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Archie's Waeside
Category: Restaurants American (Traditional) American (Traditional) [Edit]
224 4th Ave SELe Mars, IA 51031
(712) 546-7011
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- No
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Wi-Fi:
- No
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Has TV:
- No
8 reviews for Archie's Waeside
8 reviews in English
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Review from J Y.
Chino, CA
5/21/2012
How anyone can give this place less than 5 stars is remarkable.
It's the best $75 Filet on earth for $20 bucks
I have eaten at the very best steak restaraunts all around the world and U.S.......
Mortons Hong Kong/ Chicago/Orlando, Smith & Wollensky, Ruths Chris, III Forks,
Cut, Peter Lugers, Charley's Orlando, Manny's, Gene & Georgetti.....
and many more....loved them all.
But the absolute best filet mignon on earth is at Archies Waeside in little old Lemars, Iowa.
Order the filet (or the giant Benny Weicker - sp?) and have the owner pick a wine from one of the best wine selections you've never heard of......
The place is a diamond in the rough.
Anybody rating it less than 5...(is there a 7 star rating?) or anyone quibbling is a moron. Go eat at Golden Corral if you want to quibble.
If you want the finest filet on earth...... its at Archies.
It's its the finest filet on earth...how the hell can it be less than 5 stars!! -
Review from Michael S.
Portland, OR
5/13/2012
One of my favorite restaurants in the country. Amazing steaks and crab legs (believe it or not). Make sure to get their famous corn fritters with honey! Great service and Friendly. It's old school, but you should definitely go if you're near Le Mars, Iowa.
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Review from Todd Z.
Hull, IA
7/4/2011
NW Iowans probably don't use Yelp very often, but some of you out of towners might be driving through looking for a great place to eat. Archie's is a gustatory and cultural landmark in LeMars.
Bottom line--the steaks are fantastic. Forget the big city steakhouses that charge premium prices. You get the same quality in this restaurant at a fraction of the cost. This is one place where the "too good to be true" really is true.
Now, that said, don't go for the decor. It's kitschy wood paneling and model house miniatures are laughably out of date. The place is dark and has an old diner vibe. Many of the waitresses are older, which makes me assume that they've worked there for years--which speaks well of the restaurant. I love it that they push stainless steel catering carts to bring orders to the tables. No collapsible stands and trays to be seen.
The sides and salads are good, but not exceptional. The one recommendation that I would make is the Russian salad. This homemade dressing is very tasty.
If you're in the area, take a detour off of I-90 or I-29 and head over to LeMars for a great stake and a little Midwestern Americana. You won't be disappointed. -
Review from Christopher V.
Chula Vista, CA
3/7/2011 4 photos
Proposed Archie's Motto: "The steaks are so good that nothing else matters."
Remove the nearly peerless steaks from this experience and this would be a two-star place. The steak, on a scale from 1 to 5 is a 12, so I am settling on four stars for my review. The atmosphere and the mediocrity of just about everything but the steak make it impossible to give a five-star review. I still love this place, though.
On my most recent visit last Saturday night I noticed a number of changes over the past several years, with a couple of exceptions, for the worse.
The onion rings have become ordinary. They now have very little breading, and ranch dressing is + $0.95. The meals themselves are steals, so this is quibbling. I'm a quibbler.
They no longer serve corned beef with the salad/crudite course, even upon request. Boo for them. No assortment of crackers, either. Just a bunch of the same variety of bland, Ritz-like ones. I miss the Melba toasts and the little packaged bread sticks.
The steaks are now PERFECT, and actually seasoned. Years back I had to upgrade my request for "extra seasoning, please" to "extra, EXTRA seasoning, please".
The ribeye ($18.50 with salad, potato, crudite platter, rolls and crackers) I had on Saturday is on par with those served in any restaurant in the US, at any price, and I've been around! It was perfectly aged, perfectly cooked and perfectly seasoned (even though I forgot to inquire about current seasoning practices). The quality of the steaks is absolutely amazing.
It's a shame that you have to request "real butter" when the rolls arrive, however three of the six of us did, and our waitress brought two giant (1/4#+) portions of butter on two plates to make sure we had enough. We did.
The corn fritters, a longtime favorite, now SUCK. They used to be shaped in such a way that you knew they were made from scratch and scooped by hand before being placed into the fryer. The result was a delicate texture hugging whole kernels of real corn. Those were amazing.
Now, the consistency of the fritters is like that of a cake donut, with no real corn in sight, and their perfect roundness suggests that they are now machine-made (God forbid off-site!). I also have serious doubts that it is real honey that is served with the fritters (if they'll serve fake butter, why not fake honey?). The "honey" we had on Saturday night was cloyingly sweet and screamed "high fructose corn syrup". You know, like at KFC. I ate half a fritter from an extra side order of three.
The place has been remodeled in recent years, however it is just newer versions of the exact materials that have always been there. This is not a criticism from my perspective, as there is a healthy dose of nostalgia that is invoked for many people (including me) on every visit. That's a lot of fake wood paneling, though.
There is a newer, more complete, and higher-end wine list (+/- $100/bottle), but there is still no dessert menu for the sweet tooth(s) in the group. I guess that would cause the tables to turn over more slowly, and maximizing profits is the goal of any sane businessperson.
So go, and remember: The steaks are so good that nothing else matters. -
Review from Andrew W.
Le Mars, IA
10/10/2010
Ranked in "Everyday with Rachael Ray" Magazine among the top four best steakhouses in America, you can't pass up Archie's Waeside.
As far as I'm concerned, Gene and Georgetti's Steakhouse Chicago can say "Forgetaboutit", because at Archie's Waeside, Northwest Iowa eats better steak than the entire Chicago mafia. At less than $25 for a succulent T-Bone, and the best center-cut Tenderloin since God invented Iowa Corn Fed Beef, owner Bob Rand isn't breaking any kneecaps either. He and his staff are just making customers very, very happy. A "Must Eat" in Le Mars and Northwest Iowa.Listed in: Best American Steakhouse -…
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Review from Audrey J.
8/6/2006
Obscenely large steaks that are as thick as a Webster's and require twice as many superlatives to describe their deliciousness. The restaurant itself was kinda kitschy in a '70s wood-paneling style that thinks a bajillion lighted miniature ceramic houses, churches, and shops a la Christmas miniature villages is the height of sophistication. However, forget that and concentrate on the important stuff, people. Seriously, Iowa knows its beef. And seriously, a restaurant charging $20 for a solid ridiculous piece of meat is unheard of. And TRIPLY seriously, if this place can stay afloat (and, if the locals are to be believed, truly thrive and prosper) when it's only open five days a week for dinner and only four hours each day for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, then they have GOT to be doing something right. So, seriously, come here for some serious don't-mess-around meat.
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Review from Matt N.
Atlanta, GA
1/4/2011
I feel compelled to disclose that I am originally from LeMars so I have some bias, but I have eaten at my fair share of steakhouses around the country, and all the "best" in Atlanta, and there simply is no comparison. Forget about the price/value of these cuts. (I don't want to ruin it for my hometown peeps, but these steaks in any major city would go for $60 - $80, easily $100+ in NYC). Needless to say, you'll get your money's worth at $20-$25. Believe it or not, the sides are included. Nothing fancy about the sides, but that's not why you're there. The non-steak dishes are pretty decent as well. The fried shrimp is probably the best non-steak dish. They're not the little guys either. They're good-sized prawns, batter-fried, and quite flavorful. However, unless you are opposed to beef, don't miss this opportunity to have one of the best cuts of meat you'll ever have.
I usually try to measure steakhouses by how they prepare the strip, and Archie's can do a strip with anyone. However, get the tenderloin (med-rare, of course). It is ridiculous. The picture on their website is accurate. I've seen them as big as softballs. The cuts are (unadvertised) dry-aged, which makes them very dense and flavorful. Very little seasoning is applied, and not needed.
As some of the previous reviews commented, the decor is tacky and old, however, it is part of what makes Archie's special. If they remodeled or redecorated, it just wouldn't be Archie's. The staff and locals that frequent Archie's are also what make this place special. Won't find nicer people. I don't know what prompted only 4 stars from the reviews below, but this place is 5 stars, no doubt about it. -
Review from Roxanne A.
Shawnee Mission, KS
10/26/2009
I agree with Audry. I had dinner there recently and it still has the wood-paneling and stuff, but the steak was good and they have pretty good wines too. I got a tour of the place (even the kitchen) and they have a huge freezer in the back where they store a LOT of beef and cut their own steaks... It is not the kind of place where things are brought in already prepared. They do it all in their kitchen. I saw them prepping lobster as well, not sure how that tastes but our whole group enjoyed their meal.
