After spending six weeks in Wisconsin on our 5 year, 50 state road trip, it was time to leave and head to our next state – Illinois.
Our first stop in Illinois was Savanna, a small city in the northwest of the state. During our week-long stay there we went for brunch at Ca. 1888, a restaurant that’s billed as an urban farmhouse kitchen.
The friendly server Tiffany said we could sit anywhere, so Shae and I picked one of the two tables by the window which look out on Main St. Most of the restaurant’s tables seat 2-4 people, although there was a larger table that looked like it seats 6-8 customers.
I hadn’t realized until I went on their website afterwards, but they also have seating on their deck out back. The deck looks out over the Mississippi River, so that’d be a great place to eat on a nice day.
Tiffany got us started by taking our drink orders. I had some work to do that afternoon so stuck with water, while Shae ordered a mimosa.
There isn’t what I’d class as an extensive menu at Ca. 1888, but there were still plenty of tasty looking options on there to choose from.
I couldn’t make up my mind as to whether to order the salmon salad on ciabatta bread or the chipotle lime pulled pork flatbread with red onion, jalapeño and cilantro (I’d have ordered it without the cheddar jack as I don’t care for cheese).
I still couldn’t decide by the time Tiffany came over to take our order, so asked for her advice. She’d apparently not tried the flatbread yet, but had eaten the salmon on ciabatta and enjoyed it. I decided to go with her suggestion and so ordered the salmon salad sandwich. I love cous cous and was intrigued as to what kind it’d be, so I ordered that as my side.
Shae was considering the grilled chicken pesto sandwich, but ended up ordering the spinach, artichoke & sundried tomato flatbread with goat & mozzarella cheese.
After about 25-30 minutes, our meals arrived.
My salmon salad sandwich was excellent. The salmon salad itself was zesty as I think there was some lemon in the dressing. I’d been expecting the ciabatta to have a more crunchy crust, but actually enjoyed that it was a soft ciabatta roll.
The cous cous was OK, but it was a little plain. I added some salt and pepper though and that improved the flavor.
Shae enjoyed her flatbread as well. She wasn’t too sure initially about the sundried tomatoes, but she ended up enjoying them on there and wished there had been more on the left half of the flatbread.
We hadn’t seen any dessert options on the menu, so assumed they didn’t offer it. However, our server asked if we wanted to see the dessert menu and Shae’s eyes lit up.
We both fancied having something sweet but weren’t too hungry, so we ordered the flourless chocolate cake with raspberry sauce.
It was a tasty cake and was definitely better for having the generous serving of raspberry sauce with it.
Final Thoughts
Shae and I both enjoyed our meal at Ca. 1888 in Savanna, Illinois. Our server was very friendly and the food was tasty. If you’re in Savanna and don’t want to eat bar food at one of the numerous bars on Main St, Ca. 1888 is a solid choice.
One thing to be aware of is that like many of Savanna’s stores, restaurants and bars, Ca. 1888 is (currently) only open Thursday-Sunday.
Our Rating
Food = 4.3 / 5
Price = 4.1 / 5
Atmosphere = 4.3 / 5
Decor = 4.3 / 5
Service = 4.6 / 5
Total = 4.32 / 5
Address
Ca. 1888, 305 Main St, Savanna, IL 61074
I live just north of Savanna, so know well the places you mentioned. Did you know that Circa 1884 is owned by the current mayor Chris Laine and his partner?
I was curious about the rest of your trip, but have not been able to access it yet.
Good traveling,
donm
I didn’t know Chris owned it. We got to chat with him a little in a store a few doors down while we visited and he seemed like a great guy.