One unique Illinois place is combining Nashville and Horseshoes
Central Illinois is famous for Horseshoes, Nashville is famous for their hot chicken, and one Illinois restaurant combined them to make the ultimate hot horseshoe!
If you don't live in central Illinois you may not know what a horseshoe is (I grew up in Chicagoland and never heard of a horseshoe until moving to Quincy almost 3 years ago), it is a magical dish of a bed of fries topped with melty cheese, whatever meat you want, and an array of toppings.
The place that is mashing up the horseshoe with the iconic Nashville hot chicken is called Pop Up Chicken Shop in Bloomington, IL, a post on their Facebook page shows off their incredible creation (to see it click here!). If you go to their website called keepitpopup.com their menu is filled with unique chicken creations, all considered Illinois Hot Chicken. Some of the things on their menu that sound worth the drive to Bloomington to try besides the Hot Horseshoe are The Sando which is their version of a chicken sandwich, and also the Jalapeno cornbread, to see their entire menu just click here!
This place sounds like my ideal restaurant, people always say they want a Chick-Fil-A restaurant in Quincy, nope I want a Pop Up Chicken Shop in Quincy! I love the idea of someone taking the Nashville hot chicken market and bringing it to Illinois, creative restaurant ideas like this one where you take food cultures from other areas and mash it up with what is popular in your area are just so cool to me, and I wish we saw more of it in our Tri-State area.