Illinois

Friday fish fry season is basically a full-time hobby in Illinois, and everybody seems to have a favorite…

By Lincoln Avery · Aug 30

A fast burger does not have to mean a frozen patty and a long wait. Across Illinois, plenty…

By Lincoln Avery · Aug 30

A sandwich so drenched in savory juice that people willingly wrap it in four layers of paper before…

By Lincoln Avery · Aug 30

There is a small shop on Chicago’s Southwest Side where the line often stretches out the door, and…

By Lincoln Avery · Aug 29

Deep-dish pizza is one of the things Illinois is truly famous for, and Chicago basically wrote the rulebook…

By Lincoln Avery · Aug 29

Some of the best road-trip meals in Illinois are hiding behind fuel pumps. Across the state, gas stations…

By Lincoln Avery · Aug 29

Some places measure their success in decades, and a certain lunch counter in central Illinois has been building…

By Lincoln Avery · Aug 28

A tiny town where two great American rivers meet has quietly become a favorite landing spot for people…

By Lincoln Avery · Aug 28

There is a spot in southern Illinois where riders roll in with a shopping list and roll out…

By Lincoln Avery · Aug 28

Some places sell food. Others sell a full-on comedy act with a side of fries. There is a…

By Lincoln Avery · Aug 27

Some autumn spots make you plan the whole day around them, packing snacks, comfy shoes, and a camera…

By Lincoln Avery · Aug 27

Some desserts are worth a short car ride. This one is worth an hour behind the wheel, and…

By Lincoln Avery · Aug 27

Just a short road trip from the towers of downtown Chicago, a stretch of land trades city noise…

By Lincoln Avery · Aug 26

Illinois has a quieter side that many drivers zoom right past, and it centers on the Amish communities…

By Lincoln Avery · Aug 26

Tucked into the southern tip of Illinois sits a 2,430-acre stretch of woods where sandstone bluffs rise out…

By Lincoln Avery · Aug 26

Brass keys still open the doors here, and creaky wooden floors greet you before the front desk clerk…

By Lincoln Avery · Aug 25

Illinois barbecue does not always live in the big cities. Some of the best ribs come from small…

By Lincoln Avery · Aug 25

Some places barely need a sign because the parking lot fills up on its own. In one Illinois…

By Lincoln Avery · Aug 25

There is a stretch of northwestern Illinois where high rock bluffs rise straight up from the water and…

By Lincoln Avery · Aug 24

Central Illinois hides a family farm where kids feed goats for a quarter, wagons roll through rows heavy…

By Lincoln Avery · Aug 24

Some corners of America refuse to let the drive-in tradition fade, and one small spot in northern Illinois…

By Lincoln Avery · Aug 24

Illinois takes breakfast seriously, and nowhere is that clearer than at the pancake houses scattered across the state.…

By Lincoln Avery · Aug 23

Sometimes the best way to reset is to trade a busy city calendar for a town where the…

By Lincoln Avery · Aug 23

North of downtown Chicago sits a tall tower that has quietly watched over Lake Michigan for a century…

By Lincoln Avery · Aug 23

Some restaurants earn a following one plate at a time, and then there are the rare few that…

By Lincoln Avery · Aug 22

Illinois may be famous for its cornfields and big-city skyline, but the state is also home to quiet…

By Lincoln Avery · Aug 22

Galena sits in the northwest corner of Illinois, and it feels like a place that decided to keep…

By Lincoln Avery · Aug 22

There’s a stretch of northwest Illinois where farmland suddenly gives way to limestone bluffs and a clear river…

By Lincoln Avery · Aug 21

Illinois is full of small towns where the best meal in the county comes from a diner that…

By Lincoln Avery · Aug 21

Illinois is full of small towns where the best breakfast comes from a family bakery that has been…

By Lincoln Avery · Aug 21

There was a time when eating dinner in your car felt like an adventure, not a compromise. A…

By Lincoln Avery · Aug 20

Some restaurants come and go with the seasons, but a rare few carve out a place in a…

By Lincoln Avery · Aug 20

Some meals are worth a full tank of gas, and a certain daytime diner in central Illinois proves…

By Lincoln Avery · Aug 20

Some meals are worth a road trip, and one open-faced creation in central Illinois pulls folks from two…

By Lincoln Avery · Aug 19

Some spots have been handing out cold treats for so long that grandparents and grandkids share the very…

By Lincoln Avery · Aug 19

Some of the best food in Illinois is not found in big cities or fancy dining rooms. It…

By Lincoln Avery · Aug 19

There is a small spot in Illinois where two great rivers meet and life shifts into a calmer…

By Lincoln Avery · Aug 18

Some breakfasts are worth a road trip, and there is a spot in Springfield that has folks planning…

By Lincoln Avery · Aug 18

There is a certain thrill in walking through a room stacked with old clocks, forgotten glassware, and furniture…

By Lincoln Avery · Aug 18