The latest stop on the Quest we journeyed farther than we had ever previously gone, into the unfamiliar territory of Waverly, Illinois. Neither of us had ever been to Waverly before, so we literally had no idea what to expect. When we arrived at Verda Mae’s, with a little help from a sign on the side of the road, we were greeted with an environment that had the distinct feel of a small town restaurant.
When ordering the Horseshoes we were hit with more choices than we previously anticipated. Verda Mae’s offers a Mexican horseshoe that sounded delightfully unique. In place of the bread, this creation includes a tortilla with meat and fries, and then is topped with green chili salsa, black olives, and sour cream as well as the cheese sauce. While this sounded like something we would both enjoy, we decided to play it safe and go with their buffalo chicken. However, we didn’t play it completely safe, because we ordered ours with “fat fries,” in place of their traditional fries.
The moment of truth finally came, and we were completely blown away. This horseshoe had everything we could have wanted. The cheese sauce was a white sauce with a nice balance of flavors. One thing we both noticed about the cheese when it arrived was that it seemed to be rather thin. This is something that off the start we thought would be a negative, but turned out to be a big addition to the overall quality of the meal. The consistency being thin at the start really helped the cheese to not become overly thick as it cooled. This is a common problem in horseshoes and one that Verda Mae’s seems to have found the solution to.
The meat was very good and the buffalo sauce provided a great bite that both of us enjoyed greatly. This buffalo chicken was not the best that we have had so far, but it fit perfectly with this horseshoe. The flavor of the hot sauce really mixed well with the cheese, and the fries really tied the whole plate together. Verda Mae’s offers two types of fries, traditional and fat fries. We decided to choose fat fries, which are fries that have been battered prior to being fried. The fries were the best part of this horseshoe, and are easily some of the best fries that we have had on the Quest. These fries sound like they could be extremely heavy and weigh the horseshoe down, but we did not feel this way at all, and in our opinion they completed this horseshoe perfectly.
Verda Mae’s is definitely one of the better stops on our Quest. There is no doubt that it will be competing for several spots on Best of the Quest. Even though Waverly, IL is about a 30-minute drive from Springfield, we definitely recommend giving it a try. Verda Mae’s is by far the best horseshoe we have reviewed outside of the capital city. The drive is easy enough and the fat fries make the journey worth the extra travel time. If this restaurant was located in Springfield, we wholeheartedly believe that it would be one of the more popular spots in town. Verda Mae’s is a hidden treasure that shouldn’t remain that way for much longer.
Cheese: 93
Meat: 89
Fries: 93
Overall Score: 93
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