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Mexican restaurants, Urbana, Springfield, Clinton

I told you we eat a lot of Mexican food. Here I go again with our old and new favorites.

In Urbana we like El Toro on Cunningham. It's easy to get to from the interstate, the service is lightening fast, the food is awesome, and all the waitstaff are super smiley towards children. I think it was opened by the original singing waiter from El Matador in Decatur. Those El Matador guys, they leave and open the nicest, most family friendly restaurants.

The first time a coworker suggested we eat at Xochimilco in Springfield I thought we'd be having Japanese. But it turned out to be a nice little Mexican restaurant in a strip mall on the west side. The original Xochimilco (I pronounce it So-She-Milk-O but that's probably wrong) is pretty similar to El Rodeo in Decatur. Serviceable but not stellar. I do really like the stand alone Xochimilco on the east side, especially for a late evening adults only meal. It's a fun place, more bar like than most Mexican restaurants.

We just discovered El Ray in Clinton. This tiny restaurant seems to be a refurbished Long John Silvers. It is a sit down restaurant but we had such super fast service it made our heads spin. Our son had a kid's burrito and rice plate which was nearly adult sized for like $3. B had the Fajita Quesadilla which was exactly the same as (west side) Fiesta in Bloomington and very similar to the beloved Mi Pueblito in Decatur. I had the Chili Colorado, which was not very good. The steak had not been cooked in the mole and the mole was very tomatoey instead of chocolaty. The mole was just drizzled on the meat.

I'm definitely willing to try again and see if I can find out what is really good. For us the location is very convenient and when you include the Ultimate Play Space in the trip, it's better than Fiesta with a side of Wal-mart. It took many meals at Fiesta to find the Pollo Encremada, which is out of this world.

Fall Festivals in Central Illinois

Google, you love the festivals, dontcha? Here's a list of September festivals in the Central Illinois counties I generally cover. This information largely comes from the 2007 Central Illinois Visitors Guide put out by the Tourism Development Office in Springfield.

Today you can still make it to:
Atlanta Fall Festival. Just off I-55 you'll find a carnival, auction, petting zoo, a car show, and craft vendors.
37th Annual Broom Corn Festival in downtown Arcola. It features broom making demonstrations, art, crafts, street and food vendors, 5 & 10 K walk, carnival.
Taste of Country Fair and Festival. Off I-55 north of Bloomington-Normal in Lexington. Features a juried fine art show, antiques, crafts, and live entertainment.
Annual Juried Fine Art & Craft Fair at Washington Park in Springfield. Artists from all over the Midwest sell art. Plus a carillon performance!

Sept 14-16 Abraham Lincoln Railsplitting Festival: Logan County Fairgrounds, Lincoln.
Sept 14-16 Arts in Central Park: Downtown Decatur. Juried arts festival. This is a great one!
Sept 14-16 NBRA Short Course Nationals: Bethany at the Wilborn Creek Recreation Area. Hydroplane boat races.
Sept 14-16 Tower Hill Fall Festival: Tower Hill Park. Car show, tractor pull, produce parade.
Sept 15 Prairie Stories: Lake of the Wood Forest Preserve, Mahomet. Families can engage in work from an earlier time.
Sept 15-16 Railroad Days: Monticello Railway Museum. Train rides! Train rides! Train rides! Awesome event for railroad lovers.
Sept 15-16 Edwards Place Fine Art Fair: Springfield. 100 artisians sell crafts on the grounds of the Edwards Place.
Sept 15-16 Balloon Fest: Eagle Creek State Park, Findlay. Hot air balloon festival and dock party.
Sept 16 Bob Galloway Memorial Amish Country Bicycle Ride: Arthur countryside. Ride your bike 1 or 100 miles though the Amish farmlands.

Sept 19-22 Pygmalion Music Festival: Champaign Urbana. Huge music festival with something like 70 live bands. Definitely something to get excited about.
Sept 22 Celebration: Downtown Monticello. Live music, pet parade, children's activities, food, art & craft vendors.

Sept 28-30 International Route 66 Mother Road Festival: Downtown Springfield. Live entertainment, HUGE antique car show.
Sept 29-30 Apple 'N Pork Festival: Clinton. Museum tour, great food, entertainment and crafts.
Sept 29-30 Wine and Cheese Festival: Rockome Gardens, Arcola. Illinois wines, cheese and jazz festival.
Sept 30, Oct 7 & 14 Oconee Fall Festival: Oconee. Hayrides, maze, crafts, pumpkins, and zoo.