Special Spots

Welcome to QC Special Spots! After many years of criticising restaurants, hotels, retail outlets, travel locations, and other things, I finally decided to share my experiences with other Quad Citians and visitors to our area. This may include, from time to time, reviews of other places, of books, of plays or events, or anything that moves me to either rant (negative) or rave (positive), granting stars as a measure of my pleasure or disgust. Five stars is the ultimate--the best or the worst.

Today's review is Floriana's Cafe, located along Illinois Route 84 (State Avenue) in Hampton, Illinois. My husband, Rick and I were out scouting possible camping locations for my upcoming birthday party and we were on our way home after visiting Illiniwek Park (rejected for our camping excursion). It was past lunch time and hunger led us to stop at the first cafe we found. And what a treasure we found!

Floriana's Cafe hosts an abundant menu--Italian, American, Greek, seafood, sandwiches, full dinners including prime rib, as well as run-of-the-mill breakfast and lunch. I began by asking about their soup of the day--Spinach Cheese. I requested a sample and was delighted to discover this exquisite soup. It turns out that the chef at Floriana's makes all his own soups, salad dressings, gravies and sauces. The man is a genius. The spinach cheese soup was rich, thick, flavorful--in fact, I took some home and used it as a sauce over noodles the next day.

I ordered the crab cake dinner and my husband the lasagna. The lasagna was the genuine article, with authentic ricotta and mozzarella cheeses, and a savory sauce boasting the perfect balance of herbs and tomato flavor, served with golden toasted garlic bread.

My crab dinner included three large crab cakes, Maryland-style, with french fries with a light, crispy, mildly seasoned coating on them. They actually re-heat well, unlike ordinary fries.

Anyone who knows me knows that I can never eat an entire meal at one sitting. In fact, I think that restaurants should serve smaller portions, not larger ones. Good food can be satisfying with only a few bites and one need not eat a pound of anything to enjoy its flavor and obtain its nutrition. But, this being America, of course, we have to have the biggest, the best, the most ostentatious of everything, so inevitably I order my take-out box when I order my meal. My refrigerator is constantly filled with leftovers. This makes me a bit of an expert on re-heating the food that comes home in doggy bags--or more often, these days, in styrofoam clamshells (worth a five-star rant in themselves!).

Floriana's food was delicious in the restaurant and even better re-heated the next day. The sheer volume of choices on the menu ensures that I will go back again and I am looking forward to trying their many other menu items. If the River-Cities Reader hasn't reviewed this restaurant yet, they may want to stop in. Oh! And the service was excellent and friendly, always a bonus. I'll give Floriana's a Four-Star Rave, only because I'm saving that last star for their other menu items.

Stop back soon for the next blog!

Google Map link:
Floriana's Cafe
421 State Avenue
Hampton, IL 61256-9681
(309) 755-9230

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