Last September we had our first meal at JJ’s Stadium Grill. We were disappointed with the way our steaks were cooked. We finally made it back for another visit tonight. We didn’t order steaks this time, though. Sarah went with the Black and Bleu burger (topped with bleu cheese) and fries and I had Hawaiian Pork Medallions on rice with broccoli. I also had a glass of merlot. The house wines were on special for $2.50. They’re normally $5.00, which is a price hike from our last visit when they were $3.75.

There were a few improvements this time around. For one thing, the horrifying music was gone. Our meals were better prepared, too. Sarah’s burger was good, as were the fries. Last time the fries were tasteless. My pork medallions (really boneless pork chops) were good, but a bit uninspiring. The pineapple (and mango?) relish on top was interesting, but not something I’d order again. My broccoli and baby carrots were a tad undercooked, but better that way than overcooked.

 All in all, some improvement. We’ll have to try it again soon to test out more of the menu.

As you can see, I haven’t posted in a long while. In fact, June was the first month in almost two years of writing this blog for which I have no entries. Much of that is because we were traveling in Canada and New England for half of June. We ate out quite often during that time, but the restaurants either weren’t worth mentioning because they were mediocre AND in Canada, or they were places I’ve written up not so long ago. For instance, we had a great meal with my folks at Isaac’s in Plymouth, MA, but it was a repeat of our visit last year, so I saw no point in writing the same review. The food in Toronto was expensive and not really worth it. Some so-so Indian, a decent Thai place, a horrendous deli (Dunn’s in the theatre district), and a pizza joint. In New England, aside from the aforementioned Isaac’s, we ate at Cugino’s in Newington, CT (written up before). We ended up with so many leftovers from Isaac’s and Cugino’s that we ate in several nights and had pizza and BBQ at Sarah’s parents’ house on two other nights. On the trip home, we ate at Tai’s Asian Bistro in Columbus, OH. It was excellent, although with a fast food atmosphere. I suppose I should have written a review for that one.

In the few weeks we’ve been back, we’ve had great meals at Tuscany in Tuscola (they have a new pizza oven and were packed when we were there), Radio Maria’s in downtown Champaign, and at Bombay Grill on Green St. in Campustown. All three places have a couple of reviews here. We tried the new Buffalo Wild Wings in Mattoon, which had the atmosphere of a high school gym. Not as pub-like as the BW3′s in the C-U area. We’ve been to Angelo’s in Mattoon for their excellent spaghetti dinner special on Wednesdays, as well as the spaghetti special at Pagliacci’s in Charleston, also on Wednesdays. Both are good meals. Plus we’ve been to the old stand-bys like Roc’s Blackfront in Charleston (on the square by the courthouse) and Jerry’s Pizza on 4th and Lincoln right at EIU.

Maybe this weekend we’ll get out to someplace new so I have new blog fodder.