Adventures in Litchfield IL

 

Our first stop after Gay and Rod’s was Litchfield IL.   There was no specific reason to stop here…. Other than it met the criteria for time driving.   We don’t like driving over 6 hours in a day…. We’ll do it if necessary (which has happened later in the trip)  

 

When on the road at a new city, I always ask the person registering us into the hotel if they have a recommendation for a local (NON CHAIN) restaurant.   I also point out that I’m on a quest for the worlds best fried chicken.  Well ….. the receptionist reeled off two or three places but then said that there was this classic restaurant called The Ariston Café.   Said that it has been in town since the Route 66 days!   And their fried chicken was the best!  

Now I’ve heard that before but that has never stopped me from trying it out.   After unpacking and a glass of wine we headed out to find The Ariston.   It truly was of the Route 66 vintage.   Not a classic diner, but clearly an older place with lots of old black and white pictures dating back to the 1940’s.   The clientele appeared to be local (a benefit of traveling off season.   Our timing was impeccable… and still we had to wait about 10 minutes to be seated.   The waitresses were scurrying around serving, cleaning and bussing.  

We got our menus and drinks and found out that Thursday was all you can eat fried chicken!  Jackpot!  And it looked great!  Now all you can eat really doesn’t mean that much to me……. I can only eat two or three pieces. 

We both ordered the chicken with typical sides.

It was fabulous!!!!

So far there is a place in Georgia and now there’s a place in Litchfield that has ‘World Class Fried Chicken’   …..  One of the many reasons I love road trips!

Now I know in this day of vegan substitutes…. And gluten free dishes this a verboten item.   Too bad, so sad…. But this is the REAL DEAL!  Oh and the mashed potatoes and gravy were also the real deal.

 

Mary Alice has already touched on my FUBAR with leaving the laptop at the hotel.   Totally my fault.  It's really a miracle we didn't have to drive 5 hours back to get it!   more on that later.

On to Tucson!!!