Check in at Checkers

Jim and Nancy do not disclose the fact that they will review a restaurant before they attend, ensuring their reviews are unbiased and uninfluenced by their position with the Sun Day.

A long, long time ago, in a suburb far, far, away, there lived two young foodies. They traveled near and far in search of new restaurants. This was a big adventure since there were no cell phones or GPS, they had to rely on Jim’s map reading skills and Nancy’s nagging. They ventured from their comfortable Hoffman Estates home all the way to what they considered the boonies of Woodstock. The reason for this trip was a restaurant called Deeter’s which featured excellent German/Swiss cuisine.

Move ahead a few millennia, and lo and behold, these two young foodies are now ancient and use a GPS in conjunction with Nancy’s nagging. As fate would have it, they now live in the boonies of Huntley, and Woodstock is their close neighbor.

Friends of theirs asked them out for dinner and they suggested a casual establishment in Union. As luck would have it, this restaurant was owned by the owners of Deeter’s, Alex and Nadine. They downsized and brought their cuisine to a quaint local eatery. Our friends made reservations for 5:00 and off we went to “check in” at Checker’s 2 in Union.

Unforturnately, this restaurant is not handicap accessible, and they only offer street parking. When you walk in, they have a large bar, five booths and six tables in the front of the restaurant, with additional seating in the rear. Outside seating is also available in season.

Jim, being an “old kraut head” loves German food and spotted the Hunter Schnitzel ($28) on the menu. This was a pork cutlet topped with onions, bacon, mushrooms, and brown gravy served with spaetzle and a fresh vegetable. It was tasty, but somehow it didn’t meet up to Jim’s expectation. When we warmed up the left overs the next day, he realized the schnitzel was missing the bacon and onions. The veggies, however, were an unexpected treat. These were pea pods and baby carrots sauteed with onions and they were delicious.

Nancy decided to go with another German staple, (7) Jumbo Fried Shrimp (?) for $20. She had her choice of a side and she chose spaetzle to make her entrée truly German. She also loved the veggies tonight. The spaetzle was just as good as she remembered from Deeter’s.

Tonight, we went for dessert instead of an appetizer. If you go to a German restaurant, you must have a German dessert, so we chose the Homemade Apple Strudel with a scoop of vanilla ice cream ($9). The apple and nut filling in the strudel was a perfect German treat to end our evening out with friends.

In conclusion, this is a nice neighborhood restaurant that serves both German and American food. They are not stingy with their portion size.

The price for our German evening out with our Italian friends was $67.24. Watching them order broasted chicken and cheesecake for dessert, priceless…

Jim’s take: What the heck!?! Most German food has bacon and onion somewhere in it, how could they forget that???

Nancy’s take: The spaetzle here is out of this world. They go the extra mile to fry it in butter which makes it even more delicious!!!

Have comments or restaurant suggestions for the Dining Duo? Send them an email at thediningduo@gmail.com

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