56 Things We Love

(page 1 of 7)

A few foibles aside, there really is a lot to love about this city of ours. Here are 56 little nuggets of Springfieldness that set our hearts aflutter. (In no particular order.)

1. St. Michaels Educational Sports Bar and Grill
St. Michael's (301 South Avenue, 417-865-2315) has, hands down, the best damn salads in town. The chicken salad comes with crumbly blue cheese, sunflower seeds, tomatoes, spinach and your choice of Cajun, jerk or traditional chicken. The salads (at left) are served in a huge metal bowl, which makes perfect for mixing it up with your dressing of choice. The house dressing (a vinaigrette) is light and tangy, the perfect compliment to the intense blue cheese and seasoned chicken. It also comes with a loaf of bread. Owner Nick Russo gives his wife, Jenny, credit for the big bowl idea. "It has something to do with a woman's intuition," he says.

2. The bar at The Outland
It is quirky-fitting for The Outland (326 South Ave., 417-863-9779), home of so much of Springfield's music scene. It's set on an elevated platform. Instead of stools, ordinary chairs line the bar. You sit and talk to the bartenders, and it's like they're across the desk from you. The setup is not unlike sitting on the bridge of the Starship Enterprise like Data the Android, except instead of monitoring a view screen, you have the big mirror behind the bar, reflecting hipster comings-and-goings. Behind your back is a second bar where people can stand, leaning. Their heads are slightly higher than butt level relative to the Starship Enterprise seats-helps keep the ghost beef down.

3. Micky Hardy's hair
Happyendings has been kicking it around Springfield for several years now, jumping off stages and generally creating mass swooning among the 18-25 female population. A big reason for that is guitarist Micky Hardy (above), he of the buff physique and unpredictable, exquisitely curly, free-flowing and always-sexy hair. If happyendings winds up selling lots of posters (a feat already accomplished in Springfield, wethinks), we feel it's only proper that Micky's stylist receive a healthy cut of the profits.

4. Kum & Go tea machines
First of all, any gas station with the word GO in it can't be all that bad. Always a regular stop for tea lovers because of the three varieties in their soda fountains, they've stepped their game up even more. Kum & Go offers Golden Apple White tea, Sweetened Tea, Unsweetened Tea, and Green Tea with Honey, Lemon and Ginseng in attractive, clean containers. This is a tea-lover's paradise. We recommend a mixture of half-unsweetened and half-Golden Apple White or half-Green tea. Insider's tip: Go for the 44 oz. instead of the 32. They are the same price at 79 cents.