Boar's Nest Review

Our stop on the Tenderloin Tour today took us to the Boar’s Nest Bar and Grill where “the business hours are subject to change during hunting season.”  Unfortunately, you aren’t going to meet Daisy or any of the Dukes at this Boar’s Nest.  It’s located on the edge of town at 1000 North State Route 29, Athens, IL 62613 and online at http://www.boarsnestbarandgrill.com/.  When you walk in, you can’t help but understand the theme of the joint with the multiple deer heads hanging from the walls.  In the spirit of their name, they had a boar’s head intermixed with the deer heads.  We sat at a table in the main dining room with an old wasp’s nest dangling overhead.  There is a fun room in the back of the building with a bar, garage doors, and gambling machines.  They sell their own line of shirts where the biggest seller, which should come as no surprise, comes in camouflage.  The restrooms weren’t sparkling clean but they were clean enough that we didn’t know what the person who used them before us had for lunch. 

The atmosphere is country and it wasn’t long before we were greeted by a pleasant waitress.  We placed our order for drinks and breaded pork tenderloin.  The sandwich cost $7.50 at our visit and came with crinkle cut fries or tater tots.  The drinks came in a big cup and the water had that rural community kind of “flavor.”  It was a heavy chemical taste that would stay with you like an overly bitter beer.

This was the size of the loin.  Notice the regular size pepper shaker.

We’d been warned the size of this tenderloin would make folks from Texas proud and we weren't disappointed.  The tenderloin itself sprawled way outside of the over sized bun and took up half the plate.  We were initially overwhelmed by the size and thickness of this slab of swine but after a bite or two into the sandwich, we realized it wasn't as thick as it appeared.  It had been pounded thin and was heavily breaded.  We compared the meat to breading ratio to an onion ring where you have a little onion inside a huge crust.  The flavor was good except one of the guys was adding salt and at one point, dipped the sandwich into his side of cheese sauce.  It’s not a good sign when you go looking for other items to add to the sandwich as you’re eating it.  The bun and thinner areas of the tenderloin were very chewy to the point my jaw was tired about ¾ of the way through the sandwich.  The fixins/toppings were of a high quality as it came with tomato, lettuce, onion, and a mayonnaise package.  The salt, pepper, ketchup, and mustard were on the table.

This shows the disappointing thickness.

One member of the gang got tater tots and shared a tasting with the rest of us.  The tots were very good but the fries were just ok.  There were several fries that were a little hard and didn’t seem to be completely cooked. 

Overall, this would be a pleasing sandwich for a less seasoned tenderloin connoisseur and a good one for someone with a large appetite.  The atmosphere of the restaurant was quite interesting and enjoyable.  The value for quantity of food was excellent.  Of the 3 of us eating today, only 1 finished the entire sandwich and fries. 

All gone....but the fixins still looked tasty.