Adam & Eats: Red Rooster Bistro

Editor’s note: Adam Brandt is a graduate from the Cobra Kai School of Culinary Callousness, where he received their highest award, the Red Apron of Merciless Eating. Aside from eating and talking about eating, he makes pots, paintings, prints, books, photographs, and generally, a big mess. He has been the studio assistant at Mudpuppy Pottery for almost nine years and is attending a local university in a desperate attempt to earn a biology degree.

After receiving multiple emails, tips from friends and family, and recommendations from strangers who recognized me on the street, all of whom suggested that I eat at the Red Rooster Bistro in Alma, I thought perhaps I should see for myself what all of the buzz was about. Now I know. It’s about pie. Lots and lots of pie.

Peter Lewis, my predecessor and fellow food-critiquing cohort, had written a piece in recent history on the Red Rooster, so I was a little hesitant to write an article on them due to issues of redundancy. But seeing as how they have undergone a change in management, a remodel, and a name change (they added the word bistro), I felt like an update on their situation was in order. What follows is my account of actual events. The names have been omitted because I cannot remember them.

Located right off of I-40 East in Alma is the Red Rooster Bistro. If you were a frequenter of the former restaurant, then you will notice immediately upon entering that there is a lot more seating. This said, if you get there after 11:30 a.m. you will still have to wait for a table. Thankfully now there are a handful of two-tops for couples rather than having to take up an entire 4-6 top table for just two people. The décor has undergone a few changes and seems brighter and less cluttered, despite being covered with rooster kitsch. The waitstaff are as friendly as ever and seem to have a new bounce in their step. (Perhaps, it is their t-shirts with clever sayings about “Hot Buns” on them. Who knows?)

I managed to get seated smack dab in between the two giant chalkboards, one with the daily specials on it, and the other covered from top to bottom with the names of glorious pies. But, more on that later. Before we really delve too deeply into food, I would like to make a suggestion. Regardless of whatever sandwich you get, order it on the Rooster Bread. It is amazing. It tends to get crumbly about half way into the sandwich, but there is a napkin dispenser on the table for a reason. All right, that said, let’s dig in. Shall we?

The daily special on the day that I last visited, was called the Airedale. Being in the Alma spirit, I had to order it. Good lord, that’s a big sandwich. In hindsight, I should have suspected that it was huge because it did not come with a side dish. It consisted of Rooster Bread piled high with super tender corned beef and peppery pastrami, lettuce, tomato, onion, and your choice of mustard or mayo. It was spectacular.

I would also recommend the Rooster Burger for those who like their food to have a little heat to it. The Rooster Burger is a one-third pound grilled burger topped with pepper jack, smoky bacon, jalapenos, lettuce, tomato, onion, Miracle Whip, mustard, and special sauce. That’s right, you read this last line correctly — they offer Miracle Whip. It’s right on the menu. As co-founder and co-president of the Miracle Whip Fan Club in High School, this put little hearts in my eyes for the Red Rooster Bistro. The fact that they have really good sweet tea, didn’t hurt either.

Okay, on to the part that you have all been waiting for: the pie. Words cannot express how awesome their pie selection is. I mean the menu for pie is an entire wall. After eating the majority of my meat sandwich, the room for pie tasting was pretty limited, but I still managed to suffer through. You know, for you. I recommend either the Creamy Banana Pecan or the Pecan Cream Cheese. Both are to die for. And as it turns out, most of the pies are made by the same woman who used to bake them for the Kopper Kettle Smokehouse. Small world, isn’t it?

If you are still reading this, and you haven’t eaten at Red Rooster Bistro before, you should consider trying it. I mean, with a menu of sandwiches and pie, how could they go wrong?

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When he’s not beating his eggs, Adam makes time to respond to e-mails that get past his hard-ass spam filter. You can try to reach him at [email protected]

Adam also has this thing called Sandwich Control.