Friday was our big day to visit the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines, so we left early to hit B&B Grocery, Meat & Deli (2001 SE 6th St., Des Moines) for a quick bite. One look at the menu and we realized that this will be a multi-meal Roadfood research project for a future visit. Though several sandwiches (including their hot Italian sausage, Dad’s Killer sub, and a chorizo tenderloin) threatened to seduce us, we came for B & B’s very popular homemade BPT, and we ordered a small to split…which immediately made the butchers razz us a bit for not ordering more! Talk about making us feel like locals: these guys are the real deal in an old-fashioned grocery. While we were waiting—and after the joking settled down—they gave us a sample to taste: their new Apple Pie bite, like a mini fried pie. The BPT’s breading was smoother as if it were batter-dipped, and the pork was very tender like Suburban’s:

To wash it down, Amy found a bottle of Big Red in the pop cooler. I’d never seen Big Red this far north of Texas, though I have found it in relatively odd locales (Los Angeles, West Virginia, et al.). Many RFers won’t touch the stuff, but it’s my favorite soda of all time: