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BUZZ MAGAZINE – If you’re like me, when you want to dine out, your first choice is always a locally owned restaurant, no matter what town you are in. We even look for them when we travel. These culinary gems seem to be fewer and farther between these days but
I have some good news. A new, locally owned restaurant has recently opened in downtown Litchfield, and with just a little more than a month under their proverbial belt, customers are giving them rave reviews!
“Very good food! Large portions and great prices too. We will definitely be back!!”
“Had the fried pickles and taco salad tonight. Everything including the service was great.”
“We had the appetizers, loaded fries with bacon & cheese and the mozzarella sticks. They were fabulous! I had the pulled pork baked potato. The food was delicious & the service was great! The server was so super sweet.”
Litchfield is Montgomery County’s shopping hub, conveniently located along Interstate 55, with Aldi and Walmart drawing in consumers from surrounding towns on a regular basis. So Litchfield has a ton of fast food and chain eateries, but nothing can beat a fresh, never frozen, hand pattied burger hot off the grill! Diamond’s Bistro & Gaming has that!
Diamond’s Bistro & Gaming is owned and operated by Ray and Tracy. How they came about being the owners of this new restaurant seems to be a twist of fate. Ray is originally from the Auburn area but travels all over the country for a company based out of Houston, Texas. Tracy lived in Texas and was employed as an elementary school teacher. The two met in early 2021, Tracy stopped teaching and began traveling with Ray. Unfortunately in 2021, Ray’s mother passed away. She was the long time owner of Pearl’s Pub in Auburn. Tracy and Ray came back to Illinois to settle her affairs, which included auctioning off the pub. The money was to be split between Ray and his siblings. Serendipitously, Ray decided to bid, and won the auction, keeping the pub family-owned as it had been for the past 38+ years. Now owning a business in his hometown, with employment that allows for him to be based basically anywhere, he began looking for other business opportunities in the area.
“When we found out a location that had previously been a bar and grill in Litchfield was available, we jumped on the opportunity,” Tracy explained. “We are thrilled to be part of this community and can’t wait to meet everyone!”
While trying to come up with a name for the new establishment employees mentioned they already owned a pub named Pearl’s, and diamonds are another gem ... and it stuck.
Diamond’s Bistro & Gaming opened on December 27, 2024 and Ray and Tracy are thrilled with the reception they have received thus far from both locals and travelers.
Operating for the first month with a temporary menu to kick off, their new permanent menu is now available. Their most popular items remain of course, which include both their steak and chicken Philly sandwiches, their coveted fresh, never frozen, hand-pattied burgers (as mentioned previously) and their hand cut french fries. These factors make the burgers and fries at Diamond’s not only tastier, but healthier, than fast food burger and fries combos. Case in point: You think fast food french fries are just fried potatoes with added salt? This is what goes into french fries at a leading fast food restaurant : potatoes, vegetable oil, natural beef flavor, wheat derivatives, milk derivatives, citric acid, dextrose (which is sugar), sodium acid pyrophosphate, salt, dimethylpolysiloxane and silicoaluminate. In short, after the fries are cut from real potatoes, they get covered in sugar so they are all the same color. Then they’re coated in sodium acid pyrophosphate to keep them from turning gray when frozen, shipped to the chain locations and cooked as needed. Thanks, but no thanks ... I will take Diamond’s Bistro hand-cut fries any day: real potatoes, cut on site, fried and salted. It’s as simple as that.
Tracy said, “We don’t serve fast food, but we do serve fresh, delicious food - fast!” And she should know. She is the head cook!
A huge bonus for me also, their ranch dressing is made fresh, in house as well! None of that bottled stuff for me. Well, to be fair, they do have bottled ranch available and will ask you which you prefer. It’s a no-brainer for me!
Diamond’s Bistro & Gaming also has a full service bar. Drinks rum the gamut from the usual bar favorites to specialty drinks such as their Florida-inspired Kiss on the Lips, a delicious mixture of peach schnapps, mango and other (secret) ingredients. There are video gaming areas both on the main level and upstairs, where you will also find pool tables and darts.
It would be a good idea to follow Diamond’s Bistro & Gaming on Facebook because they have several upcoming events in the works - something for the “big game,” Valentine’s Day, karaoke nights, maybe Mardi Gras ... it’s the best way to keep informed on the “latest and greatest’ happenings, daily specials and more
Stop in Diamond’s Bistro & Gaming today and tell them The Buzz sent you. They are located at 308 N. State Street in downtown Litchfield. Current hours are 11 a.m.-1 a.m. daily. If you don’t want to dine in, call 217-324-3663 for to-go orders with curbside pickup (faster than a fast food drive-thru), or Door Dash delivery is available.
This story originally published in the February 2025 issue of The Prairie Land Buzz Magazine - http://www.thebuzzmonthly.com.
