Pssst...you.

Yes, you.

Come on out — I see you peeking into this thread, curious as to what this thread could possibly be about — unless you have been to Springfield, Illinois.

I am certain that the look that was initially on your face when you saw the topic of this thread was the same look that I had on my face when I was in Springfield, Illinois recently and I saw several restaurant menus in my room with many different types of horseshoes and pony shoes (which are smaller-size horseshoes) offered:I did not try it, as it did not appeal to me.

I have noticed that in addition to (or as a substitution to) ham or hamburger, ingredients such as shrimp, chicken, turkey or crawfish may be used.

However, in an age where much of the United States — and other parts of the world, for that matter — are becoming homogenized to the point where different locales are not as different from each other as they used to be, it is refreshing to see something still largely unique primarily to Springfield, Illinois such as horseshoes and pony shoes.

Has anyone tried this “sandwich”?

Canarsie You got me at" The sandwich is considered the signature dish or Springfield, Illinois. This sandwich will make your arteries cringe and your taste buds rejoice. . Having read your entire post, I decided that the "signature dish" is not worth making my" arteries cringe." This place reminds me of a stand (Marty's on Pico Blvd near the Apple Pan in W.L.A. which is known for it's "combo" which is a double burger with a hot dog on top

Is Canarsie from Brooklyn ? Salt Lake City has the Crown Burger , a hamburger with pastrami on top .Also SLC has "dipping Sauce" for french fries kinda like thousand island dressing..you know ,catsup and mayo. mixed.Even Burger King made it special for the SLC stores..wow,you can almost hear your blood flow slow down after eatin' that stuff. Thank God there are some regional food stuff left.

Yes, I am.

^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^
So tired of the franchise vanilla effect, it is becoming all the same.

The horseshoe sandwich is on my 140+ page word doc of places to try around the world. I hope to try it in the next month.

Despite the fact that I had no desire to try the horseshoe sandwich, I was unsuccessful in asking people in Springfield to reveal to me which place is recommended to try the horseshoe sandwich. The responses I received was either that the place did not matter, or each place does it differently, that they had no preference, or that they simply did not know.

It appears as though it is now your job to sample several different places in Springfield and report here which place makes the best horseshoe sandwich, Sweet Willie.

It is a tough assignment, but I am certain that you won’t mind...

I'm told Ritz's Li'l Fryer has the best horseshoe - but I passed
on that and had the excellent fried walleye instead.

While you're in Springfield, go to Joe Rogers's chilli parlor
and get your name on the wall for eating a bowl of JR's
Special (and check out those who have two stars
beside their names).

As someone originally from Springfield, I'll be glad to give some recommendations- albeit a few months late.

Darcy's Pint - Wabash Rd and MacArthur Blvd - This place opened about 5 years ago, and took the town by storm with it's white cheese sauce horseshoe that was quickly voted "Best of Springfield" several years in a row. It's highly recommended, and unbelievably busy almost all the time. Waits of ~1 hr are very common. Prices are quite reasonable - $5.95 ponies and $6.95 horses. ****

Dublin Pub - MacArthur Blvd in Town & Country Shopping Center- just down the street from Darcy's, and located where Darcy's used to be. My favorite horseshoe, as the taste is similar to Darcy's, but less crowded and better specials on drinks. Their buffalo chicken ponyshoe is nothing short of amazing, really. I always try to eat here when going home to visit my parents. *****

Mario's pizza - Several locations in town, most notably Clear Lake Blvd. Good horseshoes, with a spicy cheese sauce, but not a lot of options for meats. They do have a couple italian varieties, which I recommend giving a try, but nothing worth writing home about. ***

Steak and Shake - You know the place if you're from the midwest. They do serve a horseshoe in Springfield, and it's pretty decent for fastish food. Better options for the price. *

Red Coach Inn - North grand avenue. Never had one, but they're supposedly one of the "originals." In town. Far away from where I live, so not worth taking the drive.

Norb Andy's Tabarin - Capitol Avenue and 5th street. My favorite place for ambience and fun downtown, and the horseshoes are really good too. Very standard Springfield fare- they have the formula and they don't screw with it. Convenient to the downtown bars, etc, and they're open til 3 am for drinks. ****

The Barrelhead - Wabash Avenue, right across from a Steak and Shake. Great horseshoes, very cheap drinks most of the time, and good service. I like this place due to good memories, but they're temporarily closed due to tornado damage. ***

Canarsie,

There's been discussion here (or maybe the Midwest forum) on a small Cleveland area chain, Yours Truly. One of their signature dishes is "Notso Fries", best served with a dollop of sour cream on top. My second visit, I ordered a Notso Burger, which came with an order or Notso Fries between the burger and bun top. BTW, one of our fellow FTers' sister works there, although I've yet to coordinate properly and so meet her.

Sweet Willie,

Cross this one off your list before you get there or your arteries won't last all 140 pages.

What I find interesting is that, even though Springfield lies in between St. Louis and Chicago, you won't find horseshoes anywhere close to those cities.

I did find a few restaurants that served horseshoes in Peoria (one with sliced roast beef--yum ^^).

I found that also, when going to school in Peoria. They're very rare outside of Springfield - most definitely a completely regional food. I found them one place in Champaign too (Rock's on Springfield Ave.).

Went to a place about 10-15 years ago just off of I-55 south end of town. Damned if I can remember the name of it. Horsehoes made with ground beef (sort of like sloppy joe meat but with "secret" horseshoe sauce.

Gross, unhealthy and AWSOME!!! Enhanced by washing down with ice-cold Busch beer drafts.

Now that is what I'm talking about !!

Sorry BamaVol, I'm going to have one later this summer, fall at the latest. I'll counteract this exercise in destroying my arteries with my work-outs.