Wasted Grain in Carroll serves Iowa's best breaded pork tenderloin this year, according to the Iowa Pork Producers Association (IPPA). The restaurant rose to the top of 464 restaurants nominated by Iowans this spring, then beat four other finalists to win IPPA’s 2026 Best Breaded Pork Tenderloin contest, announced during National Pork Month, better known as Porktober.
- 2026 Winner: Wasted Grain, Carroll — receives $500, a plaque, and an outdoor banner
- Runner-up: Friends Hide-A-Way, Underwood — receives $250, a plaque, and an outdoor banner
IPPA will present the award to Wasted Grain today at noon at the restaurant,1235 Plaza Drive in Carroll.
A hometown favorite, recreated
This year’s winning sandwich started as a memory. Co-owner Cory Handlos remembers eating tenderloins at Darrell's Place in Hamlin, a famous diner that won IPPA's inaugural tenderloin contest in 2003. For Handlos, it set the standard. Now, more than two decades later, the tenderloin it inspired has earned the same title.
When Handlos and his wife, Missy, opened Wasted Grain on Mother's Day 2023, he knew the tenderloin had to be on the menu, and he knew how he wanted it to taste.
"I've traveled around the country all my life, harvesting and farming, and I know what good food is," said Handlos, whose family raises pigs near Audubon. "I wanted that here at Wasted Grain. The pork tenderloin definitely had to be on the menu."
The Wasted Grain team worked with him to recreate the tenderloin he remembered. Within the restaurant's first year, the recipe was set.
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