There's still a place to get good ribs

Larry Hopper had a good idea -- and some good barbecue -- when he parked his mobile restaurant, or trailer, in Fabyan Forest Preserve near the Fabyan windmill the past few summers.

He had a better idea when he opened Hopper's Bar-B-Que in the Campton Square retail strip off Route 64 near Burlington Road.

Reader Jan Gargantiel sent an e-mail to tell me she enjoyed reading about my visiting various eateries in this region and sharing my thoughts with readers. She was encouraging me to give Hopper's a try, saying it was one of the best-kept secrets in the area.

I used to make the trek west of the Tri-Cities for many business lunches at the Wasco Inn over the years, so it was no problem to pop out to Hopper's. After downing a barbecue pulled-pork sandwich, I can say that this is an excellent barbecue joint.

And any place that has a poster on the wall of the movie marquee for Gary Cooper's "High Noon" is an OK place in my book.

Since Kane County dropped its summer rib-fest at the Kane County Events Center about six years ago, we're left to dig in at the local choices in the Tri-Cities area. If you are a lover of this southern style of cooking, put Hopper's, at 40W188 Campton Crossing Drive, down in your notebook.

More barbecue west: Not quite as far west of Randall Road as Hopper's Bar-B-Que, you'll find more tasty barbecue fare.

I stopped at the Tap House Grill booth during the recent Rolling Down the River chamber of commerce business expo, and ate some tasty sample barbecue treats.

The bottom line is that if you are traveling west on Main Street out of St. Charles, you're going to bump into some good barbecue joints on the way. The Tap House Grill, which is at 3341 W. Main St., makes a simple pitch on its business cards -- Addictive Food/Creative Brews.

Wheels when needed: Also at the Rolling Down the River expo, I asked Spare Wheels Transportation president Judy DeVoe what she would consider a service her company provides that most people wouldn't know about.

"We took about 18 people from the church to the cemetery during a funeral," DeVoe said. "It was just a case in which they all didn't want to take their cars to the cemetery."

According to DeVoe and her office manager Cathy Ross, the Spare Wheels Transportation service out of St. Charles has a challenge in making people aware that the company exists.

"People just don't always know that we are here," Ross said of the company, which specializes in all facets of transportation needs from corporate events to weddings and outings.

Tasty sauce: Even though he wasn't the most local exhibitor at Rolling Down the River, I must plug Don Marino of the catering service Marino's Kitchen. The homemade sausage and Italian sauce coming from this Lockport caterer was truly outstanding.

I told him it reminded me of Sunday afternoons at my grandmother's house. And that's a lofty compliment.