This Is Illinois' Restaurant Of The Year, New Ranking Says

ILLINOIS — While the City of Chicago is a haven for foodies, one new restaurant ranking is looking beyond the Windy City, ranking a unique Illinois eatery among its Restaurants of the Year.

USA TODAY released a new ranking of the best restaurants in the U.S. on Thursday, and a Peoria restaurant that got its start as a "small, humble bakery" made the list.

Also Read: 18 IL Restaurants, Chefs Named 2024 James Beard Semifinalists

Ardor Breads and Provisions, 301 SW Water St. in Peoria, is among 47 restaurants on the Restaurants of the Year list.

The eatery, which opened in 2020 as a bakery and transitioned to a full-service restaurant last year, features food cooked over a live-fire heart, according to the Peoria Journal Star.

"I think some of the food we're doing is — I can say — hands down, especially when it comes to dinner, the best food I've ever cooked anywhere," founder Cody Scogin told the outlet.

Ardor still features a bakery and cafe menu, with pastries including Danish, cookies, breads and lunch items from grilled cheese to kimchi fried chicken sandwiches. The bakery also offers a "mystery 6," featuring six different pastries hand-selected by Ardor's bakers.

According to the Ardor website, the dining room "focuses on seasonally inspired wood-fired cooking," with a rotating menu of "hyper-seasonal" items. The current menu features crispy kimchi rice and beef tartare, braised lamb, ricotta dumplings, wood grilled swordfish, "American Wagyu" ribeye and more.

Ardor is open 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday, with dinner hours from 5 to 9 p.m. Thursday through Saturday.