Horseshoe sauce - where to buy?

Hi all,

I'm looking for help from some Springfield, IL folk. I live in Chicago, but would like to buy (i.e. have shipped) some authentic cheese sauce for use in making Horseshoe sandwiches up here. I've found recipes on the internet for this sauce, so I could make it myself if necessary. But, I've never actually tasted it before, and I get the impression that every restaurant has its own subtly different version of the sauce. I'm looking for a restaurant that perhaps sells their sauce in a jar? And could send it to me?

Yeah, maybe I'm nuts; it's a gift for a friend.

If any of you can give me any leads, I'd greatly appreciate it. Thanks much.

Mike

quote:

Originally posted by clothier

OK, Mike. I'll bite.
What's in a Horseshoe sandwich?

Sorry. I thought I saw it discussed here a couple of months ago, so perhaps regular readers might have seen it.

It's a sandwich that has its origin (and fame, and nearly all of its consumption) in Springfield, IL. I've never had one, but from what I've heard/read, it's a hamburger patty (or turkey, ham, but usu burger) served open-face on toast. It's smothered with this cheese sauce, and topped with a stack of fries. I do not know if the fries get covered in the cheese, or if they go on top.

It's an artery-clogger, but apparently quite good. Half of one is often sold as a "pony." From what I've heard, the cheese is what makes or breaks the sandwich. This is what I'm trying to get in the above post.

The cheese sauce for a horseshoe sandwich is something along the lines of a Welsh rarebit, or just plain cheese sauce.

The order of the french fries or the cheese sauce is something of a question. Most say that the fries go on top of the cheese. Doesn't on-the-side sound better? You really want to keep that friend?

I had my first horseshoe (OK, a ponyshoe) in November in Springfield. Very tasty, but not the sort of thing that you want to eat too often. For the record, the Homestyle Cafe in Springfield puts the cheese sauce OVER the fries.

I can't help you finding you packaged horseshoe sauce, but Stouffer's still makes Welsh Rarebit cheese sauce that you can find in the freezer section. I'm sure that it would make a knockout horseshoe.

I can send you some from my restaurant.

Burt Wolf did a show on Springfield, Illinois as part of one of his PBS series. He highlighted the Horseshoe Sandwich and gave a recipe for the cheese sauce. Perhaps you could check out his website to find the recipe.

Buddy

OK folks I was raised in Springfield and my grandmother was friends with the chef that created this sandwich, it is fabulous! Just the way it is. While there are probably a thoasand different ways to make this fabulous sandwich there is only one original horseshoe and not many places even make it correctly. Darcy's Pint, Waynes Red Coach Inn, & Fritz's wagon wheel are the leaders in the pack all of these restaurants are in Spingfield IL. For the fabulous original you start with Two pieces of (Toasted) texas toast, then you put a cooked ground sirloin patty on top of each piece of toast, then the special cheese sauce goes over both, then sprinkle a little paprika on top of the cheese, then homemade not frozen french fries cut about the size as McDonalds fries over the entire dish! Then grab your fork and knife and enjoy! Many often go for the ponyshoe which is the half size of the original, because the horse so big and rich and very filling. I don't know if any of the above mentioned restaurants will send you their cheese sauce. So here is the original:


2 tablespoons salted butter

1/2 cup beer (Busch or Budweiser)

2 egg yolks

3 cups grated Old English or other sharp white cheddar

4 to 6 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce (To taste)

1/4 teaspoon dry mustard

1/4 teaspoon horseradish

Salt & white pepper (to taste)


For the Sandwich:

1 1/2 pounds ground sirloin (lean ground round)My granny seasons the meat with garlic salt, salt & pepper only.

Salt and freshly ground pepper

8 slices toasted thick white bread (Texas Toast)

2 pounds cooked French fries



RECIPE METHOD


TO MAKE THE SAUCE:
Set up a double boiler or set a medium-sized stainless-steel bowl over a pot of simmering water. Check to make sure the bottom of the bowl is not touching the water. Melt the butter in the double boiler and then add the beer. While constantly whisking, slowly incorporate the egg yolks. Add the cheese and stir constantly until melted and the sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon: this should take 5 to 8 minutes. Add the Worcestershire, horseradish, and mustard. Season the sauce with salt to taste. To avoid a stringy sauce, it is important to constantly stir the cheese and be sure that the water is not boiling, but rather simmering.

This receipe serves 4 horseshoes or 8 pony shoes these are great for parties or just the family!

KMBrown91-

That recipe sounds darn good! I think my cholesterol went up just reading the post though.

Mike...I just made the recipe/slight variation of the one noted below...so so good! I'm in Chicago-land and am thinking of jarring it...did you ever make it?
Marty
----

quote:

Originally posted by rezrov

Hi all,

I'm looking for help from some Springfield, IL folk. I live in Chicago, but would like to buy (i.e. have shipped) some authentic cheese sauce for use in making Horseshoe sandwiches up here. I've found recipes on the internet for this sauce, so I could make it myself if necessary. But, I've never actually tasted it before, and I get the impression that every restaurant has its own subtly different version of the sauce. I'm looking for a restaurant that perhaps sells their sauce in a jar? And could send it to me?

Yeah, maybe I'm nuts; it's a gift for a friend.

If any of you can give me any leads, I'd greatly appreciate it. Thanks much.

Mike

I lived in Springfield IL for over 30 years and moved to Chicago area a few years ago. I have tried several places and I just was back a month ago for more. The sauce is the key, you are welocme to contact me for the best places.

I was born and raised in Springfield and in the last twenty years there hasn’t been a restaurant open without a horseshoe on their menu. Many are just an average attempt to reproduce the original, and no disrespect meat to KM Brown but that recipe appeared in our local newspaper a couple of times in the last 10 years. Again I don’t mean to offend KM but I doubt it’s the original. Now that said it could be, but if it is, the horseshoe of today has come a long way. Most are made with rue as the base and each restaurant uses different kinds of cheese and in my mind one of the best is at “TopCats” in the Laketown shopping center, on Stevenson drive. Rich and his wife Betty are the owners and friends of mine but that’s not the reason for saying theirs is one of, if not the best in town. Rich won some sort of competition a couple of years ago for his version of the horseshoe. Rich has all but given me the recipe (he said I’m leavening out one ingredient but you should be able to figure that out in a moment of looking at the list of ingredients) I have never tried to make a horseshoe let alone his. But I know he special orders his cheese (two kinds) from Chicago. Km’s recipe will make a good cheese sauce but most of the restaurants in town add wine to that version. Some even use Dago Red wine although that’s getting harder to find in this area.

quote:

Originally posted by GordonW
The order of the french fries or the cheese sauce is something of a question. Most say that the fries go on top of the cheese. Doesn't on-the-side sound better? You really want to keep that friend?

No the bread is first and most toast it, then the meat, and the fries are next. Then the fries are covered with the cheese sauce. If you put the cheese on the side it’s not a horseshoe.

quote:

Originally posted by Julia I
I had my first horseshoe (OK, a ponyshoe) in November in Springfield. Very tasty, but not the sort of thing that you want to eat too often. For the record, the Homestyle Cafe in Springfield puts the cheese sauce OVER the fries. I can't help you finding you packaged horseshoe sauce, but Stouffer's still makes Welsh Rarebit cheese sauce that you can find in the freezer section. I'm sure that it would make a knockout horseshoe.

Sorry Julia but Homestyle Café is not known to have a good horseshoe and what’s with the “not something you’d want to eat to often”? You know the same idiots that want you to be so politically correct in your diet, are now wanting you to cut your salt intake by 50%. Well wakeup friends your body needs salt and more importantly the reason most restaurants close is the people cooking the food don’t use any seasoning. If you use seasoning in a meal it starts your digestive juices flowing and your body tells you your full otherwise your going to eat far more than you should and end up with a butt as big as a Buick.

The trick is stand up once in awhile and eat less and move around more. LOL. Sorry but I don’t want to live to be 90 and spend 10 years in an old folks home drooling in my oatmeal. LMAO Furthermore Welsh Rarebit cheese sauce is nothing like a good horseshoe cheese sauce.


A couple of other thoughts Waynes Red Coach Inn, died a deserved death five or more years ago (it was a cockroach heaven for years), and I don’t know of a single restaurant in Springfield that uses homemade french fries in fact there are only a couple that still make homemade french fries one is Cozy Dog on south 6th street. Greasy as hell but the best fries in the city. Ok I have irked enough of you so that said if you get to Springfield try TopCat’s Horseshoe for a rare treat. If you need directions to TopCats call 217 529 4005.
Jack@DrofBBQ.com

I just had to reply to this topic. I was born and raise in Springfield myself. I never heard anyone mention one of the best places to get a Horseshoe and that is the Ritz's Lil Fryer on North Grand. I have had sauces from several of the other places mentioned, and they weren't as good as Kirt's. I live out west now and have made this dish for many. Yes I had to come up with my own version and it does contain almost everything in KMBrown91's recipe. I will have to try it with some beer next time. That could be a secret ingredient. Just my 2-cents worth.

quote:

Originally posted by Dr of BBQ

I was born and raised in Springfield and in the last twenty years there hasn’t been a restaurant open without a horseshoe on their menu. Many are just an average attempt to reproduce the original, and no disrespect meat to KM Brown but that recipe appeared in our local newspaper a couple of times in the last 10 years. Again I don’t mean to offend KM but I doubt it’s the original. Now that said it could be, but if it is, the horseshoe of today has come a long way. Most are made with rue as the base and each restaurant uses different kinds of cheese and in my mind one of the best is at “TopCats” in the Laketown shopping center, on Stevenson drive. Rich and his wife Betty are the owners and friends of mine but that’s not the reason for saying theirs is one of, if not the best in town. Rich won some sort of competition a couple of years ago for his version of the horseshoe. Rich has all but given me the recipe (he said I’m leavening out one ingredient but you should be able to figure that out in a moment of looking at the list of ingredients) I have never tried to make a horseshoe let alone his. But I know he special orders his cheese (two kinds) from Chicago. Km’s recipe will make a good cheese sauce but most of the restaurants in town add wine to that version. Some even use Dago Red wine although that’s getting harder to find in this area.

quote:

Originally posted by GordonW
The order of the french fries or the cheese sauce is something of a question. Most say that the fries go on top of the cheese. Doesn't on-the-side sound better? You really want to keep that friend?

No the bread is first and most toast it, then the meat, and the fries are next. Then the fries are covered with the cheese sauce. If you put the cheese on the side it’s not a horseshoe.

quote:

Originally posted by Julia I
I had my first horseshoe (OK, a ponyshoe) in November in Springfield. Very tasty, but not the sort of thing that you want to eat too often. For the record, the Homestyle Cafe in Springfield puts the cheese sauce OVER the fries. I can't help you finding you packaged horseshoe sauce, but Stouffer's still makes Welsh Rarebit cheese sauce that you can find in the freezer section. I'm sure that it would make a knockout horseshoe.

Sorry Julia but Homestyle Café is not known to have a good horseshoe and what’s with the “not something you’d want to eat to often”? You know the same idiots that want you to be so politically correct in your diet, are now wanting you to cut your salt intake by 50%. Well wakeup friends your body needs salt and more importantly the reason most restaurants close is the people cooking the food don’t use any seasoning. If you use seasoning in a meal it starts your digestive juices flowing and your body tells you your full otherwise your going to eat far more than you should and end up with a butt as big as a Buick.

The trick is stand up once in awhile and eat less and move around more. LOL. Sorry but I don’t want to live to be 90 and spend 10 years in an old folks home drooling in my oatmeal. LMAO Furthermore Welsh Rarebit cheese sauce is nothing like a good horseshoe cheese sauce.


A couple of other thoughts Waynes Red Coach Inn, died a deserved death five or more years ago (it was a cockroach heaven for years), and I don’t know of a single restaurant in Springfield that uses homemade french fries in fact there are only a couple that still make homemade french fries one is Cozy Dog on south 6th street. Greasy as hell but the best fries in the city. Ok I have irked enough of you so that said if you get to Springfield try TopCat’s Horseshoe for a rare treat. If you need directions to TopCats call 217 529 4005.
Jack@DrofBBQ.com

I agree that KM Brown's recipe does not seem right. First there is no flour. Every recipe I've seen (including the alleged original) calls for first making a rue of butter and flour. Eggs? Not in any recipe I have seen. Most recipes call for adding the beer last, or just before serving, and I've always heard the beer should be warm and flat.

Regarding the debate over whether the fries go on last or whether the cheese goes on last, the fries go on last, on top. At least that's the way I remember them from the 60s and 70s when I lived in Springfield. I remember well, because I liked to add ketchup to the fries. That would have been hard to do had they been under the cheese sauce. Back then, the best horseshoes were thought to be at John's Tavern, Norb Andy's and Sazarac's. I think a bar called Two Brothers also had a good one. For much of my time in Springfield I worked downtown for Bell Telephone and ate horseshoes often for lunch. All but John's Tavern were located downtown. John's was just north of Jefferson Street, on Spring, if I recall.

Ponys (we never called them "Pony Shoes," but just "Ponys") were half portions (one slice of bread) and popular for ladies, and at lunch.

Speaking of bread, I don't recall any restaurant using Texas toast. It's possible, but I only recall plain, white sandwich bread, toasted.

quote:

Originally posted by Ron H

quote:

Originally posted by Dr of BBQ

I was born and raised in Springfield and in the last twenty years there hasn’t been a restaurant open without a horseshoe on their menu. Many are just an average attempt to reproduce the original, and no disrespect meat to KM Brown but that recipe appeared in our local newspaper a couple of times in the last 10 years. Again I don’t mean to offend KM but I doubt it’s the original. Now that said it could be, but if it is, the horseshoe of today has come a long way. Most are made with rue as the base and each restaurant uses different kinds of cheese and in my mind one of the best is at “TopCats” in the Laketown shopping center, on Stevenson drive. Rich and his wife Betty are the owners and friends of mine but that’s not the reason for saying theirs is one of, if not the best in town. Rich won some sort of competition a couple of years ago for his version of the horseshoe. Rich has all but given me the recipe (he said I’m leavening out one ingredient but you should be able to figure that out in a moment of looking at the list of ingredients) I have never tried to make a horseshoe let alone his. But I know he special orders his cheese (two kinds) from Chicago. Km’s recipe will make a good cheese sauce but most of the restaurants in town add wine to that version. Some even use Dago Red wine although that’s getting harder to find in this area.

quote:

Originally posted by GordonW
The order of the french fries or the cheese sauce is something of a question. Most say that the fries go on top of the cheese. Doesn't on-the-side sound better? You really want to keep that friend?

No the bread is first and most toast it, then the meat, and the fries are next. Then the fries are covered with the cheese sauce. If you put the cheese on the side it’s not a horseshoe.

quote:

Originally posted by Julia I
I had my first horseshoe (OK, a ponyshoe) in November in Springfield. Very tasty, but not the sort of thing that you want to eat too often. For the record, the Homestyle Cafe in Springfield puts the cheese sauce OVER the fries. I can't help you finding you packaged horseshoe sauce, but Stouffer's still makes Welsh Rarebit cheese sauce that you can find in the freezer section. I'm sure that it would make a knockout horseshoe.

Sorry Julia but Homestyle Café is not known to have a good horseshoe and what’s with the “not something you’d want to eat to often”? You know the same idiots that want you to be so politically correct in your diet, are now wanting you to cut your salt intake by 50%. Well wakeup friends your body needs salt and more importantly the reason most restaurants close is the people cooking the food don’t use any seasoning. If you use seasoning in a meal it starts your digestive juices flowing and your body tells you your full otherwise your going to eat far more than you should and end up with a butt as big as a Buick.

The trick is stand up once in awhile and eat less and move around more. LOL. Sorry but I don’t want to live to be 90 and spend 10 years in an old folks home drooling in my oatmeal. LMAO Furthermore Welsh Rarebit cheese sauce is nothing like a good horseshoe cheese sauce.


A couple of other thoughts Waynes Red Coach Inn, died a deserved death five or more years ago (it was a cockroach heaven for years), and I don’t know of a single restaurant in Springfield that uses homemade french fries in fact there are only a couple that still make homemade french fries one is Cozy Dog on south 6th street. Greasy as hell but the best fries in the city. Ok I have irked enough of you so that said if you get to Springfield try TopCat’s Horseshoe for a rare treat. If you need directions to TopCats call 217 529 4005.
Jack@DrofBBQ.com

I agree that KM Brown's recipe does not seem right. First there is no flour. Every recipe I've seen (including the alleged original) calls for first making a rue of butter and flour. Eggs? Not in any recipe I have seen. Most recipes call for adding the beer last, or just before serving, and I've always heard the beer should be warm and flat.

Regarding the debate over whether the fries go on last or whether the cheese goes on last, the fries go on last, on top. At least that's the way I remember them from the 60s and 70s when I lived in Springfield. I remember well, because I liked to add ketchup to the fries. That would have been hard to do had they been under the cheese sauce. Back then, the best horseshoes were thought to be at John's Tavern, Norb Andy's and Sazarac's. I think a bar called Two Brothers also had a good one. For much of my time in Springfield I worked downtown for Bell Telephone and ate horseshoes often for lunch. All but John's Tavern were located downtown. John's was just north of Jefferson Street, on Spring, if I recall.

Ponys (we never called them "Pony Shoes," but just "Ponys") were half portions (one slice of bread) and popular for ladies, and at lunch.

Speaking of bread, I don't recall any restaurant using Texas toast. It's possible, but I only recall plain, white sandwich bread, toasted.

French fries on top or cheese on top? I did a Google image search and found nine photos on the first page of results. All but one showed the french fries on top.

http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&resnum=0&q=horseshoe+sandwich&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi

Had to reply having grown up in Springfield. We lived nearest to the Fairview Tavern just south of Sangamon Ave. near the viaduct on the east side by the State Fair -- Cheese is definitely on top. We called it a Pony Shoe but we're probably splitting hairs here. Every sandwich was different in every restaurant -- just a little bit. Ham, turkey, chicken, hamburger were all possible Horseshoe meats. Every time I go back to visit (now just every 2 - 3 years) I take my family out for one so they can experience it! Pavlov would be proud - my mouth's watering... here's a link to what appears to be the real deal when it comes to Horseshoe history -- including the purported original recipe:

http://whatscookingamerica.net/History/Sandwiches/HorseshoeSandwich.htm

Great link and a very good story Daveeas.

I don't know Wayne's Red Coach status at time of death, but 30 years ago it was quite a good spot. Monday night's lobster tale special would pack the house. Let's not disparage the dead.

JDofDE


I don't know Wayne's Red Coach status at time of death, but 30 years ago it was quite a good spot. Monday night's lobster tale special would pack the house. Let's not disparage the dead.

Wayne died and a manager or member of the wait staff took it over and it was filthy dirty, a true health department nightmare for the next 4 or 5 years then it closed and set empty for several years and is now open again however I have not eaten there since right after Wayne died. It was so bad that the carpet in the dining room stuck to your shoes. In fact it was about that time that the articles in our local paper started reporting the horrid conditions concerning mice running through the dining area while customers were eating. Call it "disparage the dead" if you like but the truth is what it is.
Jack

And the truth seems to be it was a hell of a good place a lot longer than it wasn't. Wayne was a good man ..... show some class.

How can he be disparaging the dead if Wayne was already rotting in the ground when what he describes happened?

Horseshoe cook-off winner disqualified Springfield’s culinary gift to the world, the horseshoe sandwich, was tarnished Tuesday when one of the winners of last Saturday’s World Horseshoe Cook-Off was disqualified because of a rule violation.



Lindsay’s Restaurant forfeited the win for both “crazy horse” shoe and breakfast shoe after competitors learned that those two entries had been made in the restaurant’s kitchen, located in the President Abraham Lincoln Hotel & Conference Center.


Contest rules stated that the horseshoes must be assembled at the Prairie Capital Convention Center, where the event took place.


“It was something we should have caught,” said Brian Oaks, PCCC general manager, after competitors complained to him. He issued a public apology to Lindsay’s and the other cook-off entrants.


Contest rules state, “cheese sauce and protein may be made in advance. Starch portion and assembly must be completed at the PCCC at time of competition.”


The nine competing restaurants were given the option of using the convention center’s kitchen. But because of limited cooking space there, contest officials allowed Lindsay’s to use its own kitchen.


The hotel and the convention center are connected by an underground walkway.


A news release from the convention center said: “The PCCC accepts full responsibility for allowing this component of the rules to become overlooked during the event.”


The cook-off had five categories: classic shoe, breakfast shoe, dessert shoe, “crazy horse” shoe and best overall shoe.


The breakfast shoe’s runner-up, The Pasfield House, was named the winner in that category. D’Arcy’s Pint, which came in second in the “crazy horse” shoe event, was named first place in that category.


Other winners named Saturday were Amber Jack Alehouse for dessert shoe, D’Arcy’s Pint for classic shoe and Lindsay’s for best overall shoe.


Oaks said Lindsay’s would retain the best overall shoe title because changing it would require a reconvening of all eight judges. (This writer was a contest judge.)


“The PCCC had invited the hotel to participate and, due to our location, allowed the hotel to cook in our kitchen,” said Robert Daniels, general manager of the President Abraham Lincoln Hotel. “We followed the ground rules. … It’s unfortunate the situation happened like this,”


Hallie Pierceall, owner of D’Arcy’s Pint, said she was thrilled to learn of her pub’s better-late-than-never “crazy horse” shoe win.


“I actually thought that was our best one to begin with anyway,” she said, noting that her restaurant entered in two categories. D’Arcy’s “crazy horse” shoe was a combination of mini cheeseburgers, bacon, tomatoes, pickles, onions, toast, cheese sauce and fries.


The first-year contest — which yielded only bragging rights to the winners, no purse — attracted 16 entries.
Despite “horseshoe-gate,” Oaks said the cook-off is on the fast track for next year.


“It was something we wanted to be fun, and we hope it can be an annual event.”


Kathryn Rem can be reached at 788-1520.

Comments (57)

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Hunter

Ritz lil fryer makes the best horseshoes in the area. Since they don't have the resources to compete it is hard to call it a realistic competition. Of course that is just my opinion lol

blogging a dead horse


13 hours ago
The news shook the horseshoe community. The shockwaves of this announcement will be felt for decades to come.

I expect there will be a full investigation. Ultimately the Mayor is responsible. I assume there will be a steady drum beat calling for his resignation. After that, who knows how many careers will end over this?

One thing is for sure, everyone will remember where they were when they heard this awful news.


raggedjack


Go to PJ's in Dawson and have a tenderloin horseshoe. Then tell me about a good horseshoe...



fourfootedpals
'contest officials allowed Lindsays to use its own kitchen'

If the contest officials violated the rules, shouldn't that have tainted the entire competition? Why should one restaurant lose because of what the contest officials allowed them to do? Sure, it was just for fun, but what a let-down for the original winner.




007

Great comment bodh!! Haha!



outdorjnky


hunter: You are absolutely right Ritz's does have the best shoe. I think you are wrong tho, I don't think it's that they lack the resources, I just think that they don't feel the need to compete with a bunch of 'NEW' restaraunts. If you haven't noticed they are 1 of the few places that never advertises but they are always busy. Never had a bad meal there, or bad service even. My favorite place to eat in Springfield, by far.



rationalthought
Dead horse, that's the funniest thing I've read in awhile!

Thank you SJR for this excellent piece of investigative journalism!



Rufus T Firefly
BBishere2....not Bush, think bigger: Halliburton. Also, certainly horseshoes MUST cause Global Warming. Hot cheese sauce? Overconsumption? Sierra Club where are you?.....help us!



BOUNTY HUNTER
BLOGGING A DEAD HORSE, You are right on with this one I agree the police should have been called, along with the alterwoman / alterman, and a full internal investitgation by the cooks union, but as we all know the Mayor will have ' no comment ' on this illeagal horseshoe, this article should be run in the news until a scapegoat is found, and he should be made to eat 100 horseshoes in { lets say } three months



CrankyOld Man
blogging, I'll remember it for a few days or at least until the coffee burns in my nostrils heal.



Oshi63
Disqualified or not, Lindsay's 'crazy shoe' was the most delicious by far! Shame on the contest officials for breaking their own rules.



NoSpinHere
I have eaten horseshoes at every entrie's establishment and I agree with the judges....DArcys Pint does make the best shoe. Ritz's???? Come on people, I don't even rank them in the top 5. Not a bad shoe but not one of the best either.



Chief Illiniwek
''The nine competing restaurants were given the option of using the convention centers kitchen. But because of limited cooking space there, contest officials allowed Lindsays to use its own kitchen.''
Seems pretty cut and dry to me. It's like a cop telling you it's alright to go 85 mph and then getting pulled over 20 miles down the road.



spring2000
I have had Darcy's hamburger horseshoe and I thought the meat was gross. It tasted like a frozen hamburger patty. Surely Darcy's can come up with a better piece of meat. Now for the other types they offer, I don't know, haven't tried them.
Maldaner's have great horseshoes and their burger taste wonderful.



beccie
we always go to get a horseshoe at Darcys every time we come home from Georgia. They are the best in our opinion.



stanley
Top Cats - people!!! D'arcy's is too grease filled for me.



TeeLeeA
Dead Horse: Thanks for the belly laugh first thing this morning! I needed that to get through the rest of the week! LOL



trueconservitive
Horseshoegate.



denmac
Blogging: That's great! Nothing more need be said.



Naughtius Maximus
This is an outrage up with which I shall not put!



oddball
You know I have never heard of Lindseys. didn't even know that President Abraham Lincoln Hotel & Conference Center had a kitchen. Either way who cares, it all boils down to personal preference.



Ferguson MO
THANKS FOR PUTTING SOME 'FUN' INTO MY DAY. I KNEW THERE WAS A REASON I LOVE THE STATE JOURNAL REGISTER... NOW I CAN GO ON WITH THE REST OF MY DAY, KNOWING ALL IS WELL WITH SPRINGFIELD.......



Hody
Blogging a Dead Horse(shoe) gets the comment of the day award.



fabulous
How about WESTWOOD'S??? Awesome shoes!!!



imasurvivor
I really don't think there's anything special about D'arcy's horseshoe; rather balnd cheese sauce to me.

'stanley' you are right - TOP CATS!!!!



Budman
Ritz's is good only if you want a cold tasteless shoe. Go to Top Cats, Westwoods or the Stadium for a great shoe.



blondgolfgirl
Blogging a Dead Horse is always funny and insightful....even his/her names rules!



charmed_life
I prefer Gabatoni's horseshoe. D'arcy's Buffalo Chicken Shoe is pretty good too, but I usually go to Gabatoni's for their shoe. I also ask for the cheese sauce on top. That makes it yummier. Ross's Truckstop in Bettendorf, IA serves shoes, but calls them Magic Mountains, but they also have a version called the Volcano in which they add chili and onions. When I ask for chili and onions on top of a hamburger shoe here, people look at me like I am crazy, but it is great!



WIU Man
This is a great scandal. MLB has nothing on this. I did not grow up with horseshoes but I have noticed something since I moved here. This is generalizing but people who grew up here seem to like the home cooked Velveeta type of gritty government cheese sauce like Ritz's and outsiders like the classy, smooth white cheese taste of D'Arcy's. There are alot of cheeses in between. But give me D'Arcy's any day.

The family that runs LOS AGAVES MEXICAN RESTAURANT has launched a Mexican bar and grill at the site of the old RED COACH INN.

FIESTA MEXICAN RESTAURANT, 301 North Grand Ave. W., opened Wednesday at the location that formerly housed MIKE AND JOHN’S FAMILY GRILL/GODFATHER’S PIZZA, and before that, the longstanding Red Coach Inn.

Nicholas Canchola is the owner. His family runs Los Agaves on Wabash Avenue, as well as Fiesta restaurants in Morton and Canton.

http://tinyurl.com/y9794ck