Carius: Plenty to eat, drink and explore in towns neighboring Bloomington-Normal
This time of year is great for taking an afternoon drive and stopping at a smaller neighboring town to eat. My drives with Kay are usually within a 30-mile radius of Bloomington-Normal, which often gives us plenty of time to stop for a bite.
A question I am frequently asked is how does one know if an unfamiliar tavern or restaurant is "good"? My answer is if it has been open for a while, a good guess is it must be a decent place. Why? The restaurant business is so competitive that a restaurant or tavern not living up to its specialty is soon gone. If a tavern brags about its burgers and wings on social media, chances are it serves good burgers and wings. The same can be said about any restaurant with its specialties and popular menu items.
Our imaginary 30-mile radius also includes three craft breweries and a winery.
From Larry's notebook
• KFC — The last one in Bloomington-Normal recently closed, leaving the Twin Cities without a KFC since the then-Kentucky Fried Chicken opened 60 years ago. I can recall five local KFC locations, with the first in what is now the LaGondola Spaghetti House on South Main Street.
• Pizza Hut — The carryout/delivery restaurant at 706 S. Main St. in Normal also was recently closed. Two Pizza Huts remain open.
• Fort Jesse Café — A full-service bar was recently added by extending the restaurant 14 feet into the adjacent empty space to the east.
• The Peppered Pig (Colfax) — The small restaurant and boutique that started as a home cottage bakery added a commercial kitchen earlier this summer. It is now open Friday, Saturday and Sunday, with different hours each day.
• Le Marchand de Vin ("wine merchant") — The wine shop recently opened at 1704 Eastland Drive in Bloomington. A wine tasting is offered every Saturday.
• Flame at Bloom — The restaurant will open next month in the former Social Taco location in the Shoppes at College Hills. This will be the third local restaurant for the owners, who also have Bloom Bawarchi and Bloom Barista, both in Bloomington.
• Micki's (Hopedale) — The restaurant recently celebrated three years in business. Open only three days a week, fried chicken is the feature on Thursdays, and 16-ounce ribeyes on Fridays and Saturdays. All the dressings are made in-house, and I found it interesting that this small, family-owned restaurant goes through 5 gallons of ranch dressing a week in the three days it's open.
• Dixie Family Restaurant (McLean) — Open since 1928, the oldest truck stop on Route 66 offers breakfast, lunch and dinner buffets every day, plus a regular menu. This is a very popular Route 66 tourist stop.
• Country Aire (Atlanta) — A 19-foot "Lumi the Pie Lady" giant statue was recently installed on the edge of the parking lot. It is named for Lumi Bekteshi, who owns the restaurant with her husband, and is known for her award-winning pies.
• Front Street Music Festival — Congratulations to Jazz UpFront owners James and Linda Gaston on another successful event.
• Los Potrillos Mexican Restaurant — The dining room has a different look after a remodel/décor change that included removing the arches and repainting by a professional painter who specializes in Mexican restaurants.
• A Larry's favorite menu item — Pork belly at the Sichuan Chinese Restaurant in uptown Normal.
We take a look at 20 B-N restaurants that we wish would come back to us ... what are yours?
