Rhythm Kitchen

For lunch today, my coworker Jessica Bandura and I went to Rhythm Kitchen. It is located down by the river on Water Street. If you are watching your weight, I would recommend going there! The portion sizes were small, but good for lunch. The atmosphere was very eclectic. There were signs saying they have live music on Saturday nights.

I got a California Pizza and Jessica got the Caribbean Pizza. . The pizzas were delicious! The one i got had a pesto garlic sauce on it. It also had spinach, mushrooms, and sun dried tomatoes. I have realized this past year that I am a huge fan of spinach on pizza. The pizzas weren't greasy at all. I would highly recommend going to Rhythm Kitchen and trying this pizza! I was a huge fan!

Papa Murphy's

Well I turned in my senior project today and decided to celebrate by eating an entire pizza. *devilish smile* They are right off of University near the scary Wal Mart. I went to this place called Papa Murphy's Pizza. They do a "take and bake" style pizza. So you go in, order the pizza you want, they make it for you, you take it home and cook it on your own time. This worked out really well for me because I could do dinner on my own time. 

Here is the inside of the place. You can choose from thin, pan, or deep dish style pizza. There are many different types of sauces and toppings you can get (including zucchini!)

Below are my before and after. I got a thin crust pizza with creamy garlic sauce, mushrooms,tomatoes, and spinach. It was awesome!! I ate all of it except one piece! (as you can see in the after picture, I couldn't even wait long enough to get a photo before I started eating) 



 

Hungry Moose

My roommate drug me out to breakfast this morning at the Hungry Moose. It was the perfect hangover cure! Its located right on Farmington. If you drive to Cam's and then just keep going up a hill, it will be on your left hand side. They had a dinner and breakfast menu that is served all day!

I got a vegetarian omelet and a chocolate chip pancake and my roommate got a supreme skillet. That omelet was jam packed with goodies (just the way I like it!). The pancake was fluffy and chocolaty! This food will cure any hangover you have. Guaranteed!

Just look at that chocolaty goodness!! I highly recommend going to the Hungry Moose! They service was friendly. The food was good. The prices were fair. Make your way down Farmington before you graduate!

Pita Mediterranean

I drove all the way down Knoxville today to drop off a pair of broken shoes at Shoe Biz (which by the way has the friendliest staff I have ever met!). Next door was a place called Pita Mediterranean. I would also like to point out that Happy Fish opening a new location all the way out here! This is exciting news for all my Happy Fish fans! Like I was saying, I went to Pita Mediterranean.

I had a garlic chicken wrap. It cost around $6. Yet again, I was impressed by a local Peoria Business! (Maybe because the homemade garlic sauce reminded me of tzatziki sauce!) The pita bread that all their wraps are served on is homemade. It was delicious. For all my hummus fans out there, I am betting it would be excellent at Pita Mediterranean. I of course took out the tomatoes and pickles, but the wrap was good.

I also got a slice of baklava for dessert.  Sorry the picture is kind of blurry, but the I have to say the baklava was only okay. I grew up with an uncle who grew up in Iraq, aka the the dessert capital of the world. I have been underwhelmed by every piece of baklava I have had in Peoria, which is highly disappointing when there is such a high population of Lebanese. If anyone knows of a place I can get some homemade baklava, let me know!

The Mix

Well, I ran out of food today, which means I had to find a new restaurant to go to! So I went to a place on Knoxville called the Mix. For those who have been to a Beef-A-Roo in Rockford, IL, The Mix reminds me a lot of that restaurant! They have some unique specialty items that they make. They have a drive thru and a dining room, however, their drive thru is generally open later than their dining room.

I got a "gyro burger" with tzatziki sauce all over it. (In case you ever want to win me over, some good tzatziki sauce will do the trick!) The gyro burger comes with the traditional toppings on a gyro along with all the traditional toppings on a burger. This is an delectable combination! It may not be the most authentic gyro meat or sauce, but it was good for when you are having a craving for that tzatiki!

I should also mention they have my favorite kind of ice. Its that super small cubed ice like Sonic has. I'm not sure if it actually is any better, but I do feel like my drink is colder with the smaller ice cubes. 

The Dream Hut

I got incredibly lost today trying to find the FedEx store, which is apparently so close to the airport you can follow the sign! Then I managed to get turned around on my way back to campus. However, on my journeys through the outskirts of Peoria I found a charming place called Dream Hut. (Just to preface this, Dream Hut is only about 10 minutes from campus!) I didn't get their address, but their phone number is (309) 698-6597. For those that have been to Ice Cream Shack, the Dream Hut is very similar.

The main difference between Ice Cream Shack and Dream Hut is the extent of the menu. Dream Hut had a much more extensive food menu. I had a pork tenderloin and small fry with a blitz. I got chocolate ice cream in my blitz with cookie dough and Oreos. You can have up to two topping for free, but after that is an additional price. In the picture you can see all the add in options, but I was also given a brochure when I went!















Overall, excellent! I would need to eat the a blitz and a wizard back to back to see which ice cream was better, but Dream Hut did have two of my favorite appetizers, mozzarella sticks and mini tacos! They even have very friendly staff that helped me pick out my meal! For those going to Dream Hut, I was told their brownie pieces are phenomenal. If you are an avid Ice Cream Shack fan, I highly recommend giving Dream Hut a try! You won't regret it.

Kaydee Kats

I went to a new restaurant this week with my co worker and my boss called Kaydee Kats. (There they are caught on candid camera!)

There are a few fun things about Kaydee Kats. First, the serve burgers with bacon mixed into the beef patty. Second, they are serving summer shandy (one of my favorite beers). The combination of those two things makes this restaurant an excellent hang out. And just so no one panics, we did not have any Summer Shandy on our lunch break! The interior of the restaurant reminded me of a Pizza Hut that got remodeled on a budget, but for a chill place to hang out, it was appropriate decor.

 

I got a "Kaydee Burger" with Boom boom sauce. Both of these are signature items on the menu. The Kaydee burger is the patty that has bacon in it. I would highly recommend this! You can taste the bacon without it being too overwhelming. The Boom boom sauce was theoretically a special spicy sauce they put on the burger. It may have been hot for the average person, but for someone who enjoys wasabi and jalapenos it was like a flavored mayonnaise. (I do recommend you try it though! It had good flavor!) Below is a picture of my burger. I got it with lettuce, cheddar cheese, and sauteed onions on top. Yum yum!