Noted

This week I heard the news that Gilles Tap on Route 150 in Kickapoo has closed, hopefully only temporarily. Gilles has some great history, established as a tavern in 1933 at the end of Prohibition.
Some of my oddest, most interesting bar experiences have taken place in that little white bar with it's scuffed wooden floors.

Small Business Saturday dining

I was the lucky recipient of a Small Business Saturday $25 American Express gift card from FedEx, which we used towards our dinner at Basta O'Neill's in Washington on Small Business Saturday.
I and a friend of ours were both tempted to order the special, walnut and pecan crusted tilapia served with vegetable risotto. Accompanied by crusty bread and salad, the meal was very good. Even better was the cannoli my husband and I shared after dinner, filled with a creamy and sweet ricotta mixture.
My husband had his standard there, fish and chips and we all shared a bottle of Cabernet.
The gentleman who waited on us was professional and provided great service for an enjoyable evening out.

Noted

The Pekin Daily Times reported that Jimbo's Jumbo is set to reopen in Pekin.

You may have heard about FedEx giving away 30,000 $25 gift cards to support Small Business Saturday, which falls on November 26. I managed to score one of the cards and will use it to supplement my support of local shops and restaurants this weekend.
Remember to support your favorite mom and pop restaurants by either dining there or spreading the cheer with gift cards for those on your "nice" list.

Noted

Salt restaurant on Prospect in Peoria Heights opens today serving breakfast, lunch and dinner.
A sign has gone up for the new restaurant in the former Steak n Shake location on NE Adams in Peoria which reads Juicy's Famous Steak and Lemonade.
A sign has also gone up at the former Lonny's Dairyland spot on Farmington Road that reads O's Tacos -n- More. In addition to dine in and carry outs, they will have a drive thru for your taco toting convenience.
Boss Hogs has taken over the Cracklin' Jake's spot in Banner.

Keil's Bar & Grill

The sign at Keil's Bar & Grill on S. Summit Drive in Sunnyland reads established 1994. The location did serve as home to other establishments during the past couple of years, such as the Golden Greek, however Keil's reclaimed the spot late this summer.
We stopped at Keil's for dinner last month before heading to a movie at the nearby Sunnyland Cinemas.
We entered the family-friendly dining room and were greeted and seated in a booth by the windows.
They were featuring some dinner specials which included a salad bar plus a pizza and pitcher special, however I decided to order the French dip which came with homemade fries or chips. I selected the chips, and my husband ordered a Reuben.
The chips were good as was the French dip, served on a long Ciabatta style roll.
Keil's serves food Tuesday-Saturday starting at 4 p.m. and opens at noon on Saturdays.

Noted

Firehouse Pizza on Main Street in East Peoria has opened a pub next door.

The 3rd Thursday Pack The Place Lunch will be held at Rizzi's on State. Print your coupon for 25% off your bill and head over this Thursday for some great Italian fare.

Salt restaurant plans to open very soon on Prospect in Peoria Heights. They've posted some photos on facebook that have my tastebuds intrigued.

Kudos to Smo-King Pit and June for receiving 100 on the most recently published restaurant inspections.

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.

Noted

Thirty-Thirty Coffee Co. is now open on Main Street in Peoria.

I noticed a new sign for 2 Doors Down on Main Street at the former Whammy Bar location.

The Country Diner in East Peoria has closed. Looks like it will soon reopen as an El Mexicano of Peoria fame.

SOPs on Main in Peoria has closed.

Noted

Yesterday I read with dismay the news on Peoria.com that Mr. G's Chicago Style of Peoria had closed, and also received emails from some of my loyal readers about the closing. The Journal Star printed a story in today's paper about Mr. G's.

I also heard from a reader that a new Lebanese restaurant will open soon in Peoria's Parkway Plaza called Kabab-G.

I noticed some construction going on recently at the former Lonny's Dairyland location on Farmington Road in West Peoria, and someone gave me a tip that it may be opening as a Mexican restaurant.

The Ironstone Room

A few weeks ago we met my parents in Manito to have lunch at The Ironstone Room. We started off in Willett's Winery by sampling some wine and took a look at the banquet space between the winery and restaurant, which was new since our last visit.
The restaurant is housed in a former bank complete with vault. The walls are a warm yellow accented with white trim, and the room has an airy feel.
We started off with the Leon Millot red wine to accompany our food selections. I ordered the Ironstone Reuben ($7.95) with the bacon cheddar potato salad as my side. My husband ordered the Grand Gourmand salad ($8.95) with bleu cheese dressing.
Next we tried the Noiret, also a red wine, which really paired well with my meal. Thinking about it now, I'm regretting that I didn't go back to the winery after eating to pick up a bottle to take home.
The Reuben, topped with not only cheese but a slaw that included apples and a hint of horseradish, was served on crisped Pumpernickel. The creamy potato salad was filled with big cubes of cheddar and bacony goodness, and my husband kept stealing bites of it from my plate.
His salad was filled with Bavarian ham, honey roasted turkey, cheeses, greens and veggies topped with bacon crumbles and hard boiled egg.
Service was good and this stop made for a quite enjoyable Sunday destination.

Noted

EB Buildings and Lumber Co., established in 1960, is celebrating their grand reopening today and tomorrow in Princeville. There will be food available and prize drawings.

I've noticed that Thirty-Thirty Coffee Co. is almost ready to open their shop in the Kickapoo Building on Main Street in Peoria. Watch for them to open in early November.

Sentimental Journey

We headed out shopping in Washington last week for Moonlight Madness and paid a visit to several of the stores.
One of my first stops was Sentimental Journey, located in an old red brick building on the square. The store shares a building with the Framer's Gallery.
The first thing that snagged my attention was the Wee Forest Folk mice. I used to love looking at these mice in their costumes at The Mole Hole in Bloomington/Normal years ago! They are adorable.
My friend mentioned that she was a big fan of Vera Bradley, and Sentimental Journey had a nice selection of the bags.

Soon I also noticed several items made in USA in the shop including Eucalyptus Stoneware baskets. My friend explained to me that you warm the basket in the oven and it holds heat to keep your bread warm once it's on the table.
I also noticed some jackets made in the USA by Winding River. They were tapestry style patterns and are reversible as well. They looked like something my mom would enjoy for Christmas.
The shop was also filled with plenty of baby gifts, ornaments, and Christmas villages, just to name a few of the items.

Noted

The former Harold's Hamburgers in Sunnyland is being spruced up. I heard that the new tenant may be a bar.

The old Steak 'n Shake at 2613 NE Adams in Peoria also appears to be getting ready to reopen, this time  with some sort of a Chicago style food focus. The most recent restaurant located there was Lee Family Restaurant.

Round up

A few months after Peoria's Chevy's closed, I hear Bloomington's location has now suffered the same fate.
If you are looking for Mexican food in the area, there are a lot of options. El Mexicano and Mi Familia have good authentic style food. Lorena's Mexican Restaurant and Jalapeno's are a great option if you'd like to add a cerveza or margarita to your meal.
This Saturday we had dinner at Tequila's Mexican Bar & Grill in Washington while they had a live mariachi band in house. Our meals and service were good, and the band lent a fun festive flair to our experience.

Noted

Firehouse Pizza in Pekin has closed.

Mama Rae's

An ad in a local flyer for Mama Rae's in Morton caught my eye due to the retro diner feel of the graphics. We set out on a recent Sunday to give it a try.
We found the restaurant attached to a gas station near I-74. The location used to house the Morton Family Restaurant.
The walls were painted a warm red and there were a few vintage looking signs and some movie memorabilia on display.
We were seated in a booth and it took a little bit before our waitress had a chance to stop by and take our order.
I ordered the Irish skillet, one of the breakfast specials which was a layer of American fries, corned beef, and mozzarella topped with two eggs and toast on the side for $6.99. My husband ordered Rae's spicy cajun, a grilled chicken breast sandwich topped with cajun spices, grilled mushrooms and onions, which came with soup for $6.99. The waitress recommended their tomato soup, which was hearty and filled with ravioli pillows.
My skillet was stick to the ribs good, topped with my choice of scrambled eggs. I honesty could have done without the American fries at the bottom of the skillet and would have been just as happy with the price, but I'm sure many others appreciate the portion size.
An older gentleman nearby was dining alone and all of the employees seemed to know him and stopped by to greet him by name and check to make sure he had everything he needed.
We had plenty of drink refills and everyone was friendly at Mama Rae's. There are currently some coupons available on their web site, so it's worth a check if you're planning to visit soon. Dinner is currently served Thursday-Saturday only.

Wild Berries

My husband had tried Wild Berries a few years ago in Normal, but I had never been there.
We made our first visit to the new Peoria location the week of August 22, when they had been open just a few weeks.
We had to wait about 10 minutes to be seated.
The menu has a ton of options including breakfast all day (which I am a sucker for), and many things sounded good. I ordered the Sante Fe chicken wrap ($8.45) for lunch, which came with soup and choice of waffle fries, fruit, pasta salad or orzo salad. I selected the beef barley soup and fruit.
My husband ordered a chicken sandwich (pretty sure it was a daily special) with some sort of garlic sauce, along with soup and fruit.
Our sandwiches did take a bit of time to arrive, but the soup was out quickly and the waitress checked on us often and kept the drink refills coming.
The beef barley soup was homemade, as are their other soups, and it was thick and a bit spicy.
The wrap was stuffed with chicken salad and cheese and was good, although far too much for me to eat.
My husband's chicken breast was large and did not appear to be your standard institutional frozen flock variety, which may be why it took a bit longer to prepare. I appreciated the quality.

This week we returned to Wild Berries for lunch again and did not have to wait for a table.
I decided to try something off the breakfast menu, and although I was glad to see multigrain pancakes and cranberry nut pancakes on the menu, after seeing "Wild Berries Famous Swedish Pancakes" I figured I had to try them. They were listed as being served with lingonberries and lingonberry butter, for $7.75.
My husband had another special chicken sandwich, this time a panini with chipotle sauce.
This time our food came out much more quickly.
I absolutely loved the pancakes. I spread the sweet lingonberry butter on them and gobbled them right up, then enjoyed my Canadian bacon and lingonberries as a chaser.
We also tried their cheesecake shot dessert, which was a shot glass layered with crumb topping, some pink fruity topping and some gooey cheesecake goodness. I don't know that variety of fruit the topping was, but it almost tasted like strawberry lemonade to me, and whatever it was, it was good.
We were seated in sight of the cash register, and often during lunch I noticed a handful of people waiting to pay, so as soon as we had our bill and I saw a break in the line, I darted out to cash out.
Our server this time was a man, and he was also johnny on the spot with refills and was cheerful and witty.
I'm glad to have a new tasty place for breakfast food.

Noted

German Specialties in Peoria has closed.

Thanks to reader tips yesterday letting me know that the Lariat Steakhouse in Peoria is under renovation. The Journal Star reported today that the owners hope the renovations will be completed by Thanksgiving.

Noted

M & M Twistee Treat in East Peoria closes for the season today.

Bemer's Village Inn

Housed in a block building built in the 1970s, Bemer's Village Inn, along the river in Spring Bay, has that broken in feel of a place that's been popular for serving up huge homemade tenderloins for decades.
I tried said tenderloin, the 1/2 version ($4.75), and found it to be large and properly fried, dressed with my choice of onion, pickle and mustard. The loin hung way outside of the boundaries of the bun.
We dined with a fairly large group in the bar, which gave us a good excuse to order some appetizers. We started with onion rings, which were a tasty, thin variety. Next up was the winner for me, the corn fritters, which I swear were about the size of racquetballs.
The Village Inn features daily specials, many of which include their salad bar, and they are closed on Mondays.