Breakfast at the hotel was okay, just standard, (I just had some oatmeal and juice), which was alright since we were supposed to be meeting some friends in Terre Haute at the Park Avenue Diner. I found it on the internet
last night and it got glowing reviews. So I was all excited about discovering a new place when our friend called and told us it had been closed for about a year! So we ended up at the Cracker Barrel anyway, where I had a couple of biscuits. It was fun meeting Kevin's boyhood friend, Mark and his wife, Nada. I had to save stomach space for our lunch/dinner (linner) destination.I am happy to confess that I lost my Steak 'n Shake virginity this morning. Yep, while Kevin was feeding Tuck, I went in and got a 1/2 strawberry and 1/2 banana shake. And two freshly baked cookies for the road. I must say -- it was Steak 'n Shakealicious!! I'm definitely looking forward to the next one! I'm thinking vanilla and banana, because the banana flavor was perfect!
Incidentally, Indiana is very flat. And there are a lot of farms. And people like to advertise on not just one, but six billboards all in a row. It makes no sense to me, but we saw an awful lot of this in the Midwest. I just don't know how effective this method of advertising is, especially when your name is Tom Raper (really!) and you sell RVs. And there was another group advertising a place called Warm Glow Candle Outlet. When we finally saw the place, we found it was in the shape of a big candle. I am not making this up. My fertile mind couldn't even begin to dream that up
Now for the part you've all been waiting for -- linner. I kind of didn't plan on eating dinner tonight, because I knew we were going to Lotawata Creek in the thriving metropolis of Fairview Heights. IL. Now, Fairview Heights is right next to Collinsville, which is home to the world's largest ketchup bottle. I would not lie about a thing like this. And Gabby took us through Collinsville to get to Lotawata Creek, so here is the picture of the world's largest ketchup bottle, which looms up at you suddenly and takes your breath away (sort of). Anyway . . . it's very appropriate for a food blog:
Who knew there would be so much excitement in this obscure Illinois town? But the big event was yet to come. We visited Lotawata Creek Southern Grill back in 2005. A few weeks before we left, Kevin sheepishly asked "Can we go to that Lotawata Creek place again?" "It's already in the plans", I answered. I'm such a good wife. And it was a very memorable place. We got there at about 3:00 in the afternoon -- and there was a line out the door! I went in to put our names o the list and the hostess said she would seat us immediately! I guess there weren't two many groups of two vying for a table for two. Anyhoo, we immediately ordered the Louisiana Cheese Fries we had ordered oh so many years ago. They had been $8 before, so I thoroughly expected them to be at least $11 by now, but they only went up a buck. This is a huge platter of fries smothered, and I do mean smothered, in melted Cheddar and Monterey Jack cheese, bacon bits and green onions, served with a Cajun dipping sauce. Oh my heck! Below are two pictures of the platter -- one shows the complete, fresh platter. The other is the "I've hit the wall!" picture. 
As you can see, we made some progress, but not as much as we would have if, say, Stacey and Jim and Tiffany and Kent had been with us. And even then, I don't know if we could have finished the whole thing. And I ordered a small salad, nice and fresh, which was liberally sprinkled with cheese, which I pushed off because there was already sooooo much cheese on the fries that if I ate any more cheese, I wouldn't poop for a week. Kevin also ordered the BBQ Brisket Sandwich. It was the most tender, juicy, melt in your mouth beef brisket I've ever tasted in my life, smothered with Provolone cheese. Maybe Kevin will be the one who won't poop for a week. Of course we ended up taking the rest in to go boxes, even the cheese fries, which I really have no clue how we're going to heat up, but Kevin insists he can eat them cold. Our waitress, Natalie, even gave us more of the cajun sauce. It will be interesting to see Kevin eating this at the hotel tonight. !
As you can see, we made some progress, but not as much as we would have if, say, Stacey and Jim and Tiffany and Kent had been with us. And even then, I don't know if we could have finished the whole thing. And I ordered a small salad, nice and fresh, which was liberally sprinkled with cheese, which I pushed off because there was already sooooo much cheese on the fries that if I ate any more cheese, I wouldn't poop for a week. Kevin also ordered the BBQ Brisket Sandwich. It was the most tender, juicy, melt in your mouth beef brisket I've ever tasted in my life, smothered with Provolone cheese. Maybe Kevin will be the one who won't poop for a week. Of course we ended up taking the rest in to go boxes, even the cheese fries, which I really have no clue how we're going to heat up, but Kevin insists he can eat them cold. Our waitress, Natalie, even gave us more of the cajun sauce. It will be interesting to see Kevin eating this at the hotel tonight. !
Other things I like about Lotawata Creek, besides the food -- the service is great. Our waitress, Natalie, (see pic) just kept coming over to talk to us, despite the fact that she had had a tough night at the hospital the night before, and she made sure we left with a copy of the menu so I could put some stuff in my blog and spread the gospel of Lotawata Creek. She was disappointed, however, a little disappointed in us; she was hoping we would be the couple who would dare to try the new dessert they were offering -- CHOCOLATE NACHOS! Yes, deep fried tortillas sprinkled with cinnamon and covered in hot fudge and whipped cream. You heard it here first, folks. If I hadn't been so full from the cheese fries I would have definitely been all over that. And maybe it's a little thing, but I love that they gave me two huge wedges of lemon in my diet Pepsi. I hate when I go to a restaurant and they give you one teeny weeny sliver of lemon, as if they really couldn't even be bothered. I mean, what's the point of that? But then everything is big at Lotawata Creek. It's one of a kind, truly, and it's not a chain ("WARNING: This ain't no chain restaurant -- we serve real food!" is on the back of the shirts of the waitstaff).There's so much more at this place -- burgers and sandwiches, none of which are ordinary, grilled beef tenderloins, pork dishes, BBQ, huge salads, chicken fried steak, all unique and flavorful and definitely worth a trip if you are ever out that way. We went out of our way to go, and we are so glad we did.
It's just too bad our favorite restaurant is in Illinois. But it's good for the people of Illinois. I guess. I'm just jealous of them.
Lotawata Creek is at 311 Salem Place in Fairview Heights, IL (outside of St. Louis, MO). If you go, don't forget to see the World's Largest Ketchup Bottle.
1 comment:
Karen, I'm getting a sympathetic stomachache reading your blog and looking at the picture of those fries! That said, I wish I could eat some. Lotawata looks like a little piece of heaven on earth.
Jeannie
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