At 2 p.m. Fridays, our Kathy Reiser answers restaurant questions. Put her to the test by clicking here or email kreiser@news-gazette.com.

Grabbing a bite with Joey Wright

Each week, we chop it up with the folks responsible for dishing up food around the area. What restaurant should we try next? Let Joey Wright know at jwright@news-gazette.com.

Business is picking up for ET’s in downtown Rantoul.

The restaurant — which opened six years ago and weathered pandemic-era challenges early in its existence — has become a destination for folks from neighboring towns looking for a bite to eat.

And, of course, hungry ballplayers and families from the nearby Rantoul Family Sports Complex, which regularly gives the restaurant parties of 20-45 during the summer months.

“Business has been awesome,” manager Kim Harris said. “The sports complex has been awesome for us … we’ve got groups that come back and play every year. We see people once a year, we see people seven times a week.”

Seeing the community support ET’s in its first half-decade has been fun for Harris to watch.

“We’ve had wedding proposals, bridal showers, baby showers, we’ve had anniversaries,” Harris said. “I think that’s the coolest thing about the restaurant business, is the connections you make and have with your customers.”

As for the food at ET’s?

“We’re casual,” Harris said. “We do everything in-house, make all of our own sauces … we try to do everything as fresh and a little bit unique as possible. We’ve got a great jalapeño dip that I tell customers they need to put on everything.”