Everything about 2020 has been odd. But it remains weird to head into a local restaurant around dinnertime and find it virtually empty.
I can't imagine the struggles local restaurants have endured this year, but I certainly hope that enough have been supported so that we can maintain the unique food variety that helps make the McHenry County area so great.
On a recent Wednesday night, the Mystery Diner stopped at Vickie's Place in McHenry for a carryout feast.
In the summer, Vickie's Place is a great spot to sit on the outdoor deck and watch the boats go past on the river.
In these more frigid times, you have to settle for waving at an inflatable Santa as you head into the bar area to pick up your order.
After seeing the specials menu, I had to order the giant pretzel twist ($15.99). It was the size of the large pizza box it was placed inside and included beer cheese, honey mustard sauce
and ranch dip.
As the online menu said, it serves four to six people, and we all shared it. I took the honey mustard, and I also cut part of it open and added some beer cheese and jalapeños (from the taco salad). It was salty, savory, and we ate it all.
Speaking of that taco salad ($11.99), it was a huge flour tortilla shell with a perfect mix of lettuce, seasoned taco meat, nacho cheese, diced tomatoes, diced onions, black olives, jalapeño peppers and shredded cheddar cheese with sour cream and salsa on the side.
Sometimes, the balance of those items can be overwhelming in one direction or another. With this taco salad, it wasn't. We actually split that salad and the volcano burger ($12.99), one of the 19 custom burger options on the menu. You also can build your own from the long list of items.
The one I chose, the volcano burger, included queso cheese, jalapeño peppers, grilled onions, salsa and chipotle mayonnaise, with a side of French fries and onion straws.
It wasn't as spicy as I expected given the name volcano, but it was a tasty burger nonetheless. I saved half for lunch the next day.
We also tried out six traditional buffalo wings ($7.99), which were just spicy enough and decent-sized. They came with celery and carrots sticks and blue cheese dressing on the side.
Our other two diners ordered the Corona beer-battered cod sandwich ($10.99) and the flatbread pizza kids meal ($5.50). You can upgrade the kids meal with pepperoni for 50 cents more.
It was a straightforward, basic, kid-friendly option that left that younger diner pleased, while the cod filet sandwich was also a crowd-pleaser.
Vickie's cooked us up a ton of food quickly. It was good, held up well on our carryout journey home, and we were pleased with the end product.
• The Mystery Diner is an employee at the Northwest Herald. The diner’s identity is not revealed to restaurant staff when ordering or picking up the food. If the Mystery Diner cannot recommend the establishment, we will not publish a story.
IF YOU GO
WHAT: Vickie's Place
WHERE: 1211 N. River Road, McHenry
PHONE: 815-385-2014
INFO: www.vickiesplace.net