Central Illinois Gourmand-O-Rama

A weekend of laziness!!!

2009-04-27T16:47:00.002-05:00

It was far too nice to be in all weekend. Didn't really go anywhere special, just to Chili's and Steak n Shake. I will say this: Steak n Shake was overfilled and understaffed. They didn't bring my wife's salad dressing until after I was done with my meal. The management had no problem taking that off the bill. So they avoid the $hitlist.

However, I did enjoy a lunch at Rizzi's downtown. A co-worker told me they had a lunch menu worth checking out. We both had salads to start, done up with nice fresh greens. I liked my Italian dressing, she didn't much care for the tomato-basil variety. Her entree was the Manicotti, which she said was very good, nice and flavorful. Seeing as how I'm a slob, I opted to not get anything with a red sauce because I would certainly have no secrets about where I dined... or it would look like I got shot. Anyhoo, I went for the fettucini carbonara, a rich, creamy alfredo sauce with onions and prosciutto. Very flavorful!! It was heavy on the prosciutto, so I win!

I will enjoy going back and trying something else. Someday, when I wear a plaid shirt, so that the eventual spills might not get noticed as quickly.

What A Slacker!!!

2009-04-22T09:16:00.002-05:00

No more!

I will no longer ignore this blog. I've had good and bad situations at restaurants that NEED attention! Onward we climb...

Carnegie's, Peoria: Together with some co-workers, we visited this upscale establishment for lunch yesterday. I had heard that they were offering a decent lunch deal--salad bar, couple of soups and a hot entree for $7. Sure enough, there it was in all its return-trip glory. Small salad bar, but it had hard-boiled eggs, so it's a winner already. Add the fact that they had cottage cheese too, and I'm sold American. The soups were chicken tortilla and Italian wedding. The former was tasty, not really spicy as I would have thought. The latter... well, I'm no pro on soups, but the only other time I've had the Italian wedding variety it was in some sort of brothy concoction. This time it was in tomato sauce, which does make more sense... I guess. I told my crew that it tasted like Spaghetti-O's without the O's. The hot entree was a chicken stir fry with noodles, which was good. They switch it up every day, so I am looking forward to seeing what else they have to offer. Yummy breadsticks!! And then the guy brought us cookies, which made MY day.

There are lots of good options for lunch downtown, and you can add this to the list. If it can last until summer, I would bet it becomes rather more popular.

Buffalo Wild Wings, Peoria: Me and the family ate there last evening. I've never been a big fan of the place, but I wanted to watch the Cubs game and didn't feel like driving too far from my other destination of the evening, Gander Mountain (fishing season! I fish!!). So we got there on 40 cent wing night, ordered up a bunch of wings and some chicken tenders for the kid. It was all pretty... chicken. The big thing that stands out for me is the teriyaki... when the chicken wings are gone, I can run my fries in it. Or steal Chloe's fries when she's not looking and do my dipping.

So, not the best wings, but they had a big TV. That was enough for me. Still kind of expensive, though. You don't get what you pay for, but once again... big TV... Cubs game.

Okay, okay...

2009-03-12T23:03:00.002-05:00

I'm going to once again make this blog go. People ask about it. I says to them, "I didn't know you, or anyone, read it." They say, "Yep." So.... I guess I will try to inform people of what I notice about food around here.

Let me see if I can remember my last few dinings-out:

Culver's, Peoria: I think their fries are getting better... or they're using more salt. Either way, they are edible now. Burgers are, of course, always the same.

Steak n Shake, North University, Peoria: We ordered for us (me, wife, kid) and a sandwich for my dad. They shorted us a steakburger (mine) and gave us two extra orders of fries. At least the vanilla coke was good! I am not deterred from going there again.

Feldan's, Peoria: Glad they're open now. Nice place. A better review of Feldan's can be found over at this blog. I liked the look of the place. It is indeed brighter, and the brightest shininess came from the very nice staff. They have people behind the buffet that serve you the food. It made me feel a bit weird, but it took me back to the days of Bishop's buffet down on Washington. The pizza was pretty good, but it seemed to me like it wasn't real warm... or it cooled off quick. I liked the "orange chicken" pizza, and the BBQ pizza, and they had some sort of au gratin potatoes with corn flakes on top of them. I loved those!!

Vertucci's, East Peoria: Like the new location, approximately 100 feet from their old place. Cubcentricity!! I had a 1/2 lb Polish sausage... they called it something special, some nickname like the "housewarmer" or the "domestic batterer" or the "gutbuster." I wish I could remember! Anyhow, it was okay. I think I like the regular-sized Polish better, with the yellow mustard and grilled onions.

Avanti's, N. Knoxville, Peoria: Went their three times in February. Had the same server twice, wonderful service, really did well putting up with the kid. The third time, we had someone else (a trainer?), and she must have been having a down night. I'll stop there.

Dunkin Donuts, over by the mall: Yummy coffee! I tell them "Large coffee, little bit of cream, lots of sugar." They get it right every time! Don't get me wrong, I like the little local places, especially Leaves and Beans up in the Heights. But when I'm not on that end of town, I love coming through DD right quick to get a fix.

More to come.

A few places along the way...

2008-11-12T23:09:00.002-06:00

Oscar's Restaurant, West Peoria: Me and Don stopped over there for lunch last week. It was a small, chilly place that served cans of soda, rather than fountain. We both ordered cheeseburgers, which were not the garden variety frozen patty. They looked and tasted to be hand formed, which negates the bad feelings of not having an option for the free refill of drinky. We sat next to a lady with a big mess o' biscuits and gravy, which looked like they might be worth a taste.

Red Lobster, Peoria: You know me, not ever against a franchise restaurant. I wanted to get in on the last day or two of the shrimp-tacular all you can eat shrimp. I had the scampi, coconut shrimp, and the cajun shrimp, along with their yummy mashed potatoes. All good! I love Red Lobster! There is no real surprises here, just good seafood. And of course, the biscuits are worth the trip themselves. The staff there was really nice on a Sunday evening, playing and dancing with my kid.

Richard's, Peoria: Met up with some friends from the blog-o-sphere who share a common space on Peoriaspeaks.com, one of the local forums I like to visit and read every so often. Wonderful company, fair horseshoe (the zesty cheese is TOO zesty for a horseshoe) and shoddy service. Most of the people I talked to liked their food just fine. The big draw: their grill stays open LATE, and that trumps all things questionable in my mind.

Avanti's, Peoria: Yeah, me and Chloe went back after having been there not too long ago. I've got nothing new to add about the food, but only an interesting time was had. A kid a few booths down got his finger caught in the straw hole of his kiddie drink lid. Hilarity ensued. To karmically pay for my laughter, Chloe proceeded to ignore her napkin and instead wipe her hands on her shirt. What comes around goes around.

Fedora's, Peoria: I wanted to write about this place, located on the corner of McClure and University, but I forgot. Me and Chloe joined Don, Jason and Rob there on a Saturday afternoon a few weeks back, remembering how good their pizza was 10 years ago. It hasn't changed, all still VERY good!!! We had a sausage pizza and a "Sicilian", which had a bunch of meat on it. What crust!! If you haven't gone there before, go now. If it's been a while for you too, go NOW!!! Additionally, the owner came out and once again made friends with my daughter, and that always gets a place high praise from me.

River City Cafe, Peoria

2008-10-28T22:04:00.002-05:00

For Bosses Day a few weeks back, me and some of my co-workers took our boss, Corey, out to lunch at the River City Cafe, located in the Associated Bank Building. Crowded place, it was. We managed to pull together a few tables and got to looking at the menu. They had a pretty wide variety of cold and hot sandwiches, fried items, and salads.

There were a variety of things ordered by my fellow diners-Kati, Lyuba, Corey and Audrey-that ran the gamut of the menu. A cheeseburger they called the "Steamer" (and then jokes were had), a grilled chicken sandwich, a barbecue sandwich were among them, along with some onion rings. But my dish was the most interesting, I'd like to think. They offered two scoops of various salad, ranging from tuna salad, chicken salad, pasta salad, and perhaps seafood salad. I opted for a scoop of tuna and a scoop of chicken, thinking it would be served in a bowl with lettuce and the acoutrements that usually come with a salad. Nope.

This dish looked like someone rescued it from the revolving glass refrigerator at the Howard Johnson's, circa 1976. It was some leaves of lettuce on a plate, with two scoops of salad and a few pieces of tomato. The salads were good, but it just wasn't what I was expecting. The presentation looked like one of the many plates Bluto piled onto his tray at the cafeteria in Animal House.

I would probably give the place another go, because it's so nearby work. Next time, however, I'll get me an egg salad. On bread. Which is what I was gonna get until Kati threatened to vomit from the smell that would surely come along with it. 8-)

A few places along the way...

2008-10-28T00:35:00.002-05:00

Lemme see if I can remember a few of the most recent places we've been:

Dynasty Buffet-the one on North University, way out there: Lots of fun stuff like the Mongolian stir-fry section and the sushi section. I have to tell you, it's way overpriced. Dinner was 12 bucks a pop plus soda. Really? It's been a while since I've been to one of the big Chinese buffets, but that seems a bit lofty. And the food wasn't that great. The chicken wings tasted strange, and so did the sesame chicken. The crab rangoons were a bit underdone. What was good, however, was the General Tso's chicken and the sushi with the red thing on it and the orange thing on it. And it's always fun to mix the wasabi and soy sauce for some hot dippin' action! The staff was nice, too, cooing and making happy noises with the kid.

Schooner's, Peoria Heights: Real good stuff this past Sunday night with the fellas. Onion rings were AWESOME, the fumes of Jason's wings nearly lifted the cap from my head, and Aaron's big Gebby burger looked tasty. I got one of those big tenderloins, and it was just wonderful. Had enough left over to bring home to the wife, and I think she liked it.

Avanti's, the new one: I'm not a big fan of Avanti's, but I wanted cheap and quick (like I like my wimmin!!! Ha!!), so we stopped there for a pre-Anniversary dinner last Tuesday. I think we all enjoyed what we ordered. I got the Fettucini Alberto (the one with the ham bits) and Jenny got the Asiago ravioli. Chloe had some tortellini, and we all split an appetizer sampler. The best part of the meal was our server, who's name I have sadly forgotten. Younger fella, late 20's, early 30's, kinda husky, short blond hair. Jenny says his name was Mike. He took care of us from start to finish. Left a mighty tip for him, but it still probably wasn't enough. Usually all it takes for me to like a server is for this person to keep bringing me refills at a timely pace, but Mike went above and beyond.

Hoop's, Peoria: Split an order of pigs in blankets with a co-worker and had a slice of everything (minus the mushrooms). All good during a lunch rush, but next time I'll just get a pepperoni or sausage slice. The one waitress was taking care of the entire floor, so refills weren't timely. Forgivable, though.

That's about it!! Whoever reads this, give me ideas on some new places to go!

Gil's, Hanna City

2008-10-11T21:48:00.002-05:00

What can one say about Gil's? Crowded on Saturday night, but totally worth the wait. Add that to the idea that the only way a person can get a better piece of chicken is to make love to a hen, and we have a successful dining experience.

Tonight I was joined by the lovely and vivacious Chloe, who, being all of 22 months old, was very well-behaved, only throwing her drawing pad, a half of a cracker, and a napkin. She almost chucked a chicken strip at another table, but I caught on before the meat could fly. Also dining with me tonight was the lovely and vivacious Jason and the lovely and vivacious Russ.

We had a lovely young waitress who quickly made friends with Chloe and got us whatever we asked for. Unfortunately we had to remind her about our drinks and our vegetable side dishes. No matter. She got us refills on our iced teas quickly and brought Chloe a cranberry juice, so all is well.

Russ and I had the fried chicken, and Jason had the Saturday night special, prime rib. We also began our meals with appetizers of onion rings and fried cauliflower. All very good!! The chicken was a bit greasier than usual, but that told me that it was fresh. Just wonderful!! They've earned a spot in my heart (demarcated by a large chunk of cholesterol) as the best fried chicken around.

Right around this time, they substitute pumpkin fritters for their normal corn fritters. I am not a fan of pumpkin things like pies and bread and ice cream and chili and whatever else people do with pumpkin this time of year. But these fritters were just dandy!!

Gil's, of course, is on my HIT list. Always a hit with me and my group of friends, and Chloe did very well eating everything that was given to her.

It's a short drive out to Hanna City. Get on Farmington Road from wherever you are in Peoria, and drive until you see the big colorful sign on Route 116.

Big Z!!!

2008-09-14T22:37:00.002-05:00

THAT'S A NO-HITTER!!!!

WOO-HOO!!!

MORE BIDEN!!!

2008-08-25T17:40:00.002-05:00

My daughter, friend to the future vice president...

BIDEN!!

2008-08-24T12:00:00.003-05:00

This makes me happy. I have enjoyed hearing what Obama had to say, and was looking forward to hearing some further clarification on some of the solutions he would offer. The addition of Joe Biden to the ticket seals the deal. I've been paying attention to him since just after 9/11, when I saw him on a Sunday news program. He seemed to be talking right to me, using language I would use, rather than tons of political newsspeak, PC until it is vanilla. I like a guy who lets an occasional "bullshit" slip through. This is going to work out, folks.

Jammer's, West Peoria (among other chitter-chatter)

2008-07-08T22:40:00.003-05:00

Been a while, huh?

I have eaten in many places, but nothing really stood out over the last month or so. I have, however, eaten a few times at Jammer's, out on Farmington Road. It is a Chicago-themed place, small, a bit warm, children running about while Mom watches the front and Dad cooks in back. The two times I visited were days that I just wanted a couple of dogs ran thru the garden, leaving off the tomatoes. They've done it right both times, with good tasting fresh-cut fries and a cold can of my choice of soda, all for just under $7.00. The dogs are grilled, I do believe. I am going to take a closer look the next time I stop by, but they had a good snap to them when I bit down. And BOTH visits I bit into the sport pepper and it got me in the eye. Suddenly I'm doing something wrong?!?

Here are a few other highlights (and perhaps lowlights??):

Burger Barge: always good.
Peking Restaurant (top of Main Street hill): lunch buffet small, some good dishes, some meh...
Chili's: always, always good. Never bad. Curse me and my non-dislike for franchise restaurants!!
Vonachen's Old Place: Had some flavorless pasta dish that should have been better. Service good, food not so much. Still don't want them to close, however. Damn.
Pepper's, basement of the Commerce Bank Building: Nice lunch spot, has the old Jumer's cinnamon rolls (and for good reason-lots of former Jumer's folks working there, I think).
Carl's Bakery, East Peoria: The big rooster!!! It's been 15 years since I have been in the place and it still smells the same-greasy. But the tenderloin, ahh, the tenderloin!!! It is so good, I would allow for even worse smells to accompany my dining experience.
Taco John's, East Peoria: Potato Oles. Salty, greasy, and oh, so damned good.
Garner's Pizza and Wings, out by the new Wal-Mart in Peoria: still expensive, still good.
Good Tequilas, by the Grand Prairie mall: tastes like every other Mexican restaurant around here-yummy.
Chinatown, by the Cub Foods on Knoxville: The BEST Chinese carry-out in town. Try the General Tso's or the Hot Pepper chicken.
McDonald's-my daughter appears to like the cheeseburgers. Don't go to the one on Main Street, across from Campustown. They screwed up a large Coke.
Culver's-kind of getting tired of them. Plus I never know how to order the "Flavor of the Day." Is it a shake? A concrete mixer? A sundae?
Jimmy John's-no frills sammitches with the good bread.

What a shitty food reviewer I am!!

Insert promise to write more meaningful reviews... HERE.

Go Cubs!

Krispy Kreme, Peoria

2008-05-13T23:50:00.002-05:00

There was a time that I was excited about a Krispy Kreme coming to Peoria. Them times have come and gone.

I have never, ever, been a fan of the Peoria store. The Bloomington store has always been a treat. We used to take drives over there just for the hell of it, get some donuts and coffee and drive back. But this store here has just been a bucket of problems from the git-go, it would seem. However, whenever I did find it open (amid oddwad hours), I never had too much of a problem with the donuts.

This all changed last Friday evening. We stopped there about 9:00 in the evening to grab a dozen so we didn't have to worry about breakfast the next morning before our trip to Indianapolis (more on that to follow). I ordered up six glazed and six chocolate-frosted donuts. The guy handed me a box that was not really closed at all, and had chocolate frosting all over it. When Jenny opened the box, the donuts looked as though they had been put in the box warm and sat around for a day or two. The chocolate had run down the sides, and the glaze was white and crusty. Additionally, they tasted like shit. They were stale and the chocolate tasted cruddy. To paraphrase Philip J. Fry (if you don't know, then too damn bad), after eating one of those chocolate donuts, it was like there was a party in my mouth and everyone was vomiting.

Jenny tried to get me to turn around and return or exchange them, but I was just so pissed that I knew I would go in there and pitch a (albeit, small) hissy fit. Plus, I knew I would eat a few of them, just to make sure they really did suck. They did.

So, by golly, I will not go back to Krispy Kreme. I don't really like Dunkin Donuts, but at least I can expect that they might be a little stale, and just roll with it. We also have Lester's Donuts, even though they don't really have late night hours.

I never get over to Pekin, but they have arguably the best donuts around at Spudnuts. I understand that one needs to order their donuts the night before, with little hope for catching a few in the morning without a donut appointment.

What I want to know is: what is your favorite donut from around here? Are there any little shops like that used to be down on Spring Street, where the real fun was to get home before the greasy donuts dropped out of the bottom of the greasy bag? Anyone remember Mel-o-Creme on War Memorial? Does Trefzger's still do donuts? They have Danish, for uppity folks, but I seem to remember them making a mean chocolate Long John.

As for the weekend that was preceded by the donut fiasco, me and Jenny went to Indianapolis to see Eddie Izzard (straight transvestite comedian). Good times were had by all. Didn't eat anywhere real remarkable, except RED ROBIN (Yummmm). It was our second time to the franchise, and I just swear that they need to come to Peoria!!! They do a fine job with a burger (had one with an egg on it... tavern burger anyone?), bottomless steak fries, and great service. If anyone wants to go halfsies with me on opening a Red Robin here in town, let me know. By the way, you have to fund it all.

Mikey's Pizza, Peoria

2008-05-08T23:55:00.002-05:00

After having talked about it for a while, and somehow forgetting about it, the Don and I went to Mikey's Pizza and Subs, located where the LaGondola used to be at Forrest Hill and Gale. I've noticed that they have a "$5 Lunch Special" advertised on the window. Silly me, thinking it was something to do with pizza. We got in there, and were informed that it was a cheeseburger and fries. The Don got that, and he said that it was a pretty darn fine sandwich, stating that he thought the bun was slathered in garlic butter. That definitely got my attention.

I had the "personal" sized calzone, which was enough for two people to enjoy a lunch. Of course I ate it all, but were I only to have half, I would have been just fine. Oh yeah, it was good, too. Nothing special, but it was something I would order again.

Lots of sandwiches and some pasta dishes, too, on the menu. Some pretty decent pizza specials, as well. I recommend checking this place out for lunch sometime.

Political Rant: Hillary, it's time to hang it up. Please. Let's go ahead and get on with things. You have gone as far as you can. The Obama Train just cannot be stopped at this point.

Food! And other stuff!!

2008-04-29T09:26:00.003-05:00

Glad this thing is still here!

I'm going to try and update this thing a bit more regularly. I don't type as much as I eat! We'll see if that changes.

Last night we went to Pizza Inn, right as the buffet was shutting down. The girl said as much, and told us that we could have at it, but there wouldn't be anything new being added to it. We took a look, saw much pizzas, and gave it a shot. The whole thing wasn't bad. A serviceable salad bar, some soups (didn't try), fried potato wedges (at a pizza place??), and about six different kinds of pizza, not including the cheezy bread and the dessert pizza. I didn't have anything I didn't like. It's comparable to that Cici's place in Evergreen Square, but I think that Pizza Inn does a better pie overall. The waitress knocked a few bucks off the bill, and that made the dinner even better!

While I may not be eating at anywhere new and/or exciting, I'll get to the places that are familiar and talk a bit about what I know. I won't make everyone happy, but remember--you're reading this of your own free will, and I'm not making any money off it. If you want to bash a restaurant, feel free. If you try and bash me and my writings, I'll delete your comment and curse your name (which is almost always "Anonymous").

The reason that this has to be said is that every so often, a troll comes along, crawls out from under his bridge, and snarks a bit. Snark is fine, but back it up. Statements along the lines of "Your food posts aren't great, but you should stick with them instead of talking political" is just silly, especially when nothing else is offered in the way of a friendly debate.

That having been said, on to a very quick political statement. I am supporting Senator Clinton at this point in the race. WHEN Senator Obama wins the nomination, I will be behind him 100%. Any Democrat who says, "if Senator (fill-in-the-blank) doesn't win the nomination, I will vote for Senator McCain," is a silly ass. Discuss.

Sky Harbor, Peoria

2008-03-10T20:41:00.002-05:00

A couple of Saturdays ago we had an opportunity to visit an old favorite, Sky Harbor, just off Farmington Road by the Bradley Park lower entrance. A classic steakhouse, complete with bar in the middle of the room and corner band playing, Sky Harbor hasn't really changed since moving into this location some number of years ago.

The wife and I were graciously relieved of baby duty (heehee) for the evening and took in a movie before meeting our friends Russ and Jen at the restaurant. We looked forward to having some adult conversation amidst yummy steaks.

That little band in the corner, however, kept things up just loud enough that I was, for the most part, rendered useless in any chitchat. I caught bits and parts of what was being talked about, but ended up staring around the room. Too bad.

The food-the most important part-was pretty decent. I had a large ribeye, which was cooked to my specifications, but was a bit simple on the seasoning side. Russ enjoyed his steak sandwich, the wife liked her tenderloin, and for the life of me, I cannot remember what Jen had. Potato skins! And something else, but damn, I can't remember.

Sky Harbor is a fine place to visit for an evening, but ask for a table away, far, far away, from the band.

I done ate lots of places...

2008-02-12T21:11:00.002-06:00

...since I finally got a job!!

I've been to the new BBQ place out on 150 three times now. Hickory River, a chain that boasts about its Texas-style barbecue, was good the first two times, but merely mediocre the last time, which was a very cold night with little business. The pulled pork tasted like it had been sitting for a while. I mentioned that to the guy, and he gave us a $5 gift card for next time, of which there will be many next times.

Went back to the Burger Barge for the first time in quite a while. The last time I went there, it was so smoky that I immediately got a headache and when the food arrived, I asked for a box to take it home (full disclosure: I'm a smoker). This time, due to the new law forcing the likes of us outside for our carcinogenic pleasures, the visit was very pleasant. Busy night, with only one six-top table available. Me and the wife took it, and then when a young couple came in looking around for a place to sit, I waved them over to share our table. As far as food goes, the wife had a tenderloin (at the Burger Barge? That's kwazy!!!) and I had the Coney Burger. We split the frips (fries and chips) and walked out happy and full. The menu is so big, well, I just quiver thinking about all the possibilities. They even do breakfast!!

I plan on doing some more dining out, so keep up with stuff.

Another War Story

2008-01-23T19:04:00.000-06:00

End our involvement in the Iraqi civil war. Now.

A War Story

2008-01-22T23:26:00.000-06:00

I came across this post yesterday. It is a post by a fellow blogger who was serving in Iraq. He left a blog post with his friend to put up in the event of death. That day came, I am sad to say. I didn't know the guy, but the post is worth reading, and no one will fault you when a tear drop or two hits your keyboard.

Follow the link: Andrew Olmsted

A Fun Picture, For Old Times' Sake

2008-01-08T22:56:00.001-06:00

Good old Joe. Would make a fine Secretary of State.

So Exciting!!

2008-01-08T00:13:00.001-06:00

I just love the electoral process. Even though we've been hearing about the 2008 Presidential election for over a year now (or darn close), now that the people are finally standing up to be counted, it is non-stop entertainment for me.

Joe Biden was my guy. I had the chance to see him over in Iowa a few times, and I have been a fan of his for some years now. Most folks will agree that his personality, his in-your-face attitude backed up by his intellectual capabilities, are perhaps not the greatest example of a President, though I think it would be a refreshing change. Additionally, his political solution to the Iraq war, and more specifically our involvement in the situation, is the only solution out there. No other Democrat has come up with so comprehensive a plan, a plan that is already laid out in the Iraqi constitution adopted in 2005. What I can hope now is that whichever candidate wins the Democratic nomination, they will take another look at the Biden-Gelb plan.

I don't want to jump on the Obama bandwagon, really I don't. I have been saying for a number of months now that no matter how intriguing and exciting he is, he's not ready for the job.

Now here comes the fun part--I do like Clinton as our next President. She does indeed have the tools that are needed to actually get things done.

Buuutt....the more I hear Obama, the more convinced I am that he could really take us places as a country, as a nation in this world. His speeches, whether he writes them or someone else does (or a nice mix) have captivated me. It reminds me of watching old film of Kennedy's speeches during the 1960 campaign and his inaugural. I don't get that excitable feeling when I hear Clinton talk, though I know for absolute certain that she does indeed know what she is talking about.

So I'm torn. I like 'em both. And I don't like Edwards, so he's easy for me to dismiss.

But I think I'm probably going to hop on the Obama bandwagon. But whichever of these two are the candidate, it is my feeling that we can hardly go wrong.

And if folks have comments about how I am wrong/dumb/moronic/mislead/ignorant about liking Clinton, save it. Get your own blog and write your lost little neocon missives in long form and save me the trouble from deleting your comment. But then come back and check for more restaurant reviews!!

Wow. Some review site.

2007-12-28T15:37:00.000-06:00

Yeah, slacking here a bit. Got all graduated from college, and still waiting to hear back on a job. So, no money for dining out, though my Dad picked up a Monical's Pizza, large with sausage. Just dreamy!

Sooo... until someone comes along and decides to job me, probably won't be too much of the review kind of thing!

Old Chicago, Peoria (the one out by the new mall)

2007-12-10T14:00:00.000-06:00

When someone says to me, “Let’s go to Old Chicago,” I am just old enough to think that they are talking about the indoor amusement park that used to be in the Chicago suburb of Bolingbrook back in the late 1970’s. It was one of the places we visited during one of our family vacations when I was a kid.
Nowadays, few people remember the defunct park, but they recognize the name of a pizza restaurant that has locations throughout the United States, including two in Peoria. The first restaurant opened on the riverfront platform, located with Joe’s Crab Shack and the now defunct (that word again!) Damon’s Grill.
Old Chicago prides itself on the sporting teams of the Windy City, with décor and televisions advertising the Cubs and Bears, for the most part. Street signs, cityscape pictures, and pride in serving Old Style all contribute to the ambience. If people are not there for the World Beer Tour, which offers fabulous cash and prizes for drinking 100 different beers, they are there for the Chicago cuisine, especially the pizza.
On this night I was joined by my wife, Jenny, and our two friends, Ron and Katie, for an early Saturday evening dinner. Upon entering we could see open booths, but were told we would have to wait about 10 to 15 minutes. Turns out it was time for the shift change, so there must have been some issues presenting themselves. It was no big deal, as we were not in a great hurry.
We were sat in a booth with a high chair at the end for the lovely one year-old Chloe, and immediately our server was there to take our drink and appetizer orders. Our group chose to share Pepperoni Rolls, which, as it may sound, were pieces of dough rolled up with pepperoni inside, along with some mozzarella cheese. We also ordered “Italian Nachos”, which tasted just wonderful. These consisted of fried pieces of pasta, topped with slices of Italian sausage, pepperoni, pepperoncini peppers and some mozzarella cheese, with a side of marinara to dip. All of the flavors worked fabulously together.
Our dinners arrived shortly after we had completed our first course. Ron and I both ordered the Southwestern Fajita calzone, which contained chicken, salsa, cheese, onions and bell peppers, and came with a side of green chili ranch dressing for dipping. We both enjoyed our dishes, though Ron stated that his was a bit liquidy, probably from the salsa.
My wife ordered the classic club sandwich, which she liked. It was nothing out of the ordinary, and she reported that her fries were a bit overdone. Katie thoroughly enjoyed her calzone with pepperoni, extra cheese and green olives. I heard nary a complaint from that end of the table.
This visit to Old Chicago was a wonderful time, with a very attentive waitress who looked to the needs of the talkative Chloe, bringing applesauce and crackers for her to munch on.
The kicker for me and any restaurant is the timely and efficient manner in which I am brought many soda refills. I am happy to report that I floated right out of the restaurant.
After a visit like this, the next time I hear the name “Old Chicago,” my mind will be focused on something other than a crappy indoor amusement park. I will instead be thinking about the good times to be had, especially during baseball season when the Old Style is flowing and the Cubs are winning (or at least playing on television—can’t ask for much).

Hi again!

2007-12-01T14:28:00.000-06:00

I had a few moments break between my various studies to update this thang. The review below (Kobe) was actually an assignment for my review and criticism class at WIU. Bill Knight is my professor-think he knows a thing or two about reviews?

I'm looking forward to getting back to Peoria here in a few weeks. Probably be too poor to go out and eat much for the first month or so, but you all can look forward to some new stuff.

I wanted to give a shoutout to jeep2000 and her blog. She has all sorts of good reviews on her blog, too. And she seems to get out more!!

Kobe Steakhouse of Japan

2007-12-01T14:23:00.000-06:00

“Let’s go somewhere different tonight. I’m getting tired of the same thing.” Father-in-law had a good plan, and he pursued it. With his family in tow, he took us to the Kobe Steakhouse of Japan, the newest restaurant in the Willow Knolls Shopping Center. What was expected was a culinary acrobatic show performed by gentlemen who knew their way around a set of utensils and a lot of banging and slamming on the griddle top. We did indeed receive all of this, but sadly, it was in an absolutely frigid room.

Featuring steak, chicken, and fish, along with a rather short sushi menu and the typical appetizer accompaniments, the menu gives the diner a good summation of the types of dishes and the way they are prepared before your very eyes, and only a few entrees were priced above $20.

It was obvious that throughout the day the room in which we were seated went unused until the dinner rush began, because the large room that we passed through was comfortably warm and cozy… and full. We reluctantly removed our outerwear and hoped that the grill would get us warm. Starting us off with a round of drinks, our orders were quickly placed and the salad and soup arrived. The small garden salad was topped with a dressing that we could only describe as some sort of creamy Italian taste with a splash of soy sauce, and it was very tasty despite its simplicity. The onion soup, garnered with two large mushroom slices, was not overbearing in taste and was quickly chilled, another victim of the room temperature.

Our chef arrived with a cartload of squeeze bottles filled with sauces, plates with meat and vegetables, and a large platter of rice to go along with the rest of his tools of the trade. He began by firing up the grill, during which time we leaned closer in anticipation of gathering some of the warmth. The chef started squirting various liquids on the grill and, upon whipping out a lighter, set fire to said liquids, pushing us right back into our chairs.

He prepared our orders with great skill and flamboyance, even delving one more time into his pyromaniacal side by creating a volcano-like structure with three rings of onion, dumping his magic liquids in the middle, and watching the flame spew forth once again. Various combinations of steak (including filet mignon, which was described as “very nice and tender”), chicken, halibut, and shrimp were cooked up and served before us fresh from the griddle. A large serving of fried rice was prepared and dished out before the meats were prepared, and it had to be eaten quickly before it went cold.

Towards the end of our meals many looks of satisfaction were exchanged and promises to return to this restaurant were exchanged. The sounds of our party blowing on their hands to regain warmth signaled our exit from the restaurant.
Kobe Steakhouse of Japan is well worth the visit, but make sure you get there early, lest you be seated in the walk-in freezer.

So what AM I doing right now?

2007-09-30T01:23:00.000-05:00

Well, Henny Penny, there really isn't anything new to report right now, unfortunately. The few times I've been back in Peoria recently have not netted anything worth writing about, because my visits have been quick, like hours long. Way too busy down here in Macomb.

Doing what, you say?

Well, lemme tell ya. Between school (right now I'm down to 44 papers I have to write before the end of the semester), raising up the baby, and other extracurricular activities, the weekends are filled with the wife working, thus keeping me mostly here.

What extracurricular activities, you say?

Well, lemme tell ya. Down here at WIU, we are having an absolute grandiose Mock Presidential Election. We're talking candidates showing up on campus, local and national news coverage, and some high profile keynote speakers (I know who they are, but I can't say anything yet). I have no less than three positions in this event--part of the Pi Sigma Alpha (political science honor society) coordination staff which essentially runs the guts of the event; as a peer mentor who has to make sure my group of freshmen get their butts over to the event, and most importantly to me, I am the Campaign Director of the Biden for President campaign for the election. I have made many contacts with Senator Biden's election staff, and due to the fact that we are so close to Iowa here, and this school has plenty of Iowan students, I am receiving many offers of help and support, from giving my campaign staff signage and literature to having some Iowa state senators or congresspersons come over and talk or participate in debates.

So, all this leads to me not having a great deal of time back home in Peoria. Of course I can blame it all on the wife and her goofy work schedule, but it's my goofy school schedule that is really the problem. God bless her and her schedule maker at work for working around MY schedule!!

Additionally, I have a career fair on campus next Tuesday (the 2nd). Wish me luck, hopefully I can catch the eye of some lucky employer who sees just what a wonderful asset I would be to their company!! Come on, employers!! 3.714 GPA here!! Management and organizational experience!! Not just a good, but a s00per-d00per writer!!!

Restaurant-wise, one notable place I checked out on one of my minutes in Peoria was the Irish place over there in Morton. O'Flahertys? That the name? Good food, slowish service. It riled up the womenfolk I was with, but I'm pretty laid back, and I was absolutely bone-tired, so it didn't get to me as much. I am definitely going to go back there and try it again.

I'm not sure if Peoria gets any commercials for the burger place called Red Robin, of which there is one in Davenport. I see the ads down here all the time, and when I learned that they were as close as the QC, we stopped by there last Friday when me and the family did some shopping and visited the Biden field office. What a cool place! Very franchisey-decor style, but cool menus, fun burgers, and bottomless steak fries! I want to see Red Robin come to Peoria.

I'm not anti-franchise. I know there are some people who would rather go with the local product, and I would too, if I got right down to it. But there are franchises that are worth the while to visit, and I wouldn't write off a place just because they open a restaurant in Peoria that looks exactly like the one in Alberquerque, NM. Someone worked hard to begin that chain, and sometimes a franchise restaurant is the product of a person who worked hard to save up for the franchise and got it up and running. Human agency went into it, and I will be happy to reward whoever gives me what I want.

But for all intents and purposes, give me the family restaurant owned by the guy who has been a Peoria resident for most of his life and actually has HIS family working for it!!

For whoever still visits here looking for new posts, thanks a lot. Once everything slows down a bit, I will begin to eat at places again. Plus, I only have less than three months until we move back to Peoria, and by then I'll have a s00per-d00per job that will allow me to afford to dine out!!

River Station, Peoria

2007-09-02T23:44:00.000-05:00

For my father-in-law's 60th birthday, myself and the wife, along with her brother and his wife, planned a nice outing with the help of said father-in-law's wife. We figured that a nice day would be to go to the River Station Sunday Brunch and then take a boat ride on the Spirit of Peoria. Two things stood out about our day:

1) It was the last cruise of the season, save for a few oddwad special cruises.

2) What! A! Beautiful! Day!!!!

We could not have asked for better weather today. The cruise was just wonderful, very crowded. Our strategic positioning of the chairs got us a shady spot up the river, and then by the time the boat turned around to head back, we were the shady side once again!!

On to the restaurant, which was actually before the cruise.

I reviewed the River Station some time ago, and gave it a wonderful review. That was a Saturday night dinner with the wife. The Sunday Brunch, I understand, was a carry-over from the previous incarnation of the restaurant. I can't judge from back then, but today, I can come here and tell you that the food was wonderful!!! They had an omelet station and a meat carving station. The prime rib was my only complaint. I got a very rare piece of meat, and I suppose it's my fault for not requesting something in the medium range. So, my bad. But this meat just looked red, and it wasn't real great.

Buuuuttt.... the rest of the meal? Wonderful. I'm going to run down what I had-scrambled eggs (okay, nothing special), bacon (!!!!!!!11!!! awesome!!!!111!!one!!), some kind of burrito thing with eggs, cheese and chile peppers (yummy), turkey and dressing (turkey nothing big, but good tasting dressing), cranberry-banana bread (I think it was banana, but it was definitely cranberry, and it was definitely good), and some kind of trifle with strawberries, mandarin oranges, and pineapple. That was actually my favorite part of the meal (besides the bacon!!!!!!!11!!!one!!!). I didn't get a chance to get up to the omelet bar, because it seemed crowded every time I tried.

So, all good stuff. My fellow diners raved about the waffles, another thing I just didn't get around to (too much trifle and bacon!). It was pricey. The total bill was around $135 for six of us. The food met the price, but it is a bit spendy for breakfast. I can get a better deal over at the Golden Corral on their breakfast bar. Sure I sacrifice quality, but how bad can you mess up breakfast?

River Station once again gets a thumbs up, and they remain on the HIT LIST!!

What made the day was my wonderful dining company, Jenny and Chloe, Paul and Stefanie from Michigan, Julie and, of course, the birthday boy Robbie. Happy 60th, and many, many more to my favorite father-in-law!!

Leonardo's, Peoria

2007-08-12T14:55:00.000-05:00

Just kidding. They closed, very secretively, as discussed on the Peoria Pundit (and in the Journal Star).

Bunch of crap. I hope the employees get their paychecks, and I hope the owner, Michael LaHood, brother of representative Ray LaHood, finds a way to pay his workers. It is just the most careless thing to do. I hope it gets worked out.

And it's too bad for Leonardo's. Their pizza was, to me, at the very top of Peoria area pizzas, especially their deep-dish. Damn shame.

I am unclear about the ownership situation, as far as how long LaHood has owned it, or if he owned the one down on War Memorial and Wisconsin, as well.

Kinda weird, though. Good business in the original location, they open up a new location out at the Grand Prairie, the old business catches fire, rebuilds, and then closes. Now the new place closes.

And I also noticed a sign over in Washington. They have a LaGondola that offers (offered?) Leonardo's pizza.

WTF? Any answers out there?

Milford, Michigan

2007-08-08T01:32:00.000-05:00

Yes, Katie, I am still alive. Don't you know that I am a world traveler? Always out and about, gallavanting around the globe?

The truth of it is, me and the family just got back from Michigan, up to visit her brother and sister-in-law, Paul and Stefanie. They got themselves a house in Milford, which is about the cutest little town ever. Nice little house, too. Wonderful hosts, didn't complain once with the crying kid or me trodding heavily up and down the stairs with the cell phone low-battery beep going off every minute while they try to sleep.

Not that I expect anyone to rush off in search of this wonderful cuisine, but we had some nice meals up there. Paul made us a couple of homemade pizzas that just rocked. We lunched at a little deli up on the main drag where I had pineapple salsa for the first time, on a "caribbean Philly" sandwich. Dinner at the Milford House, where I enjoyed a nice salad with oranges, dried cherries, and other stuff with a house dressing that was sort of sweet and sour. Big ole burger, too. Good stuff.

A visit to the Big Boy in Chelsea, Michigan, and a quick stop at an Arby's in Ottawa, Illinois, and we were back home, ready to get back into the swing of things.

Highlights of this trip: Getting to see my sis-in-law's mom and sister, Sue and Kim. They are a treat!! Also, there's this big grocery that sells organic stuff and gourmet food. I just wanted to buy about everything!! I ended up buying orange juice made from "blood oranges", pomegranate soda, onion horseradish dip, horseradish pickles, Charles Chips (!!), and a piece of Wensleydale cheese (Cheese, Gromit!!).

Lowlights of this trip: I forgot our birth certificates, so we couldn't go across the river to Canada so I could buy contraband such as Players cigarettes and Cuban cigars. Dammit. Also, we were going to swing by Ypsilanti to hit the Bomber Restaurant. Traffic just got too thick in between Milford and there, so I decided, reluctantly, to save my arteries and head on down the road.

So, yes, Katie, I am still alive. Alive with pleasure!! The pleasure of having driven about 920 of the 1000 miles involved in this trip. But it was good to get away for a bit. I've saved you a horseradish pickle. You're welcome!!

Donnelly's, Peoria

2007-08-01T21:57:00.000-05:00

Lots of talk about this place on the blogosphere in the past few days. Why? Because anyone who's anyone was there at the Blogger Bash. We enjoyed a nice evening of conversation, sometimes four or five at one time. It was a pleasure to meet some of you folks, and I am looking forward to the next Bash!! I was saddened when it was time for me to leave, and then I had to take the ever-bubbly Katie away from the party far too soon. It will be nice to get back to Peoria after my stint out here in Macomb. I like living here, but would rather be back among all my friends and fambly. But the new friends I made last night are just a keystroke away anyhoo!!!

So anyhoo, about Donnelly's. Little Irishy place over off Glen, kind of across from the Lariat Club. It's a dark little pub-like atmosphere with lots of wood walls. It's a bar, so it's smoky, but if you want to eat in a bar, you already know that you're going to have to deal with the smoke. So deal with it!!

Our waitress sure seemed on top of things, ready for refills and always checking up on us. There was a bit of an ordeal with silverware, but it was solved rather quickly. I had the catfish, which was just dandy. I'm used to the southern style of catfish frying, which is usually a cornmeal batter, but this wasn't like that. No matter-it was very tasty, and absolutely huge!! But the star of my dinner was the dill tartar sauce. Wow!! It's DILL-icious!! Hooooo-weeee!! Fries were okay, but they were better dipped in DILL!!!!

Katie had mini-tacos. Hard to screw them up. Dump 'em out of the bag and fry 'em. They did go the extra mile and sprinkle some cheddar cheese on it.

Looking around the table, I heard a bit about an overcooked ribeye steak sandwich, and saw a yummy looking chicken breast sandwich dipped in buffalo sauce (the chicken, not the whole sandwich). Chef Kevin had a "Waterford Chicken" sandwich and onion rings. He had no complaints about it-said it was his fallback meal when he went there.

One more comment-I'm not sure if Donnelly's is the kind of place that makes their own salad dressing, but their balsamic vinaigrette was (searching for another adjective besides tasty....) tasty!!!

Donnelly's-it's bar food that is well worth a visit!!! Donnelly's makes the HIT List!!

And again, to all who showed up for the party, it was a pleasure, and I look forward to future meetings!

Nothing to see here...

2007-07-28T11:29:00.000-05:00

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!!

2007-07-17T18:06:00.000-05:00

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

2007-07-16T00:00:00.000-05:00

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

2007-07-15T23:55:00.000-05:00

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

2007-07-15T23:42:00.000-05:00

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

2007-07-03T21:53:00.000-05:00

Sigh.

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

Come back and save me!!

Firehouse Pizza, Peoria

2007-06-25T01:57:00.000-05:00

Not long ago Chef Kevin reviewed Firehouse Pizza, and I made the comment that I didn't like a pizza sauce that was on the sweet side. I had reconciled myself to not trying this place, but today I just changed my mind. I'm allowed to do that.

So me, the wife and kid head out to their new location at Northpoint and found the place not real busy. I did like the looks of the place, with the TV's in every booth allowing me to catch the Cubs/Sox game without having to crane my neck around the place.

We got ourselves a couple of sodas, Jenny had a little side salad and I had the pigs-in-blankets, which were a couple big hot dogs wrapped up in the pizza dough. Those things I liked!! Great dipped in good ole yellow mustard.

The pizza we ordered was a "Cheeseburger" pizza, with hamburger, bacon, onions, and a cheddar-mozzarella blend. I would have really enjoyed it... were it not for that sauce. It wasn't bad... just had that sweet taste. Certainly different from other pizzas in this area. I can see people liking it... but not me. Took a helluva long time to get a refill, too, for such an unbusy Sunday afternoon.

While they are not going to make my HIT list, Firehouse Pizza will not make my SHIT list, either. It was passable food, and perhaps someday I will try the pizza with the white garlic sauce. It just wasn't my thang.

River Station, Peoria

2007-06-24T13:23:00.000-05:00

Well hot diggity damn!! Finally I get back to Peoria for a period of time so's I can do some eating!! I've been back a few times, but fairly quickie trips that didn't really call for any reviewing of restaurants. Not that I didn't eat, but in all honesty, it wasn't review-worthy.

Tonight me and the wife had us a date. We dropped off the kid at my folks house and headed down to the newly-reopened River Station for a 7:45 dinner reservation. I have to admit, I don't remember what the place looked like inside, seeing as how I believe I was only there like twice before they closed. But it sure looks nice inside now! They're getting some business, that's for sure. We were not called to be seated until about 8:15 or so, but they warned us that things were running a bit behind. It gave us lots of time for people-watching, which was fun stuff. Lots of nicely-dressed cougars, and men who looked like they either stepped off a boat or off the golf course.

When we were seated at a nice river-view table (which made the extra wait okay), our waiter, a nice young man named Jake, got us going with our drinks and discussed some of the features of the menu. We declined appetizers, choosing to save room for the dessert. River Station does a salad bar at your table-I've never been a part of something like this before. Lots of iceberg lettuce, followed by whatever toppings you told the waiter to put on, including something he referred to as "sour cherries". Looked like big raisins to me, but they were tasty! A clever addition to a salad. I had a balsamic vinaigrette which was just dandy. Jenny had ranch. She asked for French, but that's okay. Jake offered to get some, but Jenny ain't picky.

Our entrees arrived in a very timely fashion. Jenny ordered the lobster and crab ravioli, and the one I took off her plate as a driver's fee had large chunks of said shellfish, and the white sauce, while not overpowering, complemented the dish. My dish was called chicken saltabocca, which was a couple of grilled chicken breasts wrapped up in prosciutto and mozzarella, sitting in a dark wine sauce. Very tasty, indeed!! It was recommended to me by my father-in-law. The sauce was my favorite part of the meal, just yummyness. It was sauce that I could have on the side and dip waffle fries into and be content.

Dessert...ahh, dessert. Very enjoyable, if a bit on the expensive side. Jenny had The Caboose, which was a couple different ice creams layered on top of each other with some other stuff on it, with a piece of almond brittle sticking out. Yummy! Mine was some sort of chocolate ganache with lavender ice cream. Lavender!! Weird that I was eating something that had made bathrooms smell better for decades. I must have forgotten about the ice cream, because I commented that it tasted "herbal". It sure was good, however. I will look for this in other places. The ganache was utterly rich in chocolate delight.

I am glad the River Station has returned. To me, it really ties the riverfront together, having a well-known spot with historical significance. And free refills on soda!!

River Station-you made the "HIT" List!!!

He's posting reviews again!!

2007-06-12T01:21:00.000-05:00

Not me, Chef Kevin, over at Culinary Rants and Raves. Check it out!! He has checked out such joints as the River Station (so wanna go there!), Firehouse Pizza, Eamon Patrick's (where is this place?) and one other one along the river. Name slipped my mind, but it sounds like my kinda place!!

New Blog To Read

2007-06-08T20:57:00.000-05:00

My good friend Katie, she who helped birth my baby, maker of good hashbrown casserole, lover of Ron, and coach of co-ed softball, has started a blog to note her days of fine trailer park living. She entertains me, and I'm sure she will entertain her readers.

Notes From The Trailerhood

We're not coming into town this weekend, as we already have to make a trip to town next Tuesday night so that me and my buddies can go down to Kansas City and eat barbecue, among other events.

I will share that I just had a delightful ice cream sandwich, fresh out the box from Hy-Vee. Probably gonna have a few more based on that wonderful experience.

Corky's, East Peoria

2007-06-04T15:53:00.000-05:00

I'm a fan of saying things such as, "it's hard to screw up a lunchmeat sandwich", or "it's hard to mess up a salad". One thing that is for sure is that it is EASY to screw up barbecue. Big John's, back in the heyday of his downtown location, was ON. They knew their barbecue, and I daresay that Peoria hasn't seen barbecue like it again. There are a few BBQ joints that I can attest to having pretty decent food, but I just think we're a bit too far north for any of the good ones.

Corky's, which is in the remodeled Citgo/Burger King building over by the East Peoria Wal-Mart, is a franchise that got its start in Memphis, home of barbecue, Elvis and rockabilly music. Back when it first opened up here in town a few months ago, the wait was far too long for me and my gathered group of gourmands. We were told that the list was two hours long, and after you ordered, it would be another hour. So this is the first opportunity I've had to get back and see what's up. I've heard different things about it, but the possibility of good BBQ is enough for me to give it a try.

We had a group of six tonight, and we ended up having to wait about a half-hour before being seated, and that ain't bad. I tried a combo that consisted of a half-rack of dry-rubbed ribs, beef brisket, turkey and pulled pork. Ron had the ribs and pork, Russ had a pulled pork sandwich, Jenny had turkey and pork, Jen had a turkey sandwich, and Katie had... I forgot! She doesn't like BBQ, so I'm sure she had something different. And don't make fun of Katie because she doesn't like BBQ. Ron will fix that, over time.

The only complaint I heard from anyone was from myself and Ron, and we thought the ribs were served a bit on the cool side. They were still fairly tasty and very tender, but it would have been better if they were the temperature they were supposed to be.

Other than that, nice atmosphere, a pretty kind server who kept up with our refills as long as we requested them. It doesn't measure up to BBQ I've had in other locales, mostly down south, but for Peoria, it does good. I hope they succeed, and I liked their Elvis-themed room.

Corky's makes the HIT List!!

Coop's, Princeville

2007-06-03T00:34:00.000-05:00

Today was a day for exploring the backroads of Peoria County (and just a slight, slight bit of Fulton County). The first Saturday of every June is the Strawberry Festival out in Elmwood, which runs just north of Farmington. It's a pretty nice small-town shindig that draws seemingly every citizen to either visit or volunteer their efforts, especially given the fact that the town buried one of their own on Friday, a young Marine named Ben Desilets, who was struck down in Iraq.

After taking our cruise around the town square and eating strawberry shortcake (two helpings for me, of course), my wife, child, and mom headed up the road to Princeville, hope of Coop's, a little restaurant there on what seemed to be the main drag. It was right across the street from Casey's, so it's pretty much the center of town for this blogger.

Coop's is a cafe-like setting which is fairly rustic in appearance, both inside and out. The walls of the dining room drip with nostalgia, right down to the empty can of Standard Cream Separator Oil on a shelf high above us. Attached to the dining room and also accessible from the outside is The Whip, which is a little ice cream stand.

Today's specials were homemade tenderloins or pork burgers. My wife opted for the tenderloin, which she proclaimed was good. I got a taste, and it definitely tasted homemade. Had a good texture, and wasn't over-seasoned. Mom had a "Hawaiian Salad", which was an enormous helping of lettuce and toppings, served with a side of the house dressing, which was a hybrid of a sweet onion dressing and something else. The salad itself had grilled chicken, pineapple, and shaved coconut, along with a few other things I think. She really did like it, and for what it's worth, the lettuce, although it was only iceberg (sorry, lettuce snobs-no field greens), it was the kind that was cut up thin-shredded, maybe? Yeah, that sounds right. Before I reveal my meal, I want to take a second to talk about their salads. It seemed like every other table had salads, and they are just hoarkin' huge, and had lots of colorful toppings. At the quick glance I gave the salad portion of the menu, there had to have been like 10 or 12 different salads to choose from. Egads!!

And, finally, my meal was a big ole double cheeseburger. There was more that I could have chosen from, but it's what I want, and what I want is what I want. It was a tasty burger, lots of cheese, with my typical mayo, mustard, pickles and onions. It was everything I could ask for in a cheeseburger. The fries that came with the sandwiches were the crinkle cut variety, and we rather enjoyed them. Got a lot of 'em, too!!

Seeing as how I'm not a frequent traveler to Princeville, I couldn't tell you of the many other reasons to make a visit to the fine farming community. If you find your way out that direction, I would suggest a stop by Coop's for a sandwich, or one of those awesome salads!! They might even be worth a drive out there just for one of them!

Coop's-You made the HIT list!!! Thumbs up, and good luck under your new ownership (or was it just management?)!!

Avanti's, East Peoria

2007-06-02T00:47:00.000-05:00

Good ole Avantis. A Peoria staple for many years before my time, and it has expanded into East Peoria quite a while back. I can remember eating at their Main Street location when it was across the street. Does anyone remember the "Gondola" controversy between Avanti's and LaGondola? What a great legal battle that was. Someone should have written a book about it.

I know Billy D wrote about it a while back (sorry, Bill - not going archive diving tonite!), and it seemed like a good mix of opinions.

Avanti's is real hit-and-miss for me concerning whether I even want to eat there. Nothing's gross on the menu, it's not like you can go wrong. Locals know that you are not going to get fine Italian cuisine on the menu. Sometimes I don't want meat sauce or marinara, or even the alfredo. Just doesn't sound good, and if I eat too much of their all-you-can-eat spaghetti on that most special of nights, I fart a little more than usual.

The bread - good stuff. I am not going to waste time extolling the virtues of Avanti's bread. But jeebus, they found one thing to do good, and they do REAL good. Just the bread and butter is enough of a meal for me. The pizza is not bad, either. I prefer it over any of the chains around here. (speaking of which, I gotta find out how to do polls, because I'd like to see what pizza reigns supreme in the Peoria area).

Tonight's visit to the Avanti's in East Peoria, to begin, was just dandy. No problems that weren't taken care of quickly, and nice folks waited on us and brought us food and soda refills. I had the lasagna, and this is something they have down so well that it lacks the fun of eating homemade lasagna that falls apart and you end up eating one big spoonful of ricotta or a big sheet of pasta. Still, it's tasty, and it's just enough for me. Because I filled up on the bread. And the goony little salad, which just works, for some reason.

Lovely wife Jenny had the chicken alfredo, and I heard no complaints. Ron and Katie both had Gondolas (capitalize that?? dunno), and I guess it was good because it's hard to screw up a lunchmeat sandwich, especially on that bread!! Russ had the Friday special, which was oven-baked cod. He specifically told me that he enjoyed the fish, but the accompanying linguini dish was just kind of "meh", not bad, nothing special. Jason had the only issue of the evening, when they brought his spaghetti and meatballs without the layer of mozzarelly on top like he wanted. They corrected it, and he dried his tears.

The kid who rang me up barely said a word, no "how was everything" queries, and I had to wait for like two minutes for someone to show up. Not gonna complain about that, because 1) high school kid has to work Friday nite at Avanti's isn't always going to be "on", and B) had fine conversations with the others standing around.

All in all, don't set the bar too high. Yeah, there's better places in town to go eat. I can name a whole bunch. Gotta pay more for that, however. Pay more money-get better food. Pay less money-get less better food. And so on. Avanti's is never my first choice of restaurants, but it's better to take the kid there than to the smoke-filled bar of choice for grub.

Avanti's-you made my HIT list (which, to refresh, is the good list to make. The bad list is known as the SHIT list)!!!

Macomb in the Summertime

2007-05-31T14:52:00.001-05:00

The thrill of the season is upon me-the return of the snow cone shack!! This is only my second summer, so I don't know how many years this thing has come and gone, but we've been anxiously awaiting its arrival. I was reminded that it was the place we went after going to the woman doctor office after a checkup of the fetus. I tells ya, nothing more exciting than getting a grape and lemon shaved ice and heading to Farm King for galoshes and mixed nuts.

It gets rather boring around here when the kids go home for the summer. The traffic remains the same throughout the day, but there's just less dumbass girls on cell phones. Usually less girls doesn't mean good things, but when the group of three have two phone conversations going on, it just makes me shake my head.

It's hard to live in a place that has only one option for seafood, and that happens to be Long John Silvers. Now I realize that LJS can't really be considered oceanic in any way, but their hush puppies are a guilty pleasure. Seafood, to me, doesn't have to be a fancy issue. The fare at the Red Lobster suits me just fine, what with their biscuits and scampi.

This weekend we're heading back to Peoria. Now I've been anxious to try out that Corky's over in East Peoria. I've heard many mixed reviews about the food and its genuineosity. I know it is a franchise of a BBQ joint that got going down in Memphis, but that it has been mainstreamed a bit. We'll see if I can get over there. What I'm looking forward to is the first co-ed softball game I've been able to participate in all year, then a trip down to the Silver Bullet in EP for beverages and some good bar food. I'm thinking it's horseshoe time!!!

The Corky's thing may not come off, though. In a few weeks me and a few pals (Aaron, Jason) are heading down to Kansas City to see the Royals take on their I-70 rivals, the St. Louis Chickens-On-A-Stick. We'll precede that by a visit to probably Arthur Bryant's BBQ or KC Masterpiece. Next day we'll eat at some other BBQ joint (I'm hoping Gates' BBQ) and go to the Negro League Baseball Museum.

Speaking of horseshoes, the best EVAH can be found at the Jackson Street Pub here in Macomb. I have no doubt of this bold statement.

Back for some action

2007-05-30T02:12:00.000-05:00

Well, I'm still down here in Macomb, but with the summer upon us and the gas prices being absolutely affordable, we will be making not infrequent trips back and forth to Peoria for various and sundry reasons. I've been messing around with the idea of firing this back up, with the hopes that when we finally make the move back to Peoria this December, I'll have a good list of restaurants nailed down, sometimes two or ten times.

Hat tip to Chef Kevin over at his blog,
Culinary Rants and Raves. He entertains me when he writes about the places he visits. He does it from a professional viewpoint-a guy who actually knows when something is done right or wrong. I take it from a different approach. You have to really screw something up for me to be unhappy about food and restaurants. Like the Texas Roadhouse did a few years back. Still pisses me off. Still haven't gone back, either, and I sneer at them when I pass their building in East Peoria that always has a letter or two unlit on their sign.

Anyhoo, difference between me and him is that he's a pro talking about a restaurant, and I'm a fat guy talking about a restaurant. His writings kept me interested in starting my own blog back up again.

So, update your blogrolls and get me up there on the list. I'll be talking about the places I visit and giving the lowdown on what's hot and what's not in Central Illinois dining, from a sammitch at Wendy's to a bone-in ribeye down at Jim's. I may even talk about the occasional Icee from Target or the Crap-a-cino I get from Starbucks. Nothing is taboo, and nothing is far from my reach. As long as my gut doesn't get in my way, I cannot be stopped!!

Last Post

2005-12-23T23:28:00.000-06:00

I figure this blog is pretty well abandoned by any readers that may have looked here more than once or twice. But if the Pundit says I should let people know, then so I shall!

Been a busy month, with school and work and getting ready to move. Oh yeah, there's that, too. I'm moving from Central Illinois to Western Illinois, so I can no longer be the Central Illinois Gourmand. And it's pointless to want to be the Western Illinois Gourmand, because in Macomb, there's 5 non-fast-food restaurants. Pointless, indeed.

Thanks to those who stopped by to take a look. I sure appreciate it! I like writing, so this concept will probably follow me to my next metropolis, wherever that may be!

Happy Thanksgiving!!! Gobble 'til you Wobble!

2005-11-24T11:35:00.000-06:00

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you who have come across my site. Hopefully your day went well and you got lots of good food. I know I did! And still another meal or two this weekend!

Yamamoto

2005-11-21T17:08:00.000-06:00

I remember the old days when an evening of drinking ended at a little local restaurant called Lums, up on Knoxville near the top of the hill. Wienerwald chicken for the win!!

Sadly, the place is long closed, and has been two or three different restaurants since then, all with little staying power. Hope the newest incarnation lasts, because it's such a treat!

Yamamoto Japanese Grill and Sushi Bar has brought us back the spatula-and-fork banging chefs who scared away the evil spirits inhabiting the big stainless steel grill that is in front of every table. Used to be a place over on Brandywine that did the same kind of thing, place called Shogun. I was never rich enough to go there, but it was a place like that, or if anyone's ever been to Benihana. The magic of your food cooking takes place before your very eyes!

The decor is pretty typical of an Asian cuisine place, no real variance to be had in any situation. The station we sat at was a horseshoe-type sitting arrangement around the grill in which the chef would wheel out his cart of foods to be prepared in accordance with our orders.

Following a rollicking night of bingo, seven of us headed to Yamamoto. Dining with me and the wife were Angie of Angie & Joseph fame (Joseph got a headache and skipped dinner), Katie of Katie & Ron fame (Ron's sick, poor little magical feller) and Greg and Heather, the newliest of newlyweds. Only myself and Jenny were new to the place, so everyone chipped in with advice on stuff to get, except for Angie and Katie who were wrapped up in their Hurricanes. We sampled some sushi, which thankfully was cooked, I think even deep-fried, making it all the better. It was known as the Peoria roll, which had typical sushi stuff, only cooked. Heather had something that wasn't as cooked, but it was still quite tasty.

For dinner me and Jenny split a stir-fry thing with shrimp and lobster. Greg had everything in his dish-beef, shrimp, lobster, and chicken, I think. Looked hella good. I think Katie had some beef and maybe something else, and Angie had vegetables cooked up on the big griddle.

Preceding the dinner was bowls of onion and miso soup, and a salad with a ginger-orange dressing. I liked the onion soup, and the dressing on the salad was good, but I didn't want to eat more than my forkful.

This food is stuff that you can probably make at home for a cheaper price, but the premium paid is for the entertainment, and it was definitely worth it.

Yamamoto-HIT LIST!!

Woot!

2005-11-18T00:13:00.000-06:00

I'm on Yahoo! How cool!

And another thing: Woot!

This is the coolest site, except for this.

Katie!

2005-11-15T14:03:00.000-06:00

Katie makes good hashbrown casserole.

Did I mention that already? 8-)

Dynasty Chinese Buffet

2005-11-15T13:53:00.000-06:00

This is the one way out north on University, not the one in the middle of town. It's weird that there's two of the same-named places on the same street. Weird... and coincidental? No, not really. I think they're owned by the same person/people.

Anyhoo, I know it's risky to go to a buffet later in the evening. We showed up around 8:00, thinking they'd be closing at 9:00, so I was prepared to see a few empty pans and some pans that looked like it was cooking hours-old meat right there in the buffet. To my astonishment, they were open until 10:00! Well hot damn! Gonna get some decent food and not have to worry about the final hour bad buffet doldrums!

Dammit. I was wrong. A number of the pans were almost empty, and some of the meaty-type stuff like the mongolian beef and the pork and some-damn-thing were but a few strips of meat that looked like I wouldn't have been able to get them out of the pan for their having been laying there for hours. Sweet and sour chicken-only about two pieces. The very bottom of the pan egg drop soup. Beef brisket that looked to be about 80% fat. Damn. And their new mongolian stir-fry option closed at 8:00. That didn't make me upset, just disappointed that I didn't get to try it.

I discussed the situation with my wife. I said that if a buffet is going to be open for another two hours they have to attempt to provide some fresh stuff now and again. Otherwise, close the place and don't try to make a few extra bucks just from the leftovers. They'll get the extra bucks, but they won't get any more from that customer at any time of the day. I mean, even if they just took a handful of food and cooked/fried it and put it out just to make it all look shiny, at least there's an attempt, and there's another happy plateful for moi. I know that we didn't eat $24.07 worth of food.

So, do the smart thing-don't go so late, because chances are this could happen to you. Allow enough time that they HAVE to put more food out.

I do prefer the two Chinese buffets over in East Peoria. The China Gate hasn't ever let me down, and the new one by Wal-Mart, Ming's, has a great selection of dishes, but are a bit spendy. S'alright, though. I'll pay for happy belly time!

Joe's Crab Shack

2005-11-13T13:16:00.000-06:00

So me and the wife, along with Ron, Katie, Jason and Krista met down at Joe's Crab Shack on the riverfront (or is that the Riverfront?) on Saturday night. It wasn't packed to the gills with people waiting, but we still had about a 45 minute wait. No big deal, I had a pretty green drink with a goofy name and we stood around the bar doing our thing.

Soon we were seated and the server was nice. Got our drinks, refills were forthcoming, and the food was hot. The food, however, doesn't seem to be as good as it used to be. Now I've always preferred the Big Red Lobster for my franchise seafood eatings, but Joe's was always decent enough. I had Jumbo Shrimp Pasta, and it was a cheesy pasta with fried shrimp ringing the plate. Meh. Jenny had some kind of lobster, crab and crawfish pasta and that was better only because there was another flavor besides... cheesy parmesan.

Jason had the chicken fried steak (?) and Krista had a pound of dungeness crab legs. It looked fun and she didn't complain about them. Ron had calamari and Katie had fries. Didn't hear complaints from either of them. (Katie makes great hashbrown casserole).

The menu seems to be set up oddly. Now I consider myself rather a pro when it comes to dissecting a menu and finding the best selections. This one was just odd.

And so, for Joe's Crab Shack, I'm not giving them a negative remark, but for my money, I'm going to Red Lobster and eating many of their little biscuits.

Off the Shnide...

2005-11-13T13:13:00.000-06:00

Well, as me and the wife slowly come back from our life-threatening illnesses, the hunger grows. There have been various and sundry food-outs such as Wendy's (rocks!) and McDonald's (only if you have to), even a Taco Bell (goodish). Mostly, it's been finding stuff around here to eat.

So I think I'll put up a new post and briefly discuss our latest outing.

Dang it all to heck...

2005-11-05T00:23:00.000-06:00

I've been down with a cold since Wednesday, so I haven't been going out and doing too much. Even skipped school on Thursday, and I don't know why, but I feel like I'm letting my teachers down if I don't show up. Heh, makes me sound all full of myself! The only other time I've missed class this semester was for my appendectomy back in late September, so I've got a pretty good attendance record going.

Anyhoo, hopefully I'm back up and eating again real soon!!

Chili's

2005-11-02T18:36:00.000-06:00

Good ole Chili's. It's a fail-safe, and a chosen delight. It's been a favorite since they came to Peoria back around 1987 or 1988ish. It's especially dear to Dad. Just ask Mom, because they end up going there if he has his choice (or Cracker Barrel).

Me and the wife hit the East Peoria store last night around 9:30ish. It was either that or one of the other late nighters, and we had to go to Wal-Mart for important business (trash bags and caulk), so off we went. It was very uncrowded, especially in the dining area. I beleve when we got there only one table full of customers was around.

We ordered up a plate of the classic nachos, which are how nachos oughta be. Each individual chip has some kind of beany-meaty dip covered in cheese, topped with jalapeno peppers and ready to dip into sour cream or pico de gallo. Really, I oughta just get two orders of that instead of doing an entree, but what fun is that?

For our dinners Jenny had the soup and salad deal. Hard to mess up a side salad, and the broccoli cheese soup was thick and yummy. Last time she had it I dipped my fries in it. Maybe the start of a trend? I had the chicken tacos, which was new to me. Came with rice and beans, which I didn't actually care for. The tacos were pretty good, but I've had better stuff there, like the burgers and the monterey chicken, plus the chicken fried steak. All good stuff! Every once in a while they have a build-your-own-burger deal going, where you get a little notepad to check off ingredients and styles of burger. It's as close to nirvana as I'll ever get in the burger realm.

All in all, a good experience. I will indeed write about this place every time we go, because I'm always trying something different.

Chili's-HIT LIST!

Lonestar Steakhouse

2005-11-01T18:13:00.000-06:00

Over yonder by the mall (the old school mall, not the big cold one) rests the Lonestar Steakhouse. I've had a particular aversion to this place because of the tendence for three ribeyes to be ordered, and mine invariably is the ugly, small, curled up one, yet I'm paying the same price as the other lovely ones (when I say three steaks ordered, that means that three of us each ordered a steak).

But good ole Don caught my attention when he uttered the words "all-you-can-eat ribs". Immediately my aspersions went out the door, only temporarily. I would save final judgment for post-ribs.

So the Don and I, accompanied by Jason, met up Monday night at the feast site. After turning down alcoholic drinks and salads, we waited for our meat portions to arrive. In no time at all, we were faced with a rack each of very good, tender, tasty pork ribs. They weren't over-saucy and were warm and yummy. Absolutely good stuff, for sure. Jason really liked his rice side-dish with the peas and mushrooms, the goof. The Don and I had two more portions, while Jason felt that "personal comfort" was more important than getting your money's worth, the goof.

All in all, a good experience. I'm still hesitant about going there on a non-feast day, but I may not put up so much of a fight the next time it is suggested.

Chez Richman

2005-11-01T18:06:00.000-06:00

A lovely little chalet overlooking Heritage Lake was the setting for me and the wife's Saturday night of fine dining. To satisfy the view of fall foliage overlooking a sunset on the lake, we had nothing but the best fare-hot dogs, baked beans, and s'mores!!!

Our friends Greg and Heather Richman, not quite married a month yet, invited a few of us over to their new home out in Mackinaw. Other guests include Ron and Katie, who should have brought the hashbrown casserole, and Joseph and Angie, who brought their own gourmet feast, Not Dogs. A fire pit was prepared, and while the womenfolk gabbed, the fellers took a boatride out on the lake. Us and the dog.

The fire was great, the food was exactly the way I wanted it, the melted marshmallow of the s'mores got all over my hoodie. I couldn't have asked for a better evening out with friends like these folks! Topping off the night was a visit to a haunted schoolhouse in Gilson, Illinois. It's only a shame I frightened the help more than they frightened me.

Thanks to our hosts and friends for a great night!

Perkins

2005-10-30T11:31:00.000-06:00

Thursday evening found me and the wife having a late-night dinner at Perkins following my night class. This has become a typical move for us, as I don't get out of class till 8:45 and sometimes the wife works till 10:30, so neither of us really want to do any cooking that late.

Perkins has been a place for the nighttime denizens to meet on the weekends and do whatever they do. Used to be a 24-hour place but they only do that on Thursdays-Saturdays now.

This restaurant is a typical family-type restaurant, nothing real special about it, but in my experiences, they do everything just fine, especially breakfast. I've never had a bad breakfast, as they have lots of choices, especially the omelettes!

The wife had a bread bowl chef salad. I guess you can't really mess those up, so no further comments needed for that. I had a spicy chicken finger sandwich with fries. This sandwich is chicken fingers wtih pepper jack cheese and tomatoes on sourdough toast. It is awful dang good, and big to boot! Fries are decent, but you can catch them on a bad day and get subpar fries. Nothing I hate worse than subpar fries!!

SOoooooo.... if you're looking for a good breakfast or a late night dinner of some sorts, this is a good choice. There's not a lot of choices for this kind of thing in Peoria, so this is the one I typically will go for.

Pizzeria Uno

2005-10-29T09:52:00.000-05:00

Long a favorite pizza of mine, when it came to town a few years back I was quite ecstatic. I really cannot stand the cheap-0 pizzas like Papa John's and Domino's and, to a degree, Pizza Hut. The one thing about Uno is that they are truly a Chicago deep-dish variety.

If you're not familiar with the placement of Peoria's Uno outlet, it's in the lobby of the Mark Twain Hotel down on the corner of Adams and Fayette. With the new overpass at Adams over I-74, it's even trickier to get into the parking lot from Adams, but there is a spot. Plus you can access it from Fayette.

With said new overpass, it's a bit raised, so if you're sitting inside along Adams, there's a bit of a small courtyard (could have big possibilities when the nice weather returns!), but then a wall is the rest of your view.

About the food-the only thing I've ever had as an entree is the pizza, specifically the Chicago Classic. Twice the cheese, twice the tomatoes, and twice the sausage on an extra crispy crust. This is the kind of pizza with the sauce and such on top, which is the way real deep dish pizza is.

Me and Aaron dined there on Wednesday night. Sat at the bar and watched game 4 of the World Series and had ourselves the pizza noted above. For appetizers we had the buffalo chicken quesadilla, which instead of tortilla is made from pizza crust and grilled. It's pretty tasty. The big surprise was the... I forget how it's listed in the menu but it means to be a sort-of potato skin, only it's more of a pizza with mashed potatoes, topped with cheese and bacon. How tasty!!

Our server/bartender, Lea (or Leah, forgive me) was nice and kept the refills coming and even let us sit there and watch the game while the place was closing all around us.

Pizzeria Uno-HIT LIST!!

Congratulations...

2005-10-26T23:24:00.000-05:00

...to the Chicago White Sox, for their four-game sweep of the 2005 World Series.

I don't ever root for the Sox, but I think I'm happy for them, and for the city of Chicago.

Next year it's my turn to celebrate. Next year is the year of the Chicago Cubs!

Back Into Town

2005-10-25T18:50:00.000-05:00

I've so ignored the Peoria area eating establishments for a week now! For this, I apologize to all the restaurants for their lack of my business. I can't help it if I've been getting good home-cooked meals and otherwise dining in other states.

On our trip through Iowa, Minnesota and back, we ate a great deal of good food. We started with Hardee's in Macomb. Anyone who's ever attended Western Illinois knows that the Hardee's on West Jackson serves a breakfast called the Harold. If I recall correctly, it was named for a special man who ordered his meal the same way every morning: biscuits and gravy, with scrambled eggs on top and hash rounds on top of that, all self-contained in one nice tray. It was as I remembered it from 14 years ago.

Now I'm not going to go through every place we ate, because for most everyone, it doesn't apply. But a few highlights: the wiener schnitzel at the Ox-Yoke Inn in Amana, Iowa, Bubba Gump's in the Mall Of America, the Sunday Brunch at the Mystic Lake Casino and Hotel. The rest of the places were good eatins. We stopped at a place in Hudson, Wisconsin and had a sandwich. For an appetizer we had tortilla chips and pico de gallo. The chips tasted awful, like they were fried in nasty grease. But the pico was good stuff.

Anyhoo, keep reading. The restaurants will soon once again be repeating the same phrase-"Thank you, Floyd. Thank you for giving us your money for all the food you just ate!"

Out Of Town

2005-10-20T23:31:00.000-05:00

Me and the wife are leaving out of here Friday morning for a night in a bed and BREAKFAST in Amana, Iowa, then on to the Mall of America on Saturday, so there won't be any reports from Peoria area restaurants.

However, when we get back, I'm sure I'll be wanting to talk about Bubba Gump's!!

Avanti's

2005-10-18T16:04:00.000-05:00

So Monday night found myself, the wife, her friend Steph and all of our's friend Jarrett at Avanti's up on Main Street.

Even people who come here for a visit remember the name Avanti's. What wonderful bread you have, you Italian cheapo-bistro you!

Cheap is the indicator here. And by cheap, I mean good prices, not tawdry or weakened or anything like that. Besides ordering a pizza, is there an entree on the menu over $7.00?

This place has the run of everything pasta, as long as you're okay with meat sauce, marinara or alfredo. You want fancier? I suggest Ponte Vecchio. Rizzi's is good, too. But i'm getting off track. We're talking about Avanti's.

Spaghetti, linguini, tortellini, ravioli, some meatballs, maybe a piece of chicken breast. All makes for decent eating. The spaghetti sauce tends to stay with you for a few hours longer than you want. One single burp lets the entire neighborhood know that you dined out tonite!

Pizza's are good, too. Not thick, not thin. Right there in the middle. I've always liked the sausage and black olive pizza. Me and my old buddy Scott used to order those up quite a bit, so there's probably some sentimentality clouding my judgment. It's a far sight better than the Pizza Hut's, Domino's and Papa Johns.

But, of course, they've made a name for themselves with their famous sweet bread, and especially the Gondola. Former Peorians who come home to visit the loved ones will, on occasion, fill a cooler up with Gondolas for their eating enjoyment at home, wherever that may be. I've noted this happening with MANY different people. The guts of a Gondola are simple-lettuce, American cheese, ham and salami (mayo and mustard optional), but when thrust upon that sweet, yummy bread? It's like a chewy heaven.

Eaten tonight-a 6" sausage and black olive pizza (guess who), pizza burger (sauce, meatballs and cheese) X 2, pizza bread deluxe, or whatever they call it (onions, mushrooms, green pepper, pepperoni, cheese, some kind of sauce), and the Monday night special-all you can eat linguini for four bucks! Just awesome!

This place is suggested if you're not in the mood to cook but don't have a great deal of money. Hey! Which describes me! And most everybody I know, too.

Casa del Floyd

2005-10-16T22:32:00.000-05:00

Big ole pot of chili sitting on the stove. Not as absolutely wonderful as some of my various and sundry chili's of the past (I am the Chili Master among my friends, and if they don't think so, then CHALLENGE!!), but for my first attempt in close to two years, it'll do.

I cheated on the first bowl, however. Put some cheese in it, which is something I never do.

And no, you can't come over. 8-)

Golden Corral

2005-10-16T15:28:00.000-05:00

Following a good whipping in the first game of our softball tournament this morning, we decided to drown our sorrows in as much scrambled eggs and bacon as we could. Our happy crew, consisting of Jason (a name you'll see often on this website), Charlie, Russ and his ladyfriend Jennifer, Pat, Jared, Herb and Mike, set off for Washington, Illinois, to the Golden Corral breakfast buffet.

Very typical fare, but a lot of it. Highlights-the Omelet Bar (my capitalization for reverence), smoked sausage, chipped beef and toast (S.O.S.!!!), and all things worthy of receiving syrup. Jason accidentally forgot to read the label on the bottle of the no-sugar syrup, so he corrected his faux-pas with a packet of sugar. Caveman.

I'm not going to spend a lot of time breaking this place down, but I just wanted to highlight that such a place exists, and for $7.38 or something like that (and that includes the drink), you can have anything, practically, for breakfast that you want. What you receive in the number of choices, you do lose in quality, but come on. How bad can ham be? Or hash browns? Or little boxes of Lucky Charms? Or French toast?

But what really made it special was two things-the company in which I shared my meal, and the fact that we got there at such a time that after a while, they switched to lunch. Too bad-the omelet sacked me, else some fried chicken would have been heading my way.

Club Cabaret

2005-10-16T15:12:00.000-05:00

Saturday night took me and a buddy, Jason, to Club Cabaret. Before you think I've delved into talking about nudie bars, they do indeed have a dining room. It used to be a pretty nice room, with around four tables and three nice booths in the back, but they've trimmed it down to just the two front tables. The rest of the former dining room has turned into a "VIP Room". I won't get into guessing games as to what goes on in there, because my best friend (who is not my wife) Aaron works there.

We showed up to the place around 6:00 and, wouldn't you know it, the dining room was full! So we bopped around, visited with our buddy and watched the ends of the Cardinals/Astros game (go None Of The Above!) and the USC/Notre Dame game.

When we got a table, I think we caught the waitress during a rather busy time. They do serve food out on the main floor as well, so she probably had a few tables to take care of there, too. She finally got around to us and got the table cleared off and got us our drinks and took our order. When it came time to order we chose to split a humongous plate of nachos. Two grown men could make a filling meal out of this. It's got everything (except guacamole, dangit) you could want with an enormous blob of sour cream on top. Absofabuloso!

My buddy got an order of potato skins (cheesy and good, according to him) and 20 chicken wings. Now, the chicken wings is arguably the best deal going. These are gigantic wings, not the shriveled up ones you tend to get at other places. One can order them hot, mild, breaded or unbreaded, and maybe a few other options. He got the mild unbreaded ones. As always, they were just dandy.

I wasn't feeling very inspired, so I just got a Cajun cheeseburger, which I believe means they seasoned it up a bit more. Came with all the usual burger veggies. Side dishes included a baked potato and a dinner salad with their house dressing, which is a sweet bacon type thing. I think they referred to it as Brittany. Either that or I overheard the DJ from the main room announcing the next dancer. That would explain why my baked potato was named Athena.

I've tried a number of different things on the menu, which includes ribeyes, prime rib... well, maybe that's all I've had. But both are EXCELLENT! I prefer the ribeye, always done just right (medium) and a sizeable portion. Good prices, too; the big ribeye is like 18 or 19 bucks.

The waitressing staff are always very nice. Tonight ours got a bit busy, but once the food started happening she got rolling, too. For making us wait early on (which wasn't a big deal anyhoo) she charged us for a half-order of the nachos, so that was something she didn't have to do. Wish I could remember her name!

Club Cabaret is on the HIT LIST! I just wish they wouldn't have shrunk the dining room. Jason made the comment that it felt like a training area for waitresses instead of a true restaurant.

Jimmy John's

2005-10-14T14:57:00.000-05:00

Okay, I'm going to be a bit biased about this place. I work extremely part-time at the Metro Centre store and subsequently get discounts and free sammitches, so that makes the place already awesome, and a major player on the HIT LIST.

I'm not going to enter a post here for every time I have myself a free sammitch, but just this once I will let it be known what's good. To me, anyhow.

Today's sammitch was a #1, known as the Pepe. Usually it's ham, cheese (provolone!), lettuce, tomato and mayo on the French bread. I leave off the tommy-toes, go easy on the lettuce, and put a toot of Dijon mustard on it.

Also good sammitches: #3 Sorry Charlie (good tuna), #4 Turkey Tom (leave the sprouts and tomatoes off, personal preference), #12 Beach Club (avocado!!), and the #16 Club Lulu (mmmm... bacon.... but you gotta pay for the cheese, which is SO unfair).

And the guy running the place, Greg, is an old friend, and the rest of the people working there are great!

Texas Roadhouse

2005-10-13T21:51:00.000-05:00

Now I've never been too enamored with this place. It doesn't help that it's right next to Chili's, which is one of my favorite restaurants.

It's always crowded. Why? Not the best food around, but it's not real bad, either. I've had bad luck with the steaks. Me and a couple of friends would order the 16 oz. ribeye and theirs would be big and cooked right, while mine looked like the crap that fell off the truck and rinsed off and cooked. Everything else I've ever had was decent enough.

Buuuttt.... a couple of Saturdays ago myself and four friends went to this joint, put our names in for FIVE diners at a TABLE. When we were seated approximately 50 minutes later, we were given a small booth with a chair at the end of it. I don't like to squeeze my fat ass inside booths anyways, but I was four days removed from having an appendectomy and didn't really want to rub my healing wounds up against a table. About 3 minutes into our seating a table with six chairs came open after the two diners that were sitting there left. I caught the lady diner's eye and she motioned for us to grab that table. I asked our waitress if we could switch over to the table and she responded that we could indeed, and she helped us take our silverware and basket of rolls (good rolls) to this new table, and then proceeded to take our drink order.

Before the drinks arrived some young punk came back and said, "I'm going to have to ask you to move back to your table. This one was saved for another party." He was quite assholey about it, especially when told that we did have permission by the server to move here. He was hearing none of it and didn't quite understand that it was what we requested in the first place... a TABLE!!! I pushed away and started for the door. He started saying, as I passed him, "If you like, we can put you back on the waiting list for a table." I commented to him, in a very nice voice, "Not fucking likely."

So, across the parking lot to Chili's (left our cars in the Texas Roadhous parking lot... passive/aggressiveness), 15 minute wait, TABLE, and better food!!

As soon as I can figure out how to do it, I'm going to add a sidebar to this blog and have a SHIT LIST and a HIT LIST. Texas Roadhouse has the absolute pleasure of being the first on my SHIT LIST!!

Applebee's is on there too. Sucky food, and their French onion soup tried to kill me once.

First Post

2005-10-13T21:23:00.000-05:00

I wanted to create this blog to express my opinions and views about local restaurants. I know we get reviews in the Peoria Journal Star, but they happen once a week, usually focus on new restaurants, and are relatively politically correct. With my little piece of the Internet, I'm going to call it like it is, not pull punches, and really let you know what's what with dining.

I do a lot of dining out. Between being lazy AND busy quite a bit of the time, I don't always feel like doing a great deal of cooking, even though I like it. Plus our kitchen's small and unwelcoming. Functional, yes. But not bent towards my creative side.

I'm going to talk about bad experiences, good experiences, fancy places and dives, fast food and slow food. What I hope I can provide is a heads-up to readers about choices they may make in where they go to eat.

Not quite sure if there's anything else like this in Peoria. There's listings of area restaurants to be found, but not much else than that.

The thing that prompted me to do this? Read my next post, which will cover the first of many restaurants.