I really enjoy living in Springfield. I have everything I really need on campus, but there's also so many fun things to do off campus that you don't want to miss out on either. These are just some of the places I've been in the month that I've lived here, and how the experience was for me. Disclaimer: most of these places are restaurants, don't judge me, a girl's gotta eat.
Pappo's Pizzaria
Okay, I had actually been here before I had moved to Springfield, and let me tell you, best pizza ever. This is definitely one of my favorite places to go. They have two locations, go to the one downtown if you can, I feel like it has a little bit better aesthetic, but the food is amazing at either place. My go to is "the white" and garlic bread, but honestly, all of it's good.
Bambino's Cafe
I love this place too!! It's the cutest restaurant ever, it actually was originally a house and they made it into a restaurant. The staff is super sweet and welcoming and the food is actually to die for (it's homemade Italian food by the way.) I've only been here once, but I can't wait to go back. Amazing food, amazing service, and honestly it's cheaper than most Italian restaurants you find.
Mexican Villa
Yeah.. probably don't go here. I hate saying that a restaurant was bad, but this one was. We came here because someone recommended it to us, and there's tons of locations around Springfield, so we figured it was good. We were really wrong. Honestly, I think my food was the best and that wasn't too great. One of my friends really hasn't eaten Mexican food since we went here, and she loved Mexican. I'd say I definitely won't go back, but it was a fun thing to try once. On the bright side, though, we got a pretty good laugh about it, and an older family had a really nice conversations with us about college and then paid for our meal, so their customers are really sweet. We also didn't get food poisoning, so it was better than it could have been.
The European Cafe
I love this place too!! It's just a fun place to go and study downtown and eat some (really pretty and delicious) pastries while you do it. There vanilla Italian soda is also the best! It's a little pricey, but it's a fun place to go every once in a while.
Best Western Rail Haven
Hehe, this is where I was quarantined, so I have bad blood with it. I will never go back here because I was stuck in it for two weeks, but honestly, it was a relatively clean motel and the staff was as friendly and as helpful as they could be for dealing with a multitude of COVID students. Plus, I think their bathrooms are super cute.
The Downtown Area
This is the best area of Springfield in my opinion. There's tons of places to shop, eat, and take pictures, plus it's just a really fun place to be. Honestly, anything you want to find, you can find it downtown. They also have a couple museums you can visit if you like that kind of thing. If you come to Springfield, you should just go down there and see if there's anywhere you wanna stop. Also, you should probably just park the first place you see and walk, because you probably won't find any parking that's closer, and you way find another place you wanna go while you're walking.
Well, I hope that you try to go to some of these places, because I really enjoy (some) of them, and I think most people probably would too. Although maybe avoid Best Western Rail Haven right now, unless you just really wanna room next to a bunch of quarantined college students. And probably avoid Mexican Villa too, not just during COVID, but maybe all together. Anyway, I hope you like them if you try them out!
