burrito Archives — Low-Rent Foodie

Something significant happened in Illinois this weekend.

This means one thing for the Low-Rent Foodies in the Springfield area. Time to take off your masks and EAT!

So, with that, here are five local establishments that are open and ready for your hungries!

Finley’s Tap House

I first heard about Finley’s from a friend of mine at church, who is a fellow craft beer enthusiast. One day, whilst we were discussing the merits of particular brands of stout, he mentioned that the fish and chips at Finley’s were legendary.

My 49th birthday was coming up, so I chose Finley’s as my celebration destination. I was not surprised by the drink selection and the elevated bar food.

Finley's Tap House — Beer Battered Wisconsin Cheese Curds with Sriracha Aioli

What did surprise me was what else the chef had up his sleeve. Living in the 217, I don’t have much experience with gastropubs, as that’s more of a big city thing. The easiest way to describe the experience is, instead of a bar that also has food, this is a restaurant that also has a bar.

Because it was my birthday, I decided to splurge on the braised pork shank.

Finley's Tap House Springfield Illinois — Sadly, this is no longer on the menu.

Oh. My. Dog. I have never had piggy melt in my mouth like this. At $21.99, I don’t know if it quite qualified as Low-Rent, but this Foodie regrets nothing!

Finley’s is also a nice place to stop in for lunch. My daughter (Low-Rent Foodie, Jr.) recommends the Crunchy Asian Chicken Salad.

Of course, this is Springfield, so you gotta have horseshoes on the menu.

Lake Pointe Grill

I have mentioned this place before. It’s still one of my favorites, conveniently located near my wife’s office (or at least what used to be her office before the Branch Covidians took over Lincoln Land with their hysteria).

I have always appreciated the diversity of the menu at Lake Pointe, with its Midwestern take on southern classics such as BBQ, shrimp and grits and gumbo.

Lake Pointe Grill Springfield Illinois — Not on the regular menu, but this is a frequent special.

I have a feeling, though, that I’m going to be eating a lot more of their wood-fired pizzas, since owners Chris Hanken and Vic Lanzotti were forced to close the branch of Pie’s the Limit nearest to where I live due to COVID fallout. (The location on South Macarthur remains open.)

You can build your own pizza, but some of the combos they have come up with make it not worth the stress of making your own decision. My favorites are the pulled pork pizza with gouda cheese, jalapenos, and sautéed onions; the Creole pizza with shrimp and andouille sausage, and the Michigan Avenue pizza (shown below).

This pie bears much more of a resemblance to New York Pizza than Chicago, but that’s another post for another day.

La Fiesta

La Fiesta currently has three locations. It began its life as Omar’s Latin Fusion Cuisine in the former location of Xochimilco Grande at Piper Glen. Owner Omar Hernandez kept the highlights of the Xochimilco menu, made some improvements to the recipes, then added a few concoctions of his own. The “Latin Fusion” label might have thrown some people off though, so they eventually reverted to a primarily Mexican menu.

In 2017, Omar bought the La Fiesta restaurant on Stevenson Drive, rechristening it La Fiesta Grande. About that time, the Piper Glen location changed its name to La Fiesta Chatham (even though it’s technically in Springfield).

Not long after that came a very happy day when Omar opened the third location within walking distance from Low-Rent Foodie headquarters! There’s something about being able to sit on your front porch and smell fresh burritos! Speaking of which…

I love all Mexican food, but I CRAVE burritos! La Fiesta currently has seven different burritos on their menu. My favorite is the chipotle burrito (pictured above). I prefer this one with steak. It comes stuffed (and I do mean STUFFED) with black beans, rice, onions, and green peppers, and topped with that magnificent chipotle cheese dip and Pico de mango.

Two more that I order regularly are the Southwest Burrito…

La Fiesta Chatham Springfield Illinois — Loads of shredded pork inside, tomatillo sauce outside. I like it with a drizzle of Yucateca green habanero sauce. $11.99

…and the Tricolor Burrito, which is topped with ranchera sauce, cheese dip and tomatillo sauce to represent the colors on the Mexican Flag.

Lulu’s Diner

Lulu’s originally opened as an international buffet with an emphasis on Middle Eastern cuisine.

In 2017, however, it reopened under the management of Landi and Klorida Skenderi with a focus on made-from scratch American diner food.

Lulu’s in known for their friendly service, inexpensive breakfast and lunch specials and HUGE portions. I have been known to throw down some hearty breakfasts in my time, but I couldn’t even finish this corned beef skillet.

Lulu's Diner Springfield Illinois — $8.29. It’s OK to ask for a box. Don’t be a hero.

Lulu’s is one of those places where the staff knows the regulars and has their orders started before they even sit down. I can’t help but feel comfortable in a place like that, even as a first timer.

Scoop du Jour

After all that legal chowing down, you’re going to need dessert, right? So let your food settle, then head on down to Chatham and cool off at Scoop du Jour.

Shannon McCauley and Fran Abbott have been serving up coffee, fresh-made pastries, sandwiches, wraps and soups since 2015. Oh yeah, and ice cream.

Lots of ice cream.

About 30 flavors of ice cream, some of which vary from time to time.

And not just any ice cream, but Cedar Crest ice cream, from Cedarburg, Wisconsin, which is the greatest ice cream on earth. (I stand by that statement. If there is any that is better, I haven’t tried it.)

I usually get a waffle cone (made fresh daily), but sometimes, you just need a sundae.

Scoop du Jour Chatham Illinois — One scoop for $3.95. You can add another scoop for another dollar, but be advised that the scoops are generous!

These are just a few of the establishments that opened up this weekend. Many more are opening soon. This lockdown has been absolutely brutal for mom and pop places like this, so please do what you can to help them keep their doors open. One way you can do that is to share this post on social media with the hashtag #supportsmallbusiness.

Now go GETCHA SOME!

They say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. I’m not sure who “they” are, but they sure say a lot of things, don’t they?

In any case, here at LRF Headquarters, breakfast is usually two cups of coffee.

Low-Rent Foodie Headquarters — Having kids in the food service industry does wonders for your decor.

Lately, I have been favoring Blonde Espresso or Guatemala Huehuetanango from Redbud Coffee.

Now this liquid breakfast may be enough to jump start a workday, or get me through third service at church, but at some point, some actual food needs to enter the equation. For this reason, I am a big fan of Sunday brunch.

So when exactly does breakfast end and brunch begin? I don’t know that it matters, really. I’ve seen brunch start as early as 10AM and breakfast served all day. I’m not as concerned with when it’s served as much as who’s serving it.

via GIPHY

A favorite here in Springfield, IL is D’Arcy’s Pint. They are known far and wide for their specialty horseshoes, and their long lines if you don’t time your arrival just right. For the longest time, they weren’t open on Sunday either, but then they started serving brunch.

Combine brunch with specialty horseshoes, and you get the Irish Breakfast Shoe.

This non-menu item was most noteworthy to me for having two kinds of bacon—American and Irish Rashers (which taste a lot like Canadian bacon, if you’ve never had them).

Canadian bacon is an ingredient in one of my favorite breakfast/brunch items, Eggs Benedict. A traditional Benedict is two poached eggs and Canadian bacon served on an English muffin topped with Hollandaise Sauce. This is tasty enough, but why stop at traditional?

The Yankee Clipper Diner in Beacon, New York, serves up five different kinds of Benedicts. My favorite there is the Copenhagen Benedict.

Yankee Clipper Beacon New York — The Copenhagen Benedict substitutes corned beef hash for the Canadian bacon.

My daughter’s favorite at the Yankee Clipper is the Nutella Banana French Toast.

I would say, though, that my favorite variation of Eggs Benedict is the Crab Cake Benedict. Crab cakes are awesome on their own, but get that poached egg yolk running through them with the lemony tang of a good hollandaise, and that’s some next-level breakfast right there. The first time I ever had this was at Ann Sather’s in Chicago. A Crab Cake Benedict plus a cinnamon roll the size of your face makes for great fuel before a day game at Wrigley Field.

Another great variation of Crab Cake Benedict is served up at Kitty’s Kafe in Gulf Shores, Alabama.

Kitty's Kafe Gulf Shores Alabama — $8.99 for 1 egg, $11.99 for 2. With some cheesy grits on the side, because Alabama.

There are so many awesome places to eat in Gulf Shores, that’s going to have to be its own post.

As it turns out though, I don’t have to go to the beach or Wrigleyville for my Crab Cake Benedict fix. They have them right up the road at the Chatham Cafe, which is getting to be one of my favorite places to go for breakfast. Since it’s easy walking distance from where I drop my car off to get it worked on, I have had occasion to try several of their offerings while I wait. I’ve already mentioned the breakfast horseshoes. My new go-to is the Breakfast Burrito, pictured at the top of this post. Two eggs, chorizo (not too salty or greasy), onions, peppers and cheddar cheese wrapped up and served with hash browns for $8.29.

While we’re on the subject of local diners, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the Sunrise Cafe on South 2nd Street in Springfield.

One of my happiest days was when the indoor smoking ban was enacted in Illinois. Before that, you couldn’t walk three steps into the Sunrise without dying from smoke inhalation. I am so grateful that this is no longer the case.

The Sunrise is known for arguably the best cheeseburgers in Springfield, but their breakfast is no slouch either. My favorite is the Sunrise Country Breakfast, which is two eggs, a 6-ounce smoked pork chop, potatoes and biscuit & gravy for $7.25.

Sunrise Cafe Springfield Illinois — $8.50 if you add a chop. I added a chop. Some pretty tasty pancackes too!

Eating out for breakfast is a family tradition for long road trips. We’ll leave stupid early, get down the road a ways, and then find a place to eat. Our one rule is that we never eat anywhere that we have at home. And my personal, unofficial rule is to avoid nasty hotel food whenever possible.

One year ago this week, we moved my middle son down to Florida. We had a great breakfast going down, and another coming back.

A fantastic diner with tasty food, friendly service and great prices as well is the Cozy Table in Benton, Illinois, just off I-57. This is the Country Omelet.

It is FOUR eggs and sausage with hash browns and a half order of B&G for only $6.19!

For an off the charts brunch experience, though, I recommend Oy! In Atlanta, Georgia.

Walk through the front doors and be overcome by a tangible wave of bacon aroma (apparently, despite the Yiddish-sounding name, it’s not a kosher restaurant).

“OY” stands for “Overindulgent Yumminess,” but it’s also what you’ll say as you waddle out after stuffing yourself with their decadent Challah French Toast Casserole, smothered with syrup and caramel sauce. Or the Challah Egg and Cheese Soufflé.

Challah Egg and Cheese Souffle Oy Atlanta — $8.99 for small, or $12.99 for regular, pictured here. Small is enough. Regular is suicide.

Their Monster Pancakes are 14 inches across (the size of a large pizza, if you’re keeping track). They come in six different flavors, plus the Pancake of the Day. For $10.99, you can even get one of these stuffed with bacon.

via GIPHY

Going out for breakfast is great, but sometimes, I just want to sit at my own dining room table with my family and have breakfast for dinner.

Hungry now? I hope so. So go GETCHA SOME!

burrito

More Eatin’ and Drinkin’ in the Land of Lincoln (Phase 4 Edition)

Finley’s Tap House

Lake Pointe Grill

La Fiesta

Lulu’s Diner

Scoop du Jour

Eight (or so) of My Favorite Breakfasts