Not your average supermarket

I didn't know why until the goods hit the table. Most things we ate, and there were plenty of them, were pretty darn good. This take-out place at S.E. Sixth and Hartford sells a lotta things most supermarkets don't sell. Besides the killer stuff, it carries normal stuff like milk, pop, flour, sugar, ketchup and napkins -and lot of other items not normally stocked on the shelves of your typical supermarket these days, like pork brains and beef oxtails.

They had some monster hunks of dead cow (the sign on one hunk said it would make a dozen T-bones -good thing cutting is free). The meat case also held a good-sized hunk of hog. Believe me, this wasn't your average cut of meat; you might need a jumbo Weber to wrassle that one to the ground!

If you want lunch without having to grill your own meat, you can find it here. B&B sells Killer Subs, sold by the foot at $8.49 per, at any length up to 6 feet. We didn't try one of those, but we did hit the rest of the sandwich menu pretty heavy.

Take the Killer Sausage sandwich ($3.49) -burp! -with tangy sausage, lotsa peppers and mozzarella cheese. Or the Killer Unbreaded Loin ($3.39) -belch! -grilled and topped with hot pepper cheese. Real good stuff. The X-Large Breaded Piggy Pork Loin ($3.99) was tasty as well. All the tenderloins, be they Pork, Chorizo or Italian ($3.19 each), are home-made and pounded on site. Great stuff each and every one.

Oh, I almost forgot the grilled killers, burgers (double or cheese), boneless pork loin, boneless ribeye steak and boneless chicken. I went for the double cheeseburger with pickle and onion. When asked how was the burger, without thinking I responded, "KILLER!"

Bob, Becky, John Jr. and Joseph Brooks, along with Bob and Becky's nephew Archie Brooks, keep the chow flying, so this is "mom and pop" at the ultimate level. Dad and sons cook and mom takes in the cash. That setup seems to work as well now as it did in 1922 when the first store opened at another location, or since 1962 at its current site!

It seems like you could get just about anything your heart -or stomach -desires at B&B's. Stop in for some great eats and some laughs as well. The crew seemed to be plenty chatty as they churned out the goods to a hungry noon-time crowd that ranged from blue-collar people to the suit-and-tie crowd (as well as the likes of Fatboy and the motley crew he runs with). Enjoy!

E-mail the Fatboy at fatboy@stevepope.com,

Details

What: Brooks B&B Super Market

Where: S.E. Sixth and Hartford, Des Moines

Hours: 8:30 a.m.-6:30 p.m. Mondays-Saturdays, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Sundays

Phone: 243-7607 (fax 280-7037)