Last Saturday I put up an MBIP List of places I’ve eaten at on my “Eating Main Street Tour” and I realized I haven’t put up a post on this topic since last January! Yikes! Time to correct all of that...to the MBIP Moblie!
Oh...wait a second, MBIP Pal, Contributing Writer and owner of Acme Comics, Bob Gordon is driving today...never mind about that MBIP Mobile comment! And here we go winding our way down Main Street and there’s a signpost ahead...
Harold’s Fish & Chicken, our next stop on the MBIP Eating Main Street Tour. Those of you paying close attention (there’s got to be at least one of you out there, right?) will realize that this stop is going backwards a little bit from our last stop here on Main Street. Well, that’s because Harold’s opened up a month after our last Main Street post and the sign intrigues me. More specifically, the last line on the sign really intrigues me, where it reads: “Best Food In Town.” To pull a quote from Pulp Fiction, that’s a pretty bold statement and I had to check this out for myself!
Harold’s is located at the end of this strip mall on Main Street and I remember back when it was a Convenient store in the ‘70’s and ‘80’s! As you can see from the signs in addition to fish and chicken they also have Chicago style hot dogs and Italian Beef sandwiches. Okay, let’s go in and put this “Best Food In Town” boast to the MBIP taste test!
The place is simply decorated and it’s very clean inside. As you can see from the items on the menu back in the kitchen area, there’s a lot to choose from! Dee’s the friendly manager here and we told her we’re waiting for another guest and she said we could relax inside till he arrives. And just who is this mystery guest? Well, keep on scrolling and you’ll find out! Now it’s time to put the MBIP Camera to work and take a little look around in here.
There’s the menu that features the fish and chicken entrees and Bob and I decided that we’re going to sample from this menu. There’s a shot from the back of the restaurant and a nice framed pictures of Wrigley Field. How’s about them Cubbies? Hey, what’s Bob doing at our table down there? Busted on an MBIP cell phone alert! Put the phone down, Bob! We’re on a mission here to see if this is the best food in town!
In my travels I ran into a big fan of the blog and I love it when that happens!
Alright, the mystery guest has arrived! It’s Thomas Bruch, the entertainment reporter for the PJ Star and an MBIP Pal! Bob, Thomas and I all decided to get a different entree to put this “Best Food In Town,” to the true test!
Here we are ordering, Dee was very helpful with menu selections and rang us up as we sat down to wait for our lunch at Harold’s on Main Street.
Before our lunch arrived, Dee surprised us with an appetizer of a piece of fried catfish and an order of homemade coleslaw. Dee told us both of these were her recipes that are served here at Harold’s. Well, I don’t know if this is the best food in town, but it sure is pretty damned close! The coleslaw was just the right combination of creamy and crisp and had just a little tartness to the flavor, which I love. And we all agreed that this catfish was really a treat! It’s lightly breaded, crunchy on the outside and the fish is juicy and flavorful. This was a nice surprise and a truly tasty way to start off lunch!
Shortly after we devoured the appetizer, the main courses came and just like the catfish and coleslaw, they did not disappoint! Bob got the fried chicken, Thomas ordered a chicken gizzards and fried mushrooms and I got the chicken wings and fries. The food was cooked fresh to order and came out of the kitchen steaming hot and I had to take a little time to let mine cool, but when I did it was very delicious. The chicken wings were juicy and I really liked their buffalo wing sauce. I sampled one of Thomas’ gizzards and they were really tasty as well, the breading was fried crispy on the outside and the gizzards were tender and savory inside. I was too full to sample any of Bob’s friend chicken, but he said it was some of the best he’s ever had. Wait a second...there’s that “B” word...so is this the best food in Peoria or what?
Well, we all agreed if it wasn’t the best, it certainly ranks way up there! I’ll definitely be coming back to sample more off of the menu! And as we were finishing up, I noticed they had dessert in here, but one of the great things about Harold’s Fish & Chicken is that...
They’re located right around the corner from Las Delicias Ice Cream! I know we’ve stopped here before on this Eating Main Street Tour, but I figured a second stop wouldn’t hurt anyone at all! So here we go! All the ice cream in here is made fresh and I ordered up a scoop of the caramel ice cream and Bob got the Oreo flavor...
The scooper behind the counter was a little camera shy, so here’s a shot of her hand passing off the cool, sweet and delicious ice cream cones! And of course the question has to be asked here: “Is this the best ice cream in town?” Well, I’d have to say it’s a tie between them and their Gringo ice cream cousins down the street and in Peoria Heights, Emack & Bolio’s! Both of them have different styles of ice cream and they’re equally delicious!
Thanks to Dee from Harold's Fish & Chicken for the great food and hospitality and to Las Delicias for wonderful and tasty ice cream! And Thanks to Bob and Thomas for joining me on this somewhat delayed episode of Eating Main Street! We’ll see you all tomorrow!
Harold’s Fish & Chicken
841 W. Main Street
Peoria
309-839-8466
Las Delicias
837 W. Main St
Peoria
309-966-0264
Related Posts: Eating Main Street @ McDonald’s, Haddad’s, Tasty’s Chicago Grill and Las Delicias Ice Cream Shop, Broken Tree Coffee, Peking Restaurant, Thirty-Thirty Coffee, Ulrich's Rebellion Room, B Easy,Hoops, Judge’s Chamber, Table 19, Pepper’s Cafe, Haddad’s Downtown, Cookies By Design, Richards On Main and Nut House/Cracked Pepper.