Shopping and Dining
While driving through Boone County, you may see cornfields at first, but look closer and you will see it is home to many unique shops, pottery and art studios, hair salons, body spas, antiques, and furniture merchants, along with quaint downtown districts featuring new and old looks. Take a break at any one of the local coffee shops, like Sarah Jane’s Cuppa Joe or the Wicked Brew.
The area offers more than eight major shopping areas in Belvidere alone, a new mall district that keeps growing in Poplar Grove, and many more just minutes away in Rockford. Don’t forget to hunt for those well-kept secrets scattered throughout, like antiques, crafts, bookstores and tearooms.
While Boone County offers the many various shopping centers, don’t forget the smaller, more secluded areas like that in Capron and Poplar Grove at the Countryside Mall. You may even find a number of restored businesses boasting not only renewal of building but also renewal of past wonders.
Dining options in Boone County range from fast food to 24-hour sit-down establishments, and from home-style cooking, like at the Steamplant Restaurant, to a wide and diverse range of ethnic tastes including Asian, Thai, authentic Mexican and Italian. Hungry for pizza? We got them, and they are all great. And for dessert, The Sweetery Company can make you feel like a kid in a candy store. To satisfy your sweet tooth, they have ice cream, sodas from an original soda fountain or the sweet delight of the old-fashioned candy. Oh wait, it is a candy store! But there’s more. The Dari Ripple, an old-time soft-serve ice cream store on State Street, has been a landmark for decades, and the Buchanan Street Pie Company, with fresh pies made daily, is sure to touch your heart. Or even Culver’s, with the creamiest custard and more.
Did we mention that you can find food in just about every corner of the county? Well, you can and dessert too. Look for A Chocolate Moment in the north-central region, and burgers abound. But, then again, we are in the country too. Check out the Boone County Family Restaurant along Highway 173; Appleby’s on Genoa; Bravo’s on Route 76; Pizza Hut on Beloit Road; Lung Fung’s on State Street; Taqueria El Molcajete on State; Grandma’s Restaurant on Highway 20; and McDonald’s on State Street, the I-90 Oasis and on Highway 20, too, and then relax and enjoy the art displayed at The Brick Café and Gallery and so many more.
After all that shopping and dining, relax in a comfortable place of lodging in Boone County or within a 10-minute ride west. Facilities range from the economical local motel to one of seven larger hotel chains. Bed and breakfast inns and campgrounds are also local options for travelers.
 |
 |
|---|---|
 |
|
