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.