Avanti's

After a lovely visit at Tanner's Apple Orchard, we headed to Peoria for a bite to eat. We stopped at a local chain restaurant that was started in 1966 by a Swiss immigrant who was well versed in the cheese-making business. Let's face it, he probably also an excellent chocolatier and fondue whiz.
Well this peaceful Swiss decided to start making pizzas and other Americanized Italian dishes. Luckily, he covered them in his fresh cheese and it all came together for the best.
Avanti's is well known in the Peoria area. If you're looking for "authentic" Italian and good looking waiters, you could blow 50 bucks at the Biaggi's down the street. If you're looking for cheesy goodness and haggard, but polite service, you'll find it at Avanti's.



















We visited the location at 4711 N Rockwood, which is a nice looking place, but I miss our old hangout on University and Main and seeing the crazy bike man.




This Avanti's is at least larger and more modern.










We were seated and served quickly, probably to keep the peace. (heh more Swiss jokes) Your meal always begins with a Matterhorn sized bread basket and little golden wrapped nuggets of butter.

The slightly sweet bread is warm, soft, and chewy. There's nothing better than slapping butter on a warm piece of bread and watching it melt into the pores.















Avanti's has a typical menu filled with pizzas, ravioli, spaghetti, and subs. Prices are cheap enough to keep the Bradley students satisfied. They also have a daily special, in which I partook.


































An Avanti's favorite is the Gondola, a boatload of layered meats and cheese on a sweetly singing bread roll.

Ham, Salami, American cheese, Lettuce and Mayo..Why is this famous?

 Richie likes to double fist his food, so he also ordered the pizza bread.














I went with the special which happened to be chicken cacciatore. A grilled breast of chicken concealed with tomato sauce, in a web of linguine.













My grandpa made some mean cacciatore and this one was pretty surly too. The tomato sauce is chunky and probably too sweet unless, like me, you enjoy eating frosting with a spoon.

Avanti's always ends your meal with a cheap bill and starlight mints. The hills are alive with the smell of garlic and, honestly, the mints do little to mask it, but it's a nice gesture. For a cheap meal that satisfies the American palate, flee through the Alps and check out Avanti's.

Five Guys Burgers and Fries

Five Guys Burgers and Fries is well-known chain throughout a good portion of the country. The couple who began the restaurant in 1986 had 4 sons and soon added a fifth, hence the name, Five Guys. It began in Virginia and soon expanded to locations around the D.C. area, garnering a cult following. Franchising soon followed, and Five Guys can now be found in 40 states. Of course Iowans are about 5 yrs behind, so we don't have one...yet. It is, however, getting closer.


Being foodies...well more like, 'fast foodies,' both of us had heard of Five Guys a while ago and even ate a similar restaurant called Meatheads in Schaumburg. During a trip to Peoria we discovered an empty store space with signs in the windows proclaiming the impending opening of Five Guys. A couple months later, Richie was able to make the trek to Peoria to try it out, but I could not. :(


There are few unique attributes of Five Guys. The menu is deceptively simple, serving just burgers, fries, hot dogs, and Cokes. However, they claim that their burgers can be served in 250,000 different ways.
Their beef is never frozen- in fact, stores do not have freezers. They do have coolers to keep the meat fresh. Lastly, they use peanut oil, so everything is trans-fat free. I'm sure that was on Richie's mind when he ordered.



The interior of the restaurant is very clean and open. Customers order at a counter and can watch the cooks perform in their open kitchen. When your number is called, bounce up with anticipation and try not to drool on yourself as you pick up your food.



Hungry diners can choose their own unique combination of toppings and sauces.




Fries are fresh cut and can be salted or seasoned cajun-style.

Richie's double burger was overflowing with cheese, bacon, mushrooms, mayo, and bbq sauce. The burger was well done but still juicy and flavorful.


Fries are served in ample amounts and Richie raved about the Cajun seasonings.



Check out these thick potato fingers.


Five Guys does it right, by focusing on making quality food, rather than a variety of food. Of course when you do this, you can't please everyone...no salads or chicken on the menu, so leave your skinny bitches at home.

A Return to Burger Barge and Fat Sandwich

Richie was lucky enough to be able to return to a couple of greasy joints we have featured in the past, Burger Barge in Peoria, IL and Fat Sandwich Company in Champaign, IL.

It was a nice day, so the front deck at Burger Barge was open and they had a nice view of the Illinois River.













Not one to deviate from positive past performance, Richie once again ordered the Tavern Burger.













As you probably don't remember, the half pound Tavern burger is topped with ham, onions, cheese, bacon, and a fried egg. A true carnivore's delight. $7 bucks for just the burger...but saying just the burger doesn't really do it justice. That's a combo breakfast and lunch.



Burger from our first visit to the Barge.















And his 2nd visit...










Gotta love those crispy onion rings. looks like a whole onion was used. These will put you back another $5.

And back to good ol' Fat. Fat Sandwich Co. is the place with insanely filled and ridiculously named sandwiches. Last time, Richard got the Fat Magnum. This time he got to know a 'Fat Lush.' The lovely Lush is an 8 inch roll filled with cheesesteak, chicken fingers, Mozzarella cheese sticks, fries, and BBQ sauce.





















You can pretend to act disgusted like I do, but you and I both know how delicious that looks.











All of their Fat sandwiches come with the fries in it. If you a true glutton for grease, you can order some on the side as well.













So both these places delivered once again and are highly recommended by Fat Richard with two fat thumbs up.

Sterling Family Restaurant

A recent trip to Peoria brought us to Louie's Sterling Family Restaurant. Sterling Family Restaurant has mostly home-style foods with a few Greek dishes thrown in for good measure. Opa!














Who is this Louie fella? He is a mustached Greek immigrant who opened the restaurant just over 20 yrs ago in 1989. Apparently this mustached mushroom cloud logo represents him.














The seating in the main room is similar to a dining car, just one long row of booths and a counter.




























We sat at the counter with chunky Danny Glover.














Most of the time when you mention Sterling, people will respond with one of two statements-- "I haven't eaten there in forever" or "President Bush ate there." And indeed he did.














They seem quite proud of that visit, one wall is dedicated to their encounter. I was more excited that Karl Rove ate there. He actually eats food to supplement his blood-sucking.

So what do the Greek Titans eat? Apparently they eat sausage, eggs, hashbrowns and toast.




Before:










After:



















Needless to say, Richie conquered the Mount Olympus of breakfast and shall hereforth be known as Richetheus.

I'm guessing Persephone feasted on such evil foods as the incredible edible egg (substitute)...















A malicious and delicious omelet with spinach and ham. I will refer to it as a nomelet because when it first came out I said, wow that is huge! And then I proceeded to eat it all because it was delicious. nom nom.














The menu included quite a few sweet potato dishes. Not sure why...they aren't really Greek in nature. A food of the gods perhaps. Or maybe there was a surplus this year. Okay they were probably on sale at Kroeger. Anyway, the sweet potato pancake beckoned me like Sirens of the Sea.














I took a big bite and it was like Thanksgiving all over again. Minus the kid falling down the stairs and mom yelling at me for not stirring the gravy. I would recommend serving this with marshmallow fluff.






Gravy robber






So the Sterling Family Restaurant...Zeus smiles upon ye. Good enough for a President, good enough for me. I really enjoyed the cozy atmosphere and fresh hot food. Service was fast as Hermes and, though the waitresses were no Aphrodites, they were very sweet.

Apparently they thought Obama might stop by when he was in town, but he didn't. He probably went somewhere expensive and ran up a HUGE bill. Let's hope he had the cash this time.

Smo-King Pit Barbecue

Yet another surprising mall joint, Smo-King Pit Barbecue was one of my favorite restaurants in Peoria. It's located in Northwoods Mall in the otherwise deserted hallway down from the equally deserted Sears.
Smo-King Pit first opened in Peoria Heights in 1997 under the name Citchen's Cafe. They moved to the mall (2200 War Memorial Drive) just a few yrs ago. Despite their location, all the meat is slow cooked over a hickory wood fire pit. They claim to have "award-winning" ribs, but who doesn't claim that?














The inside of the restaurant is very cute and woodsy. You can almost forget you're in a subpar mall. The workers seem to be a tight knit family and are always very polite and appreciative of their patrons... even this tattooed hoodrat.

















The menu is typical of a barbecue joint. Ribs, briskets, pork, you know...meat. I would usually get the pulled pork platter- a sandwich with two sides for 8.99. They pile the meat on a relatively generic bun. But the bun is just a background player. The generous portion of pulled pork is juicy, smoky, and topped with a thick midwest-style bbq sauce which they make in the restaurant. You can buy a bottle for $5.99



























Richie usually orders the brisket, but on this particular visit, chose the ribs.














Four bones and two sides for $6.99- a cheap way to satisfy your craving for ribs without sacrificing your taste buds. As for the sides, the baked beans are a little runny for my tastes, but I must say that their green beans are outstanding. Salty and spicy with bits of bacon, probably laden with sodium, about as unhealthy as one can make green beans. God, that looks good.

















And apparently, it was, as evidenced by this picture of Richie gnawing on the bone.

They are also known for their homemade cheesecakes, which I, for some reason beyond me, never tried. They have 28 flavors, but rotate 4-5 daily.

Next time you find yourself at Northwoods, I beg you to forgo Charley's Subs and whatever smelly pizza buffet occupies a corner in the food court, and take a stroll down towards Sears. Take a left turn at the mattress store that somehow stays afloat, and walk towards the big (inanimate) pig. Finally, suffer through the contemporary praise music and enjoy your barbecue.

Richard's on Main

So on a recent trip to the wonderful Peoria, I ventured downtown to partake in some delicious bar food at Richard's on Main. Richard's is a cool place to listen to some decent tunes, drink some beers if you're into that, and eat some awesome food. Also not bad to meet up with some friends, watch them get drunk, and laugh at all the ridiculous shit that comes from such, which is what I usually do.





Now, lets clear something up. On a recent episode of Man vs. Food, Adam went to Springfield, IL which in itself is ridiculous as there are plenty of other cities in the greater Illinois area to go to that probably had much better food eateries. Anyways, he had what was called a horseshoe sandwich. Supposedly this sandwich was invented in Springfield, but let me tell you, it wasn't perfected.
I give you the pork tenderloin horseshoe. This beast is composed of two pieces of Texas toast, topped with a chopped fried pork tenderloin. On top of that is a massive amount of french fries, and the cherry on top is a generous helping of cheese sauce.








The only problem with these is that I have yet to eat an entire one. But it usually works out since by the time i get to the progress in the picture everyone usually is about done telling their stories and drinking their beers.


So if you find yourself in Peoria and are in need of some comfort food, head downtown to the Apollo Theatre, and follow the finger down the stairs. May the good times follow