Steuby’s is the heart of Leesburg. From left are Paul Finley, Shari Benyousky, Treleen Cox and Jeff Owens.

Text and Photos
By Shari Benyousky
Guest Columnist

Column Note: In the 76th column in the Diners and Dives series, some Warsaw Breakfast Optimist Club members explore Leesburg.

LEESBURG — At the end of 2022, a popular, long-time restaurant forever closed its doors in Leesburg and the 942 residents could no longer walk down the cobblestone streets for a nice dinner. After the building sat empty, local Insurance guy Steuart Wysong and his wife Shawnee agreed to buy it with the intention of moving in their Wysong Insurance Shoppe.

“But the town pushed back a bit,” Wysong’s daughter Nicole Jones told us as she greeted us at Steuby’s Restaurant at 309 S. Main St. in Leesburg. Leesburg missed having a sit-down dinner restaurant. They really missed it. “They said please, please give a restaurant a shot.

“Can Steu cook?” I asked.

His daughter Nicole shook her head. “No! No! No! Well, he makes some mean broasted potatoes and does a little dance.” Nicole herself has restaurant experience but running an entire restaurant wasn’t in the Wysong family’s plans. Nicole smiled. “And then along came Tony.”

By Tony, Nicole meant Head Chef Tony Ford who happened to return to home territory in 2023.

Secret Menu Items

Nicole Jones with the duck teriyaki wontons, off the menu.

“Tony will come out when he’s less busy,” Nicole waved toward the kitchen. “He can tell you his story then.” She walked us through the extensive menu.

“What are your most popular two appetizers?” 1st Source Banker Paul Finley asked.

Nicole answered immediately. “Jumpin’ Jack Bites! Those are cheese curds with Pepper Jack if you like spicy. And the Duck Wontons although they aren’t on the menu.” This perked up our ears. A secret menu?

“Secret, secret, like only people in the know, know?” I asked. “Like, can I write that this is top secret information for Diners and Dives readers only?” Nicole chuckled. Steuby’s offers an entire page of appetizers including taco sticks, breaded cauliflower, mushrooms, or pickle spears, mozzarella sticks, and wings.

Battered Tenderloins And Duck Burgers?

Our wildcard Treleen Cox, first grade teacher at Leesburg Elementary School on fall break, chose her entrée first. “What should I get? There’s like three things I want!” She chose the duck burger with candied bacon, house sauce, arugula and cheese.

Chef Tony stopped by to recommend his soup. “I have my favorite tomato basil. There’s ham and bean too.”

Nicole pointed at the menu. “The tenderloin is very popular. It’s battered not breaded. We still take a hammer to them though. You’ll love it.” Finley chose that option along with loaded fries. Loaded fries at Steuby’s means gouda and bacon.

High Falutin’

We heard that Ford had Italian roots, so Realtor Jeff Owens asked about his Italian specialties. The dinner menu offers many options. “But, what’s Italian-y on the lunch menu?” Owens asked. “Something, you know, demure.”

Seafood alfredo with breaded scallops. Photo by Jeff Owens.

“Demure?!” Ford was incredulous. “Demure isn’t Italian. I don’t even know how to make small. My grandmother taught me how to cook. She used to handmake the noodles all over the counter. And if those noodles didn’t look right, well, her Italian would come out. I might know how to curse in Italian from that.”

Owens nodded in understanding. “I still want pasta. Surprise me.”

Ford turned to Nicole who was inputting the order. “He wants something that rhymes with seafood pasta. Extra demure.” The seafood pasta includes four-cheese sauce with lobster, shrimp, and breaded scallops.

“Better upcharge him for making it demure,” commented Finley.

“This might be the most high falutin’ Diners and Dives we’ve done so far,” Owens chuckled. Italian and poetic. “My daughter Liz is a senior VP of Vacations by Rail, which prompted us to finally visit Europe last year.”

Third Culture Kid

Since we had already gotten to Europe in the conversation, Teacher Treleen reminded us that she had been a missionary kid and grew up in France and Germany. Leesburg offers both regular and dual-language immersion learning.

This week’s group, meeting at Steuby’s from left are Paul Finley, Treleen Cox, Tony Ford, Nicole Jones, Shari Benyousky and Jeff Owens. Photo from Paul Finley.

“My students learn to count in five languages including French, German, and Czech.” She counted to 10 in Czech to prove it.

“I deeply understand how it feels to be a third-culture kid.” Treleen nibbled her twister fries. “Because of my own history. I remember trying to have my mom help with spelling in English, but she had an accent so I couldn’t understand.”

She paused to hug two adorable kids, Evie and Viv, waitress Lany’s girls who knew Mrs. Cox from school.

Treleen picked up half of her duck burger and offered pieces of the other half for us. “It’s not OK to feel stupid as a kid when you’re not stupid.”

Third Culture Kids are raised in a culture that is not their parent’s natural one. They often must figure out things without their parent’s help.

Treleen loves Leesburg Elementary. “I love first grade to find those kids who don’t like learning. To help them find the things they are good at and give them a purpose. At the end of the year, every kid gets a letter from me telling them why I liked having them in class.” She dipped a spoon in my tomato soup.

I gestured back to the amazing soup. “Be sure to get one of those crunchy bits of parmesan scattered across the top.”

How To Insult A Chef

Chef Tony Ford.

Chef Ford had a break and came back out. Chef has worked in many nice restaurants over the years, most recently in Indianapolis. “I have a following. They come eat wherever I am.”

“Groupies?” Realtor Owens forked a battered scallop with pasta.

“I call them Tony’s Cronies,” Ford chuckled. “They love my food.”

Nicole put in her favorite thing on the menu is the parmesan crusted walleye. “It’s literally as big as that oval plate. Terry McFaden came in a month ago and had it. He said it was the best meal he’s ever had.” All of us vowed to come back and try the dinner menu.

“I practically live here,” Ford told us. “Even on Mondays and Tuesdays when we aren’t open, I’m here.” I asked him what not to order.

Ford bit his lip. “Don’t order your steak well done.”

Nicole chuckled. “If someone does, we might yell beef jerky on the screen, or hockey puck on the line.”

Ford groaned. “A good steak has to have some pink in it.”

TIP 1 — On Friday nights Steuby’s does cowboy ribeye steaks. That’s a tomahawk steak with the bone left in. They are sold out by 6:30, so RSVP.

TIP 2 — For carryout, you can call and leave a phone or Facebook message in the morning for the earliest lunch pick-up at 11 a.m.

TRELEEN TIP — Cox offers a drama club for kids at Leesburg Elementary. This year 50 kids tried out for it.

We ran out of room to try desserts, but Steuby’s offered caramel apple cheesecake or pumpkin lava cake with “bourbon caramel sauce to die for,” according to Ford.

If you haven’t driven up to Leesburg, you’re missing a special place with a heart for its community and a family within its staff. Steuby’s is unique and local and stupendous. Oh yeah, and you can still find Steu Wysong and buy some insurance while you’re there.

Do you know of an interesting place, restaurant, nonprofit, or person that you’d like to see featured in Diners and Dives? Send Shari Benyousky an email at [email protected].