Doing the Sambucca

I met with a local reporter at Sambucca Joe's (menu) beverage & bagel & burger place recently. At the same location where Zipps used to be and Rally. Closed for years, now open with a new look and new menu, thanks to Denise (pictured here) and Jeff Johnson, and Dan Terry (of Newell House fame).

That's not the reporter in the background. At Sambucca Joe's, you can sit under a sambucca tree and eat a bagel or "Sambucca Wrap", drink coffee, and watch traffic and people pass by on Illinois Avenue. Or sit on a bench facing south with a view of the towers and Mill Street Overpass at Friendship Park. There are also two drive-thru lanes.

Sambucca Joe's deserves a review in Peter's blog, or Judy's Book, which has many reviews of local establishments by a former SIU student, "Tonya C." of Fairview Heights, who is very knowledgable about Carbondale. Another web review page is Insider Pages "Yellow Pages Written by Friends." I should try that with the Shawnee Net Directory with a link back to this post.

Wrapping up our chat about recent events in Carbondale -- and some of the people involved -- the reporter and I agreed to the possibility of an expanded media roundtable meeting someday -- an informal confab at the Dunn Richmond Center, or standing in line at Sambucca Joe's.

What is "Sambucca"? Where is it?

And speaking of Joe . . .

Constant Comment Update (June 27)

I heard from Joe, who won the comment contest in the "Caller #5" post, despite a heroic try by Tom to post enough to win the full dinner at Newell House, and not just an appetizer.

I'd like to generate more comments until July 5th, so I can take a longer break. But what prize? Originally, I thought of requiring that the comments be on one of two topics, either on the local media (including radio, tv, print, blogs) or local eateries. . . . And offering a free Sambucca Joe's bagel to the five best comments. (not one bagel cut into five sections, five bagels.) I even wrote some examples for puzzled readers (which I'll post in the comments below). But today's offer is this:

Be the second commenter and have LUNCH WITH TOM MILLER ON ME! -- meaning I will lay on the ground or floor or table, with sandwiches and plates of condiments setting on by body, in a park or restaurant, as you have lunch with News talk radio's Tom Miller -- although you will have to arrange the lunch with Miller yourself. (This would be a good opportunity for blogger James L. Bennett to participate in an outside-the-box(lunch) event!)