Sandy’s Restaurant

Delicious home cooked food! Good to still see a successful family business making good money and keeping customers happy! Keep it up!

I am always on the lookout for good breakfast joints. The ‘off the beaten path’, consummate hole in the wall type places. They typically have great food and über charming staff. I heard about Sandy’s through a couple of people from work and I thought it would be worth the trek from my house!
Sandy’s is small and cozy, with a lot of paraphernalia on the walls to keep you entertained. Just before I sat down, I happened to glance at another guest’s plate. I saw what was undoubtedly the world’s LARGEST pancake! Then I thought to myself, «this is gonna be good!»
The menu was very neat, showing a lot of the «standard» fare. But you could also see a very personal touch on the menu as well, which I thought was kind of neat. I thought I would play it safe and not order one of those gargantuan pancakes, but then the server suggested I get a short stack. I was told the short stack was «smaller». That’s kind of like saying the earth is smaller than Jupiter.
In short, (no pun intended), the short stack was nothing short of short. Hehe. In addition, considering my husband and I both were lured to ordering the «short» stack, there was barely room on the table for the other goodies! But since we’d never want to show we don’t appreciate food, we did our best to finish everything.
I ordered a ham steak and eggs, thinking it would be a nice, subtle portion. Basically, I got what appeared to be half a pig! It was a rather generous portion of very tasty, not salty, very tender ham, accompanied by perfectly cooked eggs and a fluffy, home made biscuit. It was quite nummy, to say the least. My husband ordered the chicken fried chicken, which was absolutely AH-​MAY-​ZEENG! It was incredibly tender, breaded perfectly and the gravy which accompanied it… Well, let me just say that gravy is so good, it may make you slap someone! I’m just sayin’!
With such generous portions, the prices are very, very, in fact insanely reasonable! I think my ham steak and eggs was $ 7.00 or $ 8.00 dollars and our total bill was a skosh under $ 20.00. The service is very friendly and super quick! The atmosphere is very homey and it’s very much worth a visit. Enjoy!

An undiscovered treasure tucked innocently at the west end of a shopping area a block off Main and several blocks from I-​70! Looking for a post-​game meal after a grandson’s football game. This place was clean and inviting, but I’m not instinctively drawn to «home cooking» since I get superb cooking of that type at home. Not said, we still gave it a try.
Country décor featuring lots of Holstein cows and a nondescript menu awaited us inside. The server was very pleasant and engaging, so we are gaining momentum.
I jumped at the Pork Tenderloin once I was assured that it was of sufficient circumference and was encouraged to find I could get grilled onions on it. For a side? Fries, waffle fries etc…“Oh, today we sweet potato fries if you’d like, sir”. This young lady is my new best friend! My grown son has the same but opts for some onion rings.
One son ordered a double BLT and I’m thinking he ‘ll be hungry again before he even finishes it. When it arrived, it was so huge it needed a building permit! It was made from three slices of thick bakery bread and towered over Three Inches Tall. My 17 yr old (who is part Piranha) could only finish half of his meal.
My sandwich meat was respectable for surface area, but more than a half inch of actual pork inside the golden breading. Insane! The sweet potato fries came with a side of honey, as if they required extra flavor, but we dipped them anyway. We are laughing our heads off at our meals and how much delicious food is at out table by this time.
Then Aaron’s open roast beef sandwich arrives last and it there is more on his platter that can legitimately stay on it. Luscious brown adorned the entire offering to the point of overflowing.
We are too stuffed for dessert, but there are exquisite looking creations beckoning to us from across the room.
I’m giving this place a constellation of stars with the understanding that, for what it intends to be and do, it is succeeds masterfully. Prices may seem a bit high, but for the portions doled out you might consider their offer to bring a second plate for a slight extra charge.
Two small problems: (1) I am so seldom in the Grain Valley area that it may be way too long before I get back. (2) Exercise extreme caution when driving home. With 170 miles between there and home, I utilized a Rest Area to sleep off the narcotic effect of this meal. You have been warned. Let’s be careful out there!