Just outside the border

Its like opening the floodgates with me once I start posting, they just keep coming. But here we go... 

I was able to take a trip to Chicago the weekend before I left Iowa City and on the way there made a little detour to Fulton, Illinois (right outside the border of Iowa…get it?) to Krumpets. 

This is an absolutely amazing restaurant and bakery and another bonus is it is my good friend’s mom’s place. Krumpets is on the corner in this little town and the atmosphere fits perfectly, right when you walk in you feel like you are in a classed up version of grandma’s café. It has exposed brick around the entrance (which I am obsessed with), followed by really interesting art pieces along the walls; there are also a few armoires with very intricate antique trinkets. You just immediately feel at home. Okay, so let me start off with there was a lot of hype going here, I mean A LOT. My friend and his friends have ranted and raved about his mom’s cooking so being the foodie that I am was pumped to try it first hand.

One thing I left out about the décor of the place is this huge glass case of pasties, pies, other desserts and then on top of the case are this jars filled with cookies, cinnamon rolls, coffee cake…you name it, she has it. So after I pried myself off of the case of heaven it was time to figure out what we wanted to eat. 

Looking at the menu there was no way that I would be able to pick what to get so I made them make the decision for me. We ended up splitting both the cheeseburger and his off the menu turkey sandwich (the perks of being the son of the owner/maker). I literally cannot make words to express the deliciousness of this meal. You know how you walk into a restaurant and you say “yeah that was good/really good”, but that does not begin to describe this. 

Everything was simple but no fanciness needed-everything spoke for itself. The burger was just a perfectly cooked patty layered with two slices of cheese and placed between a homemade potato roll. That roll was definitely the kicker, I literally could not get over this burger. 

The sandwich was a turkey sandwich with lettuce and cucumber, once again on that unreal potato roll that had an aioli spread on it. This once again was just a perfect combination…I can easily see why this was his go to. Seriously those homemade potato rolls are everything. 

The meal didn’t stop there. Our arms were twisted into getting a dessert…they had to try really hard. We went with the legendary Krumpet bar. I am disappointed in myself that I didn’t get a picture, but there was no time…this thing needed to be eaten devoured. It consisted of a thin brownie layer, a thin white chocolate cheesecake layer, a thin layer of fudge like chocolate topped with caramel and nuts. There was a debate between his mom and his cousin whether this needed to be eaten cold or nuked a little so we did half and half, and I honestly couldn’t make a decision. The cold version let the chocolate fudge and brownie shine where as the warm version really highlighted the cheesecake and caramel…so it was a tie. With the lack of Krumpet bar picture, I give you these massive cinnamon rolls. 

I guess you could say I am biased, but I truly truly believe this place is everything it is cracked up to be, and his mom is a god to the kitchen. They are open 6-4 Monday-Friday, and 8-2 on Saturdays so make sure to get into there before they close! Not in the mood for a full meal? Like I said, there is assortment of goodies so either stop in for breakfast or an afternoon pick me up and pick your poison! Did I mention they have an elaborate coffee/espresso/etc. station?! 

So wipe that drool from your mouth (if you aren't drooling you have serious problems) and try it out!