Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Noted

East Peoria's Youssef's Deli has closed.
Veterans Pub & Pizza is open on NE Adams Street in Peoria.

Cummins Drive Thru

Monday I had a lunch quandary. I wanted to run an errand near Grand Prairie in Peoria, but also wanted to grab a quick bite to eat. I knew that McDonald's, Arby's and Hardee's would be quick options, but hadn't really made up my mind yet.
On my way to Home Depot I saw an unexpected answer to my dilemma: Cummins Drive Thru!
After my fruitless Home Depot stop, I pulled into the former Jo's Java site at War Memorial and Route 91 and checked out the drive thru menu.
The menu featured coffee, ice cream, salads, sandwiches, hot dogs (including made from scratch corn dogs) and more, and will feature soup and chili during the colder months.
One thing I noticed on the menu that I haven't been able to get out of my mind is homemade corn fritters, 3  for just $1.95. Knowing that there are fritters available by drive thru is probably not beneficial to my health.
They did have daily special offerings, but I decided to go for the made fresh daily chicken salad sandwich on wheat bread ($5.50) and an iced tea.
Soon I had my order and was back on my way to work. I dove in to the chicken salad en route and found it to be creamy, complete with diced hard boiled eggs and real white meat chicken, all encased in soft wheat bread. Yum! It was a homestyle sandwich like my mom would have made me after a hard day in first grade.
I'm glad to know there is a great quick local lunch option available near Grand Prairie and Willow Knolls.

October, 2010 — Cummins Drive Thru is now Meat-n-Place.

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Noted

Hick'ry Stick, a long time Peoria catering company, has opened a restaurant in Peoria near Glen Oak Park. We've enjoyed their barbecue at various Peoria events and look forward to visiting the restaurant.

Thursday, August 05, 2010

Noted

Dane's sports bar is now open in Peoria in the former Ned Kelly's/Feldan's location on Brandywine Drive.

Olio & Vino is also open in Peoria Heights at the four way stop on Prospect. The 18-year-old barrel aged balsamic sounds impressive.

Looks like Mel's Café in Peoria has closed their location on NE Adams. Hopefully they have a great new location in the works.

Monday, August 02, 2010

Oriental Palace

My husband wanted to make a stop in Pekin this weekend which gave me the opportunity to suggest lunch at Oriental Palace.
The restaurant features Chinese, Japanese and Thai dishes.
During our lunch visit, the dining room had a clean, simple decor with white plastic covering the white linen tablecloths.
Our waitress seated us right away and went to prepare our drinks while we checked out the menu.
I have had a wide variety of Chinese food and eat sashimi from time-to-time, but my Thai food experience is limited to Pad Thai. The menu was organized into sections, so I focused on the Thai entrées.
I selected the Thai basil beef, $9.50. StfRon chose Mu Shu chicken ($7.75), and we also ordered an appetizer of crab rangoon ($3.95).
Our crab rangoon showed up quickly. It might be the crispiest crab rangoon I've ever had, was filled with a sweet cream cheese mixture, and was very good.
The flavor of my Thai basil beef surprised me, as it tasted quite a bit like fish. Our waitress came to check on us and said that the dish contained dried shrimp and fish sauce, along with the beef and vegetables which included onions, mushrooms and water chestnuts.
My husband enjoyed the Moo Shu, which is one of his latest Chinese favorites.
Service was great, and although we never noticed it, I feel like the servers must have been discreetly watching us or else they have impeccable timing, as they seemed to materialize instantly at all the right times.