The Horseshoe Quest of 2011: Hitting the Road for a Shoe: Fat Willy's

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Hitting the Road for a Shoe: Fat Willy's

Fat Willy’s is a medium size bar and restaurant located just outside the city limits of Springfield. The place itself is not something that will catch your eye and can be a slight bit confusing to first time patrons. There are three doors that all lead inside to three separate seating areas. The dining areas are definitely nothing special; however they did have immediate seating, so we can’t complain about that. Once we had found a place to sit and received our menus, we decided to go with the Buffalo Chicken Horseshoe for this leg of our quest. The horseshoe quickly caught our attention when it came out as it was loaded with cheese sauce. They used a white cheese sauce and there was a solid amount of fries and an average amount of breaded chicken as well.

In our opinion the cheese sauce was the best part of this horseshoe. It had a really great consistency as well as an appetizing mild flavor. The sauce definitely tied all the flavors of the shoe together; but it was not overpowering. The fries were put on top of the cheese sauce and once again this was a nice way to keep the fries from losing their crispiness from the heavy amounts of sauce. The fries had a nice crunch to them and there were plenty to cover the plate. The buffalo chicken could have had a bit more zing; but it could have also been much worse. The horseshoe was served with basic toast as the bottom layer, so in the future it would be nice to see an upgrade in the bread department. Overall, this experience was positive and we can see another trip back to Fat Willy’s in the future. It should also be noted that the cost for this horseshoe was very fair. The horseshoe was only $7.75 after tax and when compared against its size and flavor this horseshoe was a great deal. Is Fat Willy’s the best horseshoe on the quest? Well, the answer is no. However, if you ever find yourself in Chatham, IL and suddenly have a craving for a horseshoe, this restaurant will definitely cure the hunger.

Cheese:86
Meat:80
Fries:82
Overall Score: 82

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Welcome to the Quest!

A horseshoe sandwich (or simply a horseshoe) is a regional food created in the late 1920’s in Springfield, Illinois. The horseshoe is an open-faced “sandwich” served with meat, cheese sauce, fries, and toast. All horseshoes begin with the toast on the bottom. The bread is then topped with a meat of choice, commonly, two hamburger patties or deep-fried chicken breast. Other meats often used are sliced turkey or ham, pork tenderloin, or fried fish filets. The meat is then covered by french fries and finally smothered in cheese sauce. The price for a horseshoe ranges from $6-$10 and they can be found in most restaurants in the central Illinois area.