Live, from East Peoria, it’s Saturday Night Cheeseburger starring this week’s host, The New Burger Barge Boardwalk and featuring the Ready For Prime Beef Player, Marty Wombacher. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome this week’s host, the new Burger Barge Boardwalk on Meadows Avenue in East Peoria!
And we're off on a cold Saturday Night Cheeseburger. Okay, truth be told, it's actually Friday night as I have plans on Saturday so we're doing this a night earlier. Not that it really matters because it's going to be posted on Monday anyway, so it's off we go!
Here we are at the Burger Barge Boardwalk. I've tried for about five minutes to get a decent shot of the place that used to be a VFW Hall here on Meadows Avenue in East Peoria, but it's poorly lit out here and it's about ten degrees below zero with the wind chill, so fuck it, let's just go inside where it's warm!
They are open, hooray! This is the second week that they've been open and I'm interested to see what they've done with this place. I've heard it's really an unusual and cool place.
The facility is huge in here, it's over 7,000 square feet, we'll peruse the whole place in a bit, but for now let's go check out the bar. I'm pretty sure it's housed in this place called, "The Captain's Quarters."
Let's go though these doors and see if there's a bar inside of the Captain's Quarters.
Ahoy there mateys, there she blows! It's a nice U-shaped wooden bar.
As you can see from the shark above the wall, there's an aquatic theme going on in here.
The ceilings are high in here and an elegant chandelier hangs overhead.
Lauren and Katie are on board serving up beers and food and Josh jumped up in back to photobomb the picture.
The menu is pretty much the same as at the original Burger Barge on Main Street, but there's other foods available at the boardwalk that we'll see in a bit.
There's a big dining area situated just behind the bar.
There's Captain Morgan standing tall in the back watching the night go by.
Booths line the wall opposite the bar...hey, I think I see a couple of familiar faces down there...
It's the owners of the place, Gigi to the right and her daughter, Jenny to the left. Gigi's parents, Myrna and Richard are seated behind them in the booth. I hadn't seen Gigi since we went to the original Burger Barge over three years ago for the 365 Bar Crawl. Hard to believe that was over three years ago, time flies when you're blogging and drinking beer!
Here's the room just outside of the Captain's Quarters in the middle of the place. It's colorful and festive out here.
This place has a real Coney Island boardwalk feel to it, which is really cool and one-of-a-kind to this area.
There's window areas where you can get fair styled snacks...
And there's ice cream too, a little something for everyone. This is a great place for kids and adults to enjoy a taste of a real carnival styled boardwalk in East Peoria.
Check out the Burger Barge Shack in the back of the building. I'll have to come back to do a blog on all these places along the boardwalk in here.
There's yet another room back here, it's like this place never ends!
This is a cool little tiki bar back here!
And there's local comedian, Rodney Hood, who we saw at the original Burger Barge the last time we were there. Rodney said that they're going to be bringing in some top-notch comedians and bands to this Burger Barge, so be checking their facecrack page for announcements about that in the future.
Super-cute Kristin was also on duty back here at the tiki bar.
Okay, back to the Captain's Quarters, where I'm guessing it's just about cheeseburger time!
And it looks like I guessed right, the condiments have been placed at my seat at the bar which can only mean one thing...
It's cheeseburger time!
Wow, what a great looking cheeseburger! It's the Big Bacon Lucy and you can read more about it in the review below.
Here it is all dressed up with some mustard and pepper. And check out how the bun is grilled to perfection!
It's delicious! I love Lucy!
Burp...a great cheeseburger and a wonderful night at the Burger Barge Boardwalk. You should really check this place out, it's a wonderful and unique addition to our city and I'll definitely be back!
My Cheeseburger
I got the “Big Bacon Lucy which is a burger topped with loose meat, two slices of savory bacon, melted cheddar cheese sauce, lettuce, tomato, onion and mayo. I got it without the mayo because I’m a picky motherfucker. The burger arrived with a nicely toasted, bakery-fresh bun. It was huge and delicious with the bacon, burger and cheese flavors all intermingling in a wonderful tap dance on my taste buds. For the side item I got the Luciano Cheese Blobs which are named after MBIP pal and PJ Star scribe, Phil Luciano.
It was great to see Gigi and Jenny again and I wish them great luck for the second Burger Barge location. It’s a really fun place and I will be back!
The Burger Barge Boardwalk
123 Meadows Avenue
East Peoria
309-694-9191
Related Posts: SNC @ New Amsterdam, The Publik House and Carl’s Bakery With A Late Night Stop @ Fitz Inn Starring Southern Cross.
UPDATE!
I forgot to put up the Cheeseburger Rating. Thanks for the reminder, Scott! Here it is:
Three and a half Wimpy's—a great cheeseburger in wonderful new Burger Barge, go and check it out when you can!