Archie's Waeside Steak House, Le Mars, Iowa

 We drove 30 minutes from Sious City to get to this well known steak house in Le Mars.  I won a James Beard Award in 2015 for being an American Classic restaurant, and if you mean a classic venue featuring meat, then it is an award that was richly deserved.  The meat is outstanding, and all five of us at the table had our meat cooked perfectly.  The side dishes are all potatoes, and the only vegetable is the salad that starts the meal off.  It is really all about the meat and my husband's Porterhouse is a good example of his "go big or go home" approach.  It is reasonably priced as well.

The decor is a whole other matter.  It is stuck in the 1960's.  The press board paneling is dark, and not really much lit up by the Christmas houses that plug in and light up.  Since we were there in September we have to assume they are always there.  It might sound festive, but it is not.  It is dated.  The other tip I would offer is to get there at opening time, or come late.  We arrived a half hour after it opened and had a 45 minute wait.  Within about 15 minutes we ceased to be disgruntled by the crowd and thankful that we got a seat in the bar, where they let us order off the very limited appetizer menu and sit comfortably and people watch while we waited.