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Upcoming Specials 
Jumbo Valentines Day Wrapped Chocolate Covered Strawberries
By Jimmy
It is just about that time of year. Valentine's Day is right around the corner and to us that means it is time to prepare our annual batch of Jumbo Chocolate Covered Strawberries.  It seems that no other dessert we prepare here is asked for more often than these artistic dessert delicacies. There are many times that as guests are looking at our dessert case that the question comes up, when we are going to prepare our chocolate covered strawberries? Beginning a few years ago, we have developed a tradition in preparing them in bulk for this day every year. Not only are they great for a dessert while bringing your loved one out for  dinner, we also have them available to purchase as carryout orders that are packaged and wrapped in attractive gift boxes. What a surprise to open and find such a sweet treat! Please call and reserve yours today because there have been years where they are gone in less than 3 hours of putting them on sale. Strawberries will be available Saturday, February 11th, so call and reserve today! By calling ahead, you will have your order(s) held and there is no need to worry about that last minute gift.  Prices are as follows for both carryout and dine in orders. Reservations for these strawberries are recommended for both dine in and carryout orders. Give us a call at 815-224-4545.
Prices:  Single Berry $3.75
Pack of 2 $7.25
Pack of 4 $14.00
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One Downtown
Stage 212 "The Spitfire Grill"
By Ryan
We enjoy the weekends when Stage 212 puts on a performance. It gives the small city of LaSalle a lively feel and gives our residents a reason to have a night out downtown. Whether it's dinner before the play or to give your taste buds an encore after the play, come to the Uptown and make an evening out of it.
For the next two weekends, Stage 212 will present "The Spitfire Grill." A heartfelt story and musical about a young woman, recently released from prison trying to start over in a small rural, Wisconsin town. Along her journey, the girl rediscovers herself and becomes a catalyst for the rebirth of the town itself. Surely, this performance will only add to the many great performances put on by our local theater. Shows will be presented Friday and Saturday January 27th, 28th and Thursday, Friday and Saturday February 2nd, 3rd and 4th at 7:30pm. They will also host two Sunday matinee's. January 29th and February 5th at 2pm. For tickets call 815-224-3025.
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Behind the Bar
The History of the Irish Coffee
By Andrew
I had not heard this in years past, but I've been told the last week of January is Irish Coffee Week. Not to mention, today the 25th is actually National Irish Coffee Day! Like many of the cocktails that are considered classics in our country, Irish Coffee has it's own story...
 It's said that Irish Coffee was created in the 1940s at the Shannon Airport in Ireland. Stanton Delaplane, an international travel writer tried the drink there and decided to try and reproduce it in the U.S. In 1952, Stanton brought the idea to Jack Koeppler, then owner of the Buena Vista in San Francisco, California. The two worked together on the recipe and perfected it. From there, the drink's popularity really took off.
Still using the recipe perfected in 1952, the Buena Vista serves up 2000 Irish Coffees a day! The place is practically an Irish Coffee factory. When I first heard that number, I laughed out loud. I did not believe it at all. After confirmation from Ray, who has seen it first hand at the Buena Vista, I have to reluctantly believe it is true. I'm told it is like an assembly line at the bar and I suppose it would have to be if you plan on making 2000 daily.
To celebrate this Irish Coffee Week, we are selling our traditional Irish Coffee for only $3.75 and we are not sacrificing quality. We make ours the same way as the Buena Vista with Irish whiskey, piping hot coffee, and lightly hand whipped, whipped cream. Served in the traditional Irish Coffee mug, sprinkled with creme de menthe. It is a true classic cocktail and definitely delicious. Come see us and warm up with a nice Irish Coffee to celebrate Irish Coffee Week!
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National Soup Month
Housemade - Not Out of the Box Soups
By Dalton
January is  National Soup Month and at the Uptown we serve a warm homemade soup daily. Many restaurants, specifically chains, have their soups shipped in 5 gallon buckets that they open upon arrival and heat up in a microwave. Sounds good, huh? Well, we give National Soup Month the respect it deserves.
January is considered National Soup Month because of the freezing winter weather. People tend to get sick in the winter and soups often help build up your immune system. An interesting fact about soup is that before we knew about soup, we had broth. They poured this broth over a piece of bread called sop and from the word sop came soup.
An example of one of our homemade soups is Pork Posole. It is a traditional Mexican soup made with hominy (dried maize kernels). Chef Chuck starts out by boiling the hominy in water for about 4 hours. With doing this, the hominy will be softer and ready to be put in the finished soup. Then we cut all the fresh vegetables, including tomato, celery, corn, onions, and peppers. Nothing beats knowing that the soup your eating is all fresh and not  made from canned goods. Not only do we use fresh vegetables, we also cut the pork off the loin. Then he adds all his special and secret ingredients to make the flavor come alive. After it sits in the pot for hours, he then adds the boiled hominy. When cooking, the steam just flows out and makes the whole kitchen smell delicious. The final product is one of the best homemade soups I have tried. It goes perfect with some tortilla chips as a garnish. This soup has just enough flavor to make you go WOW. So, before you open a preserved can of soup, come in and try a homemade soup from Uptown. Made fresh daily, for you.
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Employee Updates
January Birthdays and Anniversaries
Birthdays
Aly Witek
Janet Ruzicka
Ani Craig
Jim Lannen
Anniversaries
Melinda Andreoni - 5 years
Marsha Klimek - 23 years
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"Burger Me" Thursday
Burger and a Beer for ONLY 10 Bucks!
The Country Fried "Ham"Burger
This week our half pound gourmet burger will be a country fried hamburger. This lightly battered hamburger will be fried and served over mashed potato and smothered in housemade sausage gravy.
Burger Me Thursday has developed a following and we have yet to repeat one of our burgers.
Available all day Thursday, January 26th
NEXT WEEKS BURGER
"The Porto-Burger"
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Three Things to Try
 By Ryan - White Asparagus with Feta Cheese - Asparagus has always been one of my favorite vegetables so to get me to try a variation of asparagus was easy. White asparagus was so much less bitter and more tender that I would prefer to have white over green asparagus. I also really like the combo of the crumbly greek feta cheese with the sweet and crunchy sugared almonds along with the citrus flavors of blood orange and lemon vinaigrette. So many flavors, so much to enjoy. A must try as a pre-entree salad course.
 By Nikki - Antipasto Salad - This salad is by far one of the most delicious and most interesting salads to me. Many of you know antipasto means "before the meal" and people know antipasto to be something like an h'orderve. I enjoy the way Chef Chris makes it into a salad with an out of this world Italian vinaigrette dressing. In this dish you will find fresh genoa salami (my favorite due to it's mouth watering taste), provolone cheese, roasted red peppers, artichoke, black olives, red onions, celery and grape tomatoes with romaine lettuce and orecchiette pasta.
 By Tracey - Jalepena-rita - When Andrew presented the jalapena-rita drink I thought it sounded good, but I had no idea it would be this good. Technically, it's not a margarita, this drink begins with muddled jalapeno and is then mixed with fresh lime juice, tequila and syrup. I am not one for margaritas, but the flavor combinations of the citrus, the tequila and the spicy jalapeno keep me coming back for more. The best part about this drink is that the longer it sits, the spicier it gets. How many times can you really try a drink made with fresh muddled jalapeno? This thing is awesome.
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"Not Your Everyday Specials"
Monday Nights, Steak Diane
Every Monday after 4 pm, we will be serving Steak Diane for $15.75. This will be just like the Red Door Inn. With Victor's stamp of approval.
 Fish Taco
Tuesdays
Every Tuesday, we will be serving fish tacos. The taco includes panko breaded tilapia, red cabbage, chipotle mayonnaise, and a mango pineapple black bean salsa. They will be served with corn chips and adobo sauce. Available for dine in and carryout. 3 for $6.75 or 2.50 each.
Wienerschnitzel Wednesday
Every Wednesday after 4pm, we will be serving authentic German Wienerschnitzel. Served with roasted asparagus, spaetzel and veal demi glaze, it is only $11.75.
Burger Me Thursday
The Country Fried "Ham" Burger
Each week we change our bizarre burger and serve it all day with any beer in house for only $10.00! This week, our gourmet half pound burger is lightly battered and deep fried. Served over mashed potato and smothered with house made sausage gravy.
Friday Nights, Seafood Mixed Grill
4 oz. grilled lobster tail with drawn butter, 4 oz. grilled tuna with tomato caper relish, and 4 oz. whitefish parmesan with lemon caper butter. All for only $19.75
Friday Nights, Surf Your Turf
Friday nights we offer a 4oz lobster tail that you can add to any steak on our menu at our cost! This means that you will pay what we pay for the lobster and not a penny more!
Prime Rib, Friday and Saturday Evening
Available after 4pm every Friday and Saturday night is our herb crusted prime rib of beef. Our prime rib is slow roasted for several hours in our 1980 alto shaam. It is served with au jus, mushrooms and your choice of side dish. Available in 12oz or 16oz.
Slow Roasted Boneless Pork Loin,
Saturday Evenings
Available after 4pm every Saturday night we have slow roasted boneless pork loin with a bourbon demi glaze. 10oz sliced pork loin served with our daily mashed potato and vegetable side
Sunday, All Day, Sizzling Fajita and Margaritas
You get a chicken fajita with a 64 ounce pitcher of margaritas,
perfect for a relaxing Sunday! Serves 2 for $20!
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Specials This Week
appetizer
stuffed fire roasted poblano pepper
roasted poblano pepper stuffed with refried black beans and
roasted del caribe cheese topped with pico de gallo. served
with adobo sauce and corn tortilla chips. 8.75
oysters on the half shell
connecticut blue point oysters. medium choice oyster,
full meat with mild to medium salinity. served with a
mignonette 10.75
artisanal cheese sampler
1. Fromager D'Affinois Brebis (France)
2. Life Prov Fontagne (France)
3. Clarissa Sardinian Goat (Italy)
4. Pinna Brigante (Italy)
5. Shaft's Aged Bleu Vein (USA)
6. Sap Sago, Switzerland.
serves 2 to 4 people 19.75
grilled and chilled white asparagus
white asparagus roasted and chilled. topped with feta cheese, sugared
almondsand a lemon vinaigrette. served with blood orange segments.
we recommend this as an appetizer or a side dish 6.75
salad
antipasto salad
genoa salami, provolone cheese, roasted red peppers, artichoke,
black olives, red onions, celery and grape tomatoes with romaine
and orecchiette pasta. italian vinaigrette dressing 12.75
sandwich
mesculyn salad & panini sandwich combo
prosciutto, brie cheese, and an apple butter.
served with a mesculyn, walnut and gorgonzola salad.
balsamic vinaigrette dressing 10.75 with cup of soup of the
day 12.25
seafood
ponzu prawns over chickpea and corn relish
broiled prawns served with avocado, corn, black beans and
chickpeas. served with a ponzu sauce. 19.50
broiled great lakes trout filet
9oz. fennel and stone ground mustard crusted great lakes trout
filet served with rosemary garlic mashed potatoes
and sauteed zucchini, grape tomato, and pinenuts 16.75
pasta
lobster and roasted corn risotto
main lobster meat with roasted corn, peas, and shallot
in saffron broth with arborio rice 22.75
meat
half chicken roasted with brown sugar and rosemary
brown sugar rosemary half chicken
served with roasted garlic mashed potatoes and matchstick zucchini,
grape tomato and toasted pinenuts sauteed in olive oil and
topped with asiago cheese. 14.50
infused chicken
two six ounce butter garlic infused chicken breasts served with
white wine cream sauce and our seasoned rice blend 13.75
side
sauteed zucchini, grape tomato and pinenuts
matchstick zucchini, grape tomato and toasted pinenuts
sauteed in olive oil and topped with asiago cheese 5.75
dessert
apple cream crostata
served with house made caramel and topped with
sisler's french vanilla ice cream 6.75
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Foodie Fight
Each week in the newsletter, we will ask three questions from the foodie fight cards. The first person to email us (see link below) the correct answers to all three questions will receive a complimentary lunch. The winner has to have the exact answer for all three questions, no exceptions! The following week we will publish the correct answers and the winner of the previous week. So come in and have a drink, study the cards, test each other and have fun. Good Luck!
1. What ice cream flavor did Baskin-Robbins create in 1969 to commemorate the first manned moon landing?
2. What plant are Golden Hubbard, Turk's Turban, and Summer Crookneck
3. What technique is used to stabilize chocolate through a melting and cooling process?
Email your answers to foodiefight@uptowngrill.com
Fine Print...
You must be the first person to respond with all three correct answers.
The response must go to the email address in the above link.
You must reply within 24 hours from the time the newsletter is published.
Participants are eligible to win a limit of 3 times a year.
Last weeks questions and answers...
1. What New World crop showed up on colonial plates as samp, hasty pudding, pone, and johnny cake? CORN
2. What sauce is classically made from egg yolks, butter, and lemon juice? HOLLANDAISE
3. What crustacean was considered a food of last resort and put to use as a bean fertilizer and fishing bait in colonial times? LOBSTER
Last weeks winner of the free lunch ....... Amy Kelley
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Uptown Grill
601 First St.
La Salle, IL 61301
815-224-4545
Monday - Thursday
11AM -10PM
Friday - Saturday
11 AM - 11PM
Sunday
12PM - 10PM
uptowngrill.com
Uptown respects your privacy and will not sell or distribute your personal information.
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