Noted

Lee's Family Restaurant in Peoria has closed.

Noted

Deany's Sippys & Eats (in the former Grant's Inn in Mossville) has closed.

Round up

My recent Peoria dining experiences include hummus, pita and a garden salad with strawberry poppyseed dressing at One World and a combo featuring garlic tomato soup and a half of a chicken salad sandwich on soft wheat bread at Café 401.

At long last I also had dinner at PV II in Peoria. The standout here was the food: acorn squash soup, like a decadent dessert, served piping hot; rich spinach rotolo, again served piping hot, with an incredible flavor;
and my husband's lasagna, topped with a vibrantly red tomato sauce. The bread was standard fare, accompanied by a quality olive oil. We also tried the flourless torte, which, despite not saying so on the menu, I thought it had a distinct coffee flavor which I preferred over a chocolate only torte.
Service was fine and we also got to take advantage of a bottle of half price wine, which is a Thursday special at the restaurant.

We also stopped for wings and a thin crust pie at Firehouse Pizza in Washington. Yum on both counts!

The Flame Family Restaurant

Some friends of ours told us that The Flame Family Restaurant in Metamora was a great place to eat, so on a recent Sunday we headed over to give it a try.
Walking in to what my husband says long ago used to be an A&W, we were greeted by a case filled with scrumptious-looking pies.
We were welcomed by a hostess who took us to a booth, and soon had placed our drink orders with our waitress.
Once my husband saw they had hot turkey on the menu, he ditched the breakfast section of the choices. I almost did the same, but I decided I could try a bite of his turkey, so I ordered French toast with bacon.
My French toast was well-coated in egg batter and the bacon was surprisingly tasty compared to a lot of breakfast places we've been.
My husband had selected a cup of French onion soup to go with his turkey dinner. It arrived not looking like the ordinary variety capped with cheese, but had an almost tomato-looking base, and had a great flavor.
The turkey was not some pressed turkey loaf but was a nice quality bird, and once he took a bite of the mashed potatoes my husband exclaimed with excitement "They're real, with lumps!"
Service was good and all of the employees seemed to be working together, grabbing plates when they were empty and keeping things tidy.
The bill was reasonable, well under $20 for two meals and two drinks.

Noted

The Dome Tap in Peoria has closed.

The Loft salon and spa opened in East Peoria last summer.

Closing the book on 2010

Here we are just a week into the new year, and my thoughts have turned to the locally-owned businesses we lost in 2010.
The list includes:

Happy Hanger
Water Street Wines, Café & Coffees
Mushrush's Irish Pub
The Bean
Youssef's Deli
Diana's Family Restaurant
Kaiserhof Restaurant
Velvet Freeze
Goodness Café
Cummins Drive-Thru
Sullivan's
Tingleff Pharmacy
Twin Tower Cafe
Jane Dough
Chef Leo's
Heavenly Delights BBQ
Harolds Hamburgers
St. Pauli Pub
The Sports Page
Jane Dough

I'm sure I missed a few.
We've already lost a couple of businesses this year as well. Let's keep supporting those businesses we love and may they thrive in 2011 and beyond!

Caffé Italia Ristorante

My husband works in Bloomington every so often, and he has been raving about a little place called Caffé Italia Ristorante.
He had been hooked by their cheese pizza, and had also tried one of their pastas of the day and raved about the sauce.
I had a chance to have lunch at Caffé Italia a few weeks ago. I ordered the Pizza al Formaggio and a drink and took a seat in the café to await my meal.
Several of the diners appeared to be regulars, possibly from nearby State Farm. Many of them were also partaking of the Italian holiday treats the restaurant had in stock.
My pizza arrived shortly, and it was indeed delicious, with a wonderfully crisp crust.
Beer and wine is available, as well as a couple of my favorites: Gelato and cannoli.

Over Easy Café

We've eaten at the new Over Easy Café on Lake in Peoria twice now.
The first time we ordered off the lunch menu. My husband had a burger and I had turkey.
The restaurant, open for breakfast and lunch, features a daily lunch special and a soup of the day.
A couple of weeks later we sampled the breakfast fare. I had a corned beef hash skillet, which was tasty and plenty to fill me up. If I recall, the husband had biscuits and gravy. We were drinking coffee, and this is one place where they know how to keep the customers' coffee warm. Our waitress and others stopped by several times to top our cups off.
A menu item of note is their cinnamon roll pancakes, which we are eager to try. We weren't feeling the sweet tooth on our last visit, but we'll be sure to try them soon!

Noted

Mickie's Pizzeria has closed their Peoria location. Visit them in Dunlap, East Peoria or Pekin.

I just heard the sad news that Haddad's grocery in West Peoria has burned down and the building is a total loss.