FireFly Grill - Effingham, IL

If you're not from downstate, you will probably only notice Effingham because of its location at the intersection of I-57 and I-70. But tucked away not far off the highway is the FireFly Grill. We finally made it down there tonight and were pleasantly surprised with a superb steak dinner. We both had the ribeye and both steaks were prepared to perfection. The sides are generous and tasty and the salads are topped with freshly made and very original dressings. Top it off with a good wine list, casual chic atmosphere, great service, and no waiting and you have a winner. I just hope they can maintain the business they've attracted thus far. It's nice having a great place like this to eat downstate.

M Six,

Thank you for any and all information on this region.

Not to quibble, don't the people from Effingham consider themselves central Illinois? I'm not quite sure where downstate is really defined, though I know Cairo and Carbondale are truly downstate. While Springfield, Champaign, Bloomington-Normal and Effingham are central Illinois. Only those of us in Chicago consider anything south to be down state.

Charleston and Effingham are about 40 miles away. Did you go to FireFly as destination dining or were you in the area anyway?

Thanks!

Regards,

Cathy,

I'm not a native Illini, so maybe I'm wrong and this area is not "downstate." I just thought anything outside Chicagoland was considered downstate. Mea culpa.

FireFly was our destination. We just wish there was more to do in Effingham. Something simple like a Borders or Barnes & Noble would be great. When we travel to Champaign for dinner, we always hit a bookstore for coffee and browsing afterward. No such luck in Effingham.

Check my blog for more central Illinois restaurants.

M_Six wrote:Cathy,

I'm not a native Illini, so maybe I'm wrong and this area is not "downstate." I just thought anything outside Chicagoland was considered downstate. Mea culpa.

No need to apologize! I did precisely the same thing until I went to Master Gardner conferences which attracted people from all over the state. When I would tell people where I lived, they'd comment how I live up north. When I said I was going downstate to Champaign, then they'd give the look like I was nuts.

I thought you're coming from Charleston, that maybe you were describing the state in Chicago-speak. I will check your blog as well as your posts here when I head south next.

Regards,

M_Six wrote:I'm not a native Illini, so maybe I'm wrong and this area is not "downstate." I just thought anything outside Chicagoland was considered downstate. Mea culpa.


.

I am a native Chicagoan and I (and many others) believe that anything south of Roosevelt Road is considered Downstate.

Seriously, thanks for the 'heads up' We will be in that area next month and we might just give the place a try.

Just checking to see if anyone has some other current recommendations for Effingham. I'm headed to Effngham in a couple of weeks and I'd love to go to Firefly (and I may try to squeese in a lunch or dinner with just my husband and I), but I suspect that the prices ($8-10 apps, $25+ entrees) will scare off the rest of the large family group I'll be with. I'm looking for something that is non-chain (duh) and non-dive - maybe Italian or Mexican, decent pizza would be fine. The group size is approx. 15.
Thanks!

Having lived nearly 15 years in Champaign, and with family all over the Springfield-to-St.Louis area, I'm accustomed to the term "downstate" referring to anywhere south of I-80. Not that that's an official line of demarcation, just saying yes, Champaign is downstate (in my mind), as are Peoria, Bloomington-Normal, Springfield, St. Louis, Charleston, Effingham, Mt Vernon, Carbondale, etc. Under the "downstate" umbrella, Champaign, Danville, Decatur and thereabouts are (again, in my mind) in the region referred to as "east central Illinois." Charleston, Effingham, I don't know. Carbondale, I'd call that southern Illinois.

M_Six, would you repost a link to your blog? I tried to follow the link shown but the page wouldn't load. Always looking for ideas for places to eat and explore when driving around Illinois.

Katie

His blog is at http://greasyspoons.net/

Love their enthusiastic Town Motto:
"Effingham - Effin'-A!"

Having been born and raised in Chicago and having gone to school at SIU-Carbondale, living there for about 12 years, I have a bit of insight into this northern, central, southern Illinois stuff. People (locals) in Carbondale will tell you that anything south of US Route 50 is southern Illinois. Rt. 50 runs out of St. Louis through Salem which is between Effingham and Mt. Vernon. So, based on this interpretation, Effingham is, indeed, in central Illinois.

I'm not sure, and have never heard anything definitive, about the area where central Illinois starts. My best guess would be somewhere north of Peoria and south of Kankakee. Although, Chicagoans, incorrectly in my opinion, almost always call anything south of Interstate 80 southern Illinois or downstate.

Hi,

A visit to the John J. Boos Outlet is a must when you are in Effingham, IL. Incredibly inexpensive products of every variety and really nice people to help. It's always nice to be driving a truck or van.

Tim

http://www.johnboos.com/
John Boos & Company
315 S. First Street
Effingham, IL 62401

saluki68 wrote:Having been born and raised in Chicago and having gone to school at SIU-Carbondale, living there for about 12 years, I have a bit of insight into this northern, central, southern Illinois stuff. People (locals) in Carbondale will tell you that anything south of US Route 50 is southern Illinois. Rt. 50 runs out of St. Louis through Salem which is between Effingham and Mt. Vernon. So, based on this interpretation, Effingham is, indeed, in central Illinois.

I'm not sure, and have never heard anything definitive, about the area where central Illinois starts. My best guess would be somewhere north of Peoria and south of Kankakee. Although, Chicagoans, incorrectly in my opinion, almost always call anything south of Interstate 80 southern Illinois or downstate.

People in Springfield do not consider themselves central, they consider themselves northern Illinois. However, Chicagoans consider anything from Kankakee on down as southern Illinois. I have even heard Chicagoans refer to Dixon as southern, when it is western Illinois.

When I was a Master Gardner volunteer, I never missed their annual conference. I met people from all over the state. It gave me a good education in how people think geographically about our state. For instance, Chicagoans are consider really far northern Illinois. While I live 25 miles from the border, they practically considered me a Wisconsinite.

Not going to those annual conferences is something I dearly miss.

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:People in Springfield do not consider themselves central, they consider themselves northern Illinois.

Going to have to disagree with you, Cathy. As a Springfield native, I can confidently say that we consider ourselves central Illinoisans. We only get bent out of shape when Chicagoans do what saluki68 was talking about:

saluki68 wrote:Although, Chicagoans, incorrectly in my opinion, almost always call anything south of Interstate 80 southern Illinois or downstate.

It's all semantics anyways, like the often debated neighborhood boundaries in Chicago, which always seems to get people riled up.

I was born a thousand years ago in Granite City, and if *that* ain't southern Illinois, nuthin' is.

Hells bells, even the linguists think us Granitians are southern.

Geo
PS. Altho' I've got good friends in Effingham, my favorite sight in town is the cross as I continue on toward KC during my annual migration west from Montréal.

My favorite is when the newscasts refer to Freeport or Galena as downstate.

Tobermory wrote:Just checking to see if anyone has some other current recommendations for Effingham. I'm headed to Effngham in a couple of weeks and I'd love to go to Firefly (and I may try to squeese in a lunch or dinner with just my husband and I), but I suspect that the prices ($8-10 apps, $25+ entrees) will scare off the rest of the large family group I'll be with.

sorry there really isn't much else in effingham that's not a chain. you have your cracker barrel, ryan's "steakhouse", Ruby Tuesday, etc.. your prices are a bit exxagerated though... the average entree price is actually closer to the $15-18 range.. you can get a porterhouse for $18 even. yes there are seafood choices that are more expensive, but uhh last I checked just about any chain restaurant in america has $8-10 apps and $20+ entrees... their (~$10) cheeseburger is great. they have wood fire pizzas in the $15 range for a large. if you're worried about the appearance of being too upscale, i wouldn't... while it has upscale aspects to it, it's also very casual and not the kind of place you have to worry about what you wear too much, etc.

the Best Western hotel has a restaurant called the Raintree, which is kind of like hometown diner as i understand it, but i also understand it's a bit divey... perhaps that might be OK for a group. surely no comparison in food though.

My recent meal at the southern-tinged local produce-focused Rusty Spoon in Orlando reminded me I hadn't mentioned a similarly swell meal at Firefly last month. This place is special. It's like a mirage, given the highly unlikely location. Terrific stuff. Local beef, greens and sweet corn all deftly handled in a soaring space made from what looks like reclaimed barn wood.

The revolution started by the Avecs, AOCs and Blue Hills has made dining so much better in so many corners of America. The trend toward localvore and gastro pub is infinitely more adaptable, geographically and economically, than molecular gastronomy and other recent trends, therefore more relevant too. It can be reduced to gimmick, though usually it is not.

i have passed this exit to go to fire fly grill at lest 100 times ,but it at hour that they are not open ?
this place has been on my list for a bit.i need to go

Not only can you enjoy a wonderful meal at Firefly, you can also pick up the real deal Boos cutting board while in town:

http://www.johnboos.com/

There is an outlet store where they sell at deep discount.

Davooda