Kankakee to Kankakee

In honor of my birthday, husband and I are taking a canoe trip that starts off in Kankakee and ends at Kankakee State Park.

Is there any great food over there? Preferably, great food to get for take out or eat on a picnic table while wearing shorts over bathing suits and covered in river water?

I'm open to just about anything, as long as the place can handle and even embrace post-canoeists.

Thanks in advance for the help!

Searching the term "Kankakee" yielded one very manageable page of posts.

Anyway, here's some info:

http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=5533

Not much there; however, what is there (drive-ins) fits your trip very well...

Thank you for the link. I think I was misspelling Kankakee in my search's

We went to the Peotone Bierstube as that poster suggested and had a very nice time. I'll most likely go back sometime when the weather turns cooler and justifies heavier food.

Did you enjoy the decor, especially the "wreath of chipmunks" in the main dining room? My kids won't eat there because they think it is too creepy.

Suzy

Ha! Missed the chipmunks, thankfully.

Hi folks...

I'm off to a wedding in Kankakee this weekend -- an area I know nothing about. I've done the de rigeur searches on here for any intelligence about the food in this area but frankly, there wasn't much to see.

I thought i'd open it up again to see if someone, anyone has any ideas of decent places to eat. We'd be there for a lunch and a Sunday breakfast. Something along the road would be good too.

Here's hoping a Kankakee expert has joined our midst!

Shannon

earthlydesire wrote:I've done the de rigeur searches on here for any intelligence about the food in this area but frankly, there wasn't much to see.

You are correct, not much to see. I've spent plenty of time there, as have others. Best of luck.

http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t= ... t=kankakee

There is a small-chain pizza place with a location in Kankakee and its HQ in Bradley/Bourbonnais up the road a piece - Monical's Pizza. It's really not my cup of tea but maybe you will like it.

http://www.monicals.com/

It is a central Illinois institution (started out of the back of a billiard parlor in Tolono) that has expanded into three states. Central Illinoisans pack these places daily and nightly for Monical's version of "Italian" food. The menu features appetizers, soups, salads (iceberg only, I believe) pasta, and breadsticks of the type you would never find in Italy. As for the pizza, the custom I have observed is to choose one's (square) slice of the pie and then anoint it with the flaming red French dressing, that is proprietary to Monical's, before devouring it. I swear it's true.

I thought it worth mentioning if even for just being able to share this unique regional custom I have had the pizza right from the oven and it's OK, but it doesn't have a style of any kind that's identifiable.

Stuck in East Peoria a few weeks back, I was forced to seek a quick dinner along franchise row. I opted for a pizza at the local Monicals. A pleasant surprise, as it was a pretty good pizza. The thin crust is akin to the Vito and Nicks-Marie's-Villa Nova crusts I really enjoy. Flavorful sauce and good cheese. Only problem (aside from lousy service by the overburdened waitress)was their tight hand in dispensing the toppings:the tiny clumps of sausage were few and the onions and mushrooms were spread too thinly. If I could correct these things, I would not hesitate in going back next trip to East Peoria.

Spent enough time in Kankakee & surroundings...

The only really decent place I found (recently) was a little North of Kankakee on I-57, in Manteno, IL. I had been to their places in both Tuscola and Paris, but was happy to find they had expanded with the Manteno location.

About 15-20 miles North of Kankakee off I-57, on the East side of town.

If you are running I-57 & are around Manteno, take the Manteno exit, go through town, and on the East side is Tuscany Steak and Pasta House. This is a family operation that has restaurants in Tuscola, Decatur, and Paris, IL. Open 7 days a week.

Phone #'s are:
Manteno: (815) 468-9810
Tuscola: (217) 253-1030
Decatur: (217) 429-7000
Paris: (217) 466-1610

earthlydesire wrote:Hi folks...

I'm off to a wedding in Kankakee this weekend -- an area I know nothing about. I've done the de rigeur searches on here for any intelligence about the food in this area but frankly, there wasn't much to see.

I thought i'd open it up again to see if someone, anyone has any ideas of decent places to eat. We'd be there for a lunch and a Sunday breakfast. Something along the road would be good too.

Here's hoping a Kankakee expert has joined our midst!

Shannon

For shame...you aren't satisfied with the ubiquitous truckstop franchise hybrids?

Philistine.

---

...actually, that route satisfies my Burger King, Wendy's, Pizza Butt, McD's, Long Dong Silvers, etc. cravings when making the occasional downstate sojourn. And I attempt to avoid the truckstop megaplexes: to a one they're filthy. Dunno why that would be the case, but it is.

I passed through Kankakee on Memorial Day, and although it was closed, I have it on good authority from a local that the Blues Cafe is tasty. It looks like the kind of old school diner with killer pie. Not even sure they have it on the menu, but it just looks like that kind of place.

Blues Cafe
1190 W Station St
Kankakee , IL 60901
Phone: (815) 933-5315

Ooops...I posted this in "Kankakee to Kankakee" thread accidentally.

I passed through Kankakee on Memorial Day, and although it was closed, I have it on good authority from a local that the Blues Cafe is tasty. It looks like the kind of old school diner with killer pie. Not even sure they have it on the menu, but it just looks like that kind of place.

Blues Cafe
1190 W Station St
Kankakee , IL 60901
Phone: (815) 933-5315

Hey Guys...thanks for trying! I do appreciate you digging to the bottom of your Kankakee memories (oh, i know you tried to repress!) and coming up with some options for me.

I have to say, I may end up just doing as Christopher Gordon suggests and indulging my inner Fast Food Cravings. Long John Silver's.....ooh, the exotique!!!

But I also may check out the Blues Cafe!

Ciao!

shannon

earthlydesire wrote:Hey Guys...thanks for trying! I do appreciate you digging to the bottom of your Kankakee memories (oh, i know you tried to repress!) and coming up with some options for me.

I have to say, I may end up just doing as Christopher Gordon suggests and indulging my inner Fast Food Cravings. Long John Silver's.....ooh, the exotique!!!

But I also may check out the Blues Cafe!

Ciao!

shannon

Good Luck.

Actually, I've been meaning to compile a personal listing(for my own use) of the "better" franchises vs. their peers: seriously, some BK's(for instance) along that route are much cleaner and run more efficiently than their brethren. And I tend to forget which is which. Which is always a fun surprise; upon ordering, "aw...man...it's the crappy one!"

In general, the truckstop and/or hybrid franchises are for the worse. I mean, if you feel the need to do a corporate burger(as I sometimes do on that trek) some of these places(the way they're run) can really put you off your feed.

If you are thinking of getting fast food in Kankakee, I'd recommend Poor Boy, which is on a strip right off of I-57. See address below. This is your standard hot dog/burger/Greek joint that you see all over Chicago. Don't know if they have Italian Beef, come to think of it. They do have a lot of other fast food items that you don't see all that often at similar types of places in Chicago, such as fried catfish and pork tenderloin sandwiches. Don't expect to make a special trip back there, but it's certainly a step up from the standard chains.

Also, before everyone beats down Monicals and our Central Illinois cousins, let me make one note: as with Unos and Chicago Pizza, most people who I know who like Monicals insist that original restaurant is much better than the ubiquitous restaurants that dot the expressways and surrounding areas. I can't speak to this myself, having not been to the original, but I'm willing to accept it having dealt with many out-of-town friends who insist they don't like Chicago-style pizza because they thought the pizza at the Uno's Chicago Bar and Grill in their hometown was too greasy.

Central Illinoisans pack these places daily and nightly for Monical's version of "Italian" food. The menu features appetizers, soups, salads (iceberg only, I believe) pasta, and breadsticks of the type you would never find in Italy. As for the pizza, the custom I have observed is to choose one's (square) slice of the pie and then anoint it with the flaming red French dressing, that is proprietary to Monical's, before devouring it. I swear it's true.

This may be a little hard on the locals. I don't think comparing what you get in an American pizza joint with what you might get in Italy is particularly useful. If you were to take that sarcasm to Uno's/Due's/Lou's/etc. menu, I'm not sure it would look so good either.

Poor Boy
1514 E Court St
Kankakee, IL 60901
(815) 939-1880

Speaking of regional chains, I noticed several "Pizza For U" places (I assume the U is for University, U of I or ISU most likely) in the Channahon to Morris area (we went to a nature preserve around there). Not that I have any great expectations for them, but anyone have experience with them?

I live in Channahon. Been here about 13 years, but came from Chicago and closer in burbs. We tried Pizza for U the first year we lived here hoping to find some good pizza. It was really awful. No one in our area eats it. The closest thing we have to real pizza is Vito and Nicks (or Nick and Vito's-I can never get that straight) which is in Joliet on Jefferson. Please post if you find decent food in our area. If your in Morris, you may want to try Chapins, but they aren't open on Sundays. Enjoy our wonderful parks and recreation areas.

As I mentioned in an earlier topic, my co-workers and I are on the road from 5:00 in the morning to 10:00 at night on election day, often far afield from our home towns/neighborhoods. My earlier post sought recs in the Lawndale neighborhood, where I've been assigned. A buddy is seeking suggestions in Kankakee County, where he's been placed. A couple of us swore LTHers could point him in the right direction. He has to find breakfast, lunch and dinner out there, so, any suggestions?

On my way down to Champaign-Urbana, I stopped in Kankakee for lunch at a small Mexican grocery/taqueria, which was not bad and was very friendly. Neither the gordita pastor or taco lengua were world-class, but both were worthy in a culinary desert.

Carniceria Gonzalez
1933 East Court Street
Kankakee, IL
815-933-1840

The store is right off I57 at Exit 312 on Highway 17, heading west.

I was glad to find this thread - I'll be driving from Chicago to Effingham on Friday Aug. 7th and will need to find a place for lunch. Right now it looks like the Peotone Bierstube is in the lead, but if anyone has another suggestion somewhere off of I-57 in the Peotone or Kankakee area please let me know. The Blues Cafe mentioned above sounds good too.

On the return trip on Monday the 10th we'll be making our annual stop at the semi-famous Moonshine General Store for hamburgers - yum.

Well - excellent suggestions form the LTH crew as always. On the way down to Effingham we stopped at the Peotone Bierstube and had a fantastic lunch. Both my husband and I had a cup of the goulash soup and found it to be hearty - a nice spice kick and not quite as salty as MIrabell in Chicago. There were also quite a few small beef chunks in the soup - a bowl would have been a meal in itself. I was bummed that we didn't get a bread basket with the soup - just crackers, and I prefer a slice of buttered rye. I suppose I could have asked..... Husband had the wiener schnitzel sandwich and I had the thuringer sandwich. I can't vouch for the wiener schnitzel sammy except to say that it disappeared too fast for me to get a taste. The thuringer was great - split and grilled and served on rye. I had the German potatoes and they were a real highlight - crispy potato pieces with some bacon and green onions - yum. No room for dessert, but we each had a beer with the meal.

On the way home we detoured to go through Martinsville/Moonshine to have a burger and it was excellent as always. We each had a double cheeseburger and the hand formed patties were perfectly grilled. I know the meat is just supposed to come from the local IGA, but there's just something about them that tastes better than almost any other place I can think of. Maybe it was the perfectly ripe sliced tomatoes they have available to dress the burger. Anyway - I know the quality of the burger experience at Moonshine has been debated here, but if it's not too far out of your way it's a fun stop with what I feel is a better than average burger. Just make sure you get there before 12:30 when the grill gets shut off.

I found myself in Kankakee last weekend for a family wedding. There's not a lot going on down there, hence the title reference to the old joke about Pittsburgh. Much of my time there was taken up with wedding details, but I did manage to get out for a couple of meals. Before I headed into the wilds of downstate Illinois, I checked LTH Forum and found precious little written about this area, for good reason. There’s not much to write about other than chains and the usual suspects. I did come across one thread extoling the virtues of Jimmy Jo’s BBQ in Bourbonnais, so I decided to hit that place up for lunch, and I’m really glad I did.

Jimmy Jo’s calls itself a Texas style BBQ shack, and that’s a pretty good description for the look of the building, the style of cooking and the hospitality.

Jimmy Jo’s BBQ




We got there at prime lunchtime, 12:15 P.M. and the place was not completely full, but there were several tables of customers including 8 of Bourbonnais’ Finest. The place smelled great, I was hungry and there were lots of choices. What’s a hungry lad to do? Order the JJ’s Sampler Platter, that’s what. The sampler platter includes “A little bit o’ everything”, which translates to ribs, pulled pork, brisket, sausage and chicken…and two sides.

JJ’s Sampler Platter


All of the meat was fresh off the smoker, perhaps an advantage of hitting them at the start of the lunch rush, and was excellent. The rub was tasty yet subtle and everything is served without sauce as the default. Two sauces are available on the table and a third, a Carolina vinegar, is on the counter for those who want it for their pulled pork. If Jimmy Jo’s was in Chicago, it would be in the very top tier of BBQ places.

I went 1 for 2 on the sides. Mac & Cheese wasn't the best, but the beans with chunks of brisket in them were wonderful!

The only minor complaint I had was that the chicken, while sporting an excellent balance of smoke and flavor in the meat itself, really suffered from rubbery skin. Believe me, this is just a minor complaint because it was really very good once I (sadly) removed the skin. Here are some closer shots of the meat.

Jimmy Jo’s Brisket & Sausage


Jimmy Jo’s Ribs


Jimmy Jo’s Pulled Pork


After lunch, I spoke to David, the manager and pitmaster. I was really surprised when he told me that they cooked on a Southern Pride. They really do a good job with this smoker. I think a big part of it is that they use lots of wood and very little gas. They cook with logs of hickory and apple.

Jimmy Jo’s Smoker



Jimmy Jo’s Wood


Surprisingly, Jimmy Jo’s was only 60 miles from my house on the northwest side. It didn’t take much longer to get there than it takes to go to Racine, so take a roadtrip and visit this place.

Jimmy Jo’s BBQ
605 Armour Rd
Bourbonnais, IL 60914
(815) 932-2884

stevez wrote:I did come across one thread extoling the virtues of Jimmy Jo’s BBQ in Bourbonnais, so I decided to hit that place up for lunch, and I’m really glad I did.

Thanks for helping me find a place for dinner after our game in Bourbonnais next weekend. And here I was trying to figure out how to get out of going Rhubarb fest and great BBQ--sounds like a plan!

On a bright, windy Saturday morning, I passed on the complimentary “breakfast” of powdered eggs and stale pastries served by my hotel and headed to Blue’s Café instead. I can’t remember where I got the lead on Blue’s. It was probably from one of those places on Al Gore’s internet.

Blue’s Café has been serving the citizens of Triple K for 67 years, so they must be doing something right.

Blue’s Café




This is the type of place where everyone knows everyone else and when you walk in, the waitress brings your usual order without you even having to say a word. I went with some breakfast basics, two scrambled easy with sausage and a side order of biscuits & gravy. The biscuits are clearly baked in house and are on the small side with the gravy good, but a little bland and in need of a some more sausage. Eggs were perfectly cooked and the patty sausage was abundant and very tasty. In fact, I took about 1/3 of my sausage patty, crumbled it up and mixed it in to my B&G, making that dish very satisfying, needing only a splash of hot sauce to put I over the top.

Blue’s Café Biscuits & Gravy


Blue’s Café Scrambled Eggs and Sausage


It was a little early to try any of the house baked pies, but there was an impressive list on the chalkboard and one of the waitresses assured me that all varieties would be available in a couple of hours.

Blue’s Café Pie List


If you’re in Kankakee, you could easily do a lot worse for breakfast or lunch than to visit Blue’s Café.

Blue's Café
1190 West Station Street
Kankakee, IL 60901
815-933-5315

Jaenicke’s Root Beer Stand

Cool looking old-school drive in – Check!



Quirky Signage – Check!



Cool looking menu graphics – Check!


 
Pork Tenderloin Sandwich on the menu – Check!



Now is when we need to cue the sad trombones, because this is where the charm ends.

Jaenicke’s features no car hops. You’ve got to go up to the window and order. The root beer had some delicious butterscotch notes, but is served not in a frosty mug, but in a Styrofoam cup. Pork tenderloin, a dry pre-frozen hockey puck topped with preprocessed chopped onions (the kind I avoid at hot dog stands) and a heavy dose of ketchup and mustard ended up in the garbage can after two bites.



This place shows promise, but doesn’t deliver. I’ll bet if I grew up in Kankakee, this place would hold mythic status, but for an outsider it’s a curiosity at best. If you are thirsty and don’t mind root beer in a Styrofoam cup, get you some.

Jaenicke’s Root Beer Stand
390 East River Street
Kankakee, IL 60901
815-549-9706

Honorable Mentions

Kankakee Farmers’ Market
Kankakee holds a small Farmers’ Market every Saturday at a permanent location in the downtown area. On the Saturday I was there, it was the first market of the season. There weren’t that many vendors, but the ones that were there were a decent collection of food vendors, farmers and service providers. I got my pocket knife sharpened from the back of a truck that was fully outfitted to sharpen everything from knives to farm implements and I bought a croissant and some tarts from a French Speaking Nun who had an impressive array of baked goods. As the season goes on, I suspect many more farmers will be there when their crops come in for harvest.

Monical’s Pizza
Monical’s Pizza is exactly the opposite to the kind of place I would choose to go, but the rehearsal dinner was being held at the Bourbonnais outpost of this 30+ location regional chain (ironically, located directly around the corner from Jimmy Jo's). It was everything one would expect a chain pizza place to be; bottomless salad bowl on each table with you choice of two kinds of dressing served in plastic squeeze bottles, soft drinks served by the pitcher by pimply-faced high school kids…you get the picture. The real surprise was that the crispy thin-crust pizza was pretty damn good. They must have served at least 30 pies to our party and every one of them was perfectly cooked. The toppings were better than you would expect, too (although, the sausage did have that distinctive non-Italian taste that I find in small towns all over the Midwest that aren’t Chicago). You never know when you are put in a situation where eating at a place such as this is required. Monical’s is better than most of its ilk.

Kankakee Farmers’ Market
Schuyler Ave
Kankakee, IL 60901
815-933-0462

Monical’s Pizza
597 William R Latham Sr. Drive
Bourbonnais, IL 60914
815-932-9100
(Many other locations)

I was cruising south down the Dixie Highway and found myself in Kankakee County. Not much in these parts as has already been noted but there is one fun little stop if your unfortunate enough to find yourself out that way this summer. About 13 miles East of Kankakee is Momence, Illinois, an old border town. With a population of around 3,000 not much has changed in this tiny rural town that the Dixie Highway rolls thru. The highway will take you right into Main Street which pop's up right before the bridge over the Kankakee river which also goes thru the town. Downtown Main Street has quite a few of the original buildings still standing and a few scenes from the movie 'Road to Perdition' starring Tom Hanks were shot there. I've been thru many of these towns and surprisingly the Main street portion of Momence is still in business. Many of the shop's and bar's seem to have been there a while. They got a news shop that sells newspapers, magazines and lotto tickets, a coin shop and a video, yes they still rent VHS tapes, rental shop. Interesting place to spend 10 minutes.












Momence, Illinois

About a mile before downtown I spied a sign that caught my eye. I had already passed on a Drive In a few towns before that didn't look bad but also had nothing tempting enough to get me to stop, it wasn't that old and looked newly built. I'm glad I waited because out popped Little Annie's Egg Rolls, an old school Drive In.







There were a few locals in line and they both got the same order, two egg rolls. I browsed the menu and it was pretty regular for a Drive In with the Pork Tenderloin their claim to fame in the American food menu. On top of that they had the Chinese section which was obviously Americanized Chinese and limited with the egg rolls, sweet and sour chicken and fried rice being your options. I opted for what the two locals before me got and ordered two egg rolls with hot mustard, my much preferred choice over S&S sauce. As we waited for Annie to get to work one of the yocals asked me what I thought they were going to do with the old Monical's pizza place across the street. When I told her I wasn't from around that way she asked me if I ever had Annie's egg rolls, I told her no and she got very excited telling me about them. Off she went after her order arrived and then mine came and I took a seat at one of the tables alongside the walk up window.


'Little' Annie's Egg Rolls

These were really good, so good that after I was done I went back to the window to order a couple more. Annie doesn't skimp on the pork, these were freshly fried and would sit first class on the Egg Roll Express. The young lady working the register told me "they're really good huh?" and I said yeah they really are. She told me Annie makes them herself in the back using her old family recipe and from the time it took (about 10 mins) I think she rolls them to order. She popped out from behind the kitchen into the front of the building after she was told I love them and wanted two more and she was indeed the little old Asian lady I had envisioned. She talked to me thru the glass and it was hard to understand her but she was very sweet and also animated and kept saying "work, work, work, work" which I think she was referring to her very popular summertime egg rolls which keep her busy when she's open for the season. I rolled around the area for a little while longer and found it to be like the rest of Kankakee...dead and or weird.


Somewhere along Route 114

Annie's Egg Rolls
501 North Dixie Highway
Momence, IL 60954-1223
(815) 472-3056

stevez wrote:Jaenicke’s Root Beer Stand

If anyone researches LTH before visiting a new town, certainly Steve Z does. So you must have seen the various mentions of Jaenicke's by me and ErikM -- who, interestingly enough, has some roots there.

Jaenicke's root beer is pretty good, though I'd thought that, like several such places, they still had a frosted mug option for people "eating in." Maybe not. But the real draw is the tiny hot dog with a sauce that is somewhat unique. It's similar to the sauce used on Rochester white hots (Zweigle's, eg). I've had a similar condiment in Toronto, and it's in the same neighborhood as the red onion sauce one sees in NYC. Born of leaner times in an already modest place, Jaenicke’s offers "sauce buns," a meatless treat not unlike Chicago's gravy bread. While not mind-blowing, the little hot dogs are pretty good, cheap, and very specific to the area. Next time, try a few. Much better call then the tenderloin.

"yocals"?