It’s true for many states—regions within their borders feel
disparate—so it’s no surprise that I felt a combination of culture shock and
longing for home in Fayetteville in its surrounding area. Topographically, you
couldn’t be more different than central Illinois: mountainous hills abound the
landscape. But something felt homelike. Perhaps it’s Fayetteville’s inherent
college town-ness that evoked the feeling of Champaign-Urbana, yet bigger.
We spent barely an afternoon there, but I felt comfortable
there. It’s a definitely a flagship university town with modern looking
buildings. There was a street that seemed like you could stumble out of one bar
and end up crawling into another without difficulty. There was even a used
bookstore that we could’ve spent all day there, though that was due in part to my
futile attempt to decode its organizational system. There was something about
the city that just seemed right.
We stopped at a restaurant that Sam had been recommended
called Hammontree’s Grilled Cheese. As you can guess, they have a very specific
menu. As you may well know, I have reservations about gourmet burgers, so I was
reluctant to sample what Hammontree’s had to offer. Then I saw how the place
ran rife with Star Wars memorabilia
and artwork, particularly the Admiral Ackbar painting hanging above the bar.
And then I saw the restaurant’s companion food truck is called the GrilleniumFalcon. They tickled my nerd sensibilities, but would they satisfy my appetite?
“Grilled cheese” here feels somewhat like a misnomer. In my
book, a grilled cheese sandwich is one without meat, one that sticks to a
simple pairing of melted cheese between toasted bread. Several of Hammontree’s
sandwiches have ham or pork or some other meat on them, which isn’t to
discredit the place—they know how to make a damn fine sandwich. It reminded me
of a place we had in my college town called Planet Wiener that, though it touted
itself as serving hot dogs in its title, half of its menu were hamburgers. Oddly
enough, Hammontree’s serves hot dogs as well. Thankfully, Hammontree’s made a
better sandwich than the now-defunct Planet Wiener made hot dogs or burgers.
I ordered the “Cheebacca”—again, Star Wars—which has “Sharp White Cheddar, House Cheese, bacon,
pulled pork, grilled onions and garlic cilantro sauce on sourdough.” I wasn’t
huge on the garlic cilantro sauce, but everything else on it came together
beautifully. It wasn’t a heavy sandwich, either, so it was ideal for a lunch
meal. It was disappointing that they served generic potato chips with the sandwich,
though again, anything more would’ve made the meal heavier.
Sam got their Chicago Dog, so she looked to see if it held
up to her homeland’s traditions. Hammontree’s Chicago Dog is comprised of “Quarter
pound all beef frank soaked in Old Style beer, grilled and topped with mustard,
tomatoes, relish, onions and a pickle spear on a poppy seed roll.” What
impressed me was its Old Style infusion, as even in Illinois you were lucky to
find Old Style if you weren’t within an hour of Cook County.
Though I don’t know if we’ll make it to Fayetteville again
anytime soon, I’d return to Hammontree’s. It’s an ideal lunch location, and
though our wait for food was a little long, it’s an amusing dining experience.
If nothing else, we could scout out for the Grillenium Falcon.
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