On our drive home from Indiana, we decided to stop at Lindy's in St. Elmo, Illinois for a pit stop. We had read some really great reviews, so we were excited to check it out. In some ways, it exceeded our expectations, and in other ways, it definitely didn't quite live up to the hype.
When you walk in, Lindy's feels like a miniature Wally's. It has a lot of potential and is clearly designed to be more than just your average gas station. Unfortunately, it seemed like something might have been going on during our visit. There was an entire display case that was completely empty, and several of the drink dispensers were out of order, including the tea. I'm not sure if they were having electrical issues or if it was just a temporary problem, but it definitely took away from the experience.
On the positive side, it was a very safe-feeling location and everything was extremely clean. They also have a Starbucks inside, which is always convenient, but the biggest surprise for us was seeing a Sbarro! We're big fans of this throwback pizza place, so finding one in the middle of Illinois at a gas station was definitely unexpected and made the stop more exciting.
The employee working behind the counter at Sabarro's was incredibly nice and friendly. He chatted with us while we were there, and we were able to pay for all of our drinks and our pizza right at the counter, which was really convenient.
We walked in playing the theme from St. Elmos's Fire, the movie because we were pretty excited about that little connection. Unfortunately, no one else seemed quite as excited about our discovery as we were!
Honestly, if it weren't for the Sbarro, Lindy's probably would have just felt like an average gas station stop for us. It's definitely a good place to stop if you need gas, a clean restroom, snacks, or a quick bite to eat. It's clean, safe, and has some nice amenities.
Just don't go in expecting it to be the next Wally's. It has the look and some of the potential, but during our visit, too many things were unavailable for it to live up to that comparison.
Still, it made for a perfectly fine road-trip pit stop, and finding Sbarro in the middle of Illinois was a fun little surprisey! read more