It’s time for the first road trip of this 13 month chicken tour and for this inaugural road trip we’re returning to the place that kicked off the MBIP Twenty Weeks of Tenderloin food tour back in September of 2013. And that place is the Midway Duck Inn in Lowpoint, Illinois. Uh, oh, like all road trips, this one starts off with a knock at the door...
Daffy Duck? We’re going to Midway Duck Inn and I don’t think you want to go there because you might end up on a plate! You really are one Daffy Duck!
Okay, this is more like it! It’s MBIP Contributor, pal and Wheelman, Scott Turley and check it out, he’s brought his better half, Carla! That’s a pleasant surprise, nice to have her join us on a road trip! Now let’s hit the road to the Midway Duck Inn!
We’re inside of the Turley mobile and off we go. It’s about a half an hour trip from the MBIP World Headquarters to Midway Duck Inn, but through this miracle of the interwebs, we’re here in a matter of seconds! I love the log cabin look to the place and the neon at the top of the roof. Okay, time to start the fifth week of chicken at Midway Duck Inn!
It hasn’t changed a bit in here since I was in here five years ago and that’s a good thing! Last time I sat at the bar, but since there’s three of us we got a table in the dining room. Jordan brought us drinks and we ordered our chicken dinners from the menu and as you can see, they are famous for their pan fried chicken! I’ve heard great things about the chicken here and I’m anxious to try it!
The Midway Duck Inn has been serving chicken, tenderloins and corn fritters since 1930 here in Lowpoint. When I was here in 2013 I met Jeannie who owned the place with her husband Ken. Well, they recently sold the place to Todd Waldschmidt and his wife Megan. Those of you who follow the blog will probably remember that Todd was the owner of New Amsterdam until the city tore it down. Todd said things are going wonderful here and he got the chicken recipe from Jeannie and Ken. Todd and Megan have also added a few things to the menu like the Dutch sandwich from New Amsterdam and In addition to the corn fritters, they've also added pineapple fritters, which he said makes a nice dessert item. Great to see Todd and happy that he’s taken the helm of the Midway Duck Inn!
While our dinner was being prepared I wandered away from our table to take some photos of the place. There’s the aforementioned bar and Debbie was on bartending duty for the day and flashed a pretty smile for the MBIP Camera.
The Duck Inn has a hunting theme as you can see from some of the photos and fish on the paneled walls. If you look real close at the last shot you’ll see an unplanned obligatory mirror shot happening, I love it when that happens!
There’s also vintage photos of local duck hunters hanging on the dark paneled walls in here.
Meanwhile, back at our table our appetizer has arrived! The three of us split an order of Duck Tenders and they were delicious. I loved the breading and we all agreed the signature homemade sauce took it over the top. I got a shot of Scott enjoying them and a silhouette of Carla sampling them. But then minutes after I took these photos, it got dark outside all of a sudden.
A storm blew into town and I went out and took some photos of it. I went back in before it started raining and then something happened that I’ve never experienced in almost six years of doing this blog...
The power went out in the restaurant! Luckily they had just finished up cooking our dinners right before the power cut out. And luckier still...
The flash on the MBIP Camera is working well, so we can see our dinners that we ate in the dark! I got the Quarter White meal, Scott got a Half Mixed dinner with fries and Carla got a Half White dinner with fries. It looks fantastic! Time to dig in!
All of the meals come with a corn fritter, which is one of the signature items here at the Duck Inn. It was sweet and a delightful start to the dinner!
The chicken was plump, juicy and so tasty! The outside breading is light and crispy and the bird was cooked to perfection. Scott was raving about the French fries and I tried a couple and they were probably the best fries I’ve ever had! Todd told us they hand cut them and fry them fresh rather than frozen from a bag and they were really crispy on the outside and fluffy and light inside as you bite into them. We all agreed this was an awesome chicken dinner!
And as quickly as the storm blew in, it blew out just as quick and Jordan took a photo of us at our table. Thanks to everyone at Midway Duck Inn for a wonderful meal and afternoon and thanks to Scott for driving and to Carla for joining in on the road trip fun!
Chicken Rating
Four Dixie Chickens—It’s no wonder they’re famous for their Pan Fried Chicken, it’s a delicious treat and don’t forget to try the unbelievable French fries!
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2112 Il-26 Low Point, Illinois
309-246-8441
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Related Posts: 13 Months of Chicken @ Ludy’s Kickapoo Creek Saloon, Jubilee Cafe, Rizzi’s and Agatucci’s.