A Road Less Travelled

Yesterday Raquel and I took a self-guided tour of Peoria Heights. That is to say we bopped into our favorite stores and spent money. We had been planning this outing for a week or more and it was as much fun as I’d hoped. But before we got to Peoria Heights we ate lunch at a new restaurant called Zim’s.

I can’t say how long Zim’s has been open because I don’t really notice that sort of thing, but Seth and Crystal went there for the first time on Tuesday for coffee and a sticky bun and said we should try it out. It’s in Campus Town on the corner of Main Street and University right across the street from One World. It’s like a combination greasy spoon diner and nifty cafe.

I liked the décor. The walls were a light, light orange and all the furniture was black. There’s a bar just like I would want in a diner except it’s jet black and looks wooden. I thought about asking to sit at the bar, but I didn’t think of it in time so we sat at a table. It’s small area so if you’re looking for someplace to have a private talk I wouldn’t recommend Zim’s, but for a simple lunch it was good.

The food was fairly standard diner fare. It wasn’t great, but it was good and the prices are resonable. We ordered a spinach dip and chips appetizer and then split a 1/3 pound cheeseburger with an extra side. So I ended up with some spinach dip and chips, half a cheeseburger, and an order of fries. It was the perfect amount of food for right then. The cheeseburger was cooked to order, the fries were yummy and the spinach dip was hot and creamy. And all in all we spent about fourteen dollars.

I was very impressed with service. Our waitress was friendly and fun, though she obviously had a lot of customers at the moment so some things were a little slow. There was a man who I’m guessing was the manager or the owner who would just circulate around the room lending a hand here, answering a question there or helping clear a table. What impressed me most about the service, though, had almost nothing to do with food or eating. There was an older couple sitting at a table across the aisle from us who were down from Chicago. They needed to get from Zim’s to somewhere else and were a little lost. They asked the manager or owner or whoever he was for directions, but had trouble following his directions. He left their table and came back with MapQuest directions of how to get from there to where they needed to go complete with a map and then walked it through with them. I was quite impressed.

Seth and Crystal went to Zim’s this morning for breakfast. We agreed that on a four star scale we would give Zim’s a two and a half. It’s not great, but it is a solid good. I can easily see myself walking down there with one of the children and having a special lunch or breakfast. We’d probably sit at the bar. To quote a phrase we’ve been using around here lately Zim’s doesn’t bring the awesome, but it does bring the quite good. So, if you happen to be in the neighborhood you should stop in and try it out. Maybe I’ll see you there.