That Place Restaurant

I’ve heard about THAT PLACE from a variety of people, so out of curiosity, a need to get out of the house and also to take advantage of our IPTV member card, we drove north of Marshalltown to a place literally in the middle of nowhere in the crossroads of cornfields and a nearby town of Conrad.
Believe it or not, you do need a reservation to dine here (at least for a Friday or Saturday night). It’s very popular in the area and I can see why. It’s a no frills restaurant that serves a great steak. The interior is a very curious mix of nostalgia over the years, graffiti and business cards.
My husband ordered the large prime rib and I had steak and shrimp. Both were seasoned and cooked to perfection. The shrimp were few, but large and hand breaded. As others have mentioned, the sides are nothing exciting, but I wasn’t expecting in the way of artistic dining. The fritos were a fun touch replacing the standard croûton.
It was worth the long drive and word of mouth. We don’t usually travel up to that area, but would most likely make a point of visiting here once a year due to the distance from our home.
We left there with our curiousities satisfied.

Great food, so filling but outstanding, staff was nice and the place was clean. I’ll for sure be back!

We have always enjoyed the food and the service at That Place but our last visit was marred by the fact that someone added a 20% tip to our receipt after I signed it. I got change when I paid the bill and left a cash tip of more than 20% on the table. I checked my bank account the next day and found the charge, I called the restaurant and was told they found their copy and it was signed and showed the tip written in. I explained that I didn’t add the tip as I had left cash and was told this has happened before and I should tell them next time not to write anything on the slip! Beware if you use a credit or debt card don’t leave the tip line blank. This was so unfortunate because the server was excellent and I thought we had left a nice 22% tip only find they decided a 42% tip was in order. Good food, good service.
.honesty ???
Beware.

Best steak place ever. Reasonably priced and great food, no matter what you get! Chicken, pork chop, steak… and the tossed salad with Fritos! Wish you could still throw peanuts on the floor. Awesome service.

While in Marshalltown on business That Place was one of the dinner stops. It seemed to be forever out of town, about 25 minutes or so, and quite creepy in the dark. Eventually I saw a sign with a kangaroo on it and I had arrived at That Place.
Having had steak a couple nights before at Rubes, I opted for the broasted Iowa chop… The waitress described it as a more «healthy» fried thick cut pork chop. I chose the side salad, and baked potato. The side salad was lame iceberg which I’ve discovered is pretty much the lettuce you get in Iowa. Nothing amazing, fritos instead of croutons was an interesting touch. Baked potato was good, but doesn’t come with cheese or bacon, just sour cream and butter. The pork chop was moist and tasty, not amazing or particularly memorable. The Texas toast wasn’t good. Tasted weird to me. As if I hadn’t had enough food I did order the dirt cake… It was good, very sweet, I only made it through half.
Our waitress was a sweet lady, and took care of are large group with ease, she refilled my ice tea like 5 times and I never had to ask!!! The place was kinda old n dumpy but on closer inspection very clean… The old bathroom was spotless! Always a good thing in my book.
So final thoughts, I guess you should stop by if you’re in the area but really the star restaurant in the area is totally Rubes.

While in Marshalltown on business a coworker talked us in to going here. I was doubtful at first, even after reading some good reviews. It is way out there though, about 15 minutes north of Marshalltown. And it isn’t much to look at. The outside resembles an old storage building or something. But looks can be deceiving.
The interior is a mix of old skating rink seats and worn out booths, to walls covered in business cards from as far back as the 1970s, to a bar that looks like it dropped out of a saloon. The surfboard on the ceiling is crazy since we are roughly 10,000 miles away from an ocean (seems that far anyway).
But the food. Wow. We went on a Tuesday night and had to make reservations. Even though this place is in the middle of nowhere, they are famous for the Tuesday night rib special and they have a right to be. The place was packed. The ribs were fall-​off-​the-​bone tender. I had a baked potato and a goofy little side salad upon which they used corn chips instead of croutons. A slice of Texas toast and a couple of frosty mugs of beer so cold there were ice crystals on top and I thought I had indeed found heaven in Iowa and baseball had nothing to do with it.
My coworkers tried the fried walleye and a steak. The fish looked perfectly golden brown and I may have to try it next time. My friend’s steak was precisely medium rare as ordered.
There aren’t a lot of choices in and around Marshalltown but if you are ever here, put this one on the top of your list. Just be sure it is on a Tuesday and you have reservations.

Always a must stop when I’m in M’town. I always get the 10oz. filet. Can’t beat the price. This would cost $ 30+ in LA. The filet has always been excellent, however, the last time I was there in November it was horrible. It had absolutely zero flavor. I had to add salt and pepper for the first time there. If I had never been and known this was an off-​night, I would never go back. Also, this same night my uncle’s steak was over-​cooked. He sent it back and what he received in return looked liked some scrap they dug out of the trashcan.

A great, but not amazing experience. The food was very good, the décor was unique, but the place was noisy at a little small. I had the daily special (Pork Prime Rib) which was very good.

Best prime rib in the state of Iowa! That Place has been a staple in north central Iowa for many years, and it is packed on weekend nights.

I worked here for a few months back in high school and it was the worst job I ever had. Even so, every time I’m back home we have to stop in and eat here. Just make sure that you call ahead (or settle for takeout) on Tuesday — people from near and far pack into the place for the ribs. Ribs and prime rib are their specialties, but really there are no bad options on the menu.