Fine Dining on the Plains of Illinois

Food Tourism

As I have mentioned before, my favorite bit of tourist advice is…”Do not just focus on your destination. Pay attention to the points of interest in your path of travel.” When you are trying to find meaningful stops, do not overlook restaurants as one interesting option. Most little towns have some special restaurant full of interesting history and hopefully edible food. Last spring, my friend, Gossebuster, and I were wandering the great plains of Illinois between Indianapolis and St. Louis. We both like to eat a bit too much. So, it was much to our liking when we found two very noteworthy restaurants while searching for fine dining on the Plains of Illinois.

When is Burger King…not THE Burger King

I love Whoppers. So, its no shock when I target Burger Kings while I am on the road. Moreover, when I think that I am near the very first Burger King, its inevitable that I am eating there. However, the story is way more complicated than that.

The Burger King in Mattoon, IL, is a small independent restaurant that is not affiliated with the national Burger King chain. In fact, the Burger King (Mattoon) and the Burger King (everywhere else) were combatants in a landmark trademark court battle named, “Burger King of Florida, Inc. vs Hoots (1968)”. The Hoots were the founders of Burger King in Mattoon. They trademarked the name, “Burger King” in Illinois. The Burger King corporation got a federal trademark for “Burger King” shortly thereafter. To make a long court story short, the Burger King corporation can use their name everywhere in the USA, EXCEPT within 20 miles of Mattoon. The Hoots can only use the “Burger King” name within 20 miles of Mattoon. So, the Hoots’ Burger King thrives in Mattoon to this day.

We were there near lunch and the place was hopping. It is obviously a Mattoon favorite. The signature dish is a high quality, hand pack, 1/3 pound hamburger. There are lot of different variations to the burger, but the one I ate was quite good. Check the prices on the menu. My cheeseburger combo was about $6…a true throw back. The Hooter burger is in honor of their founder, Gene Hoots. In summation, the Original Burger King is worth stopping for lunch in the highly unlikely event you are near Mattoon, Illinois.

Moonshine Store

OK. I know that I probably over use the “out in the middle of nowhere” expression. But, this next restaurant is one of the most out in the middle of nowhere dining experiences that I have ever had. The place in not near any town. Basically, the Moonshine Store is at the intersection of two county roads where its Illinois corn fields (or whatever they grow) as far as the eye can see. Aside from the rare idiot tourist (i.e. Goosebuster and me), the primary clientele are the local farmers and biker clubs needing a road trip destination.

The Moonshine Store opened in 1912 as a general store and post office. Additionally, they added a griddle in back to start serving sandwiches to farmers and oil workers. Apparently, in the early 1900s, this area of Illinois had some major oil fields. Who knew. The Moonshine Store is iconic for the area. It has been featured on the CBS Morning News, as well as several national publications like Rider Magazine. It’s only open from 6am to 1pm. The signature sandwich is the Moonburger.

The owner tells us that the Moonburger is a 1/2 pound, hand packed burger made with no preservatives and lots of love. Its definitely a high end burger that was delicious for my 9am breakfast. But, the real draw is just hanging out in the store. When we are in those uncertain, remote, rural situations, I send in Goosebuster to check things out. He’s the friendly one of the two of us. So, he is safer for rural first encounters. We were there on a Saturday morning. The seats were about half full with the local farmers. They just seemed to be drinking coffee and exchanging lies. Despite being strange, out of towners, Goosebuster paved the way and we felt very comfortable invading their happy space. The atmosphere and Moonburger were well worth the drive.

On the day of our visit, it was a quiet morning to enjoy our Moonburger breakfast. However, as you can see in the above right photo, the Moonshine Store can be rocking on occasion.

A Random Stop in Gays

Well, as you travel about for these special gastro adventures, sometimes the cuisine can disagree with you. But, fear not. There are local facilities for you to do your business. So, I give you Gays, Illinois. Gays is known for one historic attraction. Its the famous Gays Two Story Outhouse. I recommend that you use the top one to eliminate splash risks.

So, to be clear, I lied. The fine folks in Gays are far too protective of their historic 2-story outhouse to let you poop in it. Therefore, the outhouse is in a lovely manicured park, but its not open for your business. The outhouse was just another random oddity on PugsleyTonks’ search for fine dining on the plains of Illinois.

Have a wonderful day. PT

I hope you have enjoyed reading “Fine Dining on the Plains of Illinois” on Traveling with PugsleyTonks.

Here was another PugsleyTonks fine dining experience https://travelingwithpt.com/snook-haven/

In the unlikely event that you want to visit either restaurant, here is the Moonshine Store https://www.moonshineillinois.com/ , the Original Burger King has no website