Laura Zastrow
The spike of sriracha is a waker-upper in the Wake & Bac’n wrap; pair it with a side of French toast sticks (rear).
Late night food creations are part of the college experience. Rarely do these creations evolve into a concept capable of supporting a small chain of restaurants. Conrad’s Grill, “Home of the Original Tot Wrap,” exists thanks to the ingenuity of its namesake, Joe Conrad. Conrad has three restaurants in East Lansing, Michigan, one in the Wicker Park neighborhood of Chicago, and now a location on State Street. It doesn’t take much intuition to see what the thinking was when choosing locations. This is late night (early morning?) college fare and State Street is an obvious spot for the demographic.
As the Conrad’s literature declares, it’s “Tots. In a wrap. Don’t overthink it.” The basis for the majority of dishes is a tortilla wrap with tater tots and other fillings. Fans of Burrito Drive may have first experienced tots in a flour tortilla when ordering the White Trash Burrito, but Conrad’s scales this up to fill an entire menu.
The specialty wraps are the most innovative. The Dweeb features chicken tenders, bacon, tots, cheddar cheese, mac n’ cheese bites and extra ranch. Deconstructed, the ingredients would probably fare well with the toddler set. All smooshed together, adults get a belly full that would go well before or after a night of heavy drinking. The combination of cheese, mac n’ cheese bites and extra ranch sounds a bit sloppy, but it creates a nice smooth consistency. I long ago gave up the snobby notion that the zing of ranch dressing can’t function within a dish, and as a stand-in for sour cream here, it works well.
Another specialty that leans on the wet ingredients is the Jemalty. Grilled chicken joins ham, bacon, tots, cheese, sour cream, barbecue sauce and ranch dressing. It sounds like a bit much, but the bacon and ham definitely jibe with the barbecue.
The safest bet at Conrad’s is probably the breakfast wraps. The Wake & Bac’n is a bacon and eggs scramble with tots, cheddar and sriracha. Simple ingredients that you might make for yourself at home are a comfort, and the spike of sriracha rubs up against the bacon nicely.
The wraps in general are a hefty meal. Conrad’s sells sides of more tots or waffle fries to go with the already potato-filled wrap for an extra $2.50, and this seems like overkill. My pick from the sides menu (aka “Must-Haves”), in case you’re not stuffed enough, are the fried pickle spears — nice and hot with a crust of herbed breading and a side of (you guessed it) ranch dressing. The french toast sticks were also a good partner to my breakfast wrap — fried and spongy in the right way, with a little cup of syrup for dunking.
The food all came out hot and fresh, though in my early visits I encountered a couple of “loose wraps.” Indeed the very foundation of a wrap is its tight construction, and no matter the ingredients, this should be the first priority.
If it isn’t obvious, the Conrad’s menu is adorned with cutesy names. I asked why one of the grilled chicken wraps was called the JFK, to which the crass response was: “Because it’s mind-blowing.” The JFK consists of grilled chicken, tots, mozzarella cheese, jalapeños, banana peppers, mushrooms, and a slather of honey mustard. Far from mind-blowing, it needed more dressing, and tasted like my favorite pizza toppings rolling around in a tortilla.
The space itself has tall ceilings and a large counter with stool seating. Three televisions were playing a variety of sports, Friends or Superstore reruns. MGMT’s “Time to Pretend” seemed to come on right on cue to remind me, “oh, yeah, college.” The large white wall on the west side of the space features a really nice mural with the obligatory “State Street/Capitol/Bascom/Bucky/Memorial Union” motif. It’s worth a pause to eat here and check it out.
The hours are noncommittal: “Usually open most days. Always open late!” When I attempted breakfast one morning, the posted hours were 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., which may remain until the business can fill out its staff.
Great for pre-gaming, or late night snacking, for better or for worse, it’s tots in a wrap. Don’t overthink it.
Conrad’s Grill
563 State St.; 608-630-8026; conradsgrill.com
11 am-10 pm daily; $7-10
