Grant's Homestyle Café

In honor of national pie day being this week, I decided to blog about a restaurant we visited a couple of weeks ago.
We had gone in search of a new, interesting place to do some geocaching on a weekend, and ended up visiting Lincoln's New Salem in Petersburg, IL.
I had been here when I was little on a family trip, but I didn't remember the log cabin houses and businesses, rather, I had it in my mind as a place with brick streets and brick three story buildings. I still don't know where I was thinking of.
Anyway, Lincoln's New Salem was pretty deserted on a January Sunday. The visitor's center was open, and after stopping there, we wandered the streets peering into the houses and businesses.
Leaving New Salem, all of the restaurants we tried to hit in town were closed, either for the day, or for the season, not sure which.
Finally, we lucked across a place that was open, Grant's Homestyle Café, 201 S. Main Street in Athens.
The restaurant, located right across the street from the Abraham Lincoln Long Nine Museum, has a slight vintage feel, with black and white checkered floors, retro designs on the formica tabletops and an old jukebox along one wall. The restaurant was silent on this day, though, save for the conversations of the employees and a couple of locals hanging out drinking coffee.
Our waitress was friendly and prompt during our meal.
StfRon chose a burger with fries, and I went with the turkey club with chips. The food tasted homemade, no institutional burger patties or pre-made sandwiches here.
During our entire time in the restaurant, I had been unsuccessfully trying to get the pie selection board off my mind. There were so many great options there, including coconut cream pie and peanut butter pie.
StfRon caved and agreed to share a piece of peanut butter pie with me.
Oh, mama! This was one good piece of pie. The layer of whipped cream on top was at least two inches thick, topping a creamy, rich, cream cheese/peanut butter concoction. The crust was comprised of graham cracker crumbs, which fit this pie much better than a standard pie crust would have.
If you're ever visiting Lincoln's New Salem and have a hankering for some pie, give Grant's a try.