A place like Salmon Dave's gives visitors a good snapshot of the state of cuisine evolution in the fabled unhip Midwest. This is a place that locals to go eat on a night out, old school style, related to the supper clubs of yesteryear and dishes that most people in California have never heard of, like beef wellington and chicken a la king. However, Dave's has kept pace with the times, so that while they still have a "Surf and Turf" category on their menu, they also have seared ahi tuna and szechuan green beans. Nothing is cutting edge, but everything is done as well as it can be, and this is a safe place for old-school diners to sample some new types of food.
While the martini menu is very of the moment, the beer menu is still circa 1970.