JR's SouthPork Ranch embraces novelty with lobster rolls at the Iowa State Fair

Brooks Reynolds loves novelty. He has his Blue Ribbon Bacon Fest, entering its 16th year of celebrating all things bacon. He has his cheekily named JR’s SouthPork Ranch, the restaurant he co-owns on the Iowa State Fairgrounds that’s an ode to the television show “Dallas” and all things pork. And he brings one of the most unconventional dishes to the Iowa State Fair — lobster rolls.

Yes, a landlocked state far from the ocean serves one of the best lobster rolls out there. The ingredients are simple: lobster meat, shallots, citrus, capers and a light dressing stuffed into a buttered and toasted top-sliced brioche roll made at Gateway Market. No filler either.

If you close your eyes, you might think you’re in Maine.

For $29, you’re getting a healthy serving of freshly cracked lobster — so fresh you might bite down on a shell that held a lobster claw 24 hours ago. Big chunks of claw are mixed in the salad, served cold.

“To be able to have 100% lobster on the roll is something we’re very, very proud of,” said chef Heith Sheeley. “You’re getting the freshest stuff.”

The lobster roll is so popular that Reynolds and his team at the ranch — Carey and Corey Hansen of Greek House Chefs that do catering for sororities and fraternities nationwide and also happen to own Hansen’s Manhattan Deli on Ingersoll Avenue in Des Moines, along with chef Sheeley — came up with a footlong version for $55. Why not double your lobster?

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How did lobster end up becoming a mainstay at the Iowa State Fair?

The move to bring a lobster roll to the Iowa State Fair started simply enough. Well, if you think the leap from pork-forward restaurant to the kings of lobster is simple. Reynolds and the Hansens bought the former Diamond Jack’s in 2020. The J and R in the name stand for Jody and Rennie, Reynolds’ mother Jody Reynolds and his father Stan Reynolds (known by friends as Rennie).

In 2020, Sheeley approached the Hansens and Reynolds about bringing a lobster roll to the fair. “We thought, ‘Well, you’re crazy,’” Carey Hansen said. “People don’t even eat lobster in Iowa.”

After a taste test with a group of 40 to 50 friends in the dead of winter at the end of 2020, they honed in on a recipe that brought out the freshness. Friends loved it. The fair approved it. But would Iowans order it?

During those first days of the fair in 2021, after the fair shut down in 2020 due to the pandemic, they only sold 300 a day. That is, until the idea picked up steam.

“It just kind of took off in this cult way where people were lining up down the sidewalk for this lobster roll in Iowa,” Carey Hansen said. “Now we kind of joke and say that we’re a pork-centric ranch famous for a lobster roll.”

This past spring, Reynolds and Sheeley flew out to Maine to figure out sourcing, how to keep the lobster fresh and how to keep the cost fair to the fisherman and in budget for a product whose price fluctuates.

That lobster isn’t frozen; it comes in fresh, processed quickly once it’s caught. This year, the team is bringing in 2,250 pounds of lobster just for the fair. With his new sourcing, Sheeley said he can order today to receive more lobster tomorrow.

“He’s really inspired by bringing chef-driven quality food,” Carey Hansen said of Sheeley.

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What’s new on the JR’s SouthPork Ranch menu?

Originally, the team thought about making a hot lobster roll with drawn butter. “We did a test run on a butter lobster roll, and the feedback was that the cold lobster roll was much more refreshing,” said Carey Hansen. Which makes sense when the temperatures hit the upper 90s in August at the fair.

The SouthPork team didn’t stop at one new dish on the menu. Also new, a Fields of Bacon lobster roll, made with Iowa peaches and cream sweet corn aioli topped by Berkwood Farms bacon bits on a brioche bun, as well as a Big Buckle Footlong version for $55. Sheeley smokes the corn for six hours and mixes in a bit of jalapeno to the aioli. “I like spice, but with my Iowa audience, I have to be very careful with how spicy I go,” Sheeley said.

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Also new this year, monkey bread with caramelized bacon and a dollop of cream cheese frosting for $8. Reynolds said his love for monkey bread inspired the dish, created by pastry chef Sarah Strong-Tuttle.

Once the fair is over, any leftover lobster rolls will head over to Hansen’s Manhattan Deli on Ingersoll Avenue.

In 2021, the Hansens held three lobster roll sales at the deli. “People were lined up an hour before we opened,” Sheeley said.

Watch the Manhattan Deli Facebook page for a chance to eat this treat after the fair.

Where to find JR’s SouthPork Ranch

Location: Rock Island Ave. #3000, Des Moines

Contact: jrsouthporkranch.com

Hours: 7 a.m. to midnight through Aug. 20

Susan Stapleton is the entertainment editor and dining reporter at The Des Moines Register. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, or drop her a line at sstapleton@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: JR's SouthPork Ranch brings fresh lobster to the Iowa State Fair