Tone's Dog House - Ottawa, IL

While on an eagle watching trip in January, 2012 we went through Ottawa, IL and saw this cool little hotdog stand. We couldn't resist trying their rings.

Mommy: Really liked them. They were juicy and sweet, and not overly crispy. She said they were some of the best rings she's had in a long time.

Daddy: Liked them, but he prefers his rings crispier. But, they were tasty and fresh.

Ian: Enjoyed them but he, like Daddy, prefers his rings crispy. Still, he ate quite a few of them.

Cami: Liked her chocolate malt, but it was the standard soft-serve variety. Nothing to write home about.

The Dairy Korner

Another place we stopped at in St. Joseph, Michigan was The Dairy Korner. It was at night so my picture above is very dark.

The folks there were very friendly but I have to be honest, their rings were not good. They are the typical mass-produced minced variety. Being a step up from Burger King’s rings is about the only positive thing I can say about them. In fact, we didn’t even bother to photograph them.

As far as the chocolate malt goes, it was ok but again it was a typical soft-serve type.

The Neon Grill

This last week we took a camping trip to St.Joseph, Michigan. While there we saw a cool looking place called The Neon Grill. We decided to try their rings (of course!) and here are our thoughts:

Mommy: Liked them but wasn’t overly impressed. Thought the onions were sweet, which is a plus.

Daddy: Thought they were ok. A little undercooked for his taste, but not bad overall. I like my rings a little crunchier.

Ian: Loved them! At one point he said that they might be the best rings he’s ever had. Hmmm. High praise indeed.

Cami: Enjoyed the chocolate malt, but it was not chocolatey enough. In fact, we thought it might have been a vanilla malt when we first tasted it.

Photo’s Hot Dogs

Photo’s is a local burger and gyros place that is near our house in Illinois. There are several locations in the northern suburbs and they have a typical menu of burgers, gyros, hotdogs, etc. Their food isn’t bad but they have gotten pricey (as most places have). We were there last night and decided to try their rings. Here are our comments:

Mommy: Did not like the rings at all. She said they were the generic frozen type that can be gotten at a hundred different places.

Daddy: Was not impressed with them. They were over-cooked, which is a difficult thing to do. I like rings that are well-cooked and extra crispy, so finding a place that actually overcooks them is a rarity.

Ian: Thought they were good. He said the onions inside the rings were sweet tasting. But, I could tell by the fact that Mommy and I were able to get some means that he didn’t think they were very good. Normally if he likes the onion rings he inhales them and we don’t get any.

Cami: Really liked her chocolate shake, but it was a typical shake that was made with soft serve ice cream. I’ve had better…

The food at Photo’s is OK, but it is rapidly becoming not worth the money. For example, their onion rings are not as good as Portillo’s and are more expensive. From now on we’ll only go there when they’re having their 2 of 1 specials.

Steak 'n Shake

Steak 'n Shake is, I think, a national chain that has decent food. There are several in our area but we rarely go. A few days ago we got the hankering for a shake and decided we would try the rings while we were there. Here are the results:

Mommy: The rings are "so-so". They aren't crispy enough but the onions are sweet. She gives them a 5 out of 10.

Daddy: Is not impressed with Steak 'n Shake's onion rings. They are not crispy but are sort of mushy. I give them a 3 out of 10.

Ian: Hated them. Said they were awful. 'Nough said.

Cami: Loved her shake!

Bottom line, Steak 'n Shake has ok food and the prices are not so bad, but don't bother with the onion rings.

Fuddruckers

Fuddruckers is a popular restaurant in the Chicagoland area (are there Fuddruckers elsewhere? I don't know). We went there the other day as part of a birthday celebration and the food was very yummy. But, how are the rings? There was a difference of opinion for this restaurant.

Mommy - likes Fuddruckers onion rings. While not perfect they are consistent. The onions are always sweet and they are never over-cooked. She'd give them a 6 out of 10 rating.

Daddy - does not like Fuddruckers rings. They are mushy and the onions themselves are slimy. But the breading is tasty. I usually just eat the breading.

Ian - is not that happy with them. The onions aren't cooked enough and when he bites into them he can't bite through the onions, so the whole onion comes out of the breading like a long worm.

Cami - likes Fuddruckers chocolate shakes. We all like them, which sort of bums her out because we snarf a lot of her shake.

Bottom line, Fuddruckers has good food (but getting pricier as time goes on), but unless you like large mushy rings I would get the fries.

Das Dutchman Essenhaus

On our trip to Shipshewana we stopped for dinner at the Das Dutchman Essenhaus restaurant. It's a fun place and the food is really good, and reasonably priced in my opinion. It's worth a stop if you're in the Nappanee, Indiana area. For my dinner I got a chance to choose my "sides" so I picked onion rings (what else?). Our thoughts:

Mommy: Thought they were pretty good, but not amazing.

Daddy: I liked these rings. I would put them only behind Portillo's as my favorite so far. They are not spectacular, but better than I expected. They were crispy, which is the way I like them. I'm not a fan of big gooey rings.

Ian: Liked them a lot. He ended up eating many of the rings I was given.

Cami: She didn't get a malt at this restaurant, so we'll have to wait for our next visit to critique those.

Das Dutchman Essenhaus is a good family restaurant. They give you decent amounts of food and it's not as expensive as you might expect in a tourist area.

Splash Universe in Shipshewana, Indiana

For Spring Break, 2011, we went for a couple of days to Splash Universe in Shipshewana, Indiana. It's a fun place and we got a fairly decent deal on our room. The kids had a great time in the water park and we had a good time too. The water park is smallish as water parks go, but that works with smaller kids because there aren't a lot of places for the kids to disappear to. Off to one side is the food area (where a lot of parents hang out) where you can order pizzas and nachos and, of course, onion rings. So, we tried a small order. Here are our opinions:

Mommy: The rings had very little flavor but they had a decent texture. She wouldn't order them again given the chance, especially since they were expensive as onion rings go.

Daddy: Agreed with Mommy that the rings didn't have much flavor, but he liked them all the same. However, the price is prohibitive (to be fair everything there was expensive). Daddy wound up eating most of the rings.

Ian: Ian thought they were ok, but not worth a trip back to get them. He ate a few but didn't seem all that interested, which in itself is an indication of his view of them.

Cami: We got her a chocolate malt from the "Creamery" there at the hotel. She really liked it, as did Daddy and Ian. I wish we had gotten more of them. However, the malt still was not as good as the ones we get at Oberweiss.

Splash Universe is a fun place and while you're there you may get the opportunity to buy some rings at the snack shop. Go ahead and get them, if you have the cash to do so, but don't expect to be wow'ed.

The Deli at Jewel Food Store

Sometimes we get chicken fingers at the Jewel food store. The chicken isn't bad so we decided to get some of their onion rings. In a word, they are "disgusting". The oil they used to cook them tasted old, all of the rings congealed into a lump, and they tasted awful.

We tried to like them...we really did, but in the end we all agreed that they are terrible. Don't waste your money.

Portillo's

Portillo's is a largish, and very well known, fast food chain here in Chicagoland. They have a wide variety of foods, such as Italian beef sandwichs, hotdogs, ribs, and other very yummy items. And they have onion rings and chocolate shakes! Woohoo! Well, we had to try them. Here are the results:

Mommy: She really likes Portillo's as a whole and she likes the onion rings, but sometimes the onion rings are a bit inconsistent. Some days they are a little over-cooked and other days they are under-cooked. But, these are her favorite so far.

Daddy: As mentioned with Nikko's, Daddy likes his onion rings slightly over-cooked and crispy, so on days when this is the case Portillo's is one of Daddy's favorites. But, on those days when they are under-cooked Daddy isn't a fan of Portillo's. The rings are mushy and clammy. (Is "clammy" a word?)

Ian: Loves Portillo's onion rings. When we go there we have to get him his own order of them, otherwise no one else gets any. These are his favorite so far.

Camryn: She'll drink the shakes there, but they aren't her favorite. The shakes at Portillo's are not up to the same standard as their other food items.

Conclusion: Portillo's is a very yummy place to eat. They have a wide variety of food to choose from and the prices are reasonable. Give the onion rings a try. They're pretty good. The shakes aren't bad but they're only slightly better than McDonald's shakes.

Nikko's

Today we started our search at a local burger joint called "Nikko's". It's an interesting place that has parking spaces with menus. You place your order there and someone brings it out to you, but they have indoor seating as well.

Nikko's is located at the corner of Willow and Rand road in Arlington Heights. It is one of those Greek gyros fast food restaurants. The smells that come out of the door are fabulous.

With anticipation we got one order of rings and passed them around. Here are our comments:

Mommy: Felt that the rings were a bit over-cooked, but they were still ok. But they weren't sweet enough for her.

Daddy: Liked them. He doesn't like under-cooked onion rings so these were decent. They were sweet and crunchy.

Ian: Thought that they were a little over-cooked, but they were crunchy and yummy. But, they were very hot when they came so he had to wait a few minutes while they cooled down. This was an annoyance to him.

Camryn: Enjoyed the chocolate malt, though clearly the ice cream they use is just soft serve, so it was "so so".

Conclusion: Nikko's is a good restaurant for burgers and gyros and the onion rings are decent, but the rings and malts aren't good enough to make a special trip back.

A new beginning

Welcome to the Onion Ring diaries! Tag along on our journey to find the most excellent onion rings and malts. It may take us a lifetime of searching, but we will not rest until we locate the Holy Grail of fried treats.

Ok, that's actually a lie. We'll do lots of resting while we search. Those of us who love onion rings don't have the stamina to tirelessly search for anything.

But, look we will, and we will post our opinions of what we find (with pictures, too!). We hope you enjoy the ride...