Biketodetroit

Friday night at Clinton, Illinois we had one of our special evenings at Ted's Garage, pictured here. In a small town in one of Illinois's least populated counties, Ted Lowers has created a unique restaurant. It is a retro diner/filling station concept, but what makes it special is a menue with high quality ingredients, an excellent staff, and Ted in the front making everyone happy. We know we were in for an unusual evening when our server, Audra, said she might be able to help Bill with a medical problem he was complaining about. When Bill questioned her qualifications, she said she was "a science major, with a minor in surgery." It went downhill from there. The parking lot guy admired my celtic sash, told a story of hiking in Ireland, and stopped by our table to dispense wine advice. Ted completed the evening with a discussion of the history of the place and his philosophy of how to run a great restaurant. We have had far too few of these experiences on this trip, and the gang at Ted's is proof that it can be done well.