I had the Smitty's tenderloin this week. It was one of the largest I've had and the breading was good, but the meat was one of the toughest I've eaten. No gristle, just hard to chew. For that reason I ended up tossing most of it.

That Sammy is hugh! Why do you think it was hard to chew? Not pounded out right or thin, over/under cooked?

I know the handfull I have eaten @ Smitty's were all good. Between the tenderloin, and their broaster chicken I always have a good time/meal @ Smitty's. Must have been an off night.

Cbot wrote:That Sammy is hugh! Why do you think it was hard to chew? Not pounded out right or thin, over/under cooked?

It was fried OK and was pounded out OK. The pork loin was just not good quality. In my experience big is not always better. The big pork loin sandwiches tends to be less tender. I may be a bit more discerning about tenderloins than most since I have sampled so many and know that most are pork loin cuts and not pork tenderloin cuts, but there should be a reason for the word "tender" in the description. Smitty's was not tender.

A stop at Smitty's this past Friday made a most pleasant, and tasty, diversion from the northbound trek to Rockford. I am a breaded tenderloin fan and Smitty's rendition was excellent! I especially enjoyed the home-garden tomato - it added a lot of flavor.

The Davooda boys ate every bit of their chicken tenders (pronounced the "best ever") and cheeseburger, which appeared to me to be hand-formed and was quite juicy. The fries were off the truck and undercooked, which was a little let-down.

Funny conversation between me and Mrs. Davooda when we were served our tenderloins:

Mrs. Davooda: This thing is humongous - you didn't tell me it was this big.
Me: I told you it was huge.
Mrs. Davooda: Yeah, but this is humongous!
Me: Would you have ordered it if I said it was "humongous?"
Mrs. Davooda: Yeah, probably, but you should have told me it was humongous.
Me: Sorry honey, to me, huge is synonymous with humongous, ginourmous, gigantic, etc.
Mrs. Davooda: No, there's a big difference between huge and humongous...just so you know.

You learn something new every day!

Thanks Jimswside for letting LTH know about this place - I would have never found it otherwise!

Davooda

glad you liked Smitty's, I need to get over there asap.

Mighty poor showing by Smitty's the other day.



My breaded pork tenderloin was so overcooked and tough it was nearly impossible to bite off a piece (I'm not exaggerating at all). Even sawing through the thin meat with the supplied serrated knife was difficult. The only way to make significant progress was to tear off strips with my bare hands but I soon gave up. I'm becoming less and less a fan of gigantic ultrathin tenderloins, even when expertly prepared. And this last one was anything but.

Smitty's Bar & Grill
Leonore IL
815-856-2030

Streator is doing a "Tenderloin Festival" that includes Smitty's as a stop.

link to an article about it:

http://mywebtimes.com/archives/ottawa/d ... ?id=460057

jimswside wrote:signage(note the broasted chicken sign on the left):

Isn't this Broaster brand chicken available at grocery stores like Sunset Foods?

Ram4 wrote:Isn't this Broaster brand chicken available at grocery stores like Sunset Foods?

Ram, don't know if you're joking, but assuming you're not, it's not a brand of chicken, it's chicken that is "broasted" using equipment licensed from the Broaster Company, as explained in this Wikipedia article. I don't think any of the Sunset food stores sell broasted chicken.