Centralia House, Centralia, IL

111 N. Oak Street
618-532-9754

Let me say first of all that this review was done as part of a very enjoyable evening with a group of friends and included the adventure of boarding Amtrak to and from Centralia House from Carbondale.
The time together on the train (approximately an hour) allowed the ten of us to converse and covertly share a little Limoncello together before detraining for the one block walk to the restaurant. But you’re probably here to read about the restaurant and no the details of the journey so here’s my thoughts.
Centralia House for very hospitable in helping arrange this dinner so we could dine at a leisurely pace and have to worry about missing the return train. They took our orders in advance and even had the tickets split up by couples when we arrived and ordered drinks and appetizers. They were pleasant and friendly throughout. The building and its associated history are interesting reading and neat to say you and Ulysses Grant ate at the same place.
The food was….and sorry here was less than spectacular but good, but for $100 a couple I want better than good. I think what got me disappointed (besides that little guy on my shoulder who kept whispering “for what you paid for dinner and transportation you could have gone to Tom’s) was the house special Centralia House shrimp. I’ve got a thing that when you stake your reputation on a particular product, that product should be pretty damn good. In fairness, most of the reviews I’ve read rave about it. I found the shrimp to be over cooked. Now that is easy to do, (it makes them tough) – but when you advertise a house special…………..
The escargot is probably not a fast paced item (I know, that’s bad) for good reason. How about a using some spring greens or spinach in the salad.
It was a fun evening and the food was good. I just can’t rate it as a value proposition.
I’m hearing better things about Walker’s Bluff, it might be time to see how they’re doing again.

 π π π    I might have gone π π ½ I’m sure everyone enjoyed their selves and their dinner.
π π π ½   Service and hospitality really were good. Thank you.