So we did make it out to Chenoa the other day to this former furniture store, which before that was a regional First Responder training facility that the owner - apparently a progressive thinking EMT originally from Normal, founded back in like the 50's and has now turned into a beer/entertainment emporium.
Although this is a somewhat unassuming single story space at the far end of this highway town, it's way bigger than it looks. Outside you see a sand court and a food truck and a loose stone parking lot. Then you walk in the front door see the billiard/pinball room down the hall and the restrooms (with historical building info on the walls) right there up front. You walk thru that main hallway and enter into the main space complete with a restaurant counter immediately on the left and mixed mostly open lounge areas elsewhere. These include a sit down area of old school game boxes hooked to TVs, giant screen TVs with sports above, and a slew of arcade games dominating the right-hand side. As you wander in further you see the brewery behind glass at the back of the room with an area obscured by a pay-by-the-OZ beer wall, which in turn hides an array of gambling machines! The aforementioned sand court surrounded by an under construction patio was off left side of the large main room, while an attached single car garage-sized golf simulator was off the right side.
As for the brewery viewable through the glass in back, it occupies about 2/3rds of the 2-story attached back building, with a private event space taking the last 3rd. And while they told us it held 300, our calculations were more like 150 comfortably. The floors were a mixture of concrete and stone throughout.
As for the beer itself, the OB porter was all they had that day and if it really was the first batch brewed, it really wasn't bad at all truth be told. Our host said they are supposedly now ready to start filling in more of their own beers as the current guest tap kegs blow, but the host did not know what other beers have been brewed.
And while we did not sample the food, it turns out the indoor restaurant area is attached to the food truck outdoors (thinking multiple LLC's throughout the complex) and the menu, which features an array of sammiches and bar food, is also undergoing a bit of an update.
With that in mind, we look forward to a return visit, including some food, in a few weeks. read more