Best Bites column (March 18, 2010)
Here’s the Best Bites column that appears in today’s edition of The Daily Journal.
_________
Isidro’s Tamales & Taqueria is now open at 430 W. Station St. in Kankakee.
Thanks to a reader named Sara, who e-mailed me with the tip and a review of their food. She wrote: “Wanted to let you know about this little restaurant that opened a couple of months ago in West Kankakee. They are the BEST Mexican food in the county — great tamales and fabulous tacos (nice and big). Their tamales are fabulous. They have normal green or red tamales, but they also have sweet ones like strawberry, pineapple and coconut. They have great tacos (the best I have tried in town) and they make this great drink called champurrado, which is kind of like a chocolate, made of masa, with a hit of cinnamon. All their food is very, very good.”
After trying the food for myself last week, I agree. A colleague of mine and I tasted several tamales and tacos, including one — the “special” taco — that’s made with spicy pork. It isn’t on the menu but is often available by request. My favorite item was the cecina taco. It’s a marinated piece of steak served on a corn tortilla with diced onion and cilantro. You can get lettuce, tomato or cheese upon request, but I suggest trying it the authentic way first.
I enjoyed all the tamales we tried, including pork, chicken, jalapeno with cheese and coconut for dessert. I went a little overboard when I ordered, which is easy to do because the prices are so affordable. Tamales are $1 each, $5 for a half-dozen or $9 for a dozen. Tacos are $1.50 each, tortas are $4 and burritos are $4.25.
This is the first restaurant for owner Francisco Martinez. However, tamales are the family business. His father, Isidro, founded Sandra’s Food Inc., where Martinez is vice president and general manager. The company makes Isidro’s Tamales at a factory on West 59th Street and delivers them throughout Chicago and now here. The restaurant gives Martinez another outlet for his family’s specialty, plus it satisfies his love of cooking and fulfills his dream of owning a taqueria. His son lives in the area and found the available building, which is on the south side of Station Street, across from St. Rose Church. The restaurant opened Jan. 9.
Isidro’s Tamales & Taqueria is open 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. There’s limited seating inside, including counter seating along one wall. The phone number is (815) 929-0700.
***
Chocolate-dipped strawberries are back at Sweet Street (592 William Latham Drive, Suite 1) in Bourbonnais. The jumbo strawberries are only available on Fridays, though sometimes they still have some left on Saturday mornings. Sweet Street sells the treats every spring and early summer, but they’ve arrived early this year. They cost $1.49 each and gift boxes are available for purchase. Sweet Street also sells flavored gourmet popcorn, candy, fudge and gifts. When you go, I recommend the dark-chocolate-covered candied orange, which might be my favorite treat of all time. If you prefer salty snacks, try their new barbecue-cheese-flavored popcorn. Hours are 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday and Sunday noon to 5 p.m.
***
Sweet Street also is taking a limited number of reservations for Dexter the Easter Bunny, who will be delivering Easter baskets to children in Bradley and Bourbonnais Saturday, April 3. The baskets must be purchased at Sweet Street in advance. Call (815) 932-4010 or stop into the store for more information.
***
Edible Arrangements opened yesterday at 553 Main St. NW in Bourbonnais. It’s in the same plaza as Jewel. Hours are 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday. For more information or to place an order, call (815) 935-9439 or go online to www.ediblearrangements.com.
***
Congratulations to the winners in round two of Pub Madness. Voting in round three continues through Sunday at www.i57life.com/win. If you’re at least 21 years old, you can cast your vote in each of eight matchups. They are: BrickStone Restaurant & Brewery vs. Sammy’s Pizza, T. J. Donlin’s vs. Slim & Chubby’s Pourhouse, Eddie’s Bar & Grill vs. Paul’s Place, West Side Tavern vs. The City Tavern, Oliver’s Bar & Grill vs. The Spot, Village Pub vs. Vito’s Pizzeria & Italian Kitchen, Blarney’s Irish Pub vs. River Bend Bar & Grill, and Station Street Pub vs. Blackhorse Saloon.
Denise Renckens is general manager of online operations for The Daily Journal. She can be reached at (815) 937-3374 or at drenckens@daily-journal.com.
March 22nd, 2010 at 10:24 am
Denise,
First let me congratulate you on your great column that I look forward to reading in the Journal. That and the cooking section!
But on taking one of your readers’ suggestion yesterday I would have to give the Legacy Bar a thumbs down on the food and service. The menu reads great and I am sure they felt overwhelmed with only one waitress for the whole facility for breakfast. My family was celebrating my husbands’ birthday and I didn’t want to make the waitress feel any worse than she already did by complaining.
So if you can let the management know for future patrons that they should staff their place a little better to handle the patrons and perhaps to serve hot food.
Keep up the great column writing and we tried the local bbq place on Station St and I agree with you that it was fabulous!
Thanks,
Jane
March 26th, 2010 at 6:07 am
I do have to agree with Jane. We went on 3/21 and were very disappointed. One cook one waitress. No bar tender for drinks no dish washer for helping in the kitchen. They had a special for bloody Marys and the waitress could not find a mix to make it. We asked for pancake syrup and it never came so I went to another table and asked if they were done with theirs. It was just too much for two people. We had to sit at the bar due to no tables and the couple that were empty had dishes on them.