Eating On The Road


One of the frustrating things about working on the road is eating on the road- until you find a decent restaurant that reliably serves good food.


I recently mentioned my anticipation for a stop in Woodstock, IL, to the Courthouse Grill. It was another great lunch, with a very nice buffet- coconut shrimp on a bed of pasta alfredo, chicken kiev, mashed redskin potatoes, corn chowder and a southwestern black bean soup, excellent salad bar. Because I always go for the buffet, I failed to notice the homage to the movie Groundhog Day. Next time.

Good food like this is greatly appreciated, especially when the alternatives are the usual boring fast foods.


Here are some other notables I always visit when near, in no particular order:


Decatur, IL- Guadalajara Mexican Restaurant. Amazing Enchiladas Suizas. I've had this dish in other Mexican restaurants, but nobody's compares to Guadalajara's, with three fat cheese enchiladas smothered in salsa verde and topped with succulent pulled pork.


Michigan City, IN- Swingbelly's. Being housed in an old New York Central train station and sitting trackside is enough for me, but the burgers are fantastic. I expect burgers to be a notch better at the average bar & grill, but they are two notches better at Swingbelly's.


Three Rivers, MI- Frankie's By The Tracks. Did I mention I like restaurants adjacent to the tracks? I rediscovered this one last year after first finding it in 1997 while working a railroad job. The food is as good and plentiful as ever, although sadly, they removed all the old Conrail train photos in favor of Norfolk Southern images. I like NS, but have fond memories of Big Blue hustling on this particular line.


West Lafayette, IN- Triple XXX Restuarant. I go there for the root beer, always served in a frosty mug. Every now and again, it seems I need to fill the tank near Lafayette, and if I'm going to have to get off I-65, I can always stop for a nice root beer. I stopped here every time I campaigned in Lafayette. The burgers are nice, but as you can see, it's not why I stop. Couldn't believe Reid Duffy's Guide to Indiana's Favorite Restaurants didn't even mention the root beer. Shame!


Fairview Heights, IL- Lotawata Creek Southern Grill. Absurdly huge comfort food meals, and fun, outdoorsie decor. When working earlier this year in East St. Louis, an AT&T engineer took me here. Awesome burgers.


Now, can you help me out with recommendations for Chicago's South Side?

Road Trip, Triple Redux

(Three Rivers, MI)- I haven't enjoyed my lunch so much in ages!

Recall that back in September, I took one of my ambitious road trips with my friend Steve, winding around Lake Superior generally, though Michigan, Ontario, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, and back to Indiana.

On the way through Michigan, I was very insistent upon wanting to return to a trackside restaurant in a small southern Michigan town. The reason was that in June 1997, I took on one of my all-time favorite road jobs: mapping a fiber optic path for Level 3, from Detroit to Chicago. This trackside restaurant was discovered happily by accident, walking, yes, at trackside. It was loaded with railroad decor, complete with an attached converted caboose, and had good, cheap food. This is also how I discovered the Bell's Brewery. More on that with another post.

I thought this place was located in Niles, but discovered upon arrival there that my memory had failed me.

Last week, I was with Alex in Tucson, at the Pima Air & Space Museum. One of the volunteers asked me where I was from, and I told him. For some reason, he felt compelled to tell me that he is from Michigan. I took the bait and asked where in Michigan. He turned it around and told me that I wouldn't know. "Try me." His reply- Sturgis. I knew exactly where it was. I rattled off the names of towns nearby: White Pigeon, Three Rivers, Portage, Kalamazoo. He was stunned. 

Then it dawned on me. "What is the name of that restaurant with the caboose by the tracks?"

He laughed. "That's Frankie's by the Tracks! I ate there just two weeks ago!"

I had the same thing I ate there 10 years ago: a wet burrito and an ice tea. I really enjoyed the decor, even if they did update all the locomotive photos to black Norfolk Southern units. No reason to get rid of the old Conrail "Big Blue". Oh well. They even have stained glass windows in a railroad motif. My kind of place!

After lunch, I went to the tracks to see if there was any evidence of the old project. Sure enough, there were orange marker signs, about every 500 feet or so.

Very satisfying. I love seeing my projects built. Too bad I couldn't have remembered back in September and taken Steve. He would have gotten a charge out of it all.