Eating the Land of Lincoln

Can someone explain to me what exactly makes this a sandwich? Just curious.

King T, we, too, are doing Route 66 this summer and will visit as many as these spots as possible.  Thanks for the tips and your gorgeous pics!    Chris

P.S.  I'll be thinking of the crust on that Krekel's burger for the rest of the day!

It's basically an open-faced sandwich
Thick-sliced bread
Ham or hamburger patties
French fries
Cheese Sauce

Now from that you can sub any of various meats (commonly deep fried pork tenderloin, grilled or fried chicken breast, and fried fish filets or eggs), various potatoes (steak fries, homestyle, hashbrowns, etc.) and the cheese sauce will vary from place to place too (Cheddar, white sharp Cheddar).

Here's a list of some Springfield, IL restaurants that serve them:
Barrel Head Pub
D’Arcy’s Pint
Delaney’s
Dublin Pub
Ritz’s
Sammy’s
Sportsman’s Lounge
West Woods

If you gather from their menus you see a compilation of:

Bread layer:
Texas Toast

Meat Layer:
Ground Sirloin, roast beef, bacon & tomato, grilled buffalo chicken, breaded buffalo chicken, corned beef, pork chop, turkey breast, ham, grilled chicken, batter dipped cod, chili, 1/2 ham & 1/2 turkey, breaded pork tenderloin, veggie, hamburger, Italian sausage, Walleye, ground beef with onions & bacon, chili cheeseburger, chili cheese hot dog, egg, bacon, veggie burger, shrimp, fried chicken strips, pot roast, Philly beefsteak

Potato layer:
Steak fries, homestyle fries, french fries, crinkle cut fries, hashbrowns, onion rings, tater tots, potato chips, deep-fried round potatoes, tortilla chips,

Cheese sauce layer:
Yellow cheese sauce, spicy cheese sauce, traditional cheese sauce, white cheese sauce, sausage gravy, Hollandaise, Blue cheese sauce, rarebit cheese sauce


Here's a good read on them:
http://whatscookingameric.../HorseshoeSandwich.htm

seatown76


Love the chili pics.

I myself am a chili minimalist and can't stand to see chili with noodles of any kind and like the fact that it can be ordered seperate. Since I have been in Wisconsin for about 8 years now I have seen more people cook chili with the noodles right in it!!!!

THAT"S NOT CHILI!!!!!!!

Agreed.  I could not figure out why my mother and all the neighbors would make it like soup and then add macaroni growing up in Wisconsin. Pasta does not belong in chili.  Worse yet, my mother actually added celery to it as well. 

"Worse yet, my mother actually added celery to it as well."
 
She probably did that because she thought this was a way for you to get the vitamins and minerals and fiber and other nutritional benefits that she was sure were in celery.  Lots of mothers were known to "sneak" veggies into foods where they didn't really belong when kids wouldn't eat them otherwise, and many of the kids were none the wiser. 

Bob Waldmire died

 Local artist and Route 66 legend Bob Waldmire died peacefully this morning at about 8:30 a.m.

For most of the past few months, Waldmire has been living near Rochester in a converted school bus he used as a home while in central Illinois.

He knew, he said, about a decade ago that he had abdominal cancer. But having lived most of his life as a vegan who marched to his own drummer, he refused any invasive procedures that would have prolonged his life if it did it at the expense of his philosophy.

He spent much of this fall in the school bus, lying on a couch and talking with old friends. Many of them were his fellow Route 66 devotees who came from hundreds of miles away to say goodbye to Bob.

http://www.sj-r.com/bakke...re-reaches-end-of-road

That's so sad to hear about Bob, but he really did live a full life and was a true legend and a food pioneer.
Thanks for letting us know.
The Cozy is one of my family's favorite Springfield stops ,
as is the Dr.
Bob will truly be missed.

Trip Back To Springfield (Day 1: Morning til Noon)
 
I made a visit back to Springfield for a couple days this past week. My buddy who works between here and down there wanted me to come down with him and go on one of our classic foodventures. I said yes indeed and we headed out around 9:00a on May 4th with our first stop of this journey to the Central Illinois area or more specifically Lasalle County. Its an area known for a couple things in the regional food game with the countys famous fried chicken being the main attraction for us. This would be our first stop on our trip that would end in the Capitol. The other popular regional eat in the Lasalle County region is fried snapping turtle. Many of the people from the region lived off the river and its food and the turtle was abundant in it back in the day. Nowadays the turtle is endangered and it comes from a farm but other people that love taking foodventures dont highly rec it due to its chewy meat. Its an old timers thing that also seems to be dying off but there are still places in Central IL where you can find it on the menu.
 
There is a great state park called Starved Rock in the area that is easily the best state park withinthe  closest proximity to the city. But we werent going to be stopping to explore nature today, it was all about food. Since the place we had in mind that is famous statewide and maybe known country wide doesnt open til 4:30 we said well have to get there another day sometime this summer. So we headed towards the river to seek out another regional eat from the area.
 
We got out of the car to stretch the legs and take in the history of Ottawa, IL. Albeit I was only there for about 15 minutes it was a really cool place to stop for a little while and I could really feel the history. This little historic town is where Lincoln and Douglas had their first debate. Cool place to visit of you head to Starved Rock for the day or weekend.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Something I try to do when on the road is stop and snap pictures of everyt supper club I come across. Just like the turtle mentioned above, these clubs and so many other once popular regional or old school food trends are fading away. Supper Clubs are all over the Midwest esp. in Wisconsin so I see and snap alot of photos of them. I love the signs and arcitecture of these restaurant/social clubs that became popular in the 1940's. This one pictured below is popular for its fried chicken dinners served "family style" down in Lasalle County this means fried chicken with bread, salad, choice of potato, and a plate of spaghetti or ravioli. Its all homemade so I am told. One day I hope to get to stop in. Who knows though for as many still operating ones that I see, there are ones that are no more.
 

Oglesby, IL
 
Please dont judge me by how much I can eat over a two day period (I keed) but my first stop of my journey down the river which I will document on here as time allows me to, was to The Root Beer stand in Oglesby, IL. I had a/have a situation/story one couldn't make up in this little town back in high school when we went camping at Starved Rock one weekend and I couldn't remember why I had heard of this place until it hit me that this is where that story happened. It was around noon and we were hungry so I made the driver pull into the drive in when I spotted it as we passed by. At the very least I had to have a root beer which I love. Im also a sucker for drive ins.
 

Oglesby, IL
 
It was pretty packed and I decided to take an order to go and eat it on the trunk since it was really nice outside. I asked what the most popular item was and it is the pork tenderloin and along with the bacon double cheeseburger it was what everyone was eating and they all had root beers. So guess what I got?
 

pork tenderloin
 

bacon double cheese
 
All in all a decent meal with the root beer being great. I actually liked the bacon cheese with thousand island dressing etc...better than the tenderloin. But the total was something like $10 for the sandwiches with a root beer and root beer float so I aint complaining. Again, a good place if your in the area camping or exploring Starved Rock. It also seemed to be thee spot for lunch around town and it didnt dissapoint this out of towner. Stay tuned for the next stop.
 
The Root Beer Stand
225 North Columbia
Oglesby, Illinois 63148
815-883-9254

King T.     Great report.  Looking for the rest of the story.    I am from near Champaign and will try a road trip to try some of your "finds"
 
And super pictures also.

Dr of BBQ


Missouri horning in on our horseshoe

Two years ago I found a restaurant in Missouri that sold horseshoe sandwiches.  I can't remember the name, but it was on MO 248 (or, as Missourians may call it, 248 Hwy.) west of Galena (county seat of Stone County, south of another Springfield).

Gorgeous pictures King--I love the murals.  They make me think of 'Parks and Recreation.' 

Fried snapping turtle huh?  I guess you don't want to order that by mistake.  And around here, your ability to eat a lot in a short period of time should actually raise your status, not lower it.  :)

    Beautiful pictures!  I especially love that Rootbeer Guy, Looks like Charlie Brown and Winnie the Pooh's offspring...

Thanks for the report; I'm hoping to make a trip to Springfield sometime in the next couple of weeks. I doubt I'll get to the small towns you've posted on, but I hope to leave a dent or two in the horseshoes, cozy dogs, chili, and other goods in the city itself.

Great report KingT, thank you!

Regarding Springfield horseshoes, right now D'Arcys pint is the most famous in town and they are good, but my preference is Ritz' Little Fryer, two locations, one downtown on Jefferson, one on North Grand (across from Krekel's, home of the 1930's hamburger).  They close at 2:00, so get there for lunch!  Todd C

PS--to horseshoe historians, the Red Coach is my favorite ever, I miss them.

My trip back to Springfield/foodventure continues. The original plan was to make my first visit to Rip's and eat some world famous Lasalle County fried chicken (which is not to far from Ottawa, IL featured above) I can now attest to it being some of the best fried chicken anywhere after trying it last week. But since we left the city at 9a that day down to Springfield we weren't going to be able to sit around and wait til 4:30 when it opens so I told my boy behind the wheel to head to Sparland, IL down the river for our second stop of the day.

I love Delta tamales and have been craving them for a long time now. I will always love Willie's because its a place I fell in love with three years ago when we drove by this random old gas station with a BBQ pit, a few chairs, lots of smoke in the air and a dude named Willie holding the lot down. Well its been a while since I've been and Willies has really come up as you can see below. It now has indoor seating with tables and a bar along with some gaming machines and a TV.


Willies Tamales (Sparland, IL)

If you want to check out the story behind this place you can check the link HERE. If your ever in the area and love Delta style tamales it is a must do. A true roadfood lovers spot tucked on a corner at the train tracks in a small Illinois river town about 40 minutes from Peoria. I hope to hit the Mississippi Delta tamale trail later this summer or fall if I can squeeze it in my schedule.


bundle of Willies famous Delta tamales


Butterflied Pork Chop Sandwich

Willies Homemade Tamales
194 Railroad Street
Sparland, IL 61565
(309) 469-2222

KingT


My trip back to Springfield/foodventure continues. The original plan was to make my first visit to Rip's and eat some world famous Lasalle County fried chicken (which is not to far from Ottawa, IL featured above) I can now attest to it being some of the best fried chicken anywhere after trying it last week. But since we left the city at 9a that day down to Springfield we weren't going to be able to sit around and wait til 4:30 when it opens so I told my boy behind the wheel to head to Sparland, IL down the river for our second stop of the day. 


Willies Homemade Tamales
194 Railroad Street
Sparland, IL 61565
(309) 469-2222

We've made the trip past Willie's many times over the years on the way to visit the in law family in Peoria. Willie started out only being open Friday and Saturday with his cooker and some tables outside of the abandoned gas station for many years. We usually drove by around 10 am because my M-I-L dictated we be in Peoria a little after 11 to take her to lunch so I went by many years with just the smell of smoke to go on! I have since beenable to stop many times and usually bring home some goodies.

BTW, we were by June 25 and the sign out front advertised the pork chop sandwich for 6.95 with fries and drink. A little further south down Rte. 29, Willie also operates a  mobile trailer parked along the road just north of the Mc Donald's in Chillicothe. We were in the wrong lane to check it out but it may be tamale's only. Last year we saw the same rig parked a little further south on 29 near the Cat plant.