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by Patricia
Jacobs
Summer, '96
Unlike some smaller towns where dining options are limited, Fairfield's challenge to the hunger-advantaged is how to zero in on one of its 40-some restaurants and food stands offering fast, faster, and fastest foods--many of homemade quality and all reasonably priced.
Fairfield is also not your average town when it comes to culinary specialties, especially if you appreciate an international selection of all-you-can-eat buffets and the casual ambiance of a supermarket or a gas station café.
"We sacrificed elegance for affordability," says John Dey, co-owner of Everybody's natural grocery and restaurant. "Many of our customers are families with lots of expenses besides meals. Food is not a get-rich business, but this town deserves to eat well. We serve fresh foods three meals a day, six days a week. It's a labor of love."
The vegetarian lunch buffet rotates international themes according to days of the week, especially catering to families whose lunch budget allows 50 minutes to feed the kids and return them to school. Specialties include the Mexican buffet on Thursdays with enchiladas and a make-your-own burrito, and the all-you-can-eat pizza on Fridays.
In addition, the 75-seat eatery lures up to 250 Sunday-brunchers who converge in line ahead of you if you don't arrive before noon. The Sunday selection includes pasta, casseroles, real French fries, tofu sausage, and French toast. And unlike most buffets, a reasonable $5.50 includes a soda fountain and all you can drink. While the pastries are not included, the double-fisted cinnamon buns are glazed and filled with just enough white goo and raisins to make the extra 50 cents more than worth it.
Hearts Desire Café offers another veggie-oriented fiesta, with a tempting selection of gourmet sandwiches and salads, soups, and hot entrées. Serious desserts made on the premises beckon from display shelves in the form of chocolate-pecan coconut bars and strawberry cream cakes, along with gourmet coffees in decaf or regular buzz.
Besides the new generation of restaurants, what about Fairfield's original eating establishments? Dewayne and Wilma Hootman had been cooking up three meals of burgers, flapjacks, and rib-eye steaks for 12 years, but the Sandwich Shop on West Burlington recently closed its doors.
"It wasn't for lack of business that we closed down," says Dewayne, a spritely, slim gentleman who rarely stands still. "We just couldn't get enough help."
Even with modern franchise neighbors like McDonald's and Hardee's, the Sandwich Shop had always enjoyed a loyal clientele. But with the recent surge in local job opportunities, Dewayne Hootman had to compete with all of Fairfield industry to staff his restraurant.
On August 31, Fairfield bid farewell to a community icon that dated back to 1937. Wall menu billboards advertising $1.00 sundaes and the fountain snack bar overlooking the grill suggested the era of Eisenhower, DeSotos, and saddle-shoed couples ordering vanilla malts with two straws. And, in fact, for $1.50 you could have ordered the malt. Fairfield will miss this 59-year tradition of hospitality and home cooking.
The Broadway Grill, also one of Fairfield's oldest eating establishments, expanded its name with one modifying syllable when Marty Taylor took over her parents' restaurant and moved it around the corner. For the past 13 years, the Off-Broadway Grill has taken pride in home-cooked breakfast, lunch, and dinner options that still include Esther's House Dressing, an original recipe by Marty's mom. The creamy salad topping has the satisfying consistency of Thousand Island but without the eggs and spices.
"If you want the recipe," says Mr. Taylor, "you'll have to buy the restaurant."
Off-Broadway's most popular entrées include the full-course Filet Mignon for a modest $12.95. "Mr. Taylor cuts the beef himself," Marty says. "We serve high-quality meats, real mashed potatoes, and homemade desserts."
Other specialties include the Wednesday night pan-fried chicken that sells out early if you don't phone ahead, as well as the Taylor's original Turkey Reuben. And, according to Marty, the vegetable lasagna at $6.50 has become popular with vegetarians and meat-eaters alike.
On weekends, the Off-Broadway dresses up with table linens, a formal no-sandwich menu, and a downstairs bar, drawing in customers from out of town.
"We started out using table cloths everyday," says Marty. "But it sent a confusing message to our lunch customers who just wanted a $1.00 burger. So now we just keep it simple on weekdays."
While most establishments lean toward informality, it's nice to know there are finer dining options when you're more in the mood for linen than styrofoam, and you don't mind spending ten dollars instead of five. For an unusual combination of elegance and buffet, The Raj offers a gourmet vegetarian all-you-can-eat luncheon for $9.20 (including tax and gratuity). Five rotating cultural feasts such as Chinese and Indian fill the weekday roster, while Sunday brunch includes varieties like tofu strudel and casseroles and breakfast indulgences like muffins and pancakes with real maple syrup.
"Fresh food is our most important contribution to the community," says marketing director Lindsay Oliver. "We don't use any food that's frozen or genetically engineered."
The Raj also books special events like birthdays, receptions, and business dinners, and the Friday lunch buffet offers live dulcimer music that settles you down while you twirl your pasta.
Bonnie White of Bonnie's China Deli claims to have started the international buffet tradition 12 years ago, and since then the other Asian eateries like Ching Dow, Ten Ten, Thai Deli, Noodle House, and India Cafe have followed suit.
"I invented Chinese buffet in Fairfield," says the Taiwan-born Bonnie Su Ming-Mei. "And I invented Chinese vegetarian dishes with no MSG. I like to cook for my customers the way I would like to eat myself."
Restaurant owners like Bonnie feel free to cross international boundaries to customize the fare for a range of local appetites. Bonnie's includes dishes like vegetarian lasagna and Indian samosas in the lunch buffet, San Marcos sells fresh fruit shakes and vegetable juices along with their Mexican entrées, and India Cafe offers a house salad.
One could hardly describe international cuisine without mentioning one of Fairfield's best banquets for the buck, Hykie's Falafil. The no-frills dining shed offers traditional Middle Eastern platters and sandwiches that win the praises of even some of the other local restaurateurs. While items like the Beirut Vegetable Casserole or the Falafel Platter cost a typical $5.00 or more, many of the sandwiches and side orders make a satisfying meal for under $4.00.
"The most popular dish is the falafel sandwich," says owner Norman Brown, "the regular at $2.25, and the Turbo size with humus for $3.75. We spend a lot of time perfecting our falafel. We visit restaurants in Chicago to compare for taste, so we know our falafel and our grape leaves are the best."
These days, the authentic Lebanese menu is no longer the creation of the restaurant's founder, but the new and expanded cuisine of Norman's wife, Antoinette, who cooks fluently in seven languages. The German-born Antoinette Fuchs has expanded the Middle Eastern menu with international specials like ratatouille that's now become a favorite. And soon, Hykie's will offer delivery service, so you can satisfy your cravings for baba ghanooj without leaving home.
While the less seasoned tourist may not be aware of Fairfield's more novel meal options, some of the town's unexpected comestibles are available right on the street, or pretty close. The Korn Popper on the square offers walk-away meals like Stuffed Baked Potatoes with topping choices of ham, veggies, or salsa with cheese and sour cream, or even a Sloppy Joe variety. Mohan Delights offers a freshly fixed Indian vegetarian lunch that's ready to take out. And Hy-Vee and Easter Foods offer by-the-pound salad bars that include hot entrées like soup, fish, chicken, or pizza.
And speaking of pizza, filling stations like Pep Stop, Logli's, and Casey's serve pizza in their convenience stores made right on the premises. Breadeaux sells French-crust pizza by the slice for 99 cents (lunchtime only) with a choice of seven toppings.
And then there's the Asian Cuisine, a beefy or meatless buffet for $4.75--not so unusual, except the café is located in the University Amoco station. While the rice and vegetable-intensive menu doesn't mention any low-lead toppings, the cuisine does promise to be filling.
For those who find such diversity overwhelming, who grow weak with hunger trying to choose a place in Fairfield to chow down, remember: there's always the option of eating at home. Otherwise, rest assured, you get used to it.
