Spoonies in London Mills Serves a Tenderloin With Serious Reach

At Spoonies in London Mills, the pork tenderloin sandwich does not arrive quietly. The breaded cutlet spreads far beyond the bun in the grand Midwestern fashion, an oversized plateful that has drawn comparisons to a tire and tends to stop conversations for a second.

This is not a tenderloin pounded thin simply to create a bigger silhouette. Spoonies' version keeps a thick, substantial center beneath its breading, giving the sandwich enough heft and flavor to match its dramatic dimensions.

London Mills is a small Illinois stop in the Spoon River area, and Spoonies has the pleasant out-of-the-way character of a place people hear about, then decide is worth the drive. The trip through rural Illinois is often folded into the outing, with diners coming from surrounding communities and even farther afield for lunch or dinner built around that enormous sandwich.

The full tenderloin is a sensible order for a hungry person with a container waiting at home, but it is also commonly split at the table. One sandwich can easily carry into another meal, especially after sides enter the picture.

Spoonies also offers a smaller Share a Tenderloin option for a group that wants a taste without committing to the full-scale production. It gives the table an easy way to sample the house specialty while leaving room for onion rings, fries, burgers, or another sandwich.

That shareability changes the rhythm of a meal here. Rather than everyone ordering the same famous item, a group can put one tenderloin in the middle of the table and let the rest of the order roam a little.

A half order of onion rings is still a generous serving, so it makes sense alongside a shared tenderloin. The rings are crisp, flavorful, and substantial enough not to disappear under the larger sandwiches.

Fried cheese curds add another good bar-and-grill detour. They are available as a side or appetizer and bring a pleasantly rich, fried-cheese counterpoint to the crunch of the onion rings.

For fries, the choices include seasoned waffle fries, standard French fries, and sweet potato fries. Waffle fries are a particularly practical companion for anyone intent on using the plate as a small-scale sampling session.

The tenderloin may be the name people pass around, but Spoonies does not run on a one-item menu. Large, thick burgers are another prominent option, including the Sunrise Burger, the Mushroom and Swiss Burger, and the memorably named Hamburger Look How Thick.

The burger side of the menu is for diners who want a classic grilled alternative without stepping down to a modest meal. These are substantial burgers, the sort that stand up well beside a pile of fries and still make a convincing main event.

Fish sandwiches, chicken sandwiches, fried chicken, salads, and other sandwich combinations broaden the choices further. Whole catfish is another item with a devoted audience, useful to know when the table contains somebody who has no interest in competing with a tenderloin.

One of the more playful specialty sandwiches is the Colbert: an adult grilled-cheese-style construction of cheese, bacon, egg, and mayonnaise on Texas toast. It sounds like the sort of thing ordered after a long day or in the company of people who appreciate that dinner need not be overly solemn.

Spoonies combines a bar with an indoor dining area, so the meal can go in a couple of directions. A quick lunch can stay in the dining room; a more leisurely visit can begin at the bar, where conversation with the bartender and neighboring patrons is part of the easy social current.

The room has the relaxed, welcoming tone associated with a small-town bar and grill rather than a polished destination dining room. That suits the food. A huge breaded tenderloin, a basket of rings, and a cold drink do not need much ceremony around them.

There is room for larger groups, with both bar seating and indoor tables available. The atmosphere can be especially lively in the evenings and on weekends, while a daytime stop may be quieter.

Spoonies is not a convenient urban drop-in; it is a rural destination meal. The road to London Mills is part of the proposition, particularly for people who enjoy making an afternoon of a scenic Illinois drive and ending it with something unapologetically hearty.

Parking is plentiful, with free street parking available. Once inside, the useful decision is not so much where to sit as how ambitious to be with the order.

The tenderloin is the obvious reason to make the trip, but the broader menu keeps a return visit from becoming a rerun. One day might be a shared tenderloin and onion rings; another could belong to catfish, waffle fries, or that bacon-and-egg Texas-toast sandwich.