EP's Timeout and Sports Eatery

EP's Timeout sits along East Washington Street where Diana's Family Restaurant once did in East Peoria.
I've eaten at the sports-themed bar and restaurant about three times, twice for lunch and once for breakfast.
The most recent time we had lunch there, they had $5 lunch specials that included a soft drink, which is quite a deal. My husband and I both had hot beef, the comfort meal featuring white bread, roast beef and a scoop of mashed potatoes drenched in beef gravy. With the weather turning cooler, that meal sounds great about right now!
In addition to a Sunday breakfast buffet, which we have not tried, EP's breakfast features a good selection of the usual suspects: eggs, biscuits and gravy, waffles, French toast, pancakes, meat and the like. The food was better than the cheap breakfast fare some places offer up.
The menu runs the whole gamut, from pizza to wraps to salads and healthier fare, plus stuffed burgers and hot dogs. And yes, there are plenty of TVs in case you want to catch a game while you're there.

Amber and Marty's Fillin' Station Family Diner

Sunday my husband wanted to go out for breakfast, so we took the opportunity to try Amber and Marty's Fillin' Station Family Diner in Sunnyland.
We arrived shortly before lunch and there were a handful of tables available in the automotive-themed restaurant, but within 30 minutes there was only one table left.
The menu features several breakfast combos (breakfast all day), omelets, appetizers, soups, salads, sandwiches and dinners.
As soon as I saw combo #5, the Straw boss ($7.75), I knew that's what I would be having. Smoked country ham, two eggs and choice of potato or grits. Of course I chose grits.
My husband had The buzz combo with pancakes and corned beef hash for $4.25.
Despite the restaurant being busy, it didn't take too long for our food to arrive.
The ham was tasty, and the hearty grits had just a few lumps, just the way I like them, and my husband's hash had a nice crust on top.
Our waitress was friendly and efficient. I'm glad the Fillin' Station is open on Sundays as I could see this being a fairly regular stop.

Mel's Cafe

Peoria's Mel's Café is located in a building that has changed hands several times over the last three or four years.

Most recently it was home to Stadium Pizza.

Located at 1420 SW Adams Street, the restaurant is serving breakfast and lunch seven days a week. We stopped by on a Sunday to give it a try.

The clean interior featured several tables in the front and along the wall next to the dining counter, which was topped with wood stained a rich chocolate brown.

They were doing a steady business just before 11 a.m., which was nice to see.

StfRon and I both decided to order a half order of biscuits and gravy accompanied by a side of corned beef hash and a couple of cups of coffee.

Our food arrived shortly.

The gravy was thick and rich, dotted with chunks of sausage. My husband said it tasted homemade. The hash was standard fare, but nicely prepared.

The coffee was good and we were kept well stocked with refills by our friendly server. In fact, at least three of the people working, including the gentleman who was cooking our food, talked to us and were quite friendly, making us feel at home.

One of the boards on display touted their pie selection, and we spoke to the lady who makes the pies. She said the pumpkin was fresh made the day before, complete with home made crust, but to our dismay we were too full to try a piece on this visit.

The prices were reasonable, and paired with the friendly service, I think Mel's Café may have a recipe for success to stop the revolving door of businesses moving in and out of this location.

August, 2010 — Mel's Café has closed. Hope to see them in a new location soon.
February, 2011 — Mel's Café opened in East Peoria at 520 E. Bloomington Road late last year.

Bamboo Inn

We don't go out to dinner nearly as often as we did three or four years ago, but oddly enough for the past three years we've managed to attempt to go to dinner, in East Peoria no less, on the evening of the Festival of Lights Parade without realizing the event was taking place. We probably eat dinner in East Peoria once or twice a year, but somehow manage to try it on the busiest night of the year.

This time we were quite pleased with ourselves, my husband having come up with a new place for us to try that we'd never been to: the Bamboo Inn.

We came off of 74 in East Peoria only to see several police cars with flashing lights on blocking off East Washington Street where we needed to turn to get to the restaurant and, with a sinking feeling, we realized it was the night of the parade. I suggested we could park at Walgreens and walk, but StfRon declared it too cold, so we abandoned our quest and came back for lunch the following week.

Walking in to the Bamboo Inn, the decor reminded me of Yen Ching in Peoria circa the 1980s with the Asian chandeliers and wall art and booths lining the left and right wall. This is fine by me, since Yen Ching was our special family outing when we were kids, and it brings back good memories.

The booths on the left were big, red and cushy, some of them worn but comfy, and the ones on the right were the newer unpadded style you see in places like Papa John's.

There was a buffet set up near the back of the room, but there was no food there during this lunch hour.

There were a couple of other tables of people dining during the lunch hour.

I joined my husband and checked out the menu, a leather-style bound one with a paper insert in the middle listing lunch specials.

I selected lunch special B, your choice of beef or chicken with pea pods, onions and water chestnuts served with fried rice and an egg roll for $4.25. I chose the chicken.

My husband ordered some beef chow mein after making sure there were no green peppers involved.

Our server was very polite and soon brought us a ceramic teapot filled with tea we ordered to ward off the chill.

Our food came out shortly and the lunch special I had was simply the ingredients described in the menu in an almost clear sauce that reminded me of Mom's homemade chicken and noodles sauce. If I had to guess, I would say there was little to no MSG in the dish, just chicken, vegetables and a light sauce.

The fried rice did not contain chunks of food like some places serve, but was also simple and had a nice flavor.

Soon we were on our way back to work having experienced another local restaurant without making a big dent in our wallets.

M & M Twistee Treat

Now that ice cream season is officially upon us, we made our first visit to M & M Twistee Treat in East Peoria.
This fun ice cream cone shaped building is located at 1207 E. Washington Street, offering both outdoor and indoor (in the attached building) seating.
The original Twistee Treats were built between 1983 and 1990.
One thing that has always impressed me about the East Peoria Twistee Treat is the number of items on the menu. I could eat there five days in a row and still have more things I wanted to try.
The massive menu includes: tenderloins; burgers; hot dogs; polish sausage; tamales; chicken; pizza burgers; catfish; Italian beef; tacos; pizza rolls; BBQ; and fried veggies, plus several frozen treats.
They offer basket specials which include fries, and daily specials.
M & M Twistee Treat is closed during the winter months.

Emerald Tea Room

Recently I had the pleasure of dining at one of my favorite lunch spots: The Emerald Tea Room, 132 McKinley Street (downtown near Long John Silver's) in East Peoria.
The rustic country style tea room offers several sandwiches and salads, soups and daily specials. And of course, delectable desserts.
On this occasion, I had a ham salad sandwich on multigrain bread served with chips and a small serving of fruit. The sandwich was good and the fruit (blackberries, strawberry, muskmelon and kiwi) stood out to me as being some of the freshest tasting fruit I've encountered in a long time. No easy feat in Illinois in February, I'm sure.
For dessert, I shared a cranberry pear crisp topped with ice cream with my mom. It was nicely warmed and packed with cinnamony goodness.
The owner served us, and was prompt and friendly throughout our stay.
The Emerald Tea Room also does catering and is available during off hours for private parties.

Eyesal's Coffee Roasters

Last week on our way back from East Peoria we had a chance to stop at Eyesal's Coffee Roasters, 400 E. Washington Street in East Peoria.
The coffee shop has an unusual name which I thought must be the last name of one of the owners. I found out instead that Eyesal's is an acronym for Espresso Yourself, Smile A Latte.
So the owner's name is not Eyesal, but he made us feel very welcome and recognized that it was our first time visiting the quaint shop, furnished with dark leathery chairs and couches situated on bright red carpet.
Eyesal's roasts their own beans, and both my husband and I were pleasantly surprised at the bold flavor of our chosen coffee drinks.
The menu features teas in addition to the coffees, and smoothies as well. There is a meeting room available, and free WiFi access. They also offer a punch card that they will keep on file for you in the shop, in case you're tired of toting around all of those membership cards.

TNT Sports Bar & Grill

Sunday we took another ride on the River Trail of Illinois in East Peoria, thinking the fall colors would be out in full force. Either they're not quite there yet, or they aren't going to be that stunning, but the weather was great for a ride nonetheless. Some friends of ours met us for the ride.
The trail passes right behind TNT Sports Bar & Grill, so we made plans to stop there for a bite to eat.
TNT is located at 3304 Meadows Avenue in East Peoria.
We stepped inside to find a dark (especially coming in from the noontime sun) dining room behind the bar, walls lined with wood planks. Through some window openings into the bar that were covered with Plexiglas, we could see a row of several flat screen TVs, each displaying different football games.
Along the bar wall in the room was a nicely maintained shuffleboard table.
When we took our seat, there were about three other tables of people in the dining room, but once noon hit a pretty steady stream of customers flowed into the restaurant.
We had been tossing around the idea of Bloody Marys and breakfast at the bar. Our waitress came by to take our drink order, and since I hadn't seen any sign of a breakfast menu, I asked for an iced tea. StfRon looked at me and said "What, no Bloody Mary??" Our waitress piped up and said they had a Bloody Mary bar. We were all intrigued, and three of us ordered one.
The waitress delivered three glasses of vodka on ice to our table, then escorted us to the Bloody Mary bar to give us the rundown.
There were several bottles of Bloody Mary mix, one of which is TNT's own creation, which she mentioned has won some awards. We all decided to try that one. There were seasonings like Worcestershire, celery salt, salt and pepper, and garnishes including Slim Jims, celery, green olives, pickles and green onions. There was also a pot of chili and some bowls on the Bloody Mary bar.
We loaded up our drinks and headed back to the table to enjoy our creations.
We decided to go with pizza for our lunch. StfRon and I ordered the sweetfire chicken pizza and our friends went with a deluxe. We also ordered some wings in honey BBQ (StfRon's doing) and mild for me.
TNT's pizzas are thin crust. The sauce on the sweetfire chicken pizza ended up having a pretty good kick to it. Between that, the Bloody Mary and the mild wings, my taste buds were heading toward a mild inferno. If I order that pizza again, I think I would have to cut down on the amount I ate.
StfRon enjoyed the honey BBQ wings. I don't particularly care for sweet wings, but I liked the mild ones.
Service was good, and several servers checked on us from time-to-time. I also visited the women's restroom and was fairly surprised at the decor and cleanliness. I really had prepared myself for a more low-end utilitarian restroom, but this was definitely a few steps above.
We were also pleasantly surprised when we got the bill. With the Bloody Mary bar priced at only $3, wings at 35 cents and pizzas at a few bucks off on Sundays, we made off with a bargain, and had we not been on bikes, we could have taken home some leftovers.
TNTs has daily specials and offers free WiFi.

TNT opened a second location in Peoria Heights at the former Penguin Tap in early 2009.

River Trail of Illinois

We've hiked the River Trail of Illinois from East Peoria's Fon du Lac park district building on Veterans Drive a few times over the years. But, with the recent acquisition of some bikes, I thought it might be fun to ride the trail Saturday, which turned out to be a beautiful morning.
The hard-surfaced hiking and biking trail was finished in 1991, running 4.8 miles north and east out of East Peoria along the old Illinois Terminal Railway line.
Starting out on our bikes, we were soon pedaling and pedaling. Each time we would stop pedaling to coast a bit, we would instantly lose speed. It didn't really look like we were ascending, but checking our GPS, we found that at one point in the ride, we had ascended almost 200 feet!
About four miles into the ride, we were able to stop near an ice cream shop in East Peoria and look for a geocache. StfRon quickly found the hidden gem, and I grabbed a bottle of water from the ice cream shop vending machine, since they were closed.
We did encounter a pretty long uphill slope at one point, but we finally made it to the crest.
We continued on the trail to see the end, and turns out it connects with a trail in Morton. We rode to the Oak Lawn trailer park, then turned back, deciding we could check out the Morton portion some other time.
Riding back was the real treat due to the return trip down the slope. Coasting down, I kept picking up speed until at one point I was cruising at 18 MPH. I was able to coast without pedaling for at least a mile, with the breeze blowing through my hair, enjoying the view of all the trees.
It was at that moment that I decided I would have to hit this trail again on my bike when the fall colors are out in full force.
Several people were out enjoying the nice day on the path, from bikers to walkers. I plan to make it more of a habit now, too.

Carl's Bakery & Restaurant

For years we've talked about stopping by Carl's Bakery & Restaurant, 815 E. Camp Street in East Peoria. How could we resist, with the regal rooster perched in the parking lot? But time and time again when we drove by, we found the place closed.
Today we lucked into finding Carl's open. We stepped inside, which was a bit like stepping back in time. I'll bet things haven't changed much there in 40 years.
There were a few booths in the dining room, and a case of pastries along the back wall near the kitchen. There was also a counter which I'm sure used to host a row of stools, but now there's a booth in front of the counter.
At 10 a.m., we found about three tables of people enjoying coffee and reading the paper.
We took a seat along the wall, above which hung an old framed Daylight Donuts poster.
Our waitress, Edna, was a delight, joking with us throughout our visit. She also took care of the fairly steady stream of people who stopped in for the donuts.
Checking out the menu, I was surprised at how reasonable the prices were. All of the sandwiches except the tenderloin were under $4, many of them even under $3.
We both chose the two eggs with corned beef hash, served with a side of toast. While we waited, we shared an apple fritter that seemed very fresh, filled with apple and cinnamon goodness.
Right about the time we were expecting our food to arrive, there was word from the kitchen, where things seemed to be a little harried, that there was no corned beef hash. We were somewhat devastated by this, as we have corned beef hash pretty much every place that serves it. StfRon decided to sub ham and I went with bacon.
Our meals arrived a bit later with an apology, piping hot. StfRon found the ham to have some sweetness to it, and my two scrambled eggs must have come from the biggest egg laying chicken around.
The lady who brought our meals out stopped over at the next booth and bantered around with the couple who are apparently regulars, as she took their order.
In addition to the Daylight Donuts, Carl's is also home to Broaster chicken, and offers catering and special occasion cakes. They are closed Sunday and Mondays, and serve breakfast and lunch the rest of the week.
On our way out, the lady from the kitchen again apologized for our wait, and said, "Next time we'll have corned beef hash...maybe!" with a wry grin.

EastPort Marina Cantina Bar and Grill

It may be one of the longest business names I've heard in a while, but the EastPort Marina Cantina Bar and Grill decks boast one of the best views in town.
I noticed that the bar and grill, located at 701 Mariners Way in East Peoria, was open again when I saw their ad in the Washington Times Reporter a couple of months ago.
We are lucky enough to go boating quite often with some friends, and another lunch option on the river is always a good thing.
We docked at the marina a few weeks ago for lunch on a weekend, and took a seat on the lower deck. The view of the Peoria skyline and the light breeze made the spot quite relaxing.
After checking out the menu inside, I decided to try a Cuban sandwich. StfRon had a cheeseburger, and our friends split the same two sandwiches, plus an order of chips and salsa.
The food was nothing fancy, but hit just the right spot.

One night after an event in East Peoria last week, we met up at EastPort Marina Cantina Bar and Grill again for drinks, and ended up ordering a Butch's white garlic pizza to serve as our dinner. The bar was featuring a special on Bud Light bottles, $2 each.
Once again, the view was tops and with our appetite nicely sated by the pizza, we were set for the night.

The bar and grill is open from 2 p.m.-1 a.m. Monday-Wednesday, 2 p.m.-2 a.m. Thursday and Friday, 11 a.m.-2 a.m. Saturday and noon-1 a.m. Sunday with live music featured on weekends.
You can also carry out ice and cases of beer for boating, should you run low.

Lorena's Mexican Restaurant

With Cinco de Mayo falling on a Monday, it seemed a perfect time to check out the new addition at 422 Riverside Drive in East Peoria, Lorena's Mexican Restaurant.
StfRon was planning to meet me there fairly early, right after work. I walked through the restaurant and didn't see him, so I stepped through the arched doorway decorated with painted stone accents and found him sitting at the bar having a cerveza.
I joined him and ordered a margarita, which, due to the projected large (or crazy) crowd, was served in a plastic cup rimmed with salt.
We visited for a while and played some festive tunes on the digital jukebox, then decided to just have our dinner at the bar.
We asked for some menus and found them chock full of offerings. Our lovely bar maid/maiden also brought us some chips and salsa. The chips were not salty, like some offerings I've had.
Being a green sauce junkie, I went with the enchilada zuisas, three cheese enchiladas topped with roasted pork and green salsa.
StfRon selected a beef chimichanga.
Our food arrived pretty quickly, but not so fast that we didn't enjoy our drinks and chips and salsa.
My meal was good, not spicy at all, and had a heftier amount of pork on it than I've been served at some places. StfRon's chimichanga was good, too, buried under lots of guacamole, beans and more, and he said it did have some spice to it.
Most of the entrées on the menu were priced at $7.75.
By the time we left around 6:30 or so, they were not yet packed and we were wishing we'd arrived a bit later so we could hear the band that was set to play starting at 8 p.m. But we did notice that they have a live mariachi band every Thursday starting at 6 p.m.
There are also three large TVs over the bar, for the sports enthusiasts.
The next time you're in downtown Peoria and are thinking about making a run for the border, take the short jaunt over the river and check out Lorena's.

Mickie's Pizzeria

Last week we met some friends at Mickie's Pizzeria for dinner.
This outing took place at their new Peoria location in Westlake shopping center, although we have visited Mickie's a few times at 137 Radio City Drive in Pekin in the past five years.
The Westlake location looked brand spanking new with it's clean tile floors, rust and green hued walls and ying yang-esque seat cushions.
Our waitress during this visit was very thorough, repeating back everyone's order to them after she had taken them all, to make sure she had everything right. And things were delivered just as we ordered them.
We started with some sweet bread and garlic bread, then all had our own thin crust pie (no thick crust here), with three of the group ordering fiesta pizzas. StfRon, the lone male dining with four females, went for the meat pizza, and I chose the five star, with smoked bacon, red onions, garlic, Canadian bacon and pineapple as my five stars. I was trying to come up with a new concoction with lots of flavor. It turned out to be pretty good, and made for a nice lunch at home a couple of days later.
Mickie's also serves wings, sandwiches and pasta dishes.

December, 2010 — Mickie's has closed their location in Peoria. Visit them in Dunlap, Pekin or East Peoria.

Pleasant Hill Antique Mall and Tea Room

A couple years back, a friend of ours claimed he had the "best steak ever" at Pleasant Hill Antique Mall Tea Room, 315 S. Pleasant Hill Road in East Peoria. I've yet to try the steaks, but it's an interesting claim.
This weekend, StfRon and I enjoyed breakfast in the tearoom at the mall. The crowd wasn't huge, but not terrible, either, considering the snowfall, and the later breakfast hour.
Our waitress came over right away, before I perused the drink menu and asked if we wanted coffee, so instead of making her wait, I said yes. Normally, since I had coffee at home, I probably would have had some sort of juice. But, much to my surprise, they had a decent cup of Joe here. Some breakfast places seem to chintz out on the coffee. I'd rather drink juice or chocolate milk than subpar coffee, but this was good.
Trying to be good, I went with oatmeal and wheat toast, with a side of brown sugar. To hell with being good, StfRon ordered biscuits and gravy with a side of corned beef hash, which of course, for the sake of blogging, I sampled.
Our food came out very quickly, which was good because we were very hungry. The gravy with the biscuits was not your standard fare, quite tasty. The hash was a little different, too. We couldn't tell if it was homemade, but it was good.
My toast was nicely doused with a butter or butter-like substance, and smeared with strawberry jam, was good. The oatmeal was piping hot and not too thick.
The two waitresses we saw were hustling, and didn't have a lot of time to run by with the coffee pot, but did a great job nonetheless.
After our breakfast, which set us back around $12 before tip, we spent about an hour browsing through booth after booth of furniture and collectibles.
Pleasant Hill Antique Mall seemed huge on this visit. By the time I got to the third section of the building, I was sure they had added on, but StfRon assured me they had not.
We saw a few blast from the past toys and books, and lots of neat furniture. Despite their name, not everything sold here is from Grandma's attic; there is newer merchandise throughout, too.
All in all, this was a great way to spend a chilly morning.

On a side note, we finally put up our tree this evening. I got the tree (made in USA) last year on sale after Christmas, from Christmas Depot. If you're looking on their site, scroll down on the left sidebar and look for made in USA or click on the banner ad right below the text links on the left sidebar.
I also got some new lights for half price last year, the LED clear strands of lights. Whoa, are these lights psychedelic!! While stringing them up to drape on the tree, they were pulsing in some sort of strobe effect. Once they were on the tree, they stopped pulsing, but they have an odd bluish purple light to them. Our dining room looks like it's bathed in blacklight or something.
I'm sure we'll get used to it. If other people make the switch to LED lights, ours won't look so out of place, either. And, I can leave them on longer and not feel like I'm going to send the CILCO bill sky high.

August, 2009 — The tea room in the antique mall has closed.

Holiday happenings

Looking to have some the holiday fun this weekend? Here are a few local events to check out:

Holiday Shop & Stroll, Forest Park Nature Center — December 7 from 6-8:30, enjoy an evening stroll on the luminaria lit forest trail, live holiday music, storytelling, hot wassail and goodies, and shopping. $2.

Holiday Cruise, Spirit of Peoria — December 7 from 6-8:30 p.m., take a two-hour cruise (a two-hour cruise) featuring a hot buffet and musical entertainment. $38 for adults.

Folepi's Laser Theatre, Festival Building, East Peoria — December 7 at 6, 7 and 8 p.m., laser lights and images are set to holiday music.

Christmas on Court, Downtown Pekin — December 7 from 5-8 p.m., see Santa, take carriage rides, enjoy strolling carolers, skits and luminaries.

Candlelight Walks, Luthy Botanical Garden — December 7 & 8 from 7-9 p.m., see the poinsettia show under the glow of candlelight, while being serenaded with live music.

Christmas Concert, Forest Park Nature Center — December 8 at 7 p.m., listen to the music and stories of Tom and Chris Kastle. $7.

Ming's Buffet

Admittedly, I am not a fan of buffet restaurants.
A few years ago, I was with a group and visited Ming's Buffet in East Peoria, at 1000 Riverside Drive. I didn't have high hopes.
The decor was a surprise. The place looks bright and clean, with sheets of cracked glass topping the tables, and glass panels on the walls with pictures carved into them.
The food is plentiful, of course, but also has been hot and seemed fresh each time I have visited, which sets Ming's apart from buffets I have visited in the past.
I especially like the green beans and the lo mein noodles from the buffet, and the large variety of cold fruit and veggies. They also have a decent sesame chicken.
Ming's also offers a selection of sushi, a salad bar, prime rib during dinner, crab legs, crab rangoon and plenty more.
Lunch runs about $8 and dinner about $12. It's still a buffet, but as far as I'm concerned, it's the best buffet I've been to.
Ming's has also opened a Bloomington location.

Burger Barge Dry Dock

I first went to the Burger Barge Dry Dock, 1401 N. Main Street in East Peoria, maybe five years ago, and was not thrilled after my visit. Much to StfRon's dismay, as he had never been and is a true burger buff, I vowed never to go again.
Flash forward to this year, and a work group outing sent me there again. Maybe my tastes have changed or something, but this time I found a winner: the BBQ burger (cue heavenly music). The burgers at the 'Barge are huge, huge, huge, and this one is no exception. It's smothered in barbecue sauce and cole slaw, and the combination is awesome. Reminiscent of my trip to Memphis earlier this year.
After tasting this gem, StfRon and I stopped in a few weeks later, and I ordered the same burger. Why mess with a good thing?
The Burger Barge also has such favorites as a paper bag o' fried shrimp and great homemade chips. My scheme is to snag some chips off of someone else's plate, as the burgers alone are more than enough to fill me up (sides are not included with the burgers). They also have salads for those who choose to graze. And beer, of course!
The Burger Barge is very casual, and features outdoor seating as well, right along the river.

Avanti's Italian Restaurant

OK, call me crazy, but I'm not a huge fan of Avanti's like most Peorians are. I guess it might be the tomato sauce. It's just not my favorite. And I've never been a huge fan of a gondola sandwich.
I mean, I hear stories of people who move away and can't stop thinking about Avanti's. Each time they come to town they MUST load up their cars and suitcases with Avanti's bread.
I used to hit Avanti's on Main Street in Peoria after class at ICC back in the early 90s. I always had the pizza bread, and it was fine, and the price was right for a college kid.
Then, I worked for a department starting in the late 90s which would order Avanti's delivery once a month or so. I would get the pasta salad, which is actually pretty good, and comes with a nice chunk of bread and Country Crock (prefer the real deal myself) and I usually would snag a packet of the parmesan cheese to sprinkle on it, too. It's a very reasonably priced lunch.
Recently, a friend suggested going to Avanti's, so I said OK. I was surprised to see personal pizzas on the menu. Having had a good fill of the pasta salad the past several years, I ordered one. It was actually very good, kind of reminded me of a Pizza Hut style pie.
Avanti's has locations on Rockwood in Peoria near Northwoods Mall, on Main Street at University, plus a location in East Peoria and one in Normal.
Their menu features hot and cold sandwiches including the gondolas, salads, pizza and plenty o' pasta.

El Sombrerito

For Cinco de Mayo this year, StfRon and I headed to El Sombrerito, 111 W. Spring Creek Rd. in East Peoria.
I spent many years working on Pioneer Parkway in Peoria, back when El Sombrerito occupied the building now used by the Cinco de Mayo restaurant. My favorite thing to order was the tortilla soup, so I had been wanting to try the East Peoria El Sombrerito to see if they had it on the menu.
Sure enough, the soup was on the menu. This bowl of broth filled with chicken shreds, a little onion, white cheese and tortilla strips was very good. I felt like it wasn't quite as flavorful of a broth as the Peoria location used to serve, but it has also been close to 10 years since I was able to have this soup, so my taste buds could be failing me. Still, it was great to have this soup again, accompanied by a margarita.
They also had the squeeze bottles of pureed salsa, which I remember from the Peoria location as well. This was back in the day when Peoria had maybe only one or two other Mexican restaurants to choose from.
This location has the look of a new, clean strip mall restaurant, though not stark, due to festive, brightly colored walls and decor.
Our server was prompt and friendly.

Eastside Center

You know what would be refreshing after this incredibly humid summer? A few hours at Splashdown at the Eastside Center in East Peoria!

Eastside Center has plenty of activities to offer besides the 3-acre water park complete with Lazy River and Wild Ride tube slide, like an indoor track, volleyball and basketball courts, a fitness center, AND great classes like yoga, cardio and weight-lifting classes.