golden brown. The chipotle ranch dipping sauce is great for dipping! 

So, are you ready to give the Wobbly Boots Sampler a try? It's a wonderful introduction to a few of the tastiest menu items at our family BBQ restaurant in Des Moines, and this mountain of food is suitable both for a BIG meal or for sharing. You can't go wrong when you order 4 foods in just 1 dish, but of course, no matter what you choose to order from Wobbly Boots Roadhouse, it's going to be a delicious decision. 

Award-winning BBQ right here in Des Moines! 

Don't forget you can take home 16 oz. bottles of Wobbly Boots House Recipe BBQ Sauce!!

Open EVERY DAY at 11:00 AM!

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Wobbly Boots Roadhouse

1301 NW 114th St
Clive IA 50325

(515) 223-5700

Our Appetizers Make Great Snacks AND Meals

Even though the Wobbly Boots Roadhouse menu items in today's blog are found under the "Appetizer" section, you are not limited to ordering them as a pre-meal "snack." If you order a couple of them together, you've got the makings of an entire meal. As a matter of fact, some of the starter options at our BBQ restaurant in Des Moines are big enough to be a meal on their own!  

Our appetizers offer a nice variety of savory flavors that are perfect for enjoying with a cocktail, as a meal starter, or as your lunch or dinner. Another great idea is to order up a few different ones and share them with friends. That way, you get to taste them all! Here's what we have for you to choose from: 

Wobbly Wings
Jumbo chicken wings coated in our house dry rub and then slow roasted over hickory, ensuring only the most flavorful, juiciest wings possible. They come in orders of 5, 10, 20, or 30, and they're served plain or with one of our signature sauces.

• Teriyaki - Our own house made sweet & sticky glaze... DELICIOUS!!!
• Plain - Just like it says. Enjoy our smoked wings flavored with our dry rub. 
• Hot Dijon Sauce - A little hot mustard + buffalo sauce + some sweet = Delish!
• Jalapeno Garlic - Minced jalapenos combined with garlic in a butter sauce... Great Flavor Mix!
• Chipotle Buffalo - Buffalo sauce infused with chipotle peppers making a buttery, smoky buffalo sauce.
• Bar-B-Que - Our own, homemade in-house BBQ sauce. A perfect addition to wings. 

Boneless Wings
Hand breaded fresh to order! A bountiful amount of all white chicken breast, cut into wing-size, fried to golden crisp perfection. These are also available plain or tossed with your choice of wing sauces and bleu cheese or ranch sauce.

Spinach & Artichoke Dip
Our house blend of spinach, artichoke hearts, & three different cheeses, combined with our secret spice blend - served bubbling hot with crispy pita chips.

Chips * Salsa * Queso
A platter of crispy tortilla chips accompanied with our homemade salsa and queso. 

Bar-B-Que Pork Nachos
A Wobbly favorite!! A bed of crispy tortilla chips smothered in our homemade queso, then topped with our house-smoked pulled pork & legendary baked beans. It's finished with cheddar-jack cheese, tomatoes and onions and served with salsa, sour cream and jalapenos. Choose a full or half order. 

Texas Fries

A mountain of our fries smothered in homemade queso cheese sauce, topped with bacon, cheddar-jack cheese and green onions. Served with a side of sour cream and jalapenos.

Fried Pickles
A half-pound of pickle chips hand-breaded in our special seasoned flour & fried to a golden brown. Served with chipotle ranch.

Crab Stuffed Mushrooms
A bountiful blend of crab meat, cream cheese, cheddar-jack cheese and special seasoning stuffed in large mushroom caps and baked to a golden brown, topped with provel cheese. 

Famous Onion Rings 
A heaping stack of thick-cut yellow onions bathed in buttermilk, then hand-breaded in our seasoned flour & fried to golden brown. Served as a full or half order with chipotle ranch.

Bacon Wrapped Shrimp
Five jumbo shrimp individually wrapped with our hickory-smoked bacon and grilled to perfection. 

Sliders
Three slider buns filled with your choice of our smoked meats, choose 1, 2, or even 3 different meats. A meal in itself!!

Homemade Chicken Strips
All white chicken tenders , buttermilk dipped and hand-breaded to order, then fried to a golden brown. Tender and Delicious! A kids favorite! Served with our seasoned fries and ranch or honey mustard dipping sauces. 

Ribbies & Wings
Two of our best - 4 baby back ribs & 4 wings. A sample of each leaves you wanting more.

FEED THE FARM!
Wobbly Boots Sampler
A great sample of some of our best appetizers!! 4 Wobbly Wings - 4 Famous Onion Rings - 4 Bacon Wrapped Shrimp and 4 Baby Back Ribs. A mountain of food suitable for a BIG meal or for sharing!!

So, what'll it be? The next time you join us at our family-friendly restaurant in Des Moines, give one (or a few) of these appetizers a try. We put every bit of love and care into making these as we do with the bigger meal options. No matter what you choose to order when you visit Wobbly Boots Roadhouse in Clive, it's always going to be delicious! 

Award-winning BBQ right here in Des Moines! 

Don't forget you can take home 16 oz. bottles of Wobbly Boots House Recipe BBQ Sauce!!

Open EVERY DAY at 11:00 AM!

Like us on Facebook!

Follow us on Twitter!
Follow us on LinkedIn!
Follow us on Google+!

Wobbly Boots Roadhouse

1301 NW 114th St
Clive IA 50325

(515) 223-5700

The Intriguing History of the Fried Pickle

There are lots of people that are surprised to see fried pickles on the Wobbly Boots Roadhouse menu because that is a food item that they've never heard of. It's actually considered a delicacy throughout the southern United States, and we've brought our own delicious version to Iowa at the best BBQ restaurant in Des Moines. 

Whether you decide to have fried pickles for a snack, an appetizer, or as a delicious side dish, it's an item that is sure to be a new favorite once you've tried it. (After all, just about everything tastes incredible fried!) Here at the Boot, each order consists of a half-pound of pickle chips that have been hand-breaded in our specially seasoned flour and then fried to a beautiful golden brown. We serve them with a side of chipotle ranch, and they even taste amazing dipped in our very own house-made BBQ sauce.

Who Created The Fried Pickle?
While Wobbly Boots Roadhouse has one of the best fried pickle recipes you'll ever experience, we can't take credit for inventing this tasty treat. As with most origin stories, more than one person takes credit for coming up with the recipe. There is record of a "French Fried Pickle" recipe being published as early as 1962 for the Food Editors Conference in New York. 

Another story, which sounds like it originated too late to truly be the original, is from the Hollywood Cafe out of Hollywood, Mississippi. Their tale from 1969 begins with a crowded restaurant and a cook without enough catfish to feed them all. In desperation, he reached for the industrial-sized jar of dill pickles that was handy, rolled them in the catfish batter, dropped them in the fryer, and served them to the patrons. They were an immediate hit.

The most popular story, which seems to fit into a more plausible time frame, is out of Atkins, Arkansas. In 1963, Bernell "Fatman" Austin owned the Duchess Drive-In across the highway from the Atkins Pickle Plant. (FYI: Atkins is known as the pickle capital of Arkansas!) Staring across the street at the pickle plant, Bernell was inspired to create a recipe. That particular recipe is a well-guarded, family secret to this day. You can now only get a taste of Bernell's original creation once a year at the annual Picklefest held in May in Atkins. The family dishes up about 2,500 orders of the "Fatman's Original Fried Dill Pickles" at every festival, and the money raised is used for scholarships and charities that Bernell supported.

At some point in the late 1990's, three high school friends brought the southern deep-fried pickle to the Minnesota Sate Fair, calling them the "Preferred Pickle." They were so popular, the same three friends began manufacturing them under KWF Foods and selling them to the food service industry.

Ready To Try Some?

Regardless of who gets the credit for inventing the fried pickle, our Des Moines family restaurant has perfected the recipe! If you're willing to try something new, ask for an order the next time you dine at Wobbly Boots Roadhouse. You won't regret it, and it's sure to become one of your favorite items from our appetizer menu. 

Award-winning BBQ right here in Des Moines! 

Don't forget you can take home 16 oz. bottles of Wobbly Boots House Recipe BBQ Sauce!!

Open EVERY DAY at 11:00 AM!

Like us on Facebook!

Follow us on Twitter!
Follow us on LinkedIn!
Follow us on Google+!

Wobbly Boots Roadhouse

1301 NW 114th St
Clive IA 50325

(515) 223-5700

The History of the Irresistible Onion Ring

America has a slight obsession with all things fried, but how can you blame us when it tastes so doggone good? Fryers create some of the best bar food in Des Moines, like our Famous Onion Rings. With our onion rings, we created a side dish so incredible that it earned its own spot on the appetizer menu too. Wobbly Boots Roadhouse's giant onion rings are practically a meal by themselves!

Our Famous Onion Rings
First, we start with great big, fresh, crispy yellow onions. These are cut into thick rings, then bathed in buttermilk. After that we hand-bread them in our specially seasoned flour. The final step is placing them in the fryer until they are the perfect golden brown. A side of chipotle ranch finishes the preparation, and your server brings them out to you hot, crisp, and irresistible! The only bad thing about our onion rings is the few moments you have to wait for them to cool off enough to bite into! 

The History of the Onion Ring
As with many popular foods, the official origin of the onion ring is unclear. Many different stories lay claim to creating this brilliant food. Here are a few of those stories.

• A Crisco advertisement in 1933 showed up in the New York Times featuring a recipe for deep-fried onion rings. It called for rings of onions to be dipped in milk and then dredged in flour. (That sounds about right to us!)  
• Kirby's Pig Stand, a restaurant chain founded in Oak Cliff, Texas with over 100 locations across the U.S.A in the 1940's, claims to have created the onion ring in the early 1920's. They also state that Texas Toast was all their idea too.
• Even before that, the Middleton New York Daily times published a recipe for French Fried Onions in 1910. They don't claim that this is the original onion ring, but it is dated earlier than the other claims and it sounds pretty familiar. 
• One more recipe discovered in John Mollard's cookbook "The Art of Cookery Made Easy and Refined" in 1802 was titled "Fried Onions with Parmesan Cheese." Calling for rings of onions dipped in a batter of flour, cream, salt, pepper, and Parmesan cheese all deep fried in "boiling" lard, this is definitely a predecessor to the onion ring we know and love today. 

How Do You Like Your Onion Rings?
Your favorite family restaurant in Des Moines prefers to serve our delicious onion rings with a side of chipotle ranch, but they are also incredible dipped in ketchup or our house-made BBQ sauce. During our research we found a few other dips that people enjoy with their onion rings. John Mollard's cookbook that we mentioned above calls for a sauce made of melted butter and mustard. Here are a few other variations we came across. How do they sound to you?

• Tangy ketchup
• Yogurt
• Sour Cream
• Cheese Dip
• (Personally, we'd stick with the chipotle ranch!)

Whether you choose to order our Famous Onion Rings as an upgraded side dish alongside the best BBQ in the Des Moines area or on a great big plate as an appetizer or to enjoy with an ice-cold beer, you know you're going to get the best onion ring in Iowa served to you very time. Come in to Wobbly Boots Roadhouse in Clive soon and give them a try. We've gotta warn you though, it's hard to eat just one! 

Don't forget you can take home 16 oz. bottles of Wobbly Boots House Recipe BBQ Sauce!!

Second Location - Same Incredible BBQ!

Open EVERY DAY at 11:00 AM!

Like us on Facebook!

Follow us on Twitter!
Follow us on LinkedIn!
Follow us on Google+!

Wobbly Boots Roadhouse

1301 NW 114th St
Clive IA 50325

(515) 223-5700

Where Did The Hot Wing Come From? Find Out Here!

One of the most popular menu items at our BBQ restaurant in Des Moines happens to be the Wobbly Wings. That's not surprising, because wings are a popular item most places you go, but our hickory-smoked goodness puts ours a step above the rest! Did you know that this delicious appetizer has only been around just over 50 years? Wobbly Boots Roadhouse did a little digging and found a few interesting things to share with you about this tasty treat. 

Conflicting Histories of the Hot Wing
As is the case with most legendary tales, the origin of today's hot wing is a bit cloudy. One fact is for sure. They were first introduced in Buffalo, New York in 1964, hence the popular name "buffalo wings." In the 1960's, the chicken wing was considered the least desirable part of the bird, and if it wasn't automatically thrown in the trash, it was generally only used for stock. The rest of the history is up for debate.

• The most popular origin stories revolve around Teressa Bellissimo, a Buffalo, New York restaurant owner. One account chalks the appetizer creation up to a mistake. She and her husband Frank were expecting a delivery of necks, which they used to make spaghetti sauce for their establishment, the Anchor Bar. Frank convinced her to get creative rather than waste the shipment. Teressa chose to deep-fry the naked wings, toss them in some hot sauce, and serve them up with bleu cheese dressing and celery sticks. 
• Their son, Dominic, remembers the story a little differently. He says that his mother created the wings after he asked her to make up something special late on a Friday night. Most of their customers were Catholic and weren't eating meat on Fridays. Since they had been spending lots of money in the bar that evening, Dominic wanted to offer them a special treat at midnight as a thank you for their patronage.
• One last twist on this particular tale was that Teressa came up with her amazing wings one night when Dominic and his friends from college came in hungry. The one thing that all of these stories has in common is Teressa and her creative use of a throw-away meat.  
• There is one story that does not involve Mrs. Bellissimo. John Young says that he grew up eating chicken wings, and he created a special "Mambo Sauce" to go with them. His wings were breaded before they were deep-fried, and the drummies and flats were not separated before cooking. He registered the name of his restaurant, Wings 'n' Things, in the mid-60's before he left Buffalo in 1970.

The Boot's Very Own Wobbly Wings

Regardless of the true origin, the appetizer gained popularity throughout the 1970's, first in Buffalo, then across the entire state of New York. Today, it's rare to find a restaurant in the country that doesn't serve some version of this incredible food. 

Our family restaurant in Des Moines takes pride in our of version of this classic. First, we coat jumbo chicken wings in a very special house dry rub, and then we slow roast them over hickory. This ensures that you end up with the most flavorful, juiciest wings possible. 

Now, if we only served them up plain, we don't believe there would be a complaint in the house. They are incredible on their own! We couldn't stop there, though. In addition to our "naked" smoked wings, you can also order them covered in one of five unbelievable wing sauces. 

• Teriyaki
• Our own house made sweet & sticky glaze... DELICIOUS!!!
• Hot Dijon Sauce
• A little hot mustard + buffalo sauce + some sweet = Delish!
• Jalapeno Garlic
• Minced jalapenos combined with garlic in a butter sauce... Great Flavor Mix!
• Chipotle Buffalo
• Buffalo sauce infused with chipotle peppers making a buttery, smoky buffalo sauce.
• Bar-B-Que
• Our own homemade in-house BBQ sauce, a perfect addition to any wing!

What are you waiting for? Get on over to Wobbly Boots Roadhouse and order up a plate full of our savory wings. They come in orders of 5, 10, 20, or even 30 if you're sharing, or really really hungry! You can also order them along with 4 baby back ribs from our appetizer menu. After you try our Wobbly Wings, we're confident that you're going to agree we have the best hot wings in Des Moines! 

Don't forget you can take home 16 oz. bottles of Wobbly Boots House Recipe BBQ Sauce!!

New Second Location - Same Incredible BBQ!

Open EVERY DAY at 11:00 AM!

Like us on Facebook!

Follow us on Twitter!
Follow us on LinkedIn!
Follow us on Google+!

Wobbly Boots Roadhouse

1301 NW 114th St
Clive IA 50325

(515) 223-5700