South Central Illinois Recommendations?

My girlfriend is exiled for two weeks to Effingham, IL for some some type of job-related training. I will be visiting her this weekend and next weekend. I searched the forum for recommendations and found the Firefly posting. She tried it the other night and said it was OK. Apparently the hummus was good.

Any other recommendations for Effingham or the surrounding environs?

I hate to admit it but I live in central Illinois (since 1985) and the dining options are limited...unless you have a hankerin' for hot wings, anything deep-fried, pub burgers or Mexican food the way the proprieters think all gringos like it.

Firefly is, to my knowledge, the only game in town in Effingham. There is a place in the country around Stewardson-Strasburg offering a decent fried-chicken Sunday brunch during the warmer months but I think they're closed during the winter.

I think the folks that own Tuscany in Decatur have a location in Paris, IL - but IMHO it's probably not worth the drive. The Decatur location offers solid food at inexpensive prices, but nothing at all to write home about.

I recently had a darn good burger at a sports bar just off I-57 in Mattoon - can't remember the name but it's on the south side of the road when you exit to Mattoon, probably less than a mile from I-57. I believe the meat is ground on the premises, it sported a good char on the outside and was medium rare on the inside as ordered. And a grilled bun to boot. How sad that I can get excited over a grilled bun

I can offer a couple finer-dining options in Decatur, and Springfield and C-U have been covered in prior posts. But I would imagine these are probably too far to drive.

This is why I cook a lot at home and Mrs. Davooda and I make our semi-annual pilgrimages to Chicago

Giallo wrote:My girlfriend is exiled for two weeks to Effingham, IL for some some type of job-related training. I will be visiting her this weekend and next weekend. I searched the forum for recommendations and found the Firefly posting. She tried it the other night and said it was OK. Apparently the hummus was good.

Any other recommendations for Effingham or the surrounding environs?

The Blue Springs Cafe is well worth at least one visit, I could eat several meals there though. Here's some information with pictures I posted last year.

Blue Springs Cafe
Interstate 70
Exit 30
Highland, IL
616-654-5788
Open Daily
11:00 A.M.-9:00 P.M.
30 Miles east of St. Louis
200 Miles west of Indianapolis
276 Miles south of Chicago

Check out http://greasyspoons.net/, a blog by LTH'er M_Six. He's based in Charleston, but writes about restaurants throughout Central Illinois. I believe Firefly is the only restaurant in Effingham that he writes about, but you'll also find posts about restaurants in nearby towns (esp Charleston).

If you have the time on the weekend, check out Springfield or Champaign.
See viewtopic.php?t=449.

That sports bar off I-57 in Mattoon was Gunner Buc's. It's now called Joe's and the burgers are not as good. They're ok, but not as tasty as the Gunner Buc's burgers were.

Warning against Cody;s exit 190 on I 57.

Stopped in friday night with recommendations from people familiar with the area. The space is good for what it is with the peanut shells on the ground lots of piney wood and western accents. The menu touts authentic smoked dishes and homestyle sides,,... Um No and No. The food was just plain terrible.
My smoked pork was not smoked and it was literally so dry it would splinter through its two inch thickness as soon as I began to cut it. Requested sans sauce the waitress apologized for the generous amount of bbq sauce covering half my plate as she dropped off my order. The accompanying "loaded" potato had some green onions, bacon bits and a revolting pale cheese sauce that I guess was a combination of some butter and cheese substitutes mixed together and not edible. My cohorts meals were equally as terrible and the service while provided by aesthetically gifted Eastern Illinois students was roundly terrible. All of this by the way came at the cost of about 15 - 18 bucks an entree.

I don't know why the place was so crowded or how anyone can enjoy the hyper processed over salted dryed out excuse for food that this place was turning out but I at least had some better appreciation for why my terrible Dennys breakfast the next day required waiting in line.

I'll second the warning against Cody's. We've braved it twice and it's been awful both times. You're better off at the BW3 just to the west or even Cracker Barrel.

Hi All,
Any recent advice you can give to travelers along 57 from Memphis to Chicago? Looking for lunch on the road and would appreciate your help!

annak wrote:Hi All,
Any recent advice you can give to travelers along 57 from Memphis to Chicago? Looking for lunch on the road and would appreciate your help!

Lot's of good stuff in the Champaign thread: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=449&start=0&st=0&sk=t&sd=a

I'd also try Greasyspoons, which will have stuff a bit further south: http://greasyspoons.net/

If you don't mind a short side trip, get off I-57 at Arcola and go west to Yoder's Kitchen in Arthur. It has a good lunch menu and a buffet. Good food on the buffet, all amish made.

Well, this isn't South Central, but Bloomington is certainly Central Illinois & we have several great offerings here right off I-55. Reality Bites opened as a tapas bar, & has added a few main dishes, Biaggis is a non-traditional Italian restaurant, Lancaster's in Downtown Bloomington is a must, Hayashi has the best sushi bar & there are other ethnic choices as well.

Also in Arthur is Country Cheeses and More- an amish bakery selling all kinds of breads and sweets and they have a daily plate lunch for around $7 -a main and two sides. A couple of small tables-or to go cartons. The pecan rolls are the best we have EVER had.

Try 17 St. Bar & Grill, in Marion, IL for some very good BBQ. While it's not the same as our favorite Q places here in Chicago, or probably yours in Memphis, it's close. Our kids were at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale and we ate at their Murphysboro, IL and Marion locations often. We never had a bad meal at either. Check out the website. If you go to the Marion location, I'd call for directions. It's located behind a big shopping mall and can be kind of hard to find.

17th. St. Bar & Grill
Marion, IL
I-57, exit 54B
2700 17th Street
Marion, IL 62959
618-998-1114
Monday . Saturday 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Sunday 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.

http://www.17thstreetbarbecue.com/index.htm

I have no experience with the Marion, Carbondale, or Murphysboro locations of 17th st, but the O'Fallon branch served us some of the most disgusting pork shoulder I've ever eaten.. dry, stringy, flavorless, no bark. It had the look and texture of dried-out cat foot.

It was incredibly pathetic, especially for 7pm on a Saturday. Ribs and sausage were a bit better but nothing special, and fried pickles were superb as always, but I don't know if we'll ever give that branch another chance.

Firefly Grill was mentioned above but is easy to gloss over... it's right off the highway in effingham (which is about an hour east of St. Louis on i57/i70) in a rustic-meets-modern-barn-like building surrounded by prarie grass... menu is mostly local products. a lot of produce comes from their garden in season, meat products from local farms, etc. local beers on tap.

had a fantastic pulled pork sandwich last time i was there.. and a duck burger with foie gras w/ duck fat fried fries. (two entrees split between two, i'm not a pigola!). extremely reasonable pricing. it's quick/easy to eat there too if you're on the road, but i also have called a number of times and ordered a burger to eat on the road. honestly not much on the menu is really able to travel well so it's worth eating in. they also have wood-fire pizza but i've never tried.

Firefly Grill
1810 Avenue of Mid-America
Effingham, IL 62401
(217) 342-2002
http://www.ffgrill.com/

I'll chime in with another recommendation for Firefly Grill in Efingham. I go down there once a year to visit family got a chance to eat there last August. I can't remember exactly what we had but I recall that everyone at the table really enjoyed their meal and that the setting was very attractive. They had a nice wine list also.

HI,

Mattoon has a really excellent local up-scale family restaurant, Cody's Roadhouse just west of I57 Exit 190 on Charleston Ave.

The decor is kind of Montana country with lots of mounted animals. It is done very tastefully and is a beautiful restaurant. The food is well cooked roadhouse fare with excellent service. If you are on I57, this beats all of the franchises in quality and experience.

Cody's Roadhouse Food and Spirits
1320 Broadway Ave. E.
Mattoon, IL 61938
codysroadhouse.net


Tim