Normal

Normal, IL · Food & Drink
smilepolitely.com
Better save room for dessert at Farren’s
Farren’s first opened way back in 2000 as a green Randolph Street burger basement pub. I know I’m not the only one who remembers standing along the ramp waiting for a table to eat Farren’s famous burgers and followed the restaurant’s eats when Farren’s moved in 2019 to the old Radio Maria (now Blue Ethiopian). That was quite the glow up, but last year’s scootch down Walnut Street to the current University Avenue corner was the final flourish. Farren’s new location is the entire first floor of the historic Inman.
smilepolitely.com
smilepolitely.com
Big Thorn’s gorgeous retreat with well-crafted beers
Big Thorn Farm & Brewery has been on my radar for years, and I finally made it there where the temperature was balmy. Although almost an hour drive from Urbana through empty cornfields, it was a pleasure to arrive at this forest retreat. Besides the many beers on tap, they had a food truck onsite as well. Since the weather was still warm when I visited, the outdoor Tree Bar was open but soon that will switch to their indoor facility.
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everafterinthewoods.com
fastfoodclub.com
everafterinthewoods.com
Twirl Into Decades Of Family Memories At This Unassuming Illinois Italian Restaurant In Pekin
A sandwich that shares its name with a Venetian boat has been pulling central Illinois families back to the same tables for decades. It’s called the gondola, and some folks still tie it to childhood memories from the early 1990s. The bread gets talked about just as much. It’s...