Need Springfield advice

Hi

I will be in downtown Springfield Sun-Wed and need 2 dinner places, at least one of which is open on Sunday. I'll be at 700 East Adams and will not have a car. I understand this is right downtown, so places within walking distance shouldn't be too hard to find, yes?

Thanks in advance,

Funny you should be asking for Springfield recs right about now; I was just down there last Sunday on my way home from the American Royal BBQ in Kansas City. I stopped off for dinner with a friend who took me to Saputo's right in the heart of downtown.

Nothing cutting edge here, just good dependable red sauce Italian served in an atmosphere where the longtime waitresses call you "hon" even if they don't know you. It is the kind of place you can expect to see many of our state representatives coming in for dinner or a three martini lunch.

My friend and I split a huge house salad, a basket of exceptional garlic bread, a very moist and flavorful roast beef sandwich and an order of very good chicken parmesian with a light, crispy, not at all greasy breading.

Like I said, nothing earth shattering, just good food.

Saputo's
801 East Monroe
Springfield, Illinois 62701
Phone: (217) 522-0115

Should you get access to a car, my friend, known locally as The Dr. of BBQ, has a trailer set up just south of downtown, on Sixth Street, just north of The Cozy Dog Drive In. No firm address, but if you're heading south out of town, toward the Cozy (actually, Sixth runs one way going north, so you need to be one block west of Sixth heading one way, south) You can't miss it. It's a big yellow trailer surrounded by parking lot, backed up to the railroad tracks/viaduct. He's open for lunch and dinner until 8:00pm.

If you go, stick to the ribs and pulled pork. He used to do a mean brisket but, for some reason, can't get brisket in Springfield anymore (crazy right?) so he's switched to top round. Still good, but not even in the same league with his brisket.

Have great trip,

Buddy

See this thread:
http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=143585

There are some other threads, if you dig around a bit.

I'd recommend Cafe Brio (which also has a nice brunch menu) and Maldaner's. See the link above for more info.

I also recommend Sammy's Sports Bar. This is a standard sports bar, but the food is quite good.

Edited to add: Saputo's is a definite favorite also, esp the baked mostaccioli.

Sammy's Sports Bar and Grill
217 S. Fifth Street. Springfield, Illinois 62701
217-789-9803
www.sammyssportsbar.com

Second Saputo's.

It's been a few years, but last the s/o toured me through Springfield(where he interned with the state legislature during high school) we had, in my admittedly-limited experience, the best midwestern "red sauce" Italian dinner.

House salad with house dressing, baked lasagne, baked ravioli...

...plu-perfect...just what I imagine: this kinda cuisine done right

We went to Saputo's - and got seated at 6 pm, though I think we got the last table. The place was packed. I tried to make a reservation, but had the wrong phone number. Anyway, we had baked lasagne, non-baked ravioli and shrimp scampi, all of which were very tasty, though I'd have liked a bit more meat in the meat sauce.

The bread was nice and hot, the butter was VERY salty for butter (which was fine, but a bit unusual). The home made salad dressing was quite good. Honestly, I'd love to have this place around the corner from me!

You're right - basic red-sauce italian, done very well. The waitress was lovely and hit just the right balance between coming over and staying away. She didn't interrupt our conversation, and we never felt rushed.

Would have liked more Italian choices on the wine list, but what we had was fine.

Thanks much for the recommendation!

leek wrote:We went to Saputo's - and got seated at 6 pm, though I think we got the last table. The place was packed. I tried to make a reservation, but had the wrong phone number. Anyway, we had baked lasagne, non-baked ravioli and shrimp scampi, all of which were very tasty, though I'd have liked a bit more meat in the meat sauce.

The bread was nice and hot, the butter was VERY salty for butter (which was fine, but a bit unusual). The home made salad dressing was quite good. Honestly, I'd love to have this place around the corner from me!

You're right - basic red-sauce italian, done very well. The waitress was lovely and hit just the right balance between coming over and staying away. She didn't interrupt our conversation, and we never felt rushed.

Would have liked more Italian choices on the wine list, but what we had was fine.

Thanks much for the recommendation!

I'm glad you enjoyed it; even with your caveats(and I have my own) Saputo's, to my mind, is the definition of "red gravy."

Did you get a chance to explore the neat fountain across the street?

My boyfriend and I were able to try two places mentioned in this thread this past weekend. We went to Cafe Brio for lunch on Friday. I agree that it's a very solid option downtown. The shrimp BLT had a nice kick to it, and the chicken curry pita was delicious--the chicken, though you can't see it in my picture, was plentiful, very succulent and nicely flavored. I also really enjoyed the sweet potato chips, clearly made in house on order. A few of the chips were soggy, but my boyfriend and I likened it to finding an occasional burnt chip in a bag of Jay's--an imperfection easily forgiven in an otherwise very respectable batch of chips.

Shrimp BLT


Chicken Curry Pita


On Friday night, we tried Saputo's. It definitely seemed like the place to dine on a weekend night. We got a table without a reservation or a wait right by the bar at about 7pm. Shortly after our arrival, a pretty substantial line formed at the door. Though the service was very attentive, we were disappointed by our food. Everything from the bread, to the house salad dressing, to the lasagna my boyfriend ordered, to my linguine with clams seemed overly salted. My boyfriend conceded that the food overall was "small town good." I was more disappointed than that.

For breakfast on Saturday morning, we made a trip to Mel-O-Cream. I'll add my comments on donuts to this Springfield thread, where they've been discussed previously.