Savanna, IL

Visiting Savanna, IL, in a couple of weeks - wondered if anyone would have any dining recommendations, any kind for any place, lunch / dinner / dessert. Thanks!

We ate at Buck's Barn a few years ago, very nice setting on the golf course. I don't remember what we had but we enjoyed it, had a crozy super club feeling. They have another restaurant on the grounds that is more of a grille type place for the golf course.

http://www.bucksbarngolfresort.com/

I'm bumping this topic, as I, too, will be visiting Savanna (camping in the Mississippi Palisades) and would be interested in any input of good places in the area, but especially any breakfast recommendations?

We passed through Savanna in October on our way to Galena and I remember seeing a place called Manny's Pizza and Pub in the downtown area but otherwise I saw usual fast food places. I am pretty sure that there is a restaurant at the marina otherwise my suggestion above still stands.

Thanks, Likes. I'm just not one for the supper club/golf course atmosphere (especially after camping, no shower, dirty, etc.). I'll look for Manny's, though - hopefully there's a breakfast nook, too. If no one has any additional suggestions, I'll do some reconnaisance while I'm there and report the results.

dfawley, this is an area that looks like there are some pretty good little bars with great food! Manny's says Pizza but it was painted with a Mexican motif so I bet a good range of food there. We had to be in Galena by a certain time or we would have wandered more. BTW we did stop at Mississippi Palisades Park, is that where you are camping? It's a lovely park with nice views of the River!

Manny's has an excellent thin crust pizza and their tacos are very good also.

I was gonna recommend this great little creole place where we had some excellent po'boys, but I just found out it's closed. We did the Galena, Palisades, eat in Savanna thing, too, and had we known how neat Savanna was, we'd probably have arranged to spend a day there. Since I don't have a rec for you now, I'll at least wish you good luck and fun.
Cheers.

Will be in the Palisades for the next few days - if the campsite is wet, we may well do some scouting in Savanna. I'll report if I find anything. Always good to know that you're never far from a place another LTHer has been before you...

This discussion caught my eye, because I've been considering a weekend roadtrip - with no specific destination in mind - and when I did a Google search of restaurants in Savanna I came upon the local Chamber of Commerce page listing maybe a dozen possibilies . . . including the usual cast of characters of fast food chain restaurants . . . and some seemingly local joints. Maybe this information will be helpful for your trip planning: http://www.savanna-il.com/dining1.php

Two places I see listed with online mentions, both with a "horse" as the theme, but different types of horses . . . and, in their own right, places that look interesting . . . from this distance:

http://www.hillsidestables-ia.com/rest.html

http://www.thehorserally.com/iron-horse.html

My buddy and I stopped at Manny's, but moved on as their draft beer selection was limited to Bud, Bud Light, etc. Little did we know that Manny's was going to be the only place in town that offered draft beer! One of the places drew our attention because it had a neon sign advertising "draught guiness," but not only no "draught," no guiness, either. They said the sign was "for decoration." Grrrr.

We ended up eating at Poopy's, which had only slightly better of a beer selection, but was recommended to us by a friendly local. The food is your basic bar food, but everything was very good. They were very busy, but had good service. We were told we'd have to wait for 45 minutes for an entree, so we ordered appetizers, and one entree which only took 20 minutes to arrive. If I was in the area, I'd probably do another quick reconnaisance to try and find better beer on draft, but I'd go back for the food.

Poopy's
1030 Viaduct Road
Savanna, IL 61074
815-273-2363

When were you there, D? We must have crossed paths - we ate a very enjoyable lunch at Poopy's on Wednesday. When I get some breathing room I'll post pics. I especially loved the outdoor patio next to the river with the pool table (and Sparky loooved the scatological humor on the menu - fair warning, it's not called "Poopy's" because it has a nautical theme.)

There was a little cafe on the marina in Savanna that was mentioned by the lady in the "train museum" who directed us to Poopy's - it's scary looking on the outside (it's also a bait shop) and was unfortunately closed, but peering through the windows revealed it to be a homey little diner - if we get back there, I'd want to check it out.

Edited to add link

As promised, here are pics from our lunch at Poopy's, which wasn't busy at all at lunchtime. I must say, for a waitress at a tattoo and piercing parlor/ motorcycle repair shop/ roadhouse who must have seen everything, I got quite a quizzical look for whipping out the camera...

Food arrives in a bucket - I was relieved, considering the menu implied that they might serve it in bedpans :


Very nice burger, fries are thick-cut - not my favorite type even though they showed some skin, coleslaw very good and fresh, sodas huge and frequently refilled:


Greaseless pork tenderloin in a crunchy-crumbly crust. Had to eat for quite some time before I hit bun:


Sparky opted for the lunch buffet, a real steal for kids under 10 at $4.95 (I think it's something like $7 for adults) He chose the fried chicken, which he liked and which was serviceable considering it had been held in a chafing dish. Green beans were very good old-school cafeteria style with nice hammy flavor. Mashed potatoes and cream gravy looked very good (couldn't talk him into getting some) and there were also sliced pork and sliced chicken dishes in their respective gravies that looked pretty good for what they were. He also got a slice of pie, opting for a lime meringue that was pretty good - other offerings looked a bit wilted, having been pre-cut and set out, but the cherry and rhubarb and seemed made locally if not in-house (I didn't ask.)

The cafe I wished we'd been able to check out is called the Savanna Marina Cafe, immediately inside the marina at

1 Main St
Savanna, IL 61074
Phone: 815-273-2956

Like many restaurants in town, it didn't appear to be open on weekdays. For future reference, the Savanna Chamber offers this Dining page.