OUTDOOR DINING, RESTAURANT DISCOVERED THIS YEAR, NEW BUSINESS

Obed and Isaac’s

500 S. Sixth St., 670-0627

Springfield’s first brewpub had a low-key opening last February. It was about the only decent restaurant in town that wasn’t packed for Valentine’s Day as owners Court and Karen Conn opened the doors with a limited menu owing to the kitchen not yet having passed all required city inspections. The food was memorable, and the place has only gotten better. The menu is simple but superb, and the beers brewed next door in a converted carriage house are top notch. The outdoor dining area is alongside a quiet street, so you don’t have to put up with cars whooshing by every few seconds. The setting inside a former mansion near Lincoln’s home reeks of history. The chutzpah in opening such a place on the edge of downtown instead of in a strip mall is admirable. Quite simply, Obed and Isaac’s, where you can’t buy a Budweiser, is the best thing to happen to Springfield beer drinkers since the Brewhaus opened nearly two decades ago.

Runner-up: Casa Real