Kirkland Family Restaurant Review – Kirkland, IL
Kirkland Family Restaurant Review – Kirkland, IL
In the “before times,” people were just nicer. Regardless of race, religion, political bent, people in general were just more well behaved. Friendlier, cordial, helpful.
At least that’s what I think.
Last Saturday I ran into a little bit of the “before times” when I stopped in a small Illinois town to get some food to go from the local diner.
Here’s a little bit of what I found out about Kirkland. And it has nothing to do with Costco.
Originally the land of the the Pottawatomie Indians, a peaceful tribe, they grew rice and corn and refined maple sugar. They were removed in 1836 as part of one of the US gov’t “treaties” and not long after a Mr William Kirk built a log cabin and began acquiring land, which totaled 1500 acres by 1886.
He donated some land to the railroad on the condition they’d make the little burg a stop, they did, and it worked to the town’s advantage, as by law, sheep traveling to slaughter in Chicago could spend no more than 36 hours on the train without a break, and that was the exact distance from Omaha, where many herds would come from. They were unloaded at Kirkland, watered, fed and sheared before continuing on. Population peaked ten years ago at 1744, but that has affected the bustle of the village. One doesn’t see the empty storefronts like in most small Midwest towns. There are several bars and restaurants, grocer, building supply, gas station, a couple of churches, a bank, and then there is the Kirkland Family Restaurant.
They are open seven days for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and have a very extensive menu (posted below) for a small operation. Daily specials, too.
But I was talking about the “before times” people, wasn’t I? And that’s what I found at this small town eatery, friendly greetings from other customers, and a single waitress/server that went above
and beyond the call to serve.
We placed an order to go (I’m still not comfortable with public spaces yet, March 2021) and I had the fried fish and fries, with a side of creamy slaw. Our other selection was the fried shrimp, which also included fries, and the side choice was cottage cheese. Fresh, soft dinner rolls were included.
They had a lot of potato and side choices, again, interesting for a small operation.
Our food was prepared quickly and correctly, fried to perfection and very tasty.
Again, the server wanted to make sure we were prepared to eat our meal on the go, and kept asking/suggesting compliments to our order, like plastic cutlery, ample napkins, butter pats, other sauces.
It was a great experience, and I can wait to return for a leisurely Saturday morning breakfast. You can bet I’ll go for chicken fried steak and a mess o eggs and taters. BTW, everything on the menu is very, very, reasonably priced.
Full menu below, click on each page to enlarge. And check out the restaurant at their own webpage here.
Kirkland Family Restaurant Review – Kirkland, IL
Kirkland Family Restaurant Review – Kirkland, IL
For people who don’t live around Chicago, fried shrimp probably isn’t the first things that pop into their minds as a “Chicago food.” No, you’re knowledge probably ends at Deep Dish Pizza and Italian Beef Sandwiches.
Nana J’s is one of those places that leaves you really conflicted. On the one hand, you want to tell everybody how wonderful it is. On the other, you don’t want to go back someday and find a line out the door because it’s become so popular.
Meh. Though I didn’t go for the beer, but I hear it gets high marks for a microbrewery. (What’s smaller than a microbrewery? A mini microbrewery? Anyway, this place is pretty small, in a pleasant residential section of LIttle Rock.
