Final Post

As the semester dies down here at Illinois State I am nearing the end of my classes. This blog and my website have been a project for my Accounting 255 Electronic Business Management class. It started out being exciting but now I am glad for it to be over. I learned a lot over the last semester and I am sure this experience will aid in my future career path.
Running a blog and website has been a lot of hard work. It was a lot more challenging than I had imagined to think of things to write about all month. I struggled to write about topics other than restaurant reviews. This was part of my coursework requirements. Overall I am not sure I will be posting to either this blog or the website on a regular basis anymore. I may post things here and there but not like I have been over the past 4 months. This does not mean that my article will be any less relevant and my reviews any less accurate. Please continue to visit the site and blog.
Thanks for Reading

Turkey Rae

Tonight I looked into my cupboards trying to find some dinner. I found Ramen; I had Ramen for lunch and dinner the night before. I needed something with more substance and flavor. So I called my girlfriend and we decided to go out to eat. As we were trying to decide were to go I remember a sidewalk ad I had seen the week before.

The ad was for Potbelly’s. They have a new sandwich that sounded excellent to me. The sandwich was the Turkey Rae. It was your basic turkey sandwich with a very unique twist. It starts with wheat or white bread, Swiss cheese, and turkey. All of this is toasted and then a big scoop of coleslaw is thrown on top. I also added onions, tomatoes, and hot peppers to the mix.

This sandwich was amazing. The coleslaw proved to be a bit messy and the sandwich fell apart toward the end when the coleslaw made the bread soggy but I am not complaining one bit. It was one of the best sandwiches I have ever had that I have not made myself. The hot peppers were also the perfect compliment to the cold creamy crunchy coleslaw. I was in heaven even if I was sweating a bit from the hot pepper’s heat. I would strongly suggest this sandwich to everyone.

Potbelly’s also has some great soups. Today the soup of the day was cheddar broccoli. My girlfriend and I split a cup and it was very very good. It was creamy and cheesy with just the right amount of broccoli. Nothing is worse, at least for me, than broccoli cheese soup is just entire broccoli heads with Velveeta melted into it, or the opposite, cheese soup with bits of green every once in a while. This soup was perfect. I have also had the chili at Potbelly’s and it is also excellent.

Pizza

Today for dinner I made my girlfriend and I a frozen pizza. It was a Red Baron 4 cheese pizza. It was nothing special out of the box so we decided to jazz it up bit. First we cut up some red onions and put them on the pizza. We wanted to add green peppers but we did not have any. Next we added some spices: garlic salt, oregano, and a little bit of pepper. Then we threw it in the oven and let it cook. It turned out really well and I am definitely going to do it again.

The best pizza we ever made was this past summer. We went to the store and walked around looking at everything. We picked up anything that struck our eye. We used a premade crust and sauce and just layered our ingredients on. We first put on half of the sauce bottle, and then we added red onions, garlic, and green peppers. We topped this with cheese and then more sauce. We then put on diced up green olives that had been stuffed with very strong goat cheese. On top of all of this we added the rest of our cheese. Overall this pizza probably weighed about five pounds. It was amazing. We ate one piece of pizza each and were completely full. I ate the leftovers for lunch for an entire week.

It was such a great meal. It was not only good food but it was fun buying the ingredients and cooking the pizza. We have done it several times since then but it has never been as good as the first time we made pizza. The message here is not to get complacent with normal. Just because a frozen pizza isn’t fancy doesn’t mean that it can’t be good with a little help from you. So get out there and try new things and let me know how it goes.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is an amazing American tradition in many homes in our country. It is a great time of year for everyone to get together as a family and enjoy each others company and best of all, enjoy some great food.

My family is kind of strange about Thanksgiving. On Thursday I went to my grandfather’s house for Thanksgiving Lunch. Every year at this get together is different. This year instead of turkey we had scrambled eggs and hamburgers. Last year we had chili dogs. To say the least it is not your normal Thanksgiving. I was greeted at the door with a Bloody Mary and I knew it was going to be a good day.

After this strange event my mother puts on a more traditional Thanksgiving dinner on Friday. As I sit here and type this post I can smell the delicious turkey wafting in from the kitchen. It is still early so the turkey is all that is cooking but I can see my mother getting the rest of the meal ready to cook. I could not be more excited about this because I love thanksgiving turkey.

I am ready to go eat some turkey but I think I am going to have to wait a while before I can really dig in. Oh well I guess I can wait a little while longer.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Merchandise

I have recently started selling merchandise for my review on café press. This is the newest and latest addition to my website and blog. You can find these products at http://www.cafepress.com/Blo_No_Review I created the designs and slogan myself and am very proud of them. You can also get to the products from my website at http://blonorestaurantreview.webs.com/cafepress.htm

The first piece of merchandise is a T shirt with the slogan, logo, and the URL at the bottom of the shirt. It is a Ringer T that comes in white with either a blue, black, or red rings around the neck and arm holes. The slogan is “I Love to Eat Out” with a large open mouth underneath it. It looks very cool and I think will sell very well so get yours now!

The second piece of merchandise is the Trucker Hat with the same slogan and logo with the URL on bottom. It only comes in one color, black with a white front and black font. It is adjustable and is one size fits all. I think that this is my personal favorite of the products I have made. I like it so much that I actually bought it for my self.

The final product I have made for now is a beer stein. The stein is very big and made of a quality material. This product will be a smash hit at your next party and the slogan might even get you a date if you play it off right. I will also be buying this product for myself just as I have the Trucker Hat. I think that you should as well.

Please check out these products and buy something to help support your favorite restaurant review site and blog. Thanks!

Starbucks Coffee

I drink a lot of coffee especially when my schoolwork piles up, which happens quite often. As I sit here in my apartment typing up this blog post I am currently drinking a cup of coffee. This is a pretty common occurrence for me these days. I am up at 1030 at night with a cup of coffee in my hand. I know that a lot of people might think that this is crazy but trust me it is necessary.

My roommate works at a local Starbucks so every week he gets a free pound of coffee. I am the luckiest guy in the world because I get to reap the benefits of this situation. I currently am drinking a cup of Starbucks Sulawesi Kalosi Blend. I know that this is a strange name and do not ask me how to say it because I just had to walk to the kitchen and look how to spell it. But what I do know it that I like this coffee a lot. It has a strong bold taste and is grown on a small island in the Asian Pacific. It is one the best dark bold brews I have ever had and I recommend it to anyone who likes there coffee with a bit of a punch.

My other favorite brew from Starbucks is the Pike’s Place Roast. This is a specialty brew made in honor of the first Starbucks store in Seattle Washington according to www.Starbucks.com but that is not that important to me. What is important is the taste. This coffee has an amazingly rich and subtle flavor that is out of this world. It is by far the best coffee I have ever had.

Well it is time to go get another cup because I still have a lot of work to get to tonight. Thanks for reading.

Recommendend Products

My most recent addition to my website is a page on Recommended Products. It is a short review of 5 products which i find particularly useful. Check the link out here, http://blonorestaurantreview.webs.com/recommendedproducts.htm

In this article I review and recommend Stride Spearmint Gum, Lawry’s Black Pepper Season Salt, a Garmin Nuvi GPS, Frank’s Red Hot, and a Bloomington Wall Map. The Stride is my favorite gum. I like the Spearmint because it is not over powering but provides just enough mintiness. The Black Pepper Season Salt is also a favorite of mine. It is great on just about every food imaginable. If you are interested in the whole reviews and the other products click the link above and read some more. If you like what you read then click the product link and purchase for great values on Amazon.

P.S.

The pumpkin seeds turned out excellent. They were the perfect amount of savory and crunchy. They were so good that I wish that I had another pumpkin so I can cook up another batch. I am going to go out and get another pumpkin and try another flavor of seeds. I read some recipes about other ways to season them. The one I really want to try next is worcestershire sauce, garlic, and butter. There is also a recipe for cinnamon brown sugar. I will let you know how these turn out. Thanks for reading.

Pumpkin Seeds

So today I started a new cooking project that I have never done on my own before. I am making toasted pumpkin seeds. This started when I went home to my parent’s house earlier in the day to pick up some things for the upcoming winter season. I saw that my mother had made some seeds of her own. They were slightly burnt but I still had a bunch of them. Even though they were a little extra toasted the seeds still had a great flavor and that distinct pumpkin taste.

So when I got back today I picked up my girlfriend we got a medium sized pumpkin. I went to work cutting of the top and, for lack of a better word, gutting the insides out. This is a messy job and my apartment still smells like a pumpkin. After I gutted it my girlfriend started carving it up. She is the artistic one so I let her do her thing on that. While she was carving I went into the kitchen and started separating the pulp and stingy matter from the seeds. This was not easy task folks. I am sure that I missed some bits and pieces but I can live with that. I got most of the big pieces and ran the rest of the seeds under water until most of the goop and other pulpy stuff. When I was satisfied I put them in a bowl with salt and water and I am going to let them soak over night. Tomorrow afternoon I am going to oil them and salt them. I will toast them and let you know how it turns out. If you have any suggestions, questions, or comments please leave them below and have a great Halloween!

Ramen Experiment

Today I will be discussing a staple of college life. No not beer, but that is a favorite of mine, and everyone I know. No, today I will be talking about Ramen Noodles. These bricks of noodles have been feeding college students for decades. I know that this not the best food in the world but it is super cheap. At only about 20 cents these little bricks of noodles are incredibly affordable. But how can you put a good spin on this boring staple?

Recently I have been experimenting with ways to improve this simple food. My first experiment was to add onions to the mix. I cut up a bunch of red onions and put them in with the boiling broth. By the time that the noodles were ready the onions were cooked to perfection. They were soft and tasty and added to the soup quite nicely.

The next thing I tried was adding some chicken meat. I cooked a small breast on my George Foreman grill and seasoned it to my liking. When it was done I diced the chicken and put it in with the soup. This turned out ok but it wasn’t great. So instead I tried to combine the onions and chicken and this turned out great.

I am going to keep trying new things and I will keep you up to date on this idea. I also want to hear what ideas you have for this new experiment. Just leave me a comment on the blog post below. Thanks and keep on reading!

How to Save Money

Are you like me these days? Broke but still hungry? In this post I will be going over a few money saving tips about eating out. I will have written on this topic before (http://blonorestaurantreview.blogspot.com/2009/08/staying-full-without-going-broke.html ) so this post is going to be a brief overview of a few of these tips, tricks, and suggestions.

1. Look for specials

I know that this sounds fairly obvious but a lot of times restaurants offer daily specials. This can be a great way to save some cash but still get a good meal. I know that Garden of Paradise offers daily specials for all days of the week except Sunday. I have gotten a few of these in the past and it is a great deal. You get a full meal for a few dollars off regular price. Not too shabby.

2. Split a Meal

Going on a date but afraid you can’t afford it? Well one solution you can try is splitting a meal. I know several restaurants like Chili’s and Applebee’s are offering deal were you can split an appetizer and have two entrees for $20. If you think about it this can be a great deal. If you were to get an appetizer for $5 or $6, and entrees for around $8 to $12 you would end up spending a lot more than $20.

3. Make Yourself Dinner

I know that cooking is not everyone’s favorite past time and that some people are just plain bad at it. But this is a great way to spend less and get more. I suggest buying items that can be made in large portions. I like to make spaghetti and when I do I make a LOT of spaghetti. I find that I spend about $10 or so and end up eating the spaghetti several times over the next week or so. This is, in my opinion, the easiest and most efficient way to save money while still eating well.

Americana

Today I am on my way to St Louis with my parents and my girlfriend for the Rams and Colts football game. We stopped in a little town of Litchfield about 30 minutes south of Springfield on Interstate 55. This is only significant because we stopped for lunch/breakfast and it was amazing. We stopped at a small bakery/diner called Jubelt’s Bakery. It was what my Grandpa would refer to as Americana. We walked in and passed the bakery that was full of Halloween cookies, pies, and other assorted pastries. But I wasn’t there for dessert. I was on a mission to have some good home town cooking. Everyone else ordered breakfast but I could not turn away from the home made pork tenderloin.

The sandwich was not like any other tenderloin I had ever had before. Usually when I think tenderloin I think of the large flat pressed meat patty that sticks out 3 inches from the bun in all directions. But not this tenderloin. This sandwich was the loin in its natural form. It was all the same size as a normal tenderloin but this was thick and about the size of the bun. It was served with lettuce, tomato, onion, and honey mustard with a side of steak fries. The fries were very good but I wasted no time and energy on these when that tenderloin was just waiting for me. I took the first bite and the juices rushed out and down my chin. This was amazing except for the fact that it was fresh out of the deep fryer and now I have a small burn on my bottom lip. But this was only a minor setback I attacked that sandwich full heartedly and as I write this post I am in the backseat of the car, stuffed to the brim.

Well its time for the game. Have a great day and thanks for reading.

McAllister's Deli

Today I went to lunch with my girlfriend at McAllister’s in the Bone Student Center. She works there so we get a pretty good discount on days that she works. Other ways I would not go to McAllister’s because I think that it is too pricy for what it is. This being said I do like their food. The menu consists mainly of sandwiches but there are few other options besides a simple sandwich. And there are a lot of sandwich choices. In this post I will talk about of few of my McAllister’s favorites in hopes that it will someday help you with their HUGE menu.
On the sandwich side there is ton of variety. There are options for everyone. Today, and every day, my girlfriend get The Big Cheese with her own additions including lettuce, tomato, onion, mayo, honey mustard, and some others, I had a bite and it was far superior to other cheese sandwiches. There’s also a sandwich called The Big Nasty. The Big Nasty is roast beef, McAllister’s famous “come back” gravy, and cheddar cheese served on a piece of open face 12” Italian bread that is toasted. There are also many many more options that I do not have time to go into here.
There are also choices beyond sandwiches. For instance McAllister’s offers a wide variety of “Spuds” or baked potatoes. Today I had the Spud Ole, it is two potatoes with chili, melted cheddar cheese, and jalapenos. They also offer several soups each day including a great chicken tortilla soup. For those of you looking to count calories there are also some healthier options like salads. Whatever you choose to have I think that you will like it. Whether you like the price tag or not is another story.

The Economy and Tipping

Recently I have noticed a trend in the service I have been receiving at restaurants. Let me start by saying that I have noticed this at many restaurants but not all. I am not going to say were or when I have been noticing it but poor service has been on the rise around Bloomington-Normal. I do not necessarily blame the wait staff for this poor performance, I think there is a larger issue.

With the economy the way it has been in past year or so everyone is looking to cut out a bit of spending. This means that fewer and fewer people are eating out as often as they used to. This can lead to poor sales at restaurant. These restaurants then have to turn around and look to pinch pennies themselves. This often times means cutting hours for servers. When a restaurant cuts hours they put more pressure on the waiters and waitresses who are scheduled. They are required to cover more tables over a longer period of time. This would get to anyone and you cannot blame them for being frazzled at times.

I think it is important for all of us to remember that they are doing there jobs as best as they can. Waiters and waitresses earn below minimum wage and are dependent on tips to make up the lack of wage. So remember even if your dining experience isn’t the stellar outing you had hoped for always tip your staff. It is the most basic rule of dining out.

Fat Tire

Fat Tire is an amber ale brewed by New Belgium Brewing Company. This is one of my favorite beers and has been for a long time. New Belgium is a microbrewery based out of Fort Collins, Colorado. Fat Tire is a malty beer that is big on taste. I remember the first time I had it the person who gave it to me described it as tasting like burnt toast. I know that sounds kind of strange but it is true. Burnt toast has that very distinct bread taste that has been roasted and is robust and pungent. Well Fat tire has this taste as well as hints of caramel and biscuit.

The really cool thing about New Belgium is not only the fact that they make great beer but that they are just and all around cool company. The brewery is run completely by wind and solar polar and the water used is filtered on site by this alternative energy source. The company is also good to their employees. Every Friday every employee receives a free six pack of a New Belgium beer. Also on the employees work anniversary they receive one of the iconic bikes on the label of Fat Tire, of which I am extremely jealous.

Beningo's Restaurant

My family went out to eat at Beningo’s Restaurant in Bloomington for my Mother’s birthday. Located on the corner of Mason street and Chestnut Street Beningo’s is an authentic Italian restaurant that is run by a family. Many restaurants these days claim to be authentic this or authentic that but few can actually live up to this distinction. Beningo’s is one of these few.

The atmosphere was homely and intimate. We all order our meals and began our conversation for the night. When the food was brought out all of our jaws dropped. I ordered the Authentic Italian Sausage. It came with a side of any pasta and sauce combination on the menu. I choose mostacolli with tomato sauce. It came with a side salad and my choice of dressing, ranch. The salad itself could have been a meal it was so large. The main course came with two large homemade sausages, sautéed onions and peppers, and the pasta side. The sausages were a mix of sweet and spicy. They were some of the best sausage I have ever had in my life. The sautéed vegetables went into my pasta, they were originally served with the sausage but I mixed thins up a bit. The pasta was simply amazing. The noodles were cooked to the perfect al dente texture and were obviously homemade as well. The sauce was rich and flavorful. The portion was extremely large, especially for the small price tag that accompanied it. The meal which includes the salad and the pasta was only $11.75, which is a steal for how good the food was.

I strongly suggest that anyone who reads this blog get up from their chair and head directly to Beningo’s. It was the best authentic Italian food I have ever had.

Soup

So it’s been getting colder out lately and we don’t have too much time before winter is here. But don’t fret there are some perks to this time of year. The leaves are changing and the Constitution Trail has never looked more beautiful. It is time is wear hoodies all day. It is time to make soup.

Being in the mood of this season I decided it was time to break out the crock pot. My girlfriend has a bit of a cold so to make her feel better I decided to make my world famous, or at least it should be, cheesy potato soup. I have only made this soup a handful of times but it has been outstanding. I have never made this soup the same way twice because I don’t use a recipe. I usually go to the store and grab some cream of mushroom, cream of celery, chicken broth, potatoes, onions, and Velveeta cheese. I throw it all in the crock pot and let it sit all day. My girlfriend, my roommate, and I all had two bowlfuls and as I write this post we are all sitting on the couch completely stuffed. We still have leftovers and I am sure we will enjoy it again and again over the next few days.

I was inspired to make soup not only by the season but also by an amazing soup I had the other day at Garden of Paradise. If you have never heard of Garden of Paradise check out my post about it at http://blonorestaurantreview.blogspot.com/2009/09/garden-of-paradise.html or my review of it on my website at http://blonorestaurantreview.webs.com/gardenofparadise.htm . The soup I had at GOP was a wild rice and chicken vegetable. It was the soup of the day and it was amazing. Normally I am not a fan of wild rice but this was the exception. The rice added an amazing texture and flavor to this already delicious creamy soup. Check it out!

Favorite Posts

Today I am going to write a little bit about all of my work and the network that is bringing you Bloomington Normal Restaurant Review. I have been working on this project for about 2 months now and I am starting to see my dream com to fruition. It has been a lot of hard work but it is very rewarding. Thanks to everyone for the patronage and don’t forget to check out my sponsors.

Here are a few of my favorite things I have done in the past few months.

http://blonorestaurantreview.webs.com/lospotrillos.htm

This is my very first review. I was nervous about what I was doing and wanted it to sound as professional as possible. I ended spending a lot of time on this review. It is for Los Potrillos in Normal. It was very weird for me to go into a restaurant with a pencil and paper. I felt self conscious and thought the waiter might start asking questions. It only got worse when I started taking pictures of the food. But I got through and wrote one of the best reviews I have done to date. Check it out and learn about a great Mexican restaurant.

http://blonorestaurantreview.blogspot.com/2009/09/garden-of-paradise.html

This is a link to my favorite blog post. It was a mini-review of Garden of Paradise in Bloomington. I call it a mini-review because it was a condensed version of the one I posted on my website. The blog post is a little more bare boned than the full review, which you can find on my website at http://blonorestaurantreview.webs.com/gardenofparadise.htm. The blog post is just as good as the full review on the website but the website contains a bit more about each dish, the atmosphere, and even color pictures. It is definitely worth checking out.

Well those are just a few of my favorite posts. If you have a favorite let me know and leave a comment below. Thanks for reading.

Date Night

I was at Los Potrillos Monday night for dinner with my girlfriend and it reminded of exactly why I love that place so much. We got our chips and our drink orders put in within seconds of us being seated. About one minute after that our large margaritas were delivered and we dived right into them. Before either of us had even had a handful of chips the food was already being brought out to us. I know that Los Potrillos has quick service but this is like nothing I had ever witnessed before. It was Jimmy John’s fast. Neither of us could believe it and we just kind of starred at the food for 30 seconds before we could really muster words.

As always the food was excellent. I ordered the stuffed poblano peppers, which are stuffed with seasoned ground beef and cheese and then fried; it was served with a side of rice and refried beans. She ordered the vegetarian combo A, a cheese burrito, a bean burrito, a tostaguac, rice and fries. Neither of us had really eaten all day so we smashed on the meals and had a nice chat between bites. Then we sat back and tried to digest our feast while finishing our drinks. After being in the restaurant for about an hour, they are LARGE margaritas, we headed home to do homework and reminisce about how good the food was.

This is by far my favorite date restaurant; in fact it was the second place I took my girlfriend for a date about one year ago. I have never heard anyone speak badly of its food, service, or drinks.

For a full review check out my blog post about it at http://blonorestaurantreview.blogspot.com/2009/08/los-potrillos.html or my webpage review that has a bit more content and even some pictures of this amazing food at http://blonorestaurantreview.webs.com/lospotrillos.htm

The Floor

The Floor: The Umphrey’s McGee Blog

http://blog.umphreys.com/cs/blogs/thefloor/default.aspx

So I know that this is a bit out of my genre but today I want to blog about this great new blog I found. It’s called The Floor. Umphrey’s McGee is a progressive rock jam band based out of Chicago, Illinois. Umphrey’s is by far one of my favorite touring bands. I have seen them over twenty times in three states. The Floor is run by the band and their road chronicling their life on the road.

The latest post is in video form. It is a two part series called A Day in the Life: Ryan Stasik. Ryan Stasik, also known as Pony, Pone Loc, or Stacy, is the bass player and my favorite member. In fact I have met him on several occasions. It starts with Pony relaxing in a hot tub in Telluride, Colorado. He introduces himself and his newest adventure, growing a rat tail.

The next scene is the band preparing for a cameo with Buddy Guy during the Blues and Brews Festival in Telluride. Ryan asks everyone for their comments about playing with a blues legend like Buddy Guy. Everyone is almost speechless after being in the presence of such an amazing blues man.

Next the band prepares to play their own set the same night. They rehearse back stage and the video ends with Pone Loc getting ready for bed after a long day in Colorado. In the morning he is headed back to Chicago to attend the recent Bears Steelers game at Soldier Field.

Hey guys thanks for reading and letting me get a bit off topic and if you are interested check out Umphrey’s McGee in Peoria on the Riverfront October 10th. Have a great day!

Maggie Miley's Pub

Maggie Miley’s Pub

Sunday was my girlfriend’s 21st birthday, which explains why there was no blog post. We went out Saturday night to Maggie Miley’s Pub here in Normal. We got there at midnight after a few hours of celebrating at my apartment. As per her wishes we got a large group of friends together and celebrated with beer pong, whiskey sours, whiskey highballs, and at the midnight hour a $6 bottle of champagne.

We all then made the short hike from my place to Uptown Normal to Maggie’s. Upon our arrival I bought the special lady and myself a Smithwicks. We met the rest of our group out on the beer garden patio for some conversation and general mayhem. After another Smithwicks and meeting some new friends I let someone else buy the birthday girl a drink. Our new friend Ashley bought her a great drink that I had never even heard of before. It was Maggie’s specialty, the Maggie’s Mix. It was a great combo of peach schnapps, vodka, and something red or pink. I tried hers and liked it so much that I got one for myself. I soon found out that this tasty concoction is no joke. After two of these powerful potions I was feeling pretty good. As closing time neared we finished our drinks and got our crew back together.

Some of us went to our respective homes while the rest of us went across the street to grab a late night snack at D.P. Dough’s. We ordered and while we waited chatted and took a few less than flattering pictures. My girlfriend and I spilt a Veggie Zone. It was a delicious blend of mushrooms, broccoli, mozzarella cheese, and ricotta cheese. We ate it as we walked home and the gang slowly split up and went to our respective beds. All in all it was a great time with friends that we will never forget, even if some of the details are a bit fuzzy.

Grab Your Fork

Grab Your Fork!

http://grabyourfork.blogspot.com/

Grab Your Fork is a great restaurant review blog located here on blogger.com. It is the winner of the best food blog under the category restaurant review. The site is run out of Sydney Australia. The writer of the blog must have a lot of recognition and pull because she has access to things that a regular customer would never dream of being able to accomplish. These great behind the scenes opportunities manifest themselves on the form of pictures of the food being made from scratch and multiple entrees with smaller portions.

The most recent post is a review of Fix St. James in Sydney. The restaurant is a café type restaurant that borders on the gourmet side of life. I have read the review and I really her style. She has a unique flair that shows her education as well as her gastrointestinal strength. She has a great ideology about food and friends that I really can agree with. She likes to think that her blog is not a review blog but rather “a personal photo album of gastronomic memories.” She is not trying to praise or rag on the restaurant but rather to make the reader hungry. She wants the reader to go out and eat and be merry with friends, family, and the like. This really strikes a cord with me. This is a beautiful thing and I would like to run my blog in this manner. I am really excited to see how the new posts come out with a new mission statement and goal. If you have any ideas or comments please let me know and don’t forget to check out her blog at http://grabyourfork.blogspot.com/.

Urban Spoon

Urban Spoon

Are you looking for a great new restaurant in your price range? Or are you looking for a specific kind of restaurant in your city? Out of town, on vacation, in a new city? All of these problems have only one comprehensive solution. Visit www.urbanspoon.com and check out your city. This website is a great resource for all major cities and metropolitan areas in the US and even in Canada. This is my favorite way to find new restaurants and to provide helpful reviews for other people who are in the same position.

This website ranks website on three different facets. The first is an obvious distinction. The town, borough, suburb, or neighborhood you are looking to dine in. The second is what kind of ethnicity of food you are looking for. This category is very expansive and can include types such as Indian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latin American, Mediterranean, Mexican, sandwiches, seafood, pizza, steakhouses, and many many more options. The third category is the price range you are looking for. This is divided into four categories. The first is called $, this category is for the cheapest and usually not the best places. An example that came up for the combination of Normal, American, and $ was Jimmy John’s. The second category is $$, this category is for low to mid range prices. An example for this category is TGI Fridays. The third category, if you haven’t guessed the pattern by now, is $$$. This resulted in Ozark Steakhouse in Bloomington under the barbeque category. The fourth category is $$$$. The result that came up for this category was Lancaster’s Fine Dining in Bloomington. Lancaster’s is a very expensive restaurant with $25 entrees, certainly no place for someone like me.

Blo-No Links

There are a lot of great websites out there for Bloomington Normal Restaurant Reviews other than mine, www.BloNoRestaurantReview.webs.com. In this post I will be going over some of my favorites and discussing their pros and cons.

10 Best Bloomington Normal Restaurants

http://www.10best.com/Bloomington%3BNormal,IL/Restaurants/

This site is an alright source for reviews in the Bloomington Normal Area. It is a nationally run site that covers all of the major cities and has user submitted reviews. It is good for a quick check with a medium range of reviews, just under 30. My only problem with user submitted reviews is that the person could have a bias. Also having many reviewers creates a case of subjectivity. In other words one person who really likes one restaurant that most people think is terrible can really rate up this place. You can never really get a feel for what that person is like and why you should trust them.

Urban Spoon Bloomington Illinois

http://www.urbanspoon.com/c/93/Bloomington-restaurants.html

This is a great source for finding a new restaurant. Urban Spoon is one of the big players out there on the web for restaurant reviews. This site features all of the restaurants in Bloomington as far as I can tell. It also includes fast food joints and bars. This is great if you are looking to find somewhere you have heard of but are not sure where it is located at. The only problem with this website is that not all of the restaurants have reviews attached to them.

B-N.com Restaurant Reviews

http://www.b-n.com/pages/restaurantreviews.html

This is a locally run site that contains all things Bloomington Normal. This sight really gives the sense of community that Bloomington Normal is all about. I like the feel of this site a lot. That being said there are some downfalls to this site as well. The number of reviews is very limited. There are only 12 reviews on the site at this time. But since anyone can submit a review this number may be on the rise with your help!

Check out my website!

Can’t get enough of the Blo-No Restaurant Review Blog? Check out my website if you are looking for more insight into the world of Bloomington Normal's restaurant scene! The site features more in depth analysis of the restaurant featured on the blog plus even more great content! The website www.BloNoRestaurantReview.Webs.com is your place for everything Bloomington Normal Food related. I run the website and update just as often as this blog.

Here you can catch up on reviews of great restaurants and other content like

- Los Potrillos

- Coffee Nation Micro Roastery

- Garden of Paradise

- Links to other great sites about Bloomington Normal

- My Web Ring

- Contact Information

- A little bit more about Myself

- With much more!

Also on the website I am looking into adding several new article and sections not about restaurant reviews. I will soon be adding a page on recommended products and books that may help you achieve full satisfaction from every restaurant and even your own kitchen. One of the new articles I am working on, and will recap here in the blog, is going to be a How-To article. You will have to visit the site to find out what I will be teaching you how to do! If it goes well then I may make this a regular feature of my website and blog designs.

As always if you have any feedback, recommendations for restaurants, or just want to say hey please comment on the post or email me via my website www.BloNoRestaurantReview.webs.com on the About Me page. While you’re there please donate some money to The Food Guru to ensure I can continue to help you with the do’s and don’ts of dining out in Bloomington Normal.

Have a Great Day!

The Blo-No Late Night Food Scene

When its late night and you have got an urge for some good food after a long night studying or having some drinks with friends you have got a lot of choices in Bloomington Normal. Whether you want pizza, gyros, calzone, burritos, or burgers there are a lot of options. Here’s the best of the best.

- Bocata Fresh!
- With gyros, burritos, nachos, and paninis Bocata Fresh! has something for just about everyone. Located on Main Street across the street from 707 Liquors. They do not offer delivery but Bocata stays open until 2 am on Thursdays and 3 am on Fridays and Saturdays.

- D.P. Dough
- Who needs a greasy pizza that you have to share with all your buddies when you can get your own personal calzone? With around 40 choices of ‘zones on the menu and even a Construction-Zone where you choose your own ingredients there is always a zone to match your munchies’ needs. Located in Uptown Normal across the street from Maggie Miley’s with delivery available a zone is never too far away.

- Jimmy John’s
- With two convenient locations in Normal on Main and in Uptown Normal, these “Freaky Fast, Freaky Good” sandwiches are always a solid late night choice. Offering your choice of 25 sandwiches this sandwich shop will knock your socks off. They make the sandwiches in less than a minute, and with a delivery option that is almost as fast there is no waiting around for your food. Open seven days a week and until 2 a.m. on weekends you can't go wrong.

But don’t let this small list limit your options. The Bloomington Normal area is ripe with late night food joints. This is something I think a lot of my fellow college students take for granted. I think we should start embracing our late night food culture. Expand your palette! Try something new and possibly scary sounding. Branch out! Live a little! Besides your probably gonna be drunk when you eat so maybe you won’t even remember it!

Coffee Nation Microroastery

Coffee Nation Microroastery Microroastery

3907 General Electric Rd.
Ste. 6
Bloomington, IL 61704

309.662.6370

Monday through Friday:
6:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Saturday and Sunday:
7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Rating 4.5/5

Cost: Low

If you ever find yourself on the east side of Bloomington Normal, check out Coffee Nation Microroastery Microroastery for a cup of coffee, tea, a fresh baked muffin that is rich and moist or just to relax in the inviting atmosphere.

The thing that really sets Coffee Nation Microroastery apart from the Starbucks and other coffee chains is the local feel and in house roasting. That’s right; Coffee Nation Microroastery roasts there own beans. This means that you the customer get the freshest beans that are roasted to perfection. Having their own roaster also allows Coffee Nation Microroastery to make unique combinations and levels of blends and roasts. This adds to the experience and takes it to a whole new level because the roaster is right behind the counter! Also Coffee Nation Microroastery works in tandem with several local businesses to provide the best of Bloomington Normal all in one place. With chocolate from Bloomington’s own The Chocolatier Inc. there is something for your sweet tooth as well. Coffee Nation Microroastery also supplies two local restaurants with the coffee they serve in house. Each restaurant has its own signature blend. These are the Destihl Blend and the Biaggi’s Blend. This really gives the company a sense of town pride and unity.

I ordered a cup of coffee and it was served immediately. The coffee was the signature roast, The Eastside Blend. The Eastside is a medium dark roast that was bright, but it still possessed a deep variety of layers. It was full and satisfyingly rich. It has all the flavor of a dark roast with none of weight usually associated with richer coffees. It was served in a mug with free refills and $1.50 for the small it is a great bargain. The barista was friendly and very knowledgeable about her product

Checkout Coffee Nation if you're ever on the eastside. I guarantee you will not regret it!

Garden of Paradise

Garden of Paradise
1412 E Empire
Bloomington, IL
(309) 828 – 8080
Dine-In or Call Ahead for Carry Out
Open 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Friday
Rating 3.5/5
Cost: Moderate

Garden of Paradise is your one and only real choice for authentic Greek cuisine in the Bloomington Normal area. And even if Greek is not your favorite there is also a healthy mix of American cuisine and breakfast is served all day. Not only do they have a wide variety of cuisine, Garden of Paradise claims to have “one of the largest menus in Mclean County.” They also stock a full bar of top shelf liquors and beers, including a Greek favorite Ouzo.

I ordered something new that I had not ever had before, Dolmades. Dolmades are a traditional Greek entrée. The meal consisted of a starter salad served with a choice of dressings; I chose ranch, or a cup of the soup of the day. The main dish was three dolma served with a side of peas. The dolmades are grape leaves stuffed with ground beef and rice covered in a warm citrus yogurt sauce and garnished with a lemon slice. The salad was excellent and just the right portion size. It was large but not so large that it would fill me up before the meal really began. The dolmades themselves were a complex food that I am still trying to wrap my taste buds around. The grape leaves were cooked much like a cooked spinach leaf. They were then wrapped around a “skinless” ground beef and rice sausage. The taste of the dolma was lacking. If it were not for the dressing of citrus yogurt, they would have almost not flavor at all. The lemon yogurt sauce is a unique and interesting taste that does not sound like it belongs on a dinner plate, yet it was a great way to add some pizzazz to the bland Dolmades. The peas were excellent, but it is very difficult to mess up peas. At $9.95 I felt that this entrée fell short of its price. I am not an expert on Greek cuisine but I know what I like, and I won’t be ordering the Dolmades again.

My girlfriend went a different route. She decided to exercise her right to have breakfast all day. So she ordered the Tomato, Onion, and Feta Omelette. The omelette was served with a side of hash browns and two pieces of toast. We both decided that she chose the right meal. The omelette was excellent, fluffy yet with a nice crispy outer layer, cooked to perfection. The tomato and onion were the perfect compliment to the strong feta taste. The only complaint she had for the omelette was the feta cheese was all concentrated in the middle of the omelette and she was not able to taste or see it for the first few bites. The hash browns were incredible. They were perfectly cooked to that amazing crisp that we all know and love. The wheat toast was served warm and perfectly toasted with two kinds of jelly, grape and strawberry, and butter all on the side. The omelette is a classic American breakfast staple, but this one had a uniquely Greek accent. It was the perfect marriage of American breakfast and Greek flair. The only problem we had with the entire dining experience came with part of her meal. The waitress, the only one working, forgot to bring out her chocolate milk after we ordered. This was quickly remedied after we asked for it, but as she said “the milk here is not that chocolaty.” The omelette cost $6.50 and was well worth the price. The milk was $1.99 and this seemed a bit much especially since it was late and “not that chocolaty.”

The meal came out to $20.24 before tip. This is not too bad but I decided to put the price as moderate because they serve smaller portions at the same price as other restaurants, such as Los Potrillos, who offer overwhelming portions. With a five dollar tip the meal came out to $25.24.