galena suggestions?

Does anyone have places to suggest for a get-away weekend to Galena?
I would appreciate dining suggestions for both casual and otherwise. Thanks

Fried Green Tomatos, the excellant Italian place, has moved into downtown Galena and is now open for lunch as well as dinner. I believe they closed the old location out towards Chestnut Mountain.

I don't remember the name of the place or the quality of the food but I have to tell this story now.

There was some restaurant where they featured singing waiters. Once upon a time this might have meant old German waiters signing "Drink, Drink, Drink" or something. Here it meant musical theater actors between engagements very earnestly singing the execrably tuneless oeuvre of Andrew Lloyd Webber.

More than that, it meant singers so impressed with the majesty of the great art that they were belting out that AS THEY WERE BRINGING MY WINE TO MY TABLE, they would stop dead in the middle of the room and sing "Come and hear the music of the night" or "Don't Cry For Me Argentina" or "Honey, Has My Latest Royalty Check Arrived, I Want To Buy Another Porsche" or any of those deathless Lloyd Webber masterpieces. As my wine dangled in their arms, and my glass went unfilled for another four or five minutes.

A one-hour meal was stretched to two and felt like twelve as we were subjected to these painfully sincere and deeply moving (all the way down to my bowels, in fact) renditions of Lloyd Webber's crap. Of course, it just made us sillier and sillier at the table, and they surely noticed how we were making faces and pantomiming dying of hunger and performing emergency resuscitation procedures using the tops of two sugar bowls as the "paddles" ("Clear!" --zap!) I don't normally become a goofball jerk even when a meal is going seriously awry, but that night, the whole table just lost it.

So, whatever the name of that place was-- don't go!

Just came back from Galena - had an acceptable meal at Cafe Italia downtown. I had a decent, but slightly oily veal marsala and a tablemate had the tomato basil chicken - a linguini alfredo with it's namesake ingredients thrown in. Tasty, but nothing extraordinary, for around 15 bucks a piece. The place was empty (usually a bad sign) when the another Italian place just down the block was crowded and seemed overly raucous.

There was nothing wrong with this place, although it made me wish I had tried out one of the other places (like Bubbas across the street) that looked like they might be more fun.

I was inspired to check out the singing waiters restaurant. I think we can safely say it is no more. If you want additional places to avoid (or patronize)(or patronize), there was a discussion on Roadfood
http://www.roadfood.com/Forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=1498

There was a place in the Fairmont (off Wacker, near LSD) that had singing wait-people doing opera. Can't remember the name. Mostly opera students I surmised. This was a number of years ago. Pleasant food, and decent arias (I want to say this was the name, Aria, but I fear I may be mixing up 2 places), but pretty pricey. Decided to go to the Opera and a restaurant of my choosing next time.

Apropos, my recent post on La Quebrada, Aurora, mentioned the large (at least 8 people) Mariachi band. Pretty good, but for a 25 table restaurant, they were a presence. The table behind me needed a love song, or some song, so they set up around me, with the horn section about 5 feet from my right shoulder and ear. The first blast was a little intense, and while I was smiling, watching and bopping (is this a generational giveaway, bopping?) I must have flinched, for the moved back another couple of feet, and pointed their horns towards the kitchen. This did increase my enjoyment. This was a Saturday, but there was a smaller band present when I dined on a week night as well. In that instance, the Band of five roughly matched the number of patrons, so they seemed to be dining (on the house I hope) as there was little hope of making much money. I guess if anyone had signified interest they would have gone to work, though my first thought was that they were eating on the way to a gig. Which still may be true, but it was the same band, or at least part of it, I later saw perform there.

Singing waiters! I've actually only had one experience with this, and I'm almost embarrassed to say it was actually a good one. Several years ago, I was in Tulsa with ex-Mrs. JimInLoganSquare so she could audition for the Tulsa symphony (a multi-layered mistake I won't get into here). Anyway, it was Labor Day weekend, it was about 1,750 degrees in the shade (hypothetically, as there is no shade in Tulsa), and we were stationed in a hotel that just so happened to be accommodating with us the 2,000,000 drunk members of the southwest region Shriner's convention and their drunk wives. Yes, let the jokes commence. Everything you've been told about convening Shriners is true, times ten. The good thing about Shriners though is that (1) they tend to organize their own dinners and (2) they are also apparently too cheap to eat in the fancy hotel restaurant. For me, no price is too high to enjoy a civilized meal in isolation from the horn bleating, fez wearing, drum bashing drunken hordes. So, me and ex-Mrs. JimInLoganSquare darted into the fancy sit down restaurant in our downtown Tulsa hotel. And we learned that they have singing waitstaff. This is disconcerting, until they actually start up. And, they were good! And great conversationalists, to boot. So, it was a blast, and I'd say I would repeat it even without the Shriners at the gate.

Well, I've got a suggestion for Fried Green.. and several gut-busting stories. Thanks for sharing them.

Time to resurrect this thread. The Lovely Dining Companion and I are going to Galena in mid-January (don't ask) to celebrate our first anniversary (didn't I say "don't ask"?). Le'ts avoid the singing waiters portion of the previous thread and come up with perhaps another alternative or two for while we're in Galena.

With many hearty and sincere thanks.

I've stayed at the Eagle Ridge resort. It was a pleasant stay as part of a conference organised there but I can't recommend the food there (based on 'caterered' fare for the conference)
Galena and the surrounding area was fabulous in Fall.

http://www.eagleridge.com/

I still give a rec to Fried Green Tomatos in downtown Galena. Also on the main downtown is a old timey place, can't remember the name but a true old time neighborhood place that we went for breakfast. High tin lined ceilings and old tables and chairs with really good basic reasonable food. I believe it is on a corner.

as someone else seems to have mentioned, i can confirm that the Eagle Ridge Resort restaurant is absolutely not worth going to. i would put it on par with a denny's as far as service goes, and the food is about the same... we also stayed at the eagle ridge inn, i wouldn't recommend it for lodging unless you have a large group to stay in a townhouse with...

when we were in town, a lot of people recommended fried green tomatoes... but we didn't actually go there, since we were misled into thinking the eagle ridge restaurant was nice ...

for lunch we went to this bar-ish type place... the Market House Tavern Restaurant (I had to google to find their name--found their web site too http://www.markethousetavern.com/) it was on the 2nd floor, above a storefront... getting in it required you to go on a side street, up the hill, around back... a local recommended it. they had pretty decent lunch fare... they had a few interesting fried appetizers ... fried duck tenders...these were a little dry and not really anything to write home about... fried dill pickles... etc.. soup was good.

It has been a few years since I have been in Glalena but my partner and I used to go each year as a fall getaway. Each time we went there we had only one good meal and that was at the Eldorado Grill. It is on the main street - you can find more info on their website http://www.eldorado-grill.com/
I don't exactly know how to describe the cuisine but I think "southwestern" would be the most appropriate description. It is possible that the Galena dining scene has improved in the past few years, but at the time we were there, Eldaroda grill was the only place we found a good meal, a decent wine list, excellent service and attractive decor. I don't think the other places we ate at had any of those - at least I can't recall any other positive dining experiences in Galena other than those at Eldorado.


I have not been back to Galena but was thinking of going this winter to go skiing. If anyone knows of a good bed and breakfast there, please let me know! We were disappointed with the several we styed at.

Here is a good website for all things Galena and surrounding area.

http://www.galena.org/

Just returned from a weekend trip to visit the in-laws in Galena. On our way from Galena to Dubuque, on Route 20 we spotted Sweet Jamie Ray's BBQ near East Dubuque, so we stopped in for dinner.

The restaurant was oddly placed in the front part of a building used as a body shop, but it had a big smoking rig in front of it, so we decided to take a chance. I spoke with our waiter, Jamie (son of the owner, and person the place was named after), and asked for his recommendation of what he likes there. Jamie said the "hickory smoked" baby backs were can't miss, so I tried them. My wife had the pulled pork sandwich.

The last good sign was that the meat came to us without sauce, however as my knife sunk into the mush that was my rack, no smoke ring was revealed. These things were boiled, and the closest they ever came to smoke was the last cigarette the pig had before it was slaughtered. I have had bad Q before, and it is unfortunate, but when a place advertises smoked meats and they boil, that ticks me off. The pulled pork never saw smoke either. In fairness the sides weren't bad, baked beans had good flavor but could have used a little more meat, the potato salad was homemade. Not a place I would return to.

Thanks in advance for everyone's contributions.

Has anyone done Galena with a Child? We'll be taking a 3 year old with us - we are attending a wedding in Elizabeth.

I am planning on Friday Dinner at Timmerman's but would welcome other suggestions (for activities and meals)

Thanks!

Just thought I'd add another request for recommendations onto this thread. We're headed out to Galena Friday afternoon post-work, leaving directly from Evanston and then headed back home on Sunday.

Any rec's for dining, shopping, activities, not limited to food but with food certainly as our first priority, would be welcomed.

My family and I spend our summers in the Galena Area. My favorite place is Cannova's. Don't miss the shrimp alfredo. Great pasta and pizza.

I also enjoyed Backstreet Steak and Chophouse. Nice steak house.

Cannova's Pizzeria

Homemade bread, sauces, pizza and daily specials.

247 N Main Street
Galena, IL 61036

Tel: 815-777-3735

Backstreet Steak and Chophouse

Serving the finest prime-aged steaks, chops and fresh fish. One of the finest restaurants in the area located downtown in the old Galena State Bank.

216 S Commerce Street
Galena, IL 61036

Tel: 815-777-4800

It's mentioned a couple times in this thread, but I'll second the rec for Fried Green Tomatoes. I was in Galena last October with family and we stumbled on the restaurant while looking for a place for late lunch/early dinner. The food was delicious and the service was great. Even though they weren't serving dinner yet, they let us order off the main menu instead of the smaller lunch menu. My sister and I had a delicious pork osso buco with a cider glaze served over cheddar mashed potatoes. My brother-in-law had their steak with (I believe) Jack Daniels sauce and he said it was the best steak he's ever had.

bananasandwiches wrote:Just thought I'd add another request for recommendations onto this thread. We're headed out to Galena Friday afternoon post-work, leaving directly from Evanston and then headed back home on Sunday.

Any rec's for dining, shopping, activities, not limited to food but with food certainly as our first priority, would be welcomed.

Go upthread a bit and I posted a website in 2005 for the local Visitor's Bureau which has everything from activities to dining and festivals. The information there is current.

Fiance and I visited Galena for the first time this weekend, arriving in time for a late dinner on Friday. We were able to get a late reservation at Fried Green Tomatoes. We did not have the restaurant's namesake, but really enjoyed everything we had. Fiance opted for the steak/lobster and I had the Pasta Aglio, which was linguine with crab, lobster, shrimp and mussels sauteed in olive oil, garlic and bell peppers. Finace appeared to enjoy his food, as I didn't really taste it, and I really enjoyed my pasta. It had enough kick without overwhelming the seafood. Dinner came with some delicious bread infused with what appeared to be olive oil and paremesan and a basic, but nice salad. Dinner was rounded out with a very solid creme brulee. Service was warm and friendly without being overbearing. I would definitely go back.

I like Galena quite a bit, and also had a good experience at Fried Green Tomatoes the last time we were there.

We are thinking of heading up there in a few weeks, and I'd be curious to hear any other recommendations. There is a steakhouse called Backstreet that is supposed to be pretty good, and I'd love to hear about anyone's experience there or at any of the other restaurants in town.

FWIW, I've always thought that the food at Eagle Ridge's restaurant was pretty good. It's not ground-breaking, but it's decent American/continental fare.

I can't personally vouch, since we didn't eat there, but a co-worker of mine said Backstreet was really good.

In addition, Fiance and I liked Jamie's wine studio - a neat little combo shop/bar, which has tastings every Saturday. We stopped in for a glass while wandering through town. We also had drinks at the Grape Escape, which while it bills itself as a wine bar and has a decent list, came across more as a cocktail lounge, as they had quite a few specialty cocktails on the menu. Fiance enjoyed his manhattan there.

^ Thanks for the info.

I had a very nice lunch at Oscar Pike's last year around labor day. Very good crab cakes and a nice homemade tomato soup.

http://www.oscarpikes.com/
300 N. Main St.
Galena IL 61036

We had lunch at Vinny Vanucchi's and it was very good. They had a wonderful chopped house salad.

http://www.vinnyvanucchis.com/

My folks live in Galena, so I eat out there quite a bit.

I concur with Fried Green Tomatoes. And Cannova's has good pizza and fresh bread and a good house salad and everything is served with a mountain of freshly grated parmesan. (Actually all their portions are huge--consider half orders.) Oscar Pike's tries for more of a hip/city vibe--cocktails, fusion dishes, etc. A bit uneven, but I've often enjoyed what I had there.

A couple of other places that haven't been mentioned:

For lunch, I recommend the Railway Cafe (100 Bouthillier St. next to the old railroad station and across the river from Main Street). They have creative salads and sandwiches with good bread and organic veggies. They're not open for dinner and if I'm recalling correctly, they don't have a breakfast menu except for pastries made by local nuns, which are good but not always available. They also serve Intelligentsia coffee.

And the last time I was there I had a really nice dinner at Perry Street Brasserie, which is on Perry and Main. The menu changes frequently and features lots of seafood but also carnivore options including elk. Spendy (entrees around $25), but everything seemed very thoughtfully done, including a wonderful soup of veal stock, mushrooms, and fresh herbs. http://www.perrystreetbrasserie.com/index.htm

Next place I'd like to try is Fritz and Frites, a bit up Main Street. The menu looks interesting, but obviously I can't vouch for it.

I would avoid the DeSoto House and Chestnut Mountain. And if you have a bad meal, be glad there are a lot more options for ice cream and chocolate then there used to be.

Hi,

Back in September, I went out to Galena for a wedding. On my own for breakfast, I drove east on Route 20 to Elizabeth. Just across from the Jo Davies County Farm Bureau barn is The Broken Yoke Cafe.



Walking in I spied a pie display refrigerator with obviously made on the premises pies.



As I sat down, I quickly learned the pie list included a butterscotch cream pie. I ordered this pie as an appetizer and a blueberry pie to go.




While the crust was very skillfully made in each slice. The fillings didn't quite reach the same level. The butterscotch cream pie was a tribute to Miracle Whip. It was butterscotch pudding with Miracle Whip (or related product) folded in and more cream on top. The blueberry pie was made from canned fruit or something closely approximating it. If the creator of these pies worked with fresh fruits and real whipping cream, then these would have been worthy of a very long drive. Still I might drop by if I was incidentally in the neighborhood.

I was originally inclined to order 'Billy Goat's Gruff' aka biscuits and gravy for $4.75. There were two flaws: the biscuits were not made on the premises and the upcharge for a few eggs didn't seem worth it. Instead I went with my compromise of the 'Covered Wagon' for $5.50: Two sunny side eggs on an English muffin covered with swiss cheese and sausage gravy. While I love sunny side eggs, I don't like the egg white runny. I would take a pass of the swiss cheese that just was gloppy.



The interior of this restaurant was country with enough masculine touches to keep everyone comfortable. I especially found the deer in the woods placemats very charming.



The Broken Yolk Cafe
1332 Route 20 West
Elizabeth, IL (east of Galena)
Tel: 815/858-9509
CASH only, no credit cards

Regards,

Hi,

I was so impressed by the lovely drive out to Galena in September. I took the Moms to Galena in early November to catch the last glow of autumn.

Based on the numerous thumbs up for Fried Green Tomatoes, it was an easy decision where to lunch. What I was unprepared for was the congestion on Main St. leading to the restaurant. Tourist shopping mecca with all sorts of specialty shops, restaurants and cafes. If I had simply shown up, then it would have been mind boggling try to sort out which restaurant to go. Of course, when I am with the Moms it can sometimes be decided by proximity to parking. I was very fortunate I did find a scarce parking space within a short distance of the restaurant. I later saw there was parking in the restaurant's rear on the parallel street east of the restaurant.

We got the last table in the dining room next to the fireplace. Feeling especially pleased with our circumstances, we ordered the Fried Green Tomato appetizer.



Underneath this plate of mozerella and marinara sauce were a number of individually breaded and fried green tomatoes. Quite satisfying though some bread to collect the sauces would have been appreciate.

Once the appetizer platter was whisked away, the bread finally arrived.



This bread wasn't quite as rustic as it may suggest. The interior was more cottony than chewy. While they have their preferred timing, I still wish it arrived with the appetizer.

The house salad was nicely varied, substantial and topped with a light fruity salad dressing.



Mom2 and I both ordered Pollo Piccata sandwich. Believe it or not, there is some toasted bread underneath the artichoke and greens. I had ordered this based on the enthusiasm of the waitress. While sometimes this helps identify a winner, on this occasion it was just ok. The dish had pasta salad, which was not disclosed on the menu as I recall. I am not fond of cold pasta salads that might have tipped my order in a different direction.



The winner of the best entree selected was my Mother. She ordered the grilled pork chop with apples and whipped sweet potatoes.



During lunch, we talked ourselves into a side trip to the lands south of Dixon, Illinois. I'm already this far west, Dixon is only 100 miles south, then what the heck! We christened our next adventure by sharing a piece of carrot cake with cream cheese filling with walnuts.



We're going out to Galena sometime this spring when they days are long again. Our next trip will be to Timmerman's Supper Club in East Dubuque, IL, just west of Galena, which overlooks the might Mississippi. They don't open until after 4 PM.

Fried Green Tomatoes Galena Restaurant
213 N. Main St. ~ Galena, IL 61036
Ph: 815.777.3938
www.FriedGreen.com

Regards,

Mrs. JiLS and I made a very impromptu visit to Galena this weekend. It was our first visit, made on a whim (9:00 Saturday morning: "What'd you like to do; I don't have to work?" Galena was the natural choice.). Blessed with perfect weather, we were both awed by the non-glaciated hills and valleys of Jo Daviess County, looking nothing so much to Mrs. JiLS as her home state central New York or, even more, Pennsylvania. Who'd a thunk there were actually natural features you'd be afraid to fall off of in Illinois? Well, it's a big state.

On the way, we had a miserable time trying to find anything other than a homeless shelter or biker bar open in Rockford, followed by a fun and potentially repeatable lunch at the Crooked River Cafe on the lovely main Street of Pecatonica. We were a week early for the Winnebago County Fair, but it was made up for by a meal at the counter that was like eating at the wet bar in your uncle's den, if your uncle happened to have a pretty, intelligent and oppressed 16-year old Mexican-American girl apprentice cook who (in your Uncle's opinion) just couldn't seem to get it that that sandwich was on "whole wheat ... whole wheat ... NO! Whole Wheat! ... No, no, no! WHOLE WHEAT! OK, that's whole wheat. What the? Bacon! Make more bacon!" I felt for the old man, and the girl, in equal parts, as they seemed doomed to torment each other, but not intentionally, as if on the third-and-a-half circle of Heck. The hamburgers we ordered (actually patty melts) were perfection. Excellent, flavorful and properly seasoned meat, not too thick or thin, cooked just below medium (suppose they'd customize something more rare on request), a real treat. No fries, chips. Insane volumes of framed art on the walls, all available for purchase from a neighboring gallery.

Anyway, we drove on to Galena (with one intervening stop for some fine roadside corn and tomatoes), with the intent of driving back that night, but by 4:00 knew that wouldn't happen. A stop at the Visitors Center and a couple of phone calls later, we were set up with reservations at The Victorian Mansion and dinner at 111 Main for dinner. The B&B was an excellent accommodation, remarkable furnishings and grounds, and thoughtful management (even great sound design; light classics in the lobby blend seamlessly into small combo jazz on the porch as you stroll onto the 1.5 acre terraced garden that is the yard).

111 Main was picked primarily because of the humorous menu (e.g., appetizers labeled "Things you won't want to share") and the fact that clearly, this place was created to make Chicagoans feel comfortable ordering dinner one door down from Iowa. Anyway, despite the hemi-demi-pretensions of the place, the service, setting and food were really quite good. Good soup, good salad dressing (made in-house, a blue cheese that was presented almost as a foam), a very fine steak. Nothing extraordinary, but all well prepared and presented. Plus, the house Cab was not half bad, at $21. We got out for under $90, tax and tip included. They have a strong commitment to local foods; the green beans we ate were so good, we ordered an extra plate of them (my mother should hear such a thing of me).

All that being said, the real highlight of this impromptu visit was our happy hour at the Gold Room. I've never enjoyed a can or six of supercritical liquid-cold beer quite so much, quite anywhere, as we did sitting at the front table of the Gold Room, playing classics of the 70s and 80s on the juke box, and making some new momentary drinking pals while the sun set over the 19th century brick buildings across Main Street, and Chad, Trixie and their beautiful, 99th percentile children marched past from one expenditure to the next, some eyeballing us through the picture window like a school of goldfish or a human ant farm at Miller Time.