Did you figure out the restaurant my companion and I reviewed last week? It is Sgt. Pepper’s Cafe, 218 N. Main St. in Edwardsville. I loved the dark wooden floors and the Tiffany-styled light fixtures. The food and service were very good.
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Today, my regular dining companion chose a place that has been a fixture in our town for many years. My friend regaled me with tales of how much it has changed from 50 years ago. We pulled into the spacious parking lot but had a little confusion finding the front door. Finally, we entered the large wooden open-air patio, set with round iron tables and four huge potted ferns, followed the ramp into another room that was used for smoking and had several square tables, and then entered a door that brought us into a long room with booths and tables. Each room had TVs, but this last room had at least 12 of them. A gaming room was at one end and restrooms were at the other. I noticed a Pac-Man type game machine and a hook game full of stuffed toys. The bar was at the end with the gaming room and had tall tables and chairs of a light wood. We chose one of the booths with reddish-brown padded seats and looked around for a minute. Several long tables had small computer monitor-sized screens on them but no one was sitting there and they were not turned on. Each table had a wooden carrier that held a roll of paper towels, menus, salt and pepper, sweeteners, catsup and mustard. Cardinals memorabilia decorated the walls, along with the usual neon beer signs. A walk-in refrigerator was completely covered with Cardinals insignia.
Our server came over and took our beverage orders. We both chose lemonade at $2.09 each, and it was very good. She also brought us another menu. There was quite a bit to choose from, and we were not terribly hungry. My companion selected the soup of the day, lobster bisque, for $5.09. I decided on something called a taco wrap for $5.99, and we sat back to see what we would get.
It did not take long for our food to arrive. The soup was in a very large cup with a handle. The cup and charger were a beautiful dark blue. Both oyster crackers and saltines came with the soup. This was advertised in the menu as 20 ounces. As soon as I got back home, I pulled out my two-cup liquid measure. Two cups is 16 ounces. I do not believe that the lobster bisque measured more than 16 ounces. However, my companion said it was delicious and enjoyed every drop.
My taco wrap was also very good. It was between three and four inches in diameter and cut in half. It came with sour cream and salsa on the side, along with a dill pickle spear. Inside the flour tortilla, it was stuffed with taco meat, lettuce, tomatoes and cheese. I requested a fork, because I was wary of the salsa and didn’t want to pour it over the wrap only to find out that it was too spicy. Happily, the salsa was mild, and I was able to liberally anoint the taco wrap with it and the sour cream. Desserts were available. I was intrigued by the offer of key lime pie, but was really too full to indulge.
The restrooms were spacious and clean. The room for women had a small wooden table that one could change an infant on, if necessary. We paid from the table.
Overall - 4 1/2 stars
Cleanliness - 4 stars
Service - 5 stars
Food - 5 stars
Respectfully submitted,
The Secret Diner
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