Last night Sarah and I took her friend to Firefly Grill in Effingham, IL. We’ve been there several times before, but it was the first time for Sarah’s friend. We were a bit concerned about the show going on at the new Rosebud Theatre next door, but the crowd wasn’t bad. We were seated immediately at a table in their screened-in porch, which turned out to be a comfortable place to sit. Still, you may want to check to see if there’s a show at the Rosebud when planning your visit.
Once thing that was apparent during our visit is that they seemed to be shorthanded. Our waitress was responsible for all the tables on the porch and I think a few inside. She seemed a bit overworked, but still managed to do ok by us. Our appetizer, Artichoke Heart Gratin with House-Made Flatbread, was very good, but it took a while to arrive. Sarah and her friend had salads; Sarah’s was the Knife and Fork Caesar side salad and her friend’s was a normal Greek Salad, which was enormous. I started with a glass of merlot because I had planned on having steak. But then I saw Grilled Seabass on the menu and decided to go for that instead. I finished my merlot with the appetizer and ordered a glass of Relax Riesling from Germany. It was very good and went well with the fish. My seabass was delicious and came with one crabmeat stuffed ravioli and a huge head of broccoli. Even the waitress joked about the amount of broccoli, although it was also quite tasty, so I didn’t mind.
Sarah ordered the 12-oz Oak Fired Rib-Eye and her friend had the Chicken Pot Pie with Shells & Cheese for a side. She liked the pie, but thought the shells and cheese were too light on the cheese. Sarah thought her steak was quite good. As I said, my seabass was excellent. We finally got some bread near the end of the meal, but the poor waitress couldn’t find any thawed butter anywhere. Again, I think they were running understaffed. I don’t blame the waitress for that. We didn’t order dessert, but the ones we saw passing by looked fantastic. Maybe next time.