Stillman Valley businesses are royally hand-in-hand

STILLMAN VALLEY — Michael Cruickshank might not have known much about Stillman Valley when he decided to open a business there, but what he did understand is the importance of honoring local history.

When Cruickshank and his wife Lisa bought the former Cardinal Cafe at the downtown crossroads in 2022 to start a restaurant of their own, hearing that it was once a grocery store in the Royal Blue chain for nearly 70 years not only piqued their interest, but it became the name of their business.

What once was a grocery store owned by three generations of the Castelli Family now is the Royal Blue General Store, a restaurant known for its broasted chicken and custard; its menu also features sandwiches, including chicken, Italian beef, sausage and more, and other cold desserts such as Dole Whip and banana splits. It’s open for both dine-in and carry-out.

Cruickshank isn’t alone in making Royal Blue a Stillman staple once more, he has help from Chris Wasilewski’s grandma and her family’s beef jerky recipe. Wasilewski and his wife Meredith Carey own Gram’s Jerky, selling beef jerky at Royal Blue, where they also make it in a variety of flavors in a commercial kitchen there.

Although the two businesses are strictly separate of each other, their offerings have gone hand-in-hand with customers: Some will buy jerky to munch on while they’re waiting for their fresh-cooked chicken, or to take home along with their custard.

“We call it a trifecta, and we’ll see someone get some beef jerky, and then get a chicken sandwich and then get some custard, all from the same table,” Cruickshank said. “Sometimes they’re eating the jerky before the sandwiches come out. It compliments each other real well.”

The Wasilewski Family jerky recipe has been around for 35 years, but that’s only around half of the time that the Castellis of Stillman Valley owned their Royal Blue grocery store.

Stillman Valley’s grocery story is almost as old as the village’s, stretching back to the 1880s, not long after the village was founded in 1875. The local grocery story became part of the Royal Blue chain in 1932 under the ownership of Jim Canour of Creston. Virgil Castelli bought it in 1936, and it was later owned by his son Pete and then grandson Tom until the store closed in 2003. The building later housed the Royal Blue Restaurant (not affiliated with today’s operation) and then the Cardinal Cafe; when the name change happened, the familiar steel blue Royal Blue sign on the front of the building was removed and replaced with the town’s school colors of red and white.

While the old store sign was gone, it wasn’t forgotten, and when the Cruickshanks, who live in Belvidere, set out to restore the Royal Blue name, Tom Castelli still had the Royal Blue sign and gifted it to them to use.

“From the very beginning, when I saw the building and saw the history, I was going to name it the Royal Blue,” Cruickshank said. “That was going to be the name no matter what, because it was something for 70 years; and in retail, if you last 70 years with a name, I want that name, and especially what it meant to ‘The Valley.’”

The “General Store” part of the name is a nod the business’ history and its previous life as a grocery store.

Cruickshank had worked in the corporate side of the restaurant business for more than 20 years before aspiring to own one. As he set out to plan his menu, he brought some of his own history to it too, adding the same sort of broasted chicken and custard that he fondly recalled from his childhood.

Cruickshank knows what having a place like Royal Blue in a small community can mean to the people who live there. More than just a business, he said, Royal Blue is a place where friends and family can come gather to enjoy the food and each other’s company.

“The food and custard are kind of secondary, but it compliments it to create a social destination where families can have a gathering. It can be for kids and families to come have a great meal and also have custard as well. That’s what we committed on, and I never took my eyes off of that.”

While the broasted chicken may look like fried chicken on the outside, inside it’s a different story. Made in a pressure cooker, and with less oil than fried chicken, broasted chicken is considered healthier than fried. The pressure cooking seals in the flavor and juices, making it a crispy and tender treat for chicken lovers. At Royal Blue, the chicken is breaded fresh and broasted to order in about 12-15 minutes.

“It just has, in my opinion, a little bit of a better flavor than regular drop-fry chicken,” Cruickshank said. “It’s a popular item here, and a lot of family meals go out.”

Dole Whip is a fairly new dessert offering to the Midwest. The dairy-free treat is a cross between Italian ice and gelato, with a thick texture. Its name comes from the strawberry and pineapple flavors that come from the Dole fruit company.

Cruickshank tried it during a vacation and was hooked, and only in the last few years has Dole offered it nationwide. “I really wanted to bring something that would compliment the custard. Custard is as dairy as you can do,” he said Dole Whip offers a dairy-free alternative for someone looking for a sweet treat that’s a perfect for warm weather — but that’s not the only time you can get it. Royal Blue sells it year-round.

Wasilewski said he gets a kick out seeing people enjoy a cold treat when temperatures are in the single digits. “It can be five degrees out, and there’ll be people who come to get custard and Dole Whip,” he said.

Wasilewski started Gram’s Jerky five years ago when he lived in Aurora. He and Carey live in Monroe Center now, and they’ve been at Royal Blue for a year now.

What started as a gift became a gift that keeps on giving, with the couple turning the family recipe into revenue. He would receive two-pound boxes of his grandmother’s jerky each Christmas, which she made at home in Mountain Home, Arkansas.

As the story goes, Wasilewski’s grandmother, Diane Growe, cam home one night in 1990 from playing Bingo at the Moose Lodge, “and she said we need bottom round beef, a meat grinder and all of these ingredients,” he said. “Grandpa asked her for what, and she said that we’re going to make beef jerky now. We don’t know who she talked to, or how this came to be.”

You don’t find a lot of old-style dry jerky anymore, Wasilewski said. He’s had customers come in to buy some who haven’t had it in decades, but still recall how much they enjoyed it.

He uses meat from Headon’s in Creston to make the thinly-sliced jerky, which comes in eight flavors from mild to hot.

“Back in the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s, it used to be big, long, thin strips of beef jerky, and for whatever reason the industry got away from that,” Wasilewski said. “Nobody’s really doing what we do. It’s tender, it’s easier to eat, it’s easier to dehydrate because it’s thinner, and it holds more of the flavor in because it gets marinated for 48-plus hours. It’s a completely different kind of jerky all together.”

Like Royal Blue’s resurrection, Wasilewski brought back an old favorite and found new fans. And like Wasilewski, Cruickshank has enjoyed keeping a tradition alive.

“It was the only grocery store,” Cruickshank said. “It was the social gathering place besides the bars. The penny candies and the stories that came out of this building, there are just too many stories to tell. It’s got a hallowed history, and it was a landmark here. Why not give some ode to the past by naming it the Royal Blue, and put the original sign back up? I thought it was something that was needed.”

Royal Blue General Store, 130 North Walnut St. in Stillman Valley is open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. Beef jerky products from Gram’s Jerky, sold at Royal Blue, is available during restaurant hours.

Find Royal Blue General Store on Facebook or call 815-645-7036 for more information. Call 630-631-1922 for more information on Gram’s Jerky.