Nothing to see here...

Sorry I haven't written much lately. I've been busy writing a paper for my independent study class at school. Thirty pages of Sino-Soviet relations tends to take up all my writing time. The only places of note I've been to in the Peoria area between last weekend and last night have been Red Lobster and Silver Bullet. Nothing of great note there, just decent food, no complaints.

Today we're lunching at Jimmy John's over in the Metro Centre, where they have just moved into their new, larger shop located two doors down from their previous location. My friend Greg, who is the manager over there, let me know last night that they are all moved in, so we're going to pay a visit.

Have a good weekend. Bloggers, hope to see you at Donnelly's Tuesday night for the Blogger Bash!

Good News, Everyone!!

My mother called with news she knew would get me all excited, and it confirms what Chef Kevin said a few posts down:

The "Q" Smokehouse is coming back!!

I couldn't find this on pjstar.com, but I will assume Mom is not lying to me in some cruel tease-the-fat-guy way. I understand it will be up in the shopping center there in the Heights that has very few tenants as it is. Smaller square footage means no long walks back to the buffet. Honestly, the Westlake location just seemed like a barn to me. Seemed weird. So now the Heights gets a bit more affordable fare than the fancy places that are already on that stretch of Prospect (no offense to them; I'm betting that their food is wonderful). And I like the idea of it being in the Heights, seeing as how that's where I grew up.

Good for the "Q"!! They will finish me off, for sure!!

Kade's, Peoria

Haven't tried their coffee, but their ice cream is yummy. Jenny had a waffle cone with oreo ice cream, and I had a turtle sundae made with espresso ice cream. Sooo rich!! Sooo tasty!! And I learned that it's pronounced like it looks, instead of "Kay-Deez". Dad was right, and I think I tried to tell him otherwise more than a few times. Sorry bout that, Dad. My bad.

But if you're looking for an ice cream alternative, try Kade's out there near the new mall. I understand that the one down by Target does not have ice cream.

Chili's, Peoria

I'm not going to make this long and drawn out. Chili's always wins in my book, so no point in putting forth more platitudes about the place. I had another good burger, Jenny enjoyed the Chicken Tenders, Mom had a humongous serving of Country Fried Steak that had me jealous. We had an appetizer of boneless shanghai wings, complete with wasabi ranch dipping sauce. Just magical. Jeff, our waiter, was a good guy. Even told me the Cubs score because he noticed my cell phone shell was Cubbified. Brought me lots of iced tea refills. Chili's just makes me so happy, even though it's a chain restaurant. Given a choice between going to a chain restaurant or a locally-owned original restaurant, I'll always choose the latter. Unless the former is a Chili's. Then I'll think about it. And then decide to want to go to Chili's.

The Galley, East Peoria

Following a sweaty night of softball, we needed a place to go and recharge our batteries. Usually the place to go is the Silver Bullet, but that's a little too bar-like, and thus too smoky, for the baby to go a-visitin'. On the advice of Katie's parents, we headed down to the Galley, located on Cat Trail nearby Jonah's and the little shopping center with the gas station near the old Famous Dave's.

The Galley is a bar, but it wasn't quite as smoky where we sat, so we decided to stick around. It was a group of nine, and they got a couple of tables ran together rather quickly, and we got some menus and drinks. It then took quite a while to get our orders in, at a time in which it was not so busy. Katie finally went up and shook the tree branches a little bit and out dropped a waitress that got us up and going on our orders.

Of the things I can remember people ordering, the wife ordered a hot ham and cheese sandwich that looked small but it tasted okay. Katie had a pizza that was decent enough, good vegetables (just the right size!!!), but nothing to come running back for. Ron had a ribeye steak sandwich that he didn't complain about, and I had fried chicken that I WOULD go back just to have. It was really good, not the best, but when I get good fried chicken, I remember it well, and they will make the HIT LIST based solely on the fried chicken. I love fried chicken so much that I just can't stop typing the words fried chicken.

Other things I can remember-Katie's cole slaw was good, Jenny's pasta salad was good, and the corn fritters were awesome!!!

Our waitress kept up fairly well on the beverage refills, and we got to watch the Cardinals losing yet another game on TV, which always makes for nice dessert!!

The Galley, though it was not spectacular, seemed to be right up our alley that night. I will go back and try it again.

The "Q", Peoria, IL

Sigh.

R.I.P. Q Smokehouse. Gonna miss the good ole meat buffet.

Come back and save me!!