Noted

Bernardi's North in Dunlap's Lake of the Woods Plaza is changing their name to Bernardi's Pub and Italian Eatery.

Noted

I received a tip from a reader that Retro American Tap on Peoria's riverfront was closed as of yesterday, and confirmed this tonight. The location formerly housed Old Chicago.

Noted

Yesterday while we were in downtown Peoria for the St. Patrick's Day parade, we noticed that The Nut House on Main Street is for sale.

Luck o' the Irish

We're going to take in the St. Patrick's Day parade in Peoria on Saturday.
I'm sure there are no shortage of places that will be serving up corned beef and cabbage for the occasion. I saw that Jimmy's Bar on Farmington Road will be featuring the meal for $8, along with Guinness beef stew and other special menu items.
Do you have a favorite haunt for St. Pat's themed food?

Noted

The Butcher Block Steakhouse, located in Peoria's Junction City, is now known as Magnolia's on Propsect.

Maxine's on Main

Recently a friend and I headed out to Morton to try the new Maxine's on Main, located at 208 N. Main Street.
We walked in to the cozy bungalow and were recognized by our reservation and arrival time and were seated on the front porch area at a tall table.
Both being fans of cheese, we decided to partake of the cheese plate, which our server told us consisted of goudas, one goat cheese and three cow cheeses. The cheeses were accompanied by a delicious cherry mustard, some nuts and savory caramelized onions.
For dinner I went with the wheat crusted salmon on a bed of red pepper couscous.
We finished our meal with a chocolate flight for dessert. We got to sample a Cabernet brownie; cayenne, hazelnut and bacon truffles; Pot de Creme and chocolate bark. My favorites were the spicy cayenne truffle and the bark.
Service was great and all of the food was nicely presented and well-prepared.
Maxine's also features a nice wine and beer selection, and currently only serves dinner Tuesday through Saturday.