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Benedict's La Strata
40 North Williams
Crystal Lake, Illinois 60014
(815) 459-6500
7:00 AM to 2:30 PM Daily
5:00 to 10:00 PM Fri & Sat only |
I've heard plenty of good things about Benedict's La Strata since reviewing breakfast at their sister restaurant several months ago, but I haven't been there until today. What a treat! After a week of end-of-semester projects and assignments, Debbie and Shelby slept late. I did, too, but my idea of late was 7:00; theirs was more like 10:00. So, waiting until after 11:00 to get out of the house and eat made me ravenous. I'd planned a smaller, earlier breakfast at another restaurant, but how could I pass up the opportunity for their company and a breakfast abbondanza at Benedict's? The restaurant is in downtown Crystal Lake just a few steps from the Raue Center for the Arts.
Who cares what time you get there as long as you get there before they shut down for the day? The menu is extensive, so even though I knew pretty quickly that I was going to have the Goat Cheese, Artichoke, and Ham Strata, I had to wait for Debbie to narrate the menu and for Shelby to decide. He chose the Jambalaya Eggs with shrimp, andouille sausage, onion, and green pepper scrambled with cheddar cheese and topped with hollandaise sauce for $8.95. Debbie ordered the Biscuits and Gravy on two homemade savory scones covered with homemade turkey sausage gravy, served with two over-medium eggs and fresh fruit for $7.95. By all accounts, the food was hot, fresh, well-prepared, and good.
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Goat Cheese, Artichoke,
and Ham Strata |
Now, back to my Strata. Actually, I had no idea what strata is. Frankly, now that I know, I realize as I write this that I have no idea how to use the term. Do I say,
I ordered the Strata,
La Strata,
Strata, or what? Do I capitalize the
S?
Article, no article? Just as I decided to order the restaurant's namesake dish without knowing anything about it other than the menu used the words
baked bread and
casserole to describe it, I've decided to use the term with reckless abandon. Take a close look at that picture. I ate that. All of it. Goat cheeese ... artichokessss ... chunnnks of hhham ... chivvves ... onnnions, sprinkled with ppparmesan cheeese for only $8.95. If it hadn't been about 18 hours since dinner, that would easily have filled me up. But, I also had Cheesy Grits and Andouille Sausage. Shared that with Debbie and Shelby. The English Muffin you see with my Strata came from the Grits order. These are not mealy Mid-western grits. These are grits that were milled by the grindstone of my imagination on the banks of a mountain stream in East Tennessee, meaty and nutty. They might have tasted better if the sausage had turned my thoughts to the Pride of Tennessee. Then again, they might not have because the Andouille was savory, spicy, and ahhh. Debbie didn't like the coffee, so, of course, it was just perfect for me--sweet, creamy, and ahhh.
We waited about 10 minutes for our table, a very brief wait for one of the favorite breakfast restaurants of many people in McHenry County. The place was filled with happy people who were served by cheerful, helpful, thoughtful pros. I have to say that a place like Benedict's La Strata might have trouble competing on a blog that features cheap eats if it weren't for two things: 1) the service and 2) modest prices. They do a lot of things well. They haven't tried to cram a few more seats into the place to increase their profits. Their place is well-lit and comfortable. The menu is easy to read, and items are described without embellishment. Parking is more than adequate thanks to the public lots of Crystal Lake. By my mathematical calculations, that's $2.30 in Perk Pennies.
The Bottom Line: $8.95 - 2.30 =
$6.65
That's a great score for a place that has so many hearty items on the menu that I'm positive there's more than one perfect $4.00 combination there!
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