Best Bites column (Dec. 31, 2010)
Here’s the Best Bites column that appeared in the Dec. 31, 2010, edition of The Daily Journal.
Having written this column for more than three years now, it’s an exciting moment when a reader tells me about a local restaurant that I haven’t heard of before. That’s what happened a few weeks ago when a reader named Jim e-mailed me about the Clarke City Grill on Lake Shannon, which is near Essex on the far western edge of Kankakee County.
The Clarke City Grille sits at the north end of the 190-acre lake, a former strip mine that’s now used for fishing, boating, skiing and swimming. From 1881 to 1910 the area around the mine was a town known as Clarke City, but it disappeared when the mine closed. Today an entire recreational community has been built around the lake, with manufactured homes lining the 12-mile shoreline.
Owners John and Anita Arthur opened the restaurant in June after moving back to the area from Florida. Breakfast and lunch is served every day except Monday, when they’re closed.
Jim says the Grille is a “really great new restaurant” with a “huge breakfast menu” and the “best cheeseburgers I have ever had!” The lunch menu features several burgers, sandwiches and salads. I can recommend the grilled chicken philly, which I enjoyed and am told is popular. The breakfast menu features all the usual items, including omelets, biscuits and gravy, and breakfast sandwiches. I also noticed that they have breakfast burritos and make their French toast with thick slices of Texas toast. Both the breakfast and lunch menus offer kid selections. Everything is available for carryout.
The restaurant has a few outdoor tables that overlook the beach, as well as a few booths and tables inside. Of course, the beach was snow covered when I was there last week, but a lifeguard tower and raft helped me imagine what it might look like in the summer months and Jim confirms that “it is like eating at a beach resort” when the weather is nice “with little kids swimming and building sandcastles.”
To get to Lake Shannon from the Kankakee area, take Illinois Route 17 past Essex Road to 19000W Road. Go north for 3 miles to 3000N Road and turn right. After passing the “Welcome to Lake Shannon” sign, keep looking to your right for a one-level yellow building that sits between the road and the beach. That’s the restaurant.
Clarke City Grille is open from 5 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and from 6 a.m. to noon Sunday. They’re closed Monday. The phone number is (815) 641-0840.
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When I was writing the above item, I realized that I had forgotten to mark a milestone. The Best Bites column debuted Dec. 19, 2007, so it’s now three years old. In the beginning it ran on Wednesday, then moved to Thursday and now appears on Friday. If you ever miss a column or you need help remembering details from a column you read a few weeks ago, just go to blogs.i57life.com/dining. Nearly everything I’ve written about since August 2008 is there and searchable.
The blog also has made remarkable progress. Since moving to its new home on the i57life.com website two years ago, there have been 653 posts, 422 comments, more than 21,000 visitors and more than 129,000 page views.
Many thanks to all of you who read Best Bites, either in print or online. I’m thrilled you enjoy the column.
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PJ’s Ice Cream & Coffee Shop, 41 W. Second St. in Manteno, will be closed today through Jan. 6. They will reopen at 5 p.m. Jan 7.
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Speaking of PJ’s, last week I received a letter from a reader named Helen who recommends the place. She wrote: “The shop features Ashby’s Ice Cream and freshly brewed Door County and Frederick’s coffees, hot chocolate, Chai tea and soft drinks. … The shop offers a homey atmosphere with a small library of books and magazines, … (and) a large assortment of table games and puzzles. … PJ’s also offers a room (for) small group meetings and Bible studies.”
After Jan. 7, PJ’s winter hours will resume. They’re open Tuesday through Thursday from 2 to 8:45 p.m., Friday from 2 to 11 p.m., Saturday from 3 to 10 p.m., Sunday from 3 to 9 p.m., and are closed Mondays. The phone number is (815) 468-8680.
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Best wishes for a wonderful New Year!
Denise Renckens Olszewski is general manager of online operations for The Daily Journal. She can be reached at (815) 937-3374 or at drenckens@daily-journal.com.
