Illinois - Part 4

I have a few more Illinois photos that I'd like to share before I move on to "regular" life. Today's post centers around food.

I had a list of places I wanted to visit during our stay, two of which were food establishments.  First on the list was the local pizza parlor that I frequented as a child and teen.  They've managed to stay in business for over 40 years by 'not messing with a good thing' and everyone who grew up there always has it on their list of "must eats" when they return home.

I absolutely LOVE this pizza.  Thin crust but not that burnt brick oven stuff that so popular right now.

For true locals though the only way to eat it is to smother it with French dressing.  

It hasn't changed in forty years and boy do I miss it already.  *sigh*

I also had to visit the mom and pop ice cream shop that I worked at as a teen. I was so happy to see that it's still  a thriving, family run business.  My favorite treat?  Lemon soft serve ice cream, caramel syrup, and crunchies.  I was so excited to see that they still had these crunchies!

 

The lemon we sold in the seventies did not have this bright yellow color but the taste hasn't changed.  I was not disappointed.  Meg loved their ice cream too so we made a second visit before heading out of town.  

A rather unexpected surprise was a new restaurant located in a renovated old hotel.  It had a historic yet trendy vibe, much like that of what you'd see in a much larger city.  Beef is king in the midwest but they did have shrimp and grits on the menu.  Being from Florida I didn't have high expectations but I can honestly say it was one of THE BEST things I have ever eaten.  Absolutely delicious!

  

I'm missing this a lot already as well.  LOL!

And lastly, my cousin introduced me to a very yummy adult beverage.  It was a mix of root beer beer (yes, a root beer flavored beer) and RumChata.  The result is an adult root beer float.  Now that's my kind of dessert.   

I have Rum Chata in my bar stash but now I am on the search for this root beer beer.  Hopefully our local Total Wine carries it.  :-)  

I'm suddenly very hungry right now.